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BLESSED 
 JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE. 
 
^ OF iBK ^ y 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
BLESSED 
 
 J. B. DE LA SALLE 
 
 FOUNDER OF THE INSTITUTE 
 
 OF THE BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS, 
 
 BY 
 
 ARMAND RAVELET. 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY M"" D'HULST. 
 
 PARIS, 
 
 CHARLES POUSSIELGUE, 
 
 15, RUE CASSETTE. 
 
 PROCURE GfiNfiRALE, 
 
 27, RUE OUDINOT. 
 
 TOURS, ALFRED MAMvS; AND SONS, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 M nCCC LXXXVIII. 
 
t.< 
 
 rd4#7 
 
THE ILLUSTRATION 
 
 ■A 
 
 BLESSED JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE 
 
 WAS ENTRUSTED 
 
 TO THE AHTISTS WHOSE NAMES ARE MENTIONED BELOW. 
 
 "K— 
 
 I. — ARTISTIC ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 The large compositions outside the text 
 
 are signed by 
 
 MM. CiioviN, Detaille, A. KoouAno, Ferdinandus, Paul Flandrin, 
 
 E. Garnier, Grellet, Hanoteau, A. Hervier, Khug, F. Lafont, Laheire, 
 
 LuMiNAis, Lix, Maignan, Mouchot, Charles Muller and Horace Vernet. 
 
 II. — DOCUMENTARY ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 The drawings in the text (views, portraits, fac- simile, maps, and so forth), 
 
 friezes, liead-Ietters and tail-pieces are the work of 
 
 MM. De Bellee, Brun, Ciiapuis, Ciiova.v, Clair- Guyot, Ferdinandus, 
 
 C. FiCHOT, FicHOT Junior, E. Gar.nier, L. Labbe, Lambert, 
 
 P. Le Grand, Notob, Sellier, Thaoee, Toussaint and Vid.vl. 
 
 The engravings on wood are the work of 
 
 M.M. Barbant, Cabarteux, Chapon, M"* Chevalier, MM. Dochv, 
 
 Farlet, Froment, Guillaumot, Glsman, Huvot, Joffroy, 
 
 Levasseur, Mi^Aui.LE, Napier, Pannemaker, Pattier, Puyplat, Jules Robert, 
 
 Rousseau, Sargent, Smeeton, Tilly and Trichon. 
 
 The photo-engravings are by M. P. Dujardin, and were printed by 
 M. Besnard, at Tours. 
 
 The chimical engravings are the work of MM. Gillot, Decaux, Ferniqle, 
 Michelet and Rougehon. 
 
 The book itself is from the printing-presses of MM. A. Mame a.vd Sons. 
 
rS»«'^ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
Paris. — Statue ol Blessed ie la Salle , by Hanta^iiy , intended for the basilica oX Saint Generi^Te. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 BOOK like this needs very few words 
 of preface. The process instituted by 
 order of the Holy See for the beatifi- 
 cation of Blessed de la Salle inspired 
 us with the desire of studying his 
 virtues. 
 
 The services he is still rendering, 
 llirough his disciples, to the people 
 who often requite them with ingrati- 
 tude, made us feel that it was a duty 
 to write his life. 
 
 It is written conscientiously. The 
 very honored Brother Philip, wlio took 
 a lively interest in this work, placed 
 at my disposal the valuable archives of the mother-house. A great 
 number of Brothers (with a ready kindness which I gladly acknowledge) 
 communicated to me the documents they had collected. I was for- 
 tunate enough to find, in the National Archives in Paris, all the deeds 
 relating to the law-suit which the school -masters carried on against 
 
BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 M. de la Salle, and which so long hindered his undertaking. The 
 archives of Rouen, Rheims, Chalons, Mende, also contain documents 
 that do not appear to have been known to the preceding biographers 
 of Venerable de la Salle. 
 
 I hope, therefore, that my work is new, and that it throws a fuller 
 light on that wonderful life, over whose splendor Venerable de la 
 Salle's humility cast a veil. The time has come to do him justice. 
 We owe it to his disciples, who carry on his work; to France, to whom 
 he his an honor, and to ourselves. 
 
 In the life of Blessed de la Salle, it is the Saint above all that we 
 ouglit to study. It is in his love of prayer, his charity, his supernat- 
 ural virtues, heroically practised, that we must see the root of those 
 eminent qualities which distinguished him in the eyes of the world, 
 and the cause of the success of that gigantic undertaking which seemed 
 to be beyond human strength. The public man is always an incom- 
 plete revelation of the interior man. In M. de la Salle, the founder 
 was great, but the Saint was greater still, and it is on the Saint that 
 we must fix our attention. We shall thus honor Faith, which should 
 be the first inspirer of all our actions, and we shall fail in no duty to 
 history. On the contrary, in these sincere pages, we apply the highest 
 of all laws, that law which commands us to seek in the lives of souls 
 the explanation of external events, and to measure the real grandeur 
 of souls themselves by their obedience to the will of God. 
 
 1874. 
 
 Armand RAVELET. 
 
 Armand Ravelet died prematurely, a year after the completion of 
 his book, a year after he had written the foregoing lines where the 
 beauty of his soul truly reveals itself. The day came, however, when 
 his work was to see the light; but the dear workman was no longer 
 there to give it a new life. 
 
 One of his friends has endeavoured to take his place. 
 
 The book of Armand Ravelet, very respectfully altei^ed and com- 
 pleted, is now divided into three parts, the titles of which explain 
 their character and interest— J. Education before Blessed de la Salle; 
 II. Life of Blessed de la Salle; III. Growth and development of the 
 work of Blessed de la Salle. 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 In the first part, Armand Ravelet generously resolved to write a 
 " History of Primary education up to the first attempts of Blessed de 
 la Salle; " but, since 4874, the question of the primary schools has 
 assumed an altogether exceptional importance in contemporary contro- 
 versy. It was therefore nece-ssary to recast the original work, and a 
 former pupil of the Ecole des Chartes undertook to overlook it. He 
 took counsel, he read up all that has been written on the subject, he 
 summed it up, and readers have here in a hundred pages the quintes- 
 sence of all the memoirs and books which, up to the end of the year 
 1887, have been written on this important subject. 
 
 The life of the Venerable founder was, according to the opinion of 
 the most competent judges, the best part of Armand Ravelet's book. 
 It was revised with the greatest care; but it remains the original book, 
 the outcome of long research, accurate, pious, learned and animated, 
 erudite and p(jetic. Chief editor of a great Catholic journal, Armand 
 Ravelet knew better than any one how to adapt the life of a Saint to 
 the intellectual needs of contemporary generations. He has written, 
 with this noble aim, a living work. It contains pages which will rank 
 amongst the most delicate in the Catholic literature of the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 Here, indeed, ended the work of Armand Ravelet, and we considered 
 that it was not complete. In all the lives of Saints which have been 
 recently published, the biographer is careful not to stop at the death 
 of him whose glory he has undertaken to describe. For the Saints, 
 in truth, survive themselves, and this admirable survival is especially 
 characteristic of the founders of orders. These orders are their 
 lives continued in history. When, quite lately, a new biography of 
 St Francis of Assisi was published, the writer did not omit to trace 
 in broad lines the annals of the great Franciscan order. The third part 
 of our book is, therefore^ devoted to the history of the Institute from 
 the departure of its founder to the present hour. 
 
 A few masterly pages from Mo"" d'Hulst form the vestibule of this 
 threefold work in one, and considerably increase its value. 
 
 Such is the Kterary plan of the whole work; but now-a-days no 
 work is complete without the adornment of a severe and abundant 
 illustration, and we did not wish the life of Blessed de la Salle to 
 appear bereft of this accompaniment. 
 
 This illustration is of two kinds. Artistic in the engravings outside the 
 text, documentary in the others. We venture to call the attention of 
 our readers to the latter, which demanded long and conscientious labor. 
 
XII DLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 We hope that they contain all the documents relative to Blessed de la 
 Salle, as well as those which concern his Institute and Uie schools. 
 Few things could have been more difficult to illustrate than the first 
 part of the work, which contains prints rare and difficult to find, of 
 the sixteenth and seventeentli centuries. Tlie second part presented 
 fewer difficulties ; but some pieces of special good luck befell it, such 
 as the discovery of a new portrait of Blessed de la Salle, which will 
 become the most precious element of an iconograpliy as yet imperfect. 
 In the third part, an attempt has been made to reproduce the two 
 last centuries, from the portraits of the first successoi-s of Blessed de 
 la Salle to the types of scholars of the Christian schools in Burmah and 
 Armenia at the present day, from the Bull of Benedict Xlll. to tlie 
 sketch of that magnificent retreat which the generosity of the Duchess 
 de Galliera has provided for the veterans of the Institute. 
 
 This book makes its appearance; in the midst of the radiant festiv- 
 ities which are being held in honor of the beatification of Blessed 
 de la Salle. It has not their splendor ; but we should like it to be 
 their living continuation, and we desire, above all, that it may raise 
 numerous imitators of Blessed de la Salle through centuries to come, 
 for the greater honor of France, for tlie salvation of souls, and for 
 the greater glory of God. 
 
 March 25th 1888, Feast of the AanuDciation. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
Rouen , where Blessed de la Salle died. — From a docuraeot in the print department of the National Library, Paris. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 T happens sometimes that man 
 denies his immortahty; he cannot 
 help pursuing it. When he has 
 shut out the perspective of the real 
 immortality, he is compelled, as it 
 were, to open another one in order 
 to cheat his desires. To live again in 
 the memory and in the admiration of 
 his fellow-mon, this is the hope that 
 will console him, he fancies, for the 
 great hope that he has lost — that of 
 jL ^ living eternally in the bosom of God. 
 
 But the promises of human glory are made up of a threefold lie. 
 In the first place, the after-life that it announces is a pure 
 fiction. It ought to be the reward of the one who is gone, 
 whereas it is only the amusement of those he has left behind 
 him; the noise that is made over his name does not wake the 
 
XVI BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 dead man in his tomb, nor give him back the power of enjoying 
 praise. 
 
 Again, immortaUty is the dream, the need, the passionate desire 
 of all men; glory is the privilege of a small number. For one 
 satisfied ambition, how many disappointed ones there are ! How 
 many obscure destinies for one brilliant one! 
 
 Finally, and this is the last lie of glory, it promises enduring 
 remembrance; but it cannot secure this. A few rare exceptions 
 there are whose fame grows with the centuries, rising above the 
 horizon of the past, as others decline and disappear. As a rule, 
 glory has but a certain space of time, and when it has begun to 
 fade, nothing can rekindle its lustre. 
 
 Thus, it is not with impunity that man spurns the immortality 
 offered him by God. Heaven punishes the contempt of earth by 
 giving up the impious man to the failure of his own experiments, 
 and to the vanity of his own desires. But there is a striking con- 
 trast to this. There are men who, in order the better to honor 
 God, have despised glory; they have gone even farther, they have 
 hated it. They have been possessed by a strange and hitherto 
 unknown passion, the passion of obscurity; this is saying too little : 
 the passion of opprobrium and contempt. And what has been 
 their fate? Shall we say that, in reward for their heroic renun- 
 ciation, they have obtained Divine glory? This is not enough. 
 God wishes over and above this to grant them that earthly glory 
 which they sacrificed for His sake, and, in securing it to them, 
 He frees it from those imperfect conditions which made it deceit- 
 ful here below. 
 
 The human glory of the Saints is not a fiction, for tlieir after- 
 life in God makes them capable of enjoying it. It is not the pri- 
 vilege of genius, nor the capricious gift of chance; but the reward 
 of a more perfect faithfulness. It is not, moreover, condemned to 
 undergo the inflexible law of decline; a belter law presides over 
 its destiny, the law of Providential government. The Saints be- 
 
LIBR/ 
 
 INTRODUCTION. XVII 
 
 come celebrated when their celebrity can serve the designs of God 
 on His Church. Sometimes their, memory springs at once to the 
 summit of fame, and never descends from those heights. Some- 
 times it sleeps, as it were forgotten, until the day when its awaken- 
 ing can be of use; then humanity is seized with astonishment at 
 its prolonged ingratitude towards those who, whilt* they served 
 God perfectly, deserved well of mankind. At other times again, 
 after a luminous period, the star seems to grow pale, as if the 
 new epoch had no need of its light; but a sudden storm arises, 
 and tlien the star shines out and becomes a heavenly beacon to 
 guide travellers through the darkness of trial. 
 
 Thus appears before us the sweet and radiant figure of him 
 whojn the Catholic world will henceforth style filessed John 
 Baptist de la Salle. During his life, no one turned their back on 
 glory more persistently than he did; no one ever had their thirst 
 for insult and contempt more abundantly satisfied than he. It 
 may seem strange that we should seize upon this as the distinct- 
 ive trait of a personage whose name, and whose work above all, 
 are now so popular. Nevertheless, truth compels us to it. John 
 Baptist de la Salle is a great man, undoubtedly, but he is great 
 after the manner of the Saints. Ilis wisdom is the folly of the cros.s. 
 Like to that prudent architect of whom the Gospel speaks, he sat 
 down before building liis tower, and asked himself what resources 
 he had in store to finish it. Humility then appeared to him as 
 the instrument necessary for the service of the apostolate. To 
 gain souls, to save the young, to renew Christian society from its 
 base, to keep the preferences of his charity for the lowly ones and 
 the forsaken — such was the dominant idea which took hold of 
 the young Canon of Rheims, the idea which was destined to fashion 
 his zeal and to be the powerfid factor of his wliole life. It was 
 this idea which drew his sympathies to M. Nyel's first etforts, and 
 soon after decided him to put his own hand to the arduous and 
 much needed undertaking. 
 
 B 
 
will BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 But what is this same undertaking, after all, but the very work 
 of the Redeemer? Divine in its nature, it must be equally so 
 in its means. And, therefore, man must disappeiir, to show God. 
 The voluntary annihilation of the servant will leave the field free 
 for the master's action. And thus is revealed to the holy priest, 
 with the value of humility, that of humiliation which leads to it. 
 In order to become the apostle of youth, he will be humble; and 
 to become humble, he will accept, nay, he will seek humiliation. 
 
 In this respect, the life of the founder of the Christian schools 
 has nothing to envy the most fervent lovers of abjection. Many 
 Saints may have desired the contempt of the world as much as he 
 did; I doubt if any of them ever obtained it in a manner so com- 
 plete and so continuous. Others have passed through alternatives 
 of glory and humiliation; for him, the humiliation was a thing of 
 every day. It takes him at the opening of his career, when he 
 resigns his canonry to devote himself to the founding of Christian 
 schools, and it accompanies him to his death. Others have been 
 despised by the wicked, and honored by the good; John Baptist 
 de la Salle had the privilege of drawing upon himself and his work 
 the blame and the severity of good men. What do I say? Humi- 
 liation is so thoroughly part of his vocation, that it comes to him 
 from those even who esteem him, and at the very time when they 
 arc full of this esteem and veneration for him. Three eminent 
 priests, celebrated for their piety and zeal, succeed each other in 
 the presbytery of Saint Sulpice, in Paris; the first does all he ciui 
 to entice the founder of the Brothers to his parish; the other two 
 become patrons of his work, but all three want to substitute their 
 direction for his, make him feel the weight of their authority, and 
 end by repelling him personally in trying to separate iiim from his 
 children. An Archbishop of Rouen, held in veneration for iiis 
 great pastoral qualities, pos.sesses in his diocese the Novitiate of 
 the Brothers; he treats with contempt the man who c;uised the 
 fn'M of his Church to blossom forth with the virtues of a new 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 Thebaid. A parish-priest of Rouen dares to accuse the holy man, 
 already on the brink of the grave, of having told a lie; the accusa- 
 tion is believed, and the man of God is overwhelmed with con- 
 tempt; a few days after, he dies, and the first exclamation of his 
 slanderer is : — " The Saint is dead! " He, therefore, looked upon 
 him as a Saint when he slandered him? Mysterious permission 
 of Providence! 
 
 But the contempt which comes to him from without is not 
 enough; John Baptist de la Salle has yet to taste that other bitter- 
 ness — the being despised by his own children! Many of his 
 earliest sons betray him, serve the designs of his enemies, and 
 end by going away from him, and breaking their vows. Amongst 
 those who remain faithful to him, there are some who venerate 
 him as a Saint, and never cease to treat him with irreverence. It 
 looks as if this admirable man brings bad luck to the work he 
 has founded. Wherever he plants it, a storm breaks out against 
 himself personally, and seems to shake his work to pieces. After 
 forty years of efforts, of prodigious labors, after miracles of virtue, 
 penance and zeal, he leaves behind him an uncertain establish- 
 ment, a contested Rule, a Congregation of middling importance. 
 The last years of his life are so stamped with the seal of sufferings, 
 that he feels it necessary to disappear for a time to hide himself 
 from the eyes of all, to become invisible even to his own children, 
 as if to turn aside from them the animosity of which he is the 
 object. In this respect, his end resembles that of St Alphonsus 
 Liguori, but with this difference : humiliation, for Alphonsus, suc- 
 ceeded to a long period during which he was universally respected, 
 whereas, for the founder of the Brothers, it represents an unbroken 
 web, and makes one with his whole life. This is, indeed, a strange 
 preparation for glory. 
 
 Glory overtook him, nevertheless, promptly, brilliantly. Six 
 years after the death of the man of God, his work obtained what 
 he had not dared even to ask for it— Letters patent from the King, 
 
XVIII BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 But what is this same undertaking, after all, but the very work 
 of the Redeemer? Divine in its nature, it must be equally so 
 in its means. And, therefore, man must disappeiir, to show God. 
 The voluntary annihilation of the servant will leave the field free 
 for the master's action. And thus is revealed to the holy priest, 
 with the value of humility, that of humiliation which leads to it. 
 In order to become the apostle of youth, he will be humble; and 
 to become humble, he will accept, nay, he will seek humiliation. 
 
 In this respect, the life of the founder of the Christian schools 
 has nothing to envy the most fervent lovers of abjection. Many 
 Saints may have desired the contempt of the world as much as he 
 did; I doubt if any of them ever obtained it in a manner so com- 
 plete and so continuou.s. Others have passed through alternatives 
 of glory and humiliation; for him, the humiliation was a thing of 
 every day. It takes him at the opening of his career, when he 
 resigns his canonry to devote himself to the founding of Christian 
 schools, and it accompanies him to his death. Others have been 
 despised by tite wicked, and honored by the good; John Baptist 
 de la Salle had the privilege of drawing upon himself and his work 
 the blame and the severity of good men. What do I say? Humi- 
 liation is so thoroughly part of his voaition, that it comes to him 
 from those even who esteem him, and at the very time when they 
 arc full of this esteem and veneration for him. Three eminent 
 priests, celebrated for their piety and zeal, succeed each other in 
 the presbytery of Saint Sulpice, in Paris; the lirst does all he can 
 to entice the founder of the Brothers to his parish; the other two 
 become patrons of his work, but all throe want to substitute their 
 direction for his, make him feel the weight of their authority, and 
 end by repelling him personally in trying to separate him from his 
 children. An Archbishop of Rouen, held in veneration for his 
 great pastoral qualities, possesses in his diocese the Novitiate of 
 the Brothers; he treats with contempt the man who cjmsod tlif 
 field of his Church to blossom forth with the virtues of a new 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 Thebaid. A parish- priest of Rouen dares to accuse the holy man, 
 already on the brink of the grave, of having told a lie; the accusa- 
 tion is believed, and the man of God is overwhelmed with con- 
 tempt; a few days after, he dies, and the first exclamation of his 
 slanderer is : — " The Saint is dead! " He, therefore, looked upon 
 him as a Saint when he slandered him? Mysterious permission 
 of Providence! 
 
 But the contempt which comes to him from without is not 
 enough; John Baptist de la Salle has yet to taste that other bitter- 
 ness — the being despised by his own children! Many of his 
 earliest sons betray him, serve the designs of his enemies, and 
 end by going away from him, and breaking their vows. Amongst 
 those who remain faithful to him, there are some who venerate 
 him as a Saint, and never cease to treat him with irreverence. It 
 looks as if this admirable man brings bad luck to the work he 
 has founded. Wherever he plants it, a storm breaks out against 
 himself personally, and seems to shake his work to pieces. After 
 forty years of efforts, of prodigious labors, after miracles of virtue, 
 penance and zeal, he leaves behind him an uncertain establish- 
 ment, a contested Rule, a Congregation of middling importance. 
 The last years of his life are so stamped with the seal of sufferings, 
 that he feels it necessary to disappear for a time to liide himself 
 from the eyes of all, to become invisible even to his own children, 
 as if to turn aside from them the animosity of which he is the 
 object. In this respect, his end resembles that of St Alphonsus 
 Liguori, but with this difference : humiliation, for Alphonsus, suc- 
 ceeded to a long period during which he was universally respected, 
 whereas, for the founder of the Brothers, it represents an unbroken 
 web, and makes one with his whole life. This is, indeed, a strange 
 preparation for glory. 
 
 Glory overtook him, nevertheless, promptly, brilliantly. Six 
 years after the death of the man of God, his work obtained what 
 he had not dared even to ask for it— Letters patent from the King, 
 
XX BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and a Bull of institution from the Holy See. The Society of school- 
 masters was henceforth a Religious order recognized in the State 
 and in the Church. The Novitiate of Saint Yon took a new devel- 
 opment; resources multiplied without bringing relaxation in their 
 wake, for they came according as they were needed, enough to 
 favor the growth of the work, but in such a way as always to let 
 the Brothers feel the sting of poverty. The eighteenth century 
 was advancing rapidly towards that religious and social crisis 
 which was to mark its close. Christian society was touched to the 
 quick. The philosophei*s began a skilful war agjiinst the Church; 
 a system of tactics is organized against that Church which, in 
 civilizing the world, had put its seal on civilisation. While the 
 Encyclopedists are striving to detach from her minds that were 
 already mature, a still more dangerous conspiracy endeavors to 
 snatch from her hands that key to souls, education. An illus- 
 trious Society, whose name personifies the alliance of religion 
 and human culture, falls under the most tremendous moral as- 
 sault that history records. The Holy See is overcome in its resis- 
 tance, and the enemies of faith boast of having struck down 
 Christian education in striking the Society of Jesus. 
 
 This is the moment when a new Institute carries this education 
 down into the popular classes, and transforms into a collective and 
 permanent effort attempts which had been hitherto isolated and 
 intermittent. On the eve of the day when the pi'ople are to be 
 saluted as " Sovereign, " a disposition of Providence turns to the 
 education of the people the attention of the pastors, which had 
 been too long withdrawn from it, and puts into their hand, as a 
 powerful weapon, a whole army of Christian masters. The name 
 of John Baptist de la Sidle is inseparable from the progress of this 
 work. Thus did God give him glory. 
 
 If, however, the servant of God is glorified in his work, it does 
 not at first seem as if he were to 1)6 so in his ju^rson. Of coui-si*, 
 his memory remains in benediction with the religious family thai 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 he founded. The remembrance of his heroic virtues, his prodi- 
 gious penance, his spirit of prayer, of humility, of poverty, con- 
 tinue to inspire his children, and leave a perfume of sanctity in 
 the souls of his contemporaries. But his name makes very little 
 noise in the frivolous and troubled age that saw him depart hence. 
 When the storm of the Revolution burst, the holy founder 
 revealed his influence with God by the grace of fidelity which he 
 obtained for the members of his Institute. The Brothers, spared 
 awhile, thanks to the popular nature of their self-devotion, were 
 soon after carried away by the whirlwind. Even their lay char- 
 acter is overlooked, and the schismatic oath imposed upon the 
 clergy is exacted from them. Torn from their schools, dispersed, 
 despoiled, they hide their persevering vocation in out-of-the-way 
 villages, devoting themselves to their noble mission as far as they 
 can, while awaiting the day when they will be permitted to re- 
 sume their community hfe. This is assuredly the merit of the 
 sons, but it is also the glory of the fathers. The Saints alone can 
 leave these vigorous stamps upon their work. 
 
 With the opening of the century came an unexpected revival in 
 France of that religious life which ten years of war to the death 
 had not killed in the heart of the nation. 
 
 In the affairs of education, as in those of worship, the Revolution 
 left nothing but ruins. The Brothers were the first called back to 
 restore popular education. The genius of Napoleon defended them 
 against the silly prejudices of his councillors. Admitted to the 
 privileges of the great teaching body that the Emperor was creating, 
 they took at once a place in the public education of France which 
 they have never ceased to fdl with honor. It remained to a new 
 race of Jacobins to drive them from it after eighty years of peaceful 
 and beneficent possession. During this period, the Institute had 
 spread abroad ; it follows the march of the apostolate in distant 
 countries; it preserves the traditions of Christian France in the East, 
 and, by its patriotic services, commands the respect and even the 
 
XXII BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 protection of those who are persecuting it in the mother-country. 
 Here again, the blessed founder is glorified in his work. 
 
 If the work could grow thus without calling public attention to 
 the workman, is it not time we should give up the hope of ever 
 seeing John Baptist de la Salle popular, like his Institute? Yes, 
 if his fame depended solely on the laws which control human 
 celebrities; but here we shall see how God disposes according to 
 his good pleasure of the remembrance of men. 
 
 The filial piety of the Brothers never neglected the memory of 
 their father. Before the end of the eighteenth century, under the 
 generalship of Brother Agathon, steps were taken to introduce the 
 cause of Abbe de la Salle's beatification. We are not aware of the 
 obstacles which prevented the affair from succeeding. The docu- 
 ments which might have thrown light on the subject were des- 
 troyed in the Revolution. Perhaps God did not choose that the 
 age of Voltaire and Jansenism should have the unmerited honor 
 of proclaiming the glory of Saints whose work and example were 
 bequeathed to it by the foregoing age. Whatever be the reason, 
 the fact remains that while the founder of the Brothers died in the 
 first quarter of the last century (1719), the first reading of his cause 
 belongs to the first half of this one (1834). These proceedings, so 
 long delayed, were destined to advance very slowly, even in our 
 time. A decree of the Holy See, given in 1840, bestowed on the 
 founder of the Brothers the title of Venerable. More than thirty 
 years later, in 1873, another decree proclaimed his virtues heroic. 
 It is only since then that the cause progressefl rapidly, thanks to 
 the initiative of Brother Philip, of holy memory, and the particular 
 interest which the immortal Pius IX. took in it. Finally, the 
 Jubilee year of Leo XIII. sees it triumphantly finished with that 
 of a contemporary of Blessed de la Salle, who was like him the 
 founder of an Institution for Christian education*. 
 
 ' RIngsed (iriimon (l« Montfort, founder of the Sisters of Wisdom. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIII 
 
 We find, therefore, four periods of very unequal length, in the 
 history of the posthumous honor paid to this man who was so 
 persistently humiliated. 
 
 From the time of his death to the Revolution, his work grew 
 and prospered, winning the sympathy and esteem of everybody — 
 but, externally at least, people busied themselves not at all con- 
 cerning the person of the founder. 
 
 From the restoration of public worship to 1834, the work con- 
 tinues to rise from its ruins. Issued from an idea of faith, the 
 Institute of the Brothers appears to modern France as the useful 
 auxiliary of the purely philanthropical zeal that it professes for 
 popular education. Both sides desire the same thing, though not 
 from the same motives; they pursue the same object without being 
 animated by the same spirit. Is there any reason to wonder if 
 a certain indifference surrounds the memory of the holy priest? 
 
 But the Brothers have not forgotten the counsel of the pro- 
 phet : — " Look unto the rock ivhence you are hewn, and to the 
 hole of the pit from which you are dug ow<'." They know that all 
 good things come to them through their holy founder with the 
 grace of their vocation, and they suffer from not being able to give 
 utterance in public worship to the sentiments of veneration with 
 which the sublimity of his example inspires them. To Brother 
 Anaclet, tenth successor of Blessed de la Salle, is due the honor of 
 having inaugurated the third period, the one which extends from 
 the introduction of the cause to the decree given in 1873 on the 
 heroic character of his virtues. The work seemed at first to be 
 going on satisfactorily; less than six years after the first steps were 
 taken, the title of Venerable bestowed on their Father rejoiced the 
 hearts of his sons, and lifted up their hopes. Then, everything 
 came to a stand-still. This was, nevertheless, the period of the 
 Institute's greatest expansion. The government of July, not- 
 
 ' Attendite ad petram vndc excisi estis, ct ad cavernam lad de qua prsecisi estis. 
 (Is. LI, 1.) 
 
X.VIV BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 withstanding some opposition, is favorable to its development; 
 M. Guizot gives it a considerable share in the application of the 
 law of 1833. The Republic of 1848 is in entire sympathy with 
 these true friends of the people. The law of 1850 quickens their 
 progress. Under the Second Empire, the struggle begins, first 
 underhand, but more and more openly by degrees; the programme 
 of secularization is sketched out in the councils of the Sovereign, 
 and it soon reveals itself with a growing audacity; but the Broth- 
 ers still keep the public schools, and lind their best defence in 
 their success. The system of fierce competition, invented by 
 the patrons of secularization, turns to the glory of the Christian 
 schools, whose continued triumphs paralyse the ill-will of their 
 enemies. 
 
 Dragged into this pedagogical strife by the necessity to live, 
 compelled to fight for their privilege of doing good in the midst 
 of a competition that gave no truce, the Brothers did not lose sight 
 of the great afi"air going on in Rome for the glorification of their 
 founder. Perhaps they felt less free to promote its progress. But 
 above all. Providence was holding in reserve for a period of more 
 deadly and decisive warfare the supernatural help which the beati- 
 fication of Blessed de la Salle was to afford to their zeal. 
 
 The Empire falls, France is overpowered. Defeat, invasion, civil 
 war, all seem to combine for the consummation of her ruin. Sud- 
 denly, a wave of faith and patriotism sweeps over the country; 
 power passes into the most honest, if not the ablest, hands; it 
 looks for a moment, as if we were on the eve of a great regenera- 
 tion, and we see the inspiration of religion in all the deeds of 
 national life. How could the Brothers, to whom our disastei-s 
 afforded fresh opportunities of self-sacrifice, fail to follow the im- 
 pulse which was iujpelling the soul of Franco to supernatural 
 preoccupations? This is the fourth periml which opens for the 
 memory of their founder. The tlecree of 1873 made the cause 
 lake an onward step, and this progressive movement was not to 
 
IINTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 be slackened until the decree of beatification promulgated by 
 Leo XIII. 
 
 And then ? Has France persevered in the road that leads back 
 to God? Far from itl Never did she pledge herself more freely to 
 those who are luring her to apostasy. A dreadful reaction brought 
 into power not this or that enemy of the Church, but the very 
 sect that has sworn to do away with Christianity. It is no longer 
 a question of substitution of persons; it is a question of the advent 
 of a programme, and this programme is political only in name; its 
 true object is the annihilation of Christian influence in society. 
 The most irreconcilable factions agree on this word of command; 
 the most hostile hands are clasped for this common work; the 
 incompetent become clever in the service of this design, the busy- 
 bodies grow discreet, the undisciplined obedient, and the plan of 
 the destroyer unfolds itself slowly hut surely, under an anony- 
 mous but ceaseless guidance, which knows how to join hypocrisy 
 to cynicism. 
 
 A word was found. A word is a great thing; it goes very far in 
 leading those who do not understand facts : secularization (laicite). 
 This word serves those in quest of votes as a compendious profes- 
 sion of faith. And why should it not gain them a hearing? To 
 be secular, is not to belong to the clergy. All whom the candi- 
 dates address are secular : — " Do you wish to be governed by the 
 priests? " they ask. — " No, " answer the great number; " we will 
 belong to you. " — " Then, you are for secularization? " — " Yes, of 
 course. " — " Very good; then vote for us. " And forthwilh the suc- 
 cessful candidates go to work to fulfil their mandate. The school 
 must be secularized ; and straightway the Brothers, the Sisters, 
 the best friends of the people are sent away. " But that is not 
 what we wanted, " cry the good folk. " My friends, it is seculari- 
 zation. " — Then the books are to be secularized. " What! The 
 name of God is still to be found in some pages of books ! Make 
 haste, and strike it out, whether the page be signed by the good 
 
XXVI BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 La Fontaine, or the immense Hugo. " — " But it is ridiculous to 
 mutilate the language in this fashion! " — " Secularization will have 
 it so. " — The Tribunal must be secularized. The image of Christ" 
 presides over debates where the interests and the life of men arc 
 at stake. The perjurer was wont to tremble, and stuid arrested 
 before that figure; but the atheist declared that it hampered his 
 conscience, so the Crucifix was cast out of the pretorium. — The 
 hospital was next to be secularized. — " But, wretclunl man, it is 
 the asylum of sulTering! Will you banish consolation from it? 
 Will you hand over the poor to the harshness of a mercenary 
 service? " — " What does this matter provided secuIariz.»tion 
 carries the day? " Such is the reign that has flourished for the 
 last ten years. 
 
 They reckoned without the virtue of the Gospel, which strength- 
 ens the persecuted. " When I am weak, then am I strong '. " So 
 spoke St Paul. If we take away human resources from the 
 children of the Church, we compel them to have recourse to the 
 folly of the Cross : — Fadus sum insipiens, vos me coegistis '. An 
 immense efl'ort of faith, charity and sacrifice was destined to raise 
 up Christian schools everywhere under the auspices of liberty. 
 The Brothers are no longer to be the interpreters of public teach- 
 ing, but they will be more than ever the dispensers of Christian 
 teaching. In order to be equal to this task, however, and to fill 
 without faltering this new career of sacrifice, they must draw more 
 deeply from supernatural sources. The successors of BrotluT 
 Philip understood the signs of the times. If firother John Olympe 
 only passes through the genenilship, his pniyei's and his example 
 will give to the Institute an impulse that will precipitate its ad- . 
 vance in the path traced out by its founder. Brother Irlide takes 
 the work in hand, and dies under the buixlen. Bmther Joseph 
 takes up the precious inheritance. Amidst the cares of an admi- 
 
 ' II Cor. XII. iO.= • rbid., il. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXVII 
 
 nistration harassed by difficulties that increased daily, these two 
 Superiors made the spiritual culture of their subjects their first and 
 chief business. The work of the preparatory Novitiate, so dear to 
 the founder, revives and grows under the patronage of his name. 
 Before taking the habit as a novice, the future Christian school- 
 master had already received the spirit of religious perfection. 
 Every step he takes in the career will be marked by a new 
 initiation. Ordinary retreats are not enough. The Religious, al- 
 ready well versed in the duties of his vocation, is frequently called 
 aside into solitude to renew his fervor. Sometimes, before the 
 great profession, he will go through the vigorous discipline of the 
 Spiritual Exercises of thirty days; sometimes, — and there is a 
 great future in store for this institution, — the professed Reli- 
 gious goes to seek in a second novitiate of three months a more 
 perfect acquaintance with the duties of the religious life. Oh, 
 ye who thought to kill the Christian school, ye have labored un- 
 awares at its regeneration ! 
 
 What is this perfecting of the work, if not an inspiration of its 
 founder? When we see his sons possessed more than ever by 
 the supernatural ideas with which he was filled, must we not re- 
 cognize that something great is going to befall his Institute? Can 
 we wonder if his memory becomes more present to all their hearts, 
 and that entreaties are more urgent in hastening the progress of 
 his cause? God could not remain deaf to these pious longings. 
 The Roman suit is hurried to its completion, the miracles exacted 
 by the prudence of the Holy See come victoriously out of the most 
 rigorous examinations. The beatification of Blessed de la Salle is 
 to be the reward, as it was one of the causes of the great effort 
 after sanctification which made the sons worthy of their father. 
 
 Were we wrong in saying at the beginning : Here is a march 
 of events which contradicts the laws of history ? Here is a glory 
 which after more than a hundred and sixty years renews its lustre. 
 Here is an artisan who seemed to be almost eclipsed by his work 
 
XXVIII BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and who, in the perfecting of this work under the strokes of trial, 
 finds a new celebrity. The finger of God was there, and it be- 
 hoved us first to show it. 
 
 It now remains to us to point out the consequences of the pon- 
 tifical deed whicli raises the founder of the Christian schools to 
 the altai-s. This elevation crowns the glory of the humble priest; 
 it opens a new source of benefits to contemporjiry .society. 
 
 It is, in the first plaw, a glorification which surpasses all human 
 means. The humility of the workman made the fecundity of the 
 work, a fecundity as supernatural as the source whence it springs. 
 Here, in his turn, the workman finds the measure of his glory. 
 The voice of the Vicar of Jesus Christ holds up Blessed de la Salle 
 to the homage, the confidence, the invocation of his sons. But 
 these sons are cverpvhere. There are first those twelve thousand 
 Religious all over the world, from Paris to New York, from Madrid 
 to Constantinople, from London to Hong-Kong, dispensing Christ- 
 ian teaching; there are then those three thousand novices, in the 
 mother-house and the preparatory novitiates, who have placed 
 their budding vocations under the patronage of the holy founder; 
 there are lastly those three hundred thousand pupils and groups 
 of young men, those a.ssociations of prayer and zeal which supply 
 the schools and the works of the Brothers with their innumerable 
 clients. These make many voices. And henceforth all will pro- 
 claim the glory of him whom they now cdl Blessed : — Beatum 
 me dicent omnes generationes. Praise, gratitude, prayer, will as- 
 cend from every part of the globe to him who on earth sought 
 and found nothing but obscurity. The Church, assuredly, knows 
 how to glorify her Saints. 
 
 More than this— the glory she confers is not, like human glory, 
 an empty noise, a barren light. In multiplying the honors rend- 
 ered to the Saints of fiod, she multiplies their Iwnefits to men. 
 The principal cfTect of the beatifi&'ition of a founder is to give to 
 his work a new consecration which strengthens it. The good it 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 does then spreads to the great benefit of society. Let us consider 
 the exaltation of Blessed de la Salle from this point of view. 
 
 Above all, it is a moral benefit, the benefit of example. The 
 glory of the holy priest is the reward of his sacrifice ; and what 
 ■vyas the nature of this sacrifice ? One word suffices to define it — 
 it was the sacrifice of self to the good of the lowly. This is the 
 great lesson that our age stands in need of. Never, perhaps, was 
 the cause of the people, the disinherited ones, so loudly pleaded; 
 never was the pretended injustice of social inequality denounced 
 more pompously; never was the power of education to raise the 
 condition of the lowly more proudly vaunted. But who is it that 
 makes these fine speeches? Ambitious men and egotists, who 
 only flatter the people to make use of them, who only stigmatise 
 liches in order to push up to the places where they can be most 
 easily acquired, who only cry up science to give weight to the 
 false promises with which they beguile the multitude. This is 
 how fame and fortune are made; the public conscience is shaken 
 by these things; it wants to be steadied by pure and grand 
 examples, which will restore their true meaning to words, and 
 place before its eyes the image of real self-sacrifice. This is the 
 salutary work which the Pope has just achieved. We must recog- 
 nize in it this first benefit. 
 
 The second is more apparent— it is a powerful encouragement 
 given to the most important work of our day, free Christian edu- 
 cation. 
 
 John Baptist de la Salle had already in the past deserved well 
 of the community. When popular education was the object of 
 every one's desire, but while various efforts in many places were 
 paralysed by innumerable obstacles, it was he who received from 
 God, with the mission, the grace to succeed where so many others 
 had failed. It was he who took in hand the hardest part of the 
 task, the instruction of little boys, leaving to others the easier 
 work of teaching girls. He was the first who formed, not a local, 
 
XXX BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 epiiemeral association, but a permanent and universal society of 
 Christian teachers, bound by vow to the most ungrateful as well 
 as the most useful of labors. If we would measure the extent 
 of this social benefit, we must not look merely at the Institute 
 founded by Blessed de la Salle, important as that is; we must add 
 to this the sum total of good accomplished by so many other con- 
 gregations of Brothers whom the sons of Blessed de la Salle look 
 upon, not as rivals, but as fellow -workers, whose rules and tradi- 
 tions are borrowed chiefly from the foundation of the Canon of 
 Rheims. Even the Congregations of women are indebted to him, 
 many of them owing their existence to that great movement of 
 popular education which he inaugurated. 
 
 This is what the past owes to Blessed de la Salle. The future 
 will owe him still more. His elevation will multiply Christian 
 schools, the great want of our age. These schools can only be 
 opened and kept open to-day under the auspices of liberty, and 
 by the virtue of sacrifice. In proportion as an impious society 
 the more determinately separates religion from education, the 
 closer becomes the bond between these two forces in the heart 
 of Christian society, and from this one other unions and recon- 
 ciliations result. 
 
 The popular school has nothing to depend upon in our days 
 but alms, and it is the same impulse of faith which bids the poor 
 men choose the Christian schools for his son, and prompts the rich 
 man to secure the benefit of it to both. Nevertheless the fidelity 
 of the poor in clinging to the Christian schools, and the generosity 
 of the rich in keeping them up, cannot with their combined 
 strength hold out against the overpowering competition of the 
 impious schools, richly endowed as they are at the expense of Hie 
 rate-payers. Good masters, carefully trained to their work, are 
 the essential need, masters initiated daily to the pr(»grcss of the 
 methods, capable, in a word, of justifying by the fruits of their 
 teaching the confidence that has been placed in them. Primary, 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 technical and professional education : all this the Christian schools 
 must be able to provide; they must assume every form in order 
 to satisfy the demands of a society ceaselessly striving after material 
 improvement. If that society commits the grievous fault of losing 
 sight of moral improvement, the Christian schools are there to 
 repair the guilty omission; but, in order to obtain influence for 
 this essential part of their mission, they must prove themselves 
 the successful rivals of the Godless schools. 
 
 There is, therefore, no denying it : the moral and social fu- 
 ture of our country depends on the development of the Christian 
 schools; but the excellence of the masters constitutes the first 
 condition of the development of these schools. In order to secure 
 these masters, the Church addresses herself to the Congregations — 
 she finds them always ready to follow her appeal, and first in the 
 order of popular teaching comes the Institute of Blessed de la 
 Salle. First by the number of its members, by the importance 
 and variety of its establishments, by the value of its methods, it 
 serves as an example and an encouragement to others, it precedes 
 and accompanies them on the road of an enlightened self-sacrifice 
 which draws its inspiration from love of souls, but whose success 
 pedagogical knowledge alone can ensure. If this army of school- 
 masters had not stood ranged in battle at the moment when, first 
 Belgium, and then France, saw the constituted authorities driving 
 out religion from the schools, it was all over with Christian edu- 
 cation in both countries. 
 
 " What should we have done without the Brothers? " said the 
 venerable Cardinal Guibert a few days before his death. These 
 few words express the feeling of all who are interested in our 
 schools, of all those who are not indifferent to the spiritual fate 
 of the children of the people, that is to say of all Christians. And 
 because the glorification of the holy founder of the Brothers pro- 
 mises to his Institute and to all similar congregations an interior 
 renovation of piety and zeal, an exterior increase of importance 
 
XXXII BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and prosperity, because oi this, all the children of God rejoice, 
 and thank the Head of the Church for having given this encour- 
 agement to their charity, for having laid in the bosom of a 
 work, necessai7 above all others, this new germ of supernatural 
 vitality. All feel strengthened by this striking homage paid to 
 the maternal solicitude of the Church. In the teeth of the inso- 
 lent pretentions of a society that boasts of having erected general 
 educjition on the ruins of superstition, it is good to see placed 
 on high the majestic figure of the man who, one hundred years 
 before the French Revolution, drew from his faitli the inspiration 
 of the great work of popular education; who stooped to lift up, 
 and cherish, and instruct the poor man's child fifty yeai-s before 
 Voltaire doomed him to " a spur and hay. " Twelve years ago, 
 the city of Rouen saw a statue of the holy founder rise on one of 
 its public squares. To-day a more stupendous and enduring mo- 
 nument is erected to his memory by the hands of the Sovereign 
 Pontiff. No place, no time will hold captive this glory which has 
 been consecrated by him whose decrees are ratified by Christ 
 in heaven. 
 
 This glorifiaition is an act of justice. It re-establishes the 
 rights of history; it avenges worthily the Christian masters, basely 
 slandered by malignant hate. It rewards their benefactors for the 
 sacrifices of which they have been so lavish. It consoles all the 
 children of the Church in the bitterness of the trials through 
 which they are passing. It brings them Ihe hope of a brighter 
 future : the reign of iniquity does not last for ever. 
 
 M. D'HULST, 
 
 Htctor or llM Ctlbolk iMlitaU o( Pari* 
 
BOOK THE FIRST 
 
 PRIMARY EDUCATION 
 
 BEFORE 
 
 THE TIME OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE 
 
ULciius, )iixthi4^-c ul iUeiscU Ue la S^c. — Old bouses od tUe Market-PUce. 
 — Ormwn tqr Hubert Clerget , eosnred by Mt-anUe. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SAINTS IX HISTORY; MISSION OF BLESSED JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Saints, 
 on this 
 
 ILL the day ever come when 
 history will be written by the 
 lives of the Saints, not merely 
 the religious history of souls, but 
 the political liistory of peoples, 
 whose true leaders have been 
 the Saints? For it is the Saints, 
 and the Saints only, who see 
 through the affairs of this world ; 
 it is they whose words, once 
 uttered, keep on reverberating 
 for ever; whose passage amongst 
 men is not obliterated by the 
 ever-moving wave of time; the 
 
 and the Saints only, realize fully the designs of Providence 
 
 world. 
 
ItLHSSEU DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Instead of working on the outside, the Saints work within. 
 Tliey transform souls : first, their own, then, by their example, 
 the souls around them, and finally, by their writings, those of 
 generations yet unborn, thus exercising an undying inlluencc on 
 civilization. 
 
 Is it possible to ignore these great principles in France? Is 
 there any other principle that can lead us through the maze of 
 those facts that make up our national history? At every epoch, a 
 Saint appears, and rises above his contemporaries: he sees farther 
 than they do; he judges all things from a higher sland-point. 
 A strange blessing follows upon his every word and action. 
 When time has swept away the achievements of his contempo- 
 raries, his works remain, and contribute to the greatness of his 
 country. The history of Christian France begins with St Denis, 
 and is carried on uninterruptedly to our day. We have first the 
 Martyrs, who plant the faith with their blood; the Doctors, who 
 defend it by their writings; the Solitaries, who go forth into the de- 
 sert to practice its precepts and its counsels. In the fourth cen- 
 tury, St Martin evangelizes the .semi-barbarous people around him, 
 and astonishes them by his miracles. In the fifth century, St Gene- 
 vieve saves this same people by her prayers. Then Clovis advances 
 with bis Franks, and his wife, ;i saint, converts him; a saintly Hishop 
 baptizes him, and with him his whole army. Thus was born France, 
 the great Christian nation, and the sign of the sacrament will 
 never disappear from her bn)W. Innumerable Saints soon arise on 
 all sides, like so many new stars in the firmament : saintly Bishops, 
 founders of dioceses; saintly Monks, who.se cells are destined to be 
 the cradles of many of our towns; saintly V'irgins and Widows, 
 whose traditions are as the ftjuntain whence the women of Franco 
 have ever since drawn their virtues. Here, we have St Gregory 
 of Tours, who writes the first Clnislian annals of the nation; then' 
 we see St Hadegonde, the great (Jueen of the sixth century, who 
 casts off the royal purple to clothe herself in the monastic habit ; 
 in the seventh century, we have St Eloi, St Owen, SI Fantn, 
 St Leger, ministers and councilloi-s of Kings, and after them 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 St Bathilde, the slave who became a Queen, and the Queen who 
 became a Saint. 
 
 Blessed Jolm Baptist de la Salle. — Statue of Oliva, iu the c<nii-t-yard of tlic mother-house of Paris, 
 — Drawn by Edouard Qaruicr, engraved by Chaiion. 
 
 Then comes the age of Charlemagne, and the heroic foundations 
 of a Christian constitution are laid in Europe. In the tenth cen- 
 tury, when the Carlovingian royalty is crumbling to pieces, Odilon, 
 
BLESSED HE LA SALLE. 
 
 Abbot and law -maker of Cluny, is raising monasteries where 
 whatsoever deserves not to perish of the civilization of that period 
 will be preserved. In the eleventh century, we see St Bruno 
 choosing the mountain solitudes of Grenoble in preference to the 
 canonry of Rheims. In the twelfth century stands forth St Bernard, 
 the apostle of the Crusades, to be followed in the thirteenth by 
 St Louis, the ideal type of the Christian King, and the patron of 
 French royalty. 
 
 It would be impossible to enumerate the names and the works 
 of all the Saints of France. Open our national history' al every 
 page, and in every century you will find the Saint that has stamped 
 it with the seal of his genius and his virtues. And outside these 
 giants, the lustre of whose fame defies alike the ingratitude of man- 
 kind and the hatred of the ungodly, we find a countless multitude 
 of obscure labourers whose names are known only to God. The 
 work they did is forgotten, but the result of that work remains. 
 Faith had to be dropped seed by seed into souls. For this, thous- 
 ands of sowers were needed, and they were found, and sent forth 
 scattering the seed, and transmitting their unfinished task from 
 generation to generation; some working singly under the inspiration 
 of grace, others working in groups; some devoting themselves to 
 evangelizing the poor, others to nursing the sick, others again to 
 teaching tlie children of the people. Those who wanted help called 
 in their brethren, who answered the appeal, and modestly set to 
 do the task allotted them, accepting direction. Thus were founded 
 those innumerable religious families who, despite a hundred years 
 of revolution and persecution, are still ploughing and tilling the 
 soil of France. 
 
 We aie about to relate the origin of one of those religious fa- 
 milies, one of the humblest in its aim, one of the most powerful 
 by its works : that of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Its 
 foimder was a Saint; we may not, it is true, as yet confer that 
 title upon him absolutely; but the process of his canonization, 
 still pending, has proclaimed his virtues heroic, and we therefore 
 hope to see him soon placed by the Church upon her altars. 
 
University'' 
 
 *Pf 
 
 Califor^' 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORK HIS TIME. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle is one of the great figures of his time. He 
 was born at the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV. Just as 
 the King was at the zenith of his glory, Blessed de la Salle was 
 preparing in silence and retirement the work whose future de- 
 velopment he was assuredly far from fore-seeing. The founda- 
 tions of it were laid in the very year when the King, blinded by 
 pride, was contesting the privileges of the Sovereign Pontiff. A 
 humble priest had set his heart and mind on teaching the Chri- 
 stian doctrine to the people just when the rulers of the people 
 were beginning to forget or to deny its most vital truths. While 
 the Revolution, which was to overturn the throne, was steadily 
 advancing, this obscure priest was building up with his strong 
 hands another monument which, to this very hour, has defied 
 the Revolution itself, and continues to shelter thousands of child- 
 ren, and to teach them to know God and to love France. 
 
 We see around us men who are loudly proclaiming the right 
 of the State to bring up children and to impose its own teaching 
 on them, in spite of their parents, in spite of the Church. One 
 would fancy, to hear them, that they first invented schools, that 
 hitherto the people have grown up in dense ignorance, and now, 
 for the first time, are having a book put into their hands. This 
 is one of those monstrous and absurd calumnies that it behoves 
 us to fight against. Even in minds that pass for enlightened, 
 we are constantly coming upon errors which must be refuted, 
 not by words, but by actions. We are called upon to prove, 
 for instance, that, long before the State gave a thought to the 
 subject, the Church was actively devoting herself to the education 
 of the children of the people. We must prove to demonstration 
 that the Church had opened schools, drawn up plans, written 
 books, dictated statutes, founded institutions, formed teachers, 
 and created in all its parts that system of popular education, 
 the initiative of which her adversaries would now fain attribute 
 to themselves. These innovators are simply plagiarists. They 
 are vaunting as their own invention what has been practised 
 by the Church for centuries past; and it would be easy to prove, 
 
KLKSSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 as we shall do later on, that the only effect of their inter\'ention 
 in these works has been to check their development. 
 
 It is impossible to mention popular education without the 
 name of Blessed de la Salle at once presenting itself to our 
 mind. Like Christopher Columbus, he belongs to a new world. 
 He too was an explorer. It was his glory to discover in the un- 
 reclaimed solitudes of our society whole populations that were 
 plunged in the darkest ignorance, savage tribes of another sort 
 who had to be led out into the light. There were, of course, 
 schools before his time, and there are other schools of a later 
 (late that were not founded by him ; but he is none the less the 
 central luminary of popular education, the architect appointed 
 by God to build that portion of his Church. Before his time we 
 see zealous workmen, but labouring without unity; snatching 
 isolated souls from ignorance, but not attempting to rescue the 
 masses. Those who came after him borrowed his ideas, and 
 adopted his plans. AU the popular schools spread over the face 
 of Europe are modelled on the type he created, and all that is best 
 in our educational laws is but an imperfect imitation of his rules. 
 He was the first to gather school- masters about him, and he cast 
 them into a mould which was none other than that of evangel- 
 ical perfection. He requires that they renounce their name, 
 their family, their fortune, even their will, in order to give them- 
 selves up more completely to childhood. Before presenting these 
 precepts to them, he puts them in practice himself. In order to 
 enter the Church, he renounces the honors of the world, where 
 his birth and his talents prepared him an enviable place. Even 
 in the Church, he Hies from the honors that pursue him, and 
 chooses in their stead this despised calling. First, canon of Rheims, 
 then a humble school -master, he eventually becomes the head 
 of a family which reckons innumerable children, and spreads its 
 powerful branches over the whole world. 
 
 He was the first to found elementary pedagogiail teaching. 
 He constituted himself the law-maker of that mutinous Utile 
 people who, while still Kicking the reason of men, have all their 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 passions. He mingled in wise proportions piety and science, 
 wisdom and strength, rewards and punishments, and drew up a 
 
 Cauon IJIain , first historian of Blessed de la Salle, whose narrative serves as the basis of this history. 
 — Engraving of Meaulle, from a contemporary print. 
 
 constitution so perfect, that it has stood for two hundred years 
 without undergoing any notable modification, lie found out and 
 imparted to others the secret of conveying the first rudiments of 
 knowledge to the most rebellious minds; he discovered and im- 
 
iO BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 parted the far more difficult art of conquering the most indocile 
 natures, and melting; tlie hardest hearts. 
 
 He was the first to write for ignorant little children. This learn- 
 ed Doctor, this theolo}?ian, contemporary of Bossuet and Fenclon, 
 does not disdain to draw up and correct Alphabets, Catechisms, 
 Manuals of Christian politeness — the smallest and humblest 
 class-books of the poor man's child, but at the same time books 
 that were destined to reckon hundreds of editions and millions 
 of readers, and to exercise the mightiest influence on universal 
 civilization. 
 
 He was the first to make French the basis of primary education, 
 and he thus contributed largely to the knowledge and spread of the 
 national tongue. In prohibiting the study of Latin to his disciples, 
 he binds them for ever to the primary schools, and prevents these 
 from eventually transforming themselves into colleges, and so 
 once more leaving the people without educational establishments. 
 He is, therefore, the creator, the true creator, of that primary edu- 
 cation that we hear so much cried up in our own day. And he 
 is at the same time its organizer. The greater part of the laws 
 that govern it have been borrowed from his conceptions and his 
 rules. He found these by intuition, he put them on trial, and 
 they developed more or less, according to the intelligence of his 
 contemporaries, whom his genius outstripped. 
 
 He was the first to found, not only schools, but a teaching 
 body of Christian masters, novitiates to train them, authorities to 
 guide them, asylums to receive them when failing health no lon- 
 ger permitted them to work. To these principal foundations, he 
 adds schools for children whose families cannot keep them at 
 home ; reformatories for bad children ; Sunday schools for chihl- 
 rcn in workshops, and finally seminaries for lay-masters, types of 
 our future Normal schools. In fact, he endowed France with a 
 sort of primary University, complete in all its parts, and antici- 
 pating by two hundred years that of our time, which it surpasses 
 in perfection. Not alone has he given schools to France, but his 
 disciples have given them to the whole world, thus assuring to 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 11 
 
 his country that glory of which all the Christian nations are 
 jealous. 
 
 Such IS the man whose history we have undertaken to write. 
 
 His gentle and majestic figure stands out at the close of the 
 seventeenth century. He crowns its splendour by works purer in 
 the sight of the Church than those of Bossuet, more lasting than 
 the conquests of Louis XIV., and he opens that eighteenth century 
 which, but for him and his spiritual children, would have proved 
 still more fatal to the good and the true. The schools that he 
 founded are so many lightning-conductors which have preserved 
 French society from complete and irreparable ruin. He saved 
 France, and it is the duty of France to express to him her deep 
 and enduring gratitude. 
 
Paria, seat of the Institute uf i.,t. iii^.w^i^ of the CliristiaD Schuu.^ i.HUiM<.u io Ulesscd de la Salk>. 
 
 In the back-ground, Notre-Dame, whose Chapter held full authority over the schools, 
 
 — DrawD by Hubert Clerget, engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF THE MIDDLE AGES, AND IN PARTICULAR 
 
 THOSE OF PARIS. 
 
 N order thoroughly to understand 
 the mission of Blessed de la Salle, 
 it is necessary to know what the 
 education of the people was at the 
 period when he founded his Institute ; 
 a brief sketch of its history will not, 
 therefore, be out of place here. This 
 will enable us to see what the Church 
 had done before his time, what yet 
 remained to be done, and thus we 
 shall understand at a glance the faci- 
 lities and the obstacles which the 
 
 ancient institutions brought to the new foundation. 
 
 Schools are as old as the Church. She received from her Divine 
 
 Founder the command to teach, and she has ever obeyed it zeal- 
 
U BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ously; in all ages, she has taught the eldere and the little ones, 
 the learned and the ignorant, the rich and the poor. The de- 
 positary of trutli, she spreads it ahundantly all over the world, 
 and adapts it to the intelligence of those whom she addresses. 
 But, following the example of Him who said — " Suffer little 
 childien to come unto me," the lowly ones are the scholars that 
 she loves hest. The evangelization of the poor is one of the signs 
 of the mission of the Church. She has never forgotten this duty, 
 and the history of schools for the children of the people, if it 
 were complete, would begin with the very origin of Christianity 
 
 The instruction of childhood is the never-failing means em- 
 ployed by the Church to carry the light of Christian truth and 
 morality into the midst of nations. It is the weapon used by 
 every missionary, whether he is evangelizing Denmark in the 
 ninth century ', or preaching to the savages of central Mrica in 
 our own day. 
 
 To found schools : such .was the great work undertaken by the 
 first bishops of Gaul. From the council of Vaison, which, in r)21>, 
 requests the pastors of all the parishes to receive young men into 
 their houses, and educate them, in order to prepare for themselves 
 worthy successors, innumerable orders of the same kind emanate 
 from the inspired lips of the heads of the Church. 
 
 Without stopping to recall the Capitularies with which an ar- 
 dent faith inspired Charlemagne in 789 and Louis le Delx)nnaire 
 in 823, we may mention the command laid by Theodulfus in 797 
 on all the priests of his diocese to give instructions gratis to the 
 children of the hamlets and villages. That famous decree of the 
 Bishop of Orleans had such weight that, a century later, the 
 Bishop of Verceil * reproduced it verbatim. The councils of 
 ChAlonsand Mayence in 813, the bishops of Amiens towards 8il, 
 of Rheims in 852, of Tours in 858, imitate this noble example, and 
 are actively engaged in organizing schools in all the parishes. 
 
 There are four kinds of schools : those where the country parish- 
 
 ' Annales orilinis xmcli Benedieli, 1. 11, p. 5501. = ' Mignc, Pt^lrologi« laline, 
 I. CX.WIV, p. 'lO. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE MIS TIME. 15 
 
 priests * had the village children taught gratuitously, and instructed 
 in the first rudiments of the faith; those of the bishoprics and 
 the abbeys where a higher education was given, and which would 
 seem to have been more specially adapted to young clerical scho- 
 lars, and children destined to ecclesiastical dignities; finally, the 
 school of the palace, which was established in the very palace 
 of the Emperor, who called thither the most learned men of his 
 empire, and took part himself in their labors. 
 
 The documents to which we have referred dwell chiefly on the 
 necessity for securing the instruction of clerical students, and 
 point especially to secondary education; but as the Abbe Allain* 
 shrewdly remarks, such a diffusion of literary studies suggests that 
 the young men's minds had already received some elementary 
 culture. It is hardly necessary to say here that later all the 
 colleges of the various towns in France had schools ^ for the 
 younger children attached to them. And there can be little doubt 
 but that this was always the case. 
 
 Even if the character of the schools had been purely ecclesia- 
 stical, they would none the less have had a deep and salutary effect 
 upon the people, for they were open to children of all conditions. 
 
 The description of the Abbey lands of St Victor, at Marseilles, 
 drawn up in 814, contains frequent mention of the sons of farmers 
 who were then in the school \ and the terms of the council of 
 Vaison and of the council of Limoges, in 1031 % tend to prove 
 that the hypothesis of a student refusing to embrace the priesthood, 
 after having profited by the teaching of the schools, was fully 
 admitted. Neither must we imagine that the schools attached 
 to the country churches of this period were simply seminaries. 
 Little girls frequented them, and the Bishop of Soissons, in 889, 
 orders that they be kept apart from the boys ". 
 
 ' Choron (2^' fascic, p. 13cl61) quotes two texts where Flodoarcl speaks of llie school 
 kept by the parisli-piiest in the village of Gernicourt, and by a cleiic in the village of 
 Bazochcs. :='■' L' Instruction primaire en France avanl la Revolution, Paris, in-18, 
 1881, p. 23. := ^ Buisson, p. 2751, College do Montfort - I'Amaurij aic xvi" siecle. = 
 * Gu6rard, Cartulaire de Saint-Victor, I. II, p. 634 and following. = ■' Buisson, p. 1694. 
 =; " Constitution of Riculfus, art. xvi.; Choron, 2'' fascic, p. 62. 
 
16 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 In the ninth and tenth centuries, during the invasions of the 
 Normans, a great many schools were destroyed in France, and 
 writing liad become a lost art amongst laymen. When our fa- 
 ther's wanted to draw out maps, they liad recourse to the science 
 of tlie monks and the clerical students, and there was a class of 
 scribes who made a livelihood by going to fairs and markets, and 
 drawing up contracts of sale and barter '. 
 
 But, meanwhile, the Church was not slumbering. Even through- 
 out this stormy period, there were schools; we come upon them 
 everywhere. There was a girls' school at Pont-de-l'Arche in 1016, 
 and a boys' school two years later *. Guibert de Nogent assures 
 us that schools which, in his youth, had fallen into complete 
 decay, gained a new life at the beginning of the twelfth century. 
 It was no longer in the monasteries alone that children were 
 taught to write on tablets overlaid with wax ' ; in the towns, 
 they were sent to school at eight years of age — 
 
 Quant ot xu ans, moult fu biax bacheler 
 Et k I'acoUe fu bien quatre ans passez' — ... 
 
 Old documents have preserved traces of the establishments 
 devoted to the instruction of childhood at Brie in lOOG, at Pornic 
 in 1113, at F.erte- Gaucher in 1147, at Braine in 1173, at Gisors 
 in 1180, at Mezieres in 1188, and lastly at Soissons. where the 
 school was kept by a Sister'. 
 
 At the third Council of Lateran, which was held in 1170, under 
 Pope Alexander HI., the following decree was solemnly proclaimed, 
 and shed everywhere a great light : — " The Churcli of God, being, 
 like a good and tender mctther, obliged to provide for the spiritual 
 and corporal wants of the poor, is desirous of procuring for child- 
 ren destitute of pecuniary resources the means of learning to 
 read and of advancing in the study of lettei-s, and ordains that 
 
 ' Bibl. nat., Iat.3258, r>7l,v». =« Ruisson, p. 2111.= ' Orderic Vital, I. HI, chap.vii. 
 Cr. L6on Oaulier, la Chevalerie, p. 145, n. 2. = * " When he hod atlflinod his twelfth year 
 he was a fUll-blown bachelor... mid had passed four ,vear» nl school. " Dibl. nat., ft. 19160, 
 f 3. Cf. la Chevalerie, p. 14V = ' Buisson, pp. 1(», 279, 2111; Choron, 3» fcwic., 
 pp. 17, lU, 67. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 17 
 
 every cathedral church shall have a master who will Instruct 
 gratis the ecclesiastical students of that church and the poor schol- 
 ars, and that a grant be assigned him which, by sufficing for his 
 maintainance, will thus open the door of the school to studious 
 
 Td^^NIEWTtF 
 
 81 Nicholas, patron of scholars during the Midillc" Age? and one of the Saints most in honor in the Institute of tlie BrotJiers. 
 — Drawn by Edoimrd Garnicr, taken from a document in the Print department of tlie National Library; 
 
 cnfrravcd by F, Cabarteux. 
 
 youths. A free school shall be re-opened in the other churches and 
 monasteries where there formerly existed funds for this purpose. 
 Nobody shall exact any remuneration, either for the licence 
 to teach, or for the exercise ot teaching, even if his right should 
 be based on custom; and the licence to keep a school shall not be 
 
 2 
 
18 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 refused to any person who can justify his capacity for it. Offend- 
 ers shall be deprived of their ecclesiastical living, for " it is meet 
 that, in the Church of God, he who hinders the progress of the 
 churches by selling, from cupidity, the permission to teach, should 
 be himself deprived of the fruit of his labor. " 
 
 The fourth Lateran Council, held in 1215, under Innocent III, 
 renewed these noble decrees, which were carried out, as far as the 
 wars and disturbances of those troubled periods permitted it. 
 Already, in 1176, William, Archbishop of Sens, keeping zealous 
 guard over the right methods, forbade grammar schools, or schools 
 for singing and for psaltery, without the permission of the pre- 
 centor '. In 1235, Pierre de Colmieu, Archbishop of Rouen, issued 
 a decree whereby priests were bade " to frequently warn their 
 parishioners to have their children carefully instructed, and to see 
 that they attended school assiduously. " On the other hand, the 
 synodal statutes of Troyes, first drawn up at this period, are 
 equally urgent with the faithful concerning the instruction of their 
 children '. These incessant recommendations were not thrown 
 away. Already, in the twelfth century, schools begin to reappear, 
 not only in the towns, but in the runil districts; and they go on 
 multiplying and increasing in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen- 
 turies. Parliaments first begin to be stationary ; universities arc 
 founded, paper is cheaper and commoner, and the art of writ- 
 ing attracts numerous disciples. It would be diflicult to present 
 an exact account of the state of primary instruction in France at 
 this period. A certain number of documents, from which accurate 
 statistics might be drawn up, have been destroyed. To make up 
 for these, it is necessary to institute wide and close enquiries, and 
 to carry them out in every department by the help of old archives, 
 parish registers, forgotten documents hid away in notaries' offices; 
 searching every record, in fact, where any trace has Imcn preserved 
 of what the people knew at that time, and of the efforts that were 
 being made to teach them. Be it as it may, this search has been suc- 
 
 * Lhuillier, I'Emciijuctnetil primaire ilauB la lirie, Meaux, 1884. p. 9. = * Babeau , 
 V Inslruciion primaire dam let campayne$, p. 8. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 19 
 
 cessfuUy followed up on many points : it has triumphantly proved 
 that primary instruction does not date from yesterday, as some would 
 have us believe, but that it has been in all ages the object of the 
 anxious care of the Church and the pious efforts of our fore-fathers. 
 
 This instruction varied in kind and degree — there is no 
 doubt — considerably according to places, and according to epochs : 
 there are, for instance, fewer schools to enumerate for the Middle 
 Ages than for the Renaissance ; but may we not account for this 
 in many places by the disappearance of deeds which would have 
 perpetuated the remembrance of them? If certain schools only 
 appear in the seventeenth century, is it not often because the ar- 
 chives of the Communes only date from that period? And must 
 not those establishments have been multiplied beyond reckoning 
 for such frequent mention of them to be found, as we shall show, 
 in documents completely foreign to the subject? If these dis- 
 coveries, generally due to chance, prove that the children of little 
 hamlets were carefully instructed, may we not reasonably conclude 
 that in the more important of the surrounding neighborhoods, the 
 children were not given over to ignorance, although the documents 
 to prove this are not extant ' ? 
 
 According to M. Leopold Delisle, " numerous documents prove 
 abundantly that rural schools were multiplied throughout Nor- 
 mandy during the thirteenth century and those following it^ " 
 In 1212, for instance, the Religious of Saint Catherine claimed the right 
 of nominating the school-master of Pavilly ' in that region. In Brie, 
 at the same date, this prerogative is reserved to the pastor of the vil- 
 lage of Naud, where is still to be seen the tomb-stone of Evrat Polet, 
 " cleric and school-master of Samoy, " in the thirteenth century *. 
 
 We can prove similar facts all over France; at Chdteau- 
 briant, at Chdteau-Thierry in 1222, at Evreux in 1292, at Flavigny 
 in 1272, at Jaligny and Nailly in 1256, at Orange in 1208, at Pont- 
 sur-Yonne, at Quimper in 1260, at Saint-Apollinaire in 1216, at 
 Tonnerre in 1220, at Troyes, at Villeneuve-l'Archeveque, at Ville- 
 
 ' Cf. R. de Beaurepaire, t. I, p. 32. = ' £tudes sur la condition de la classe agricole 
 en Normandie, p. 176. = ^06 Beaurepaiie, t. I, p. 27. = * Lhuillier, pp. 13 et 14. 
 
20 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 neuve-la-Guyard in 4276, at Villeneuve-le-Roi '. Several pas- 
 sages, moreover, prove how familiar the idea of the primary school 
 was to the men of tlie thirteenth century. The author of the Hfe 
 of WilHam of Bellevesvre, Bishop of CliSh)n, towards the end of 
 the thirteentli century, relates that, '' if there were any young man 
 in whose mind certain flames of honesty slione out, and who could 
 not he provided with a living, the Bishop appointed him master 
 or teacher, in one of the schools of the towns or the villages *. " 
 The tradesmen and artisans of Limousin often put it in their will 
 that their children should he sent to school'; the preachers of 
 the period make frequent allusion, as to a fact of daily occurrence, 
 to little boys going to school with their Alphabet swung over their 
 shoulder * ; and it is easy to see that the eduaition of girls was 
 equally cared for. 
 
 Independently of those who were brought up in convents, and 
 who generally belonged to the aristocracy ', the little girls of country 
 parts had village school -mistresses who taught them to read. 
 Thomas of Cantimpre relates the following anecdote : — "A young 
 peasant girl besought her father to buy her a psalter, that she 
 might learn to read. The father not being rich enough to afford 
 the expense, the child was in despair, when the Blessed Virgin ap- 
 peared to her in a dream, holding two psalters in her hands. En- 
 couraged by this vision, she again entreated her father — ' My 
 child, ' he said, ' go every Sunday to the school -mistress, beg of 
 her to give you some lessons, and try by your zeal to merit one of 
 those psalters you saw in the Blessed Virgin's hand. ' The little 
 one obeyed him, and her school -fellows, seeing her ejirnestness, 
 clubbed together to procure her the book she so much desired'. " 
 
 In the fourteenth century, documents become more numerous, 
 
 ' Buisson, pp. 54, 139, 273, 279, 736, 1092. 2111, 2933; Choron, 3>' fawic, p. 23: 
 Mallre, p. 36; Quanlin, p. U. = « Ualoull, p. 9. = ^ Buisson, p. 1594. = • Lecoy de U 
 Marchc, la Chaire fratifaise au moycn Aye, p. 428. = ' Dedonr I't-nclos de rabotc — Fu 
 la deiiioisfllc nuric. — Quant ele avoil pass* »el anz — De sun at'-, fu bele e (rranz. — D*» 
 i|u'flo pol ruisun L-iitendn-, — L'abtrsso la foVl appicndrc. .Mario de I-'raiici-, U- Fitii»iir, 
 edll. Sucbier, verse 231, aiul Tollowing. = • We liorrow this anecdote (Voin M. I.eeo.v 
 de la Marche, lu SocU'le uu xuf siecle, iii-12, Paris, WHO. p. 197. 
 
\ 
 
ROOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 2! 
 
 and point out schools in parishes that have not even now the rank 
 of communes. One may, therefore, conchide that schools existed, at 
 least in the majority of the large villages. All these conclusions, it 
 will be noticed, are essentially moderate and fully warranted by 
 the facts and documents cited. 
 
 The learned author of Bertrand du GuescUn, M. Simeon Luce, 
 asserts unhesitatingly that these schools existed, and declares that 
 he came upon them almost everywhere '. If we turn to the an- 
 nals of our provinces, they are unanimous in showing us schools 
 on all sides. The fourteenth century is full of them. We may 
 make mention here of the schools of Burgundy— Avallon in 1304, 
 Auxerre in 1316, Beze in 1389, Chitry in 1341, Macon in 1369, 
 Montcenis in 1347, and Saint- Seine, where, the same year, the 
 master takes a subordinate to whom he makes over " the fishes 
 that are given in Lent by the little children who learn the Alphabet 
 and the Psalms \ " La Brie makes a goodly show of schools, 
 amongst others, Coulommiers and Lizy-sur-Ourcq. In Soisson- 
 nais, we have Presle, where Raoul " of Presles " restores the 
 school that had been pulled down, and Dormans, where John 
 " of Dormans " founds one to teach " the Alphabet, the Psalter 
 and singing I " In Champagne ^ in Picardy, we find similar 
 foundations, and similar customs. We may go on till we come 
 to Albi, where " the master shall take no salary from the little 
 children of the said city, who are not grammarians^; " to the 
 diocese of Rodez, where we find schools in the little villages ^: 
 
 * P. 15, eight mentions of schools. = ^ De Charmasse. = ^ Choron, 3'' fascic, pp. 83 
 et 9o. r= > The Confraternity of the " dit Denier " at ChSlons, foundo I in 1281 , provided, 
 not alone for the material wants of the poor, but for the instruction of the children. " The 
 masters and governers have the poor little children, orphans and others, taught in the 
 schools, " says the charter granted by Charles V., on March 14, 1379. (n. st.) Cf. La tves 
 vertueusc et charitable compagnic dudit Denier, petit in-4», Goth. (1330). Photographic 
 reproduction belonging to M. le comte E. de Barth61emy. = •'■ Compayr6, Etude hislo- 
 rique sur I'Albigeois, p. 209. This document is of the thirteenth century. It is followed 
 by another of 1343, written in the same spirit. Therein we read : " Every Alphabetist, 
 half-day student, or other scholar learning only reading " shall pay " 10 sols. " But in the 
 first clause treating of fees it is stated that children of the city are always exempt from their 
 payment— " exempts toutesfoys et quictes les cnfans de ladite cite d'Alby et consulaf. " 
 Ibid., p. 213. = " Journal officiel, June 3, 1887, jeport of the learned Societies, commu- 
 nicated by M. Lempereur. 
 
S2 ni.RSSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 to Bourg in 1391, to Chartres, Marseille, Nantes, Nevers, Orleans'. 
 Here authorities abound. 
 
 The fearful scourges which punished or tried men in those 
 remote days — wars, epidemics, like the plague of 1348' — some- 
 times laid waste the land and scattered the teachers; but the 
 schools held on stoutly, and the horrors of the Hundred years War 
 were not able to crush them out. In a play published at the end 
 of the ' Chronicle of Mont- Saint-Michel ', ' there is a scene where 
 a peasant school-master comes in and takes upon himsef the charge 
 of educating the children in the little hamlet of Saint-£tienne-de- 
 Courtainnes, now part of the commune of Saint-Aubin-de-Cour- 
 teraie, in the county of Orne : " You, Jean Hurel, and you, school- 
 master, his brother, I have come to see you, " says a countryman 
 to him one day. " I have a little child of from seven to eight years 
 old ; and you are going to take charge of him for me, to feed him, 
 and manage him, and indoctrinate him." Normandy was, indeed, 
 a privileged region in this respect, as in so many others. Careful 
 research shows that schools were founded there in almost every 
 little town and village during the thirteenth and fourteenth centu- 
 ries. Sometimes, we find no trace of their existence until the 
 fifteenth century; but these humble institutions evidently date 
 from much farther back. M. de Beaurepaire, in his learned work 
 on public instruction in the diocese of Rouen, states his belief that 
 there was then in every parish a clerk charged with the manage- 
 ment of the school and the drawing up of contracts, and capable 
 of teaching reading, writing and latin to children. He explains 
 in this way the fact why so many young students of tender 
 years received the tonsure, shared in the stipends of the clerg)', 
 and then worked in the fields while awaiting the moment to re- 
 ceive holy orders. Thus, in the diocese of Rouen alone, from 
 Michaelmas-day 1465 to Michaelmas-day 1466, three thousand nine 
 
 ■ For all those schoolB, vid. Allain, p. 29 and following; Babcau, p. 64; Dataull, p. 128; 
 Buisson, pp. 273, 279, 2111, 2373; de Charmasse, p. 19 and followinfr; Inrentairt de I'M- 
 pital geniral de Severt, B. 1 ; Lhuillier, pp. 15 and 16 ; Matlrc, p. 61 ; Merlet, p. 3. 
 Quanlin, pp. 77, 115 and following; Raraeau, p. 174; M"* do Villarel. =• Allain , p. M 
 = 'T. I, p. 162. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 23 
 
 hundred and fifty-four children received the tonsure, all of whom 
 must have had some elementary instruction*. 
 
 Schools must have been very widely disseminated, since Gerson, 
 in his little treatise on the visitation of dioceses, composed about the 
 year 1400, advises the Bishops to enquire " if every parish has a 
 school, and how the children are taught, and to open a school 
 there, if there be not one already ^ " 
 
 These rural schools continue to flourish during the fifteenth 
 century, and the teaching given there bears lasting fruits. A peas- 
 ant of Gainneville, at seventy years of age, recalls the lessons of 
 his master, whose hand-writing he recognizes on a deed that is 
 presented to him \ Contracts of apprenticeship or wardship 
 often stipulate that the child shall receive the rudiments of in- 
 struction, and that his master, or guardian, shall provide him 
 " with the necessaries of eating, drinking, and for clothing himself 
 and going to school. " Apart from the numerous examples of this 
 kind quoted by M. de Beaurepaire *, facts of the same nature are 
 constantly recurring in Paris from the thirteenth century, and 
 in Brie, Burgundy, Limousin and Bearn\ The " last will and 
 testament " frequently contains legacies destined to provide for the 
 schooling of children in whom the testator is interested — witness 
 the collection of wills registered in the Parliament of Paris under 
 the reign of Charles VI. ^ 
 
 The latest works published on this long contested subject enable 
 us to certify the existence at this period of schools in Champagne, 
 Burgundy and Maine. To be more precise, as is desirable in such 
 important questions, writers point out to us the schools of Abbe- 
 ville, of Amiens, of Antibes in 1401, of Neuilly- Saint -Front in 
 1402, of Beaune in 1408, of Bordeaux in 1414, of Chatel-Censoir 
 in 1487, of Clermont in 1490 ', of Clisson in 1461, of Combon 
 
 ^ De Beaurepaire , t. I, p. 53.^^ Tractatus de visitatione prselatorum et curatorum; 
 ■Gersonii opera, Antwerp! edition, t. II, col. 1S60. = ^ De Beaurepaire, t. I, p. 49. =: 
 * De Beaurepaire, 1. 1, p. 62. = ^ Allain, p. 37; Buisson, p. 1594 ; Lhuillier, p. 23; Quantin, 
 p. 40 ; Sfirurier, p. 19. = ^ Tuetey, Collection des documents inedits, passim. = 
 ' Goiiard-Luys, le College de Clermont en Beauvaisis, Memoires de la Societe de 
 I'histoire de Paris, tome XIII, 1886, p. 47 and following. In 1528, the " schools for 
 little girls " were, at Clermont, separated from those of the boys. 
 
24 
 
 BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 in 1401, of Corbie in 1448, where the inhabitants exact that the 
 masters should be in " sufficient numbers, generally capable, of 
 fair life and good morals'. " And we might fitly mention here 
 
 SchooU prior to Blcuod da U Sikllt. — Interior oj a ncbool ii( the HftMnlli cmtuir, 
 
 fronliaplece of tlie book antlUixl : OtmalrcU rfiframmatmrn Uttr ad fvlrdmm rtttrimm, 
 
 Cm mmm t tm r^nflcM eomiUmqitt ( IMS). 
 
 — Onwii tqr Mooard Ganler, from iha copjr In Ui< NnUoiul Ubcwr, aTc •!. 
 
 those other schools that are to be found at the same period 
 at Corbigny in 1488, at Crecy-en-Brie, at Decize, at la 
 Fertd- Bernard, where there was one " of most ancient 
 date; " at Goupillidres, at Haon-le-ChAtel, at Hermant in 
 Auvergne, at Montauban, at Montfort-l'Amaury, at Mou- 
 lins in 1424, at Mortain, at Nimes, at Plasnes, at Ponl- 
 Audemor in 1497, at Reims, at Bethel, at La Hochelle, at 
 Saint- Laurent-de-Brevedent, at Saint-L«'onard, atSisteron 
 and at Vernon in 141.')*. Already we find at Lyons and Troyes 
 
 ' AuffURlin Thierry, M»iiinn<nl» ile rhinloirt dii lien Hat, I. Ill, p. BT2. = • All 
 these scliools of the nncciilli ifntury are |Hiinte<l oul hv Allain, p. 30 and following; 
 B(ib*au, p. 64; Huisson, p. 211; L. Charlofi, p. 2; <le Chaniianso, pp. 19 antl rollowing; 
 Harry, p. 14; C.alabcrt, p. 6; Lacroix, p. IB; Lhuillier, p. 19; Matlrc, p. 4i; Quanlin, 
 p. II; Veuclin, p. 6. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION HEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 25 
 
 mistresses for girls '. But wliat need have we of further evidence? 
 A hundred, two hundred monographs have been written on this 
 
 tieraOD ( p. 23 ). — Drawn by Edooard Gamier, from a deed in the Print deiiartmcut of the National Library ; 
 
 engraved by Triclion. 
 
 subject by learned men, who have thrown full light upon these 
 facts. Our adversaries cannot deny them and are condemned 
 to silence. We have won the battle. 
 
 » Bulsson, pp. 139 and 1756. 
 
2fi BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Paris, it is hardly necessary to say, was not lagging in this 
 march of popular education. The annals of the establishments 
 which that illustrious city devoted to the instruction of childhood, 
 and of which we shall take a general view, furnish valuable details 
 concerning the masters and pupils of olden times; and it is no 
 exaggeration to say that Paris was the finished type of school life 
 in the Middle Ages. 
 
 The beginnings of those humble institutions elude the glance of 
 the historian, they defy his scrutiny, and it is only with fragment- 
 ary evidence, gathered from the chronicles of the time, that we are 
 able to reconstruct their past. It is, however, probable that the 
 schools of Paris first arose around Notre- Dame. 
 
 In the thirteenth century they were already flourishing, and 
 eleven school-masters and one school-mistress figure on the roll of 
 the land-tax laid on the inhabitants of Paris by Philip the Fair 
 in 4292. Amongst these there are only two ecclesiastics; the others 
 are seculars. But we must not include in the enumeration of 
 these schools those which existed in the churches themselves. 
 These should be added to the others if we would get an accurate 
 notion of what popular education was in Paris, at that period of 
 which as yet so little is known. 
 
 A century later, the precentor, who was a great dignitary of the 
 Chapter, convenes a meeting of all the school-teachers of the city, 
 and we find they number no less than sixty -three : forty- one 
 masters, and twenty-two mistresses. In the middle of the fifteenth 
 century, the number of schools may be reckoned at a hundred ; 
 the scholars at a thousand, without counting the little girls. At 
 the close of the sixteenth century, the precentor Claude Joly 
 estimates at five hundred the number of masters and mistresses. 
 
 We may conclude from these statistics that, at the beginning of 
 the seventeenth century, the primary education of the city of Paris 
 with its forty-three parishes, divided into one hundred and forty- 
 seven districts, each, as a rule, with a school for Iniys and another 
 for girls, represents a total of schools of two hundred and ninety- 
 four. The parish of Saint -Sulpice, which was not much more 
 
nOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 27 
 
 extensive then than it is now, contained seventeen districts, con- 
 sequently thirty- four schools. 
 
 Besides these, there were " charity schools " in nearly all the 
 parishes; there were masters who lodged pupils in their houses; 
 there were writing-masters; and, finally, there were all the esta- 
 hlishments dependent upon the university. 
 
 The Church, not satisfied with merely founding schools, proceeded 
 to organize them, to regulate their course of studies. The most 
 ancient statutes extant are those of 4357 ' ; they were written in 
 Latin, but a French translation in twenty-two articles was made 
 soon afterwards. In 1380, the precentor William of Sarvarville 
 gathered together in the great hall of his house the masters of 
 the grammar schools of Paris, " respectable, prudent and discreet 
 persons, lay as well as clerical, " many of whom were masters of 
 arts, and the school -mistresses, " honest women of good lives and 
 morals. " He read the statutes to them, and made them swear to 
 observe them. 
 
 After undergoing many alterations which completed them, while 
 preserving their spirit, the rules of 1357 and the various decisions 
 of the precentors were collected by the cantor Dorsanne, who had 
 them promulgated by Parliament on the 24th of March 1725. 
 They remained henceforth the ruling authority of the primary 
 schools of Paris. 
 
 On examining these rules, we see that their object was to secure 
 the good management of the schools, the capability, the morality 
 and the assiduity of the masters; to maintain charity amongst 
 them; to prevent rivalry, and to see that the children, classed in 
 little groups, were well taught. 
 
 The master undertook to fulfil his duties faithfully, and to in- 
 struct the children carefully in letters and good behaviour. He 
 promised to honor the precentor of the Church of Paris, to obey him 
 in all that concerned the government of the schools, and to respect 
 the rights of the Chantry. The master was not to try to take away 
 
 ' Transcribed in one of the books of the Chantry. 
 
J8 lU.ESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 children from his ctilieagues, nor to receive children from their 
 schools without their permission. He was to keep his own school. 
 He mipht not farm it out, nor take a partner, hut only an assistant 
 master. The masters were requested to live in peace amongst 
 themselves; every cause of complaint was to be carried before the 
 precentor under pain of forfeiture of licence. The masters and mi- 
 stresses were to observe the orders of the commission given to them, 
 concerning the sex and number of the children, and the kind of 
 books to be used*. They were each to receive only a given 
 number of children, otherwise the precentor kept back the fees of 
 the supernumerary scholars. They were to be assiduous at their 
 classes, and were not to absent themselves even on holidays with- 
 out permission from the precentor, and without leaving a monitor 
 to replace them. 
 
 The precentor, and, in his absence, the Chapter, exercised over 
 the school an absolute authority, which was successively confirmed 
 by act of Parliament in 1628, 1632 and 1665. Not only did he 
 open schools, but no one else could open one without his consent. 
 He named the masters, enquired into their capabilities, delivered 
 and revoked their certificates of teaching. He visited the schcwls, 
 saw that the rules were observed, and lined those who broke them. 
 Every year he convened the masters to his presence, and held a 
 synod in order to give them advice, to lecture them if necessary, 
 and to inculcate to them the spirit of their profession. The autho- 
 rity of the precentor emanated from the Chapter, which in turn 
 
 ' One of Ihe points on which the statutes lay tho greatest stress is tho separation of 
 the sexes. School-masters may not receive little girls, nor school-mistresses little boys, 
 without an express pi-rmission from the cantor. This mingling of children of different 
 sexes in the same class gave risi', no doubt, to manifold abuses : it is constantly alluded to. 
 The prohibition is entered in the statutes of t3iJ7, and repeate<t in the rules of I62tl. 
 In 1628, it is confirmed by act of Parliament. In 16(>3, in a synoti, the cantor, M. Le 
 MasIc, again recalls it. In 16'tl, the Archbishop, M"de (londy, finds it necessary, owing 
 to the disorders brought Iw-fore him, t(i write a Pastoral lett«-r on the subject. In t65t>, 
 M. Le Masle delivers a sentence which strengthens the prohibition by 84;rere penalties. 
 In 1666, the cantor, M. Amcline, renews the prohibition, and at the same lime the 
 Archbishop, M^de P6r6flxe, publishes a fresh Pastoral about it. The stringent intenlict 
 is only raised in the country places where there arc not children enough to establish 
 a school for l)oth sexes. In this case, the master may receive girl* and boys, but at 
 dtlTvrent hours. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 29 
 
 held authority from the Archbishop. The Chapter possessed 
 an authority which created, replaced and controlled that of 
 the precentor. During the vacancy of the Chantry, the Chapter 
 exercised its office, named and revoked the masters. Its authority 
 extended to the collation of schools in the city and in some neigh- 
 boring parishes. Placed under its jurisdiction and invested with 
 the monopoly of primary instruction, the masters of the little 
 
 Li. G'V^/V J/TK c; 
 
 LUEIV 
 
 Notre- Dame de Paris at the time of Blessed de la Salle. " It is the precentor, and, in his absence, 
 
 the Chapter of Notre-Daiue that exercised suiirenie authority over the schools " (p. 2« ). — Drawn by Edouard Garuier, 
 
 from a print of the period ; euyraved by M'le Chevalier. 
 
 schools constituted a sort of elementary university which was 
 distinct from the other, and not unfrequently its rival. 
 
 This community, so well organized and so useful, had, like so 
 many others, a hard battle to fight in the early days of its exi- 
 stence, and it was not always victorious in the fight. First, in 
 1563, we see the provost of Paris trying, though unsuccessfully, 
 to bring it under his control ' ; but it was above all the corpo- 
 ration of writers who started that campaign against tlie school- 
 masters which they were to take up later against the children of 
 Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 Fontanon, Edits el Ordonnances, t. IV, p. 412. 
 
30 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Not content, like those of Rouen, with attacking the school- 
 mistresses under pretence that " the art of writing belonged by 
 right to the male sex ', " the writing-masters of Paris arrogated 
 to themselves the exclusive privilege of teaching writing. After 
 interminable discussions, Parliament maintained the rights of the 
 school- masters '. Then came the turn of the mathematicians, 
 who wanted forsooth to monopolize the teaching of arithmetic 
 a pretension which was crushed by a decree of the Council of 
 State. 
 
 There was only one power at this date which strove to make 
 liberty prevail. That power was the Clmrch. She had created 
 the schools, she had organized and disciplined them. She had 
 no notion of letting so important a function as education be left at 
 the mercy of men unknown to her, and who might betray or 
 corrupt youth; but neither did she choose that the guarantees she 
 had established should be used as obstacles to hinder the spread 
 of knowledge. Undoubtedly, established schools had the right to 
 live; but they had not the right to prevent others from doing good. 
 Thus the Church, far from discouraging new undertakings, stimu- 
 lated them; moreover, she was ever ready to strike down the old 
 order of things when it became tyrannical. 
 
 The Church, through her councils and her Pontiffs, had signified 
 to the pastors her desire that they should open schools in their 
 parishes; she directed them there through her Bishops; and in 
 due time, she founded through her saints congregations that were 
 charged to disseminate knowledge. These congregations penetrate 
 into Paris in the seventeenth century, and tliis inaugurates a new 
 phase in this long history. 
 
 Timid in their beginnings, they arose at first under tlie juris- 
 diction of the precentor, but soon emancipated themselves. Their 
 nature and their aim were altogether dilTerent from the soIuk)1s of 
 the chantry. Teaching with them was not a trade, but a good 
 
 ■ De Beaurepaire, In$truclion publique en Normandie, I. II, p. 276. ^ * Decree 
 or July 23, i7l4. The details of Ihcge struggles will be found in the flrsl edition of tbe 
 Life of Venerable de la Salle, by Armand Havcli-l, pp. 31 and following. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 31 
 
 work. The masters did not live by their lessons, which were 
 gratuitous. Charity called them to the work, and the charity of 
 others sustained them in it. 
 
 It was not long before the masters of the chantry schools began 
 to be jealous of these new competitors; they contrived to win over 
 the precentor to their side, and made him see that his authority 
 was attacked at its very foundation. 
 
 The new congregations were consequently compelled to plead 
 their cause and beg for the right to do good ; but their ardor was 
 not abated by these obstacles. The precentor condemned them, 
 but Parliament acquitted and approved them. The Ursulines, the 
 Sisters of Notre-Dame and the Daughters of the Cross obtained 
 decrees from Parliament granting them the right " to open 
 schools without leave from the precentor. " Parliament, in grant- 
 ing them this right, was supported by Royal letters patent which 
 recognized their existence. We must mention, however, that the 
 majority of these new establishments were for girls. 
 
 But, towards the close of the seventeenth century, there arose 
 another new foundation — the parish " charity schools. " Created 
 by the initiative of the pastors, they were placed at their birth under 
 the supervision of the precentor; such was in 1G39 the school of 
 Saint -Laurent', of Saint-Eustache in 1646, and of Saint-Severin-. 
 A day came when they determined to shake off this control, which 
 the jealousy of the school -masters rendered intolerable, and the 
 pastors of Saint-Paul, Saint-Leu, Saint-Louis and Saint-Etienne 
 opened charity schools, the " Association of charity " reserving 
 to itself the right of selecting and examining the masters. This 
 almost amounted to a coup d'Etat. 
 
 The precentor wanted to maintain his authority, which he only 
 held from the episcopal authority, and instituted a law -suit 
 which Parliament decided in favor of the parish schools \ After 
 
 ' Founded by St Vincent de Paul, in common with the Pastor, M. Lestocq. = 
 ' Not many years ago, was still to be seen the following naif inscription on the front 
 of a house opposite Saint-S6verin — " Box for school-books for poor girls. — Who- 
 soever shall give to one of these lillie ones... amen. I say to you, he shall not lose his ' 
 reward. " S. Mallh. x, 42. == ^ Decree of May 25, 1766. 
 
32 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 endless charges, tlie affair was compromised '. The parties, 
 " animated with the spirit of peace and pood will which should 
 prevail amongst persons of their character, and persuaded that 
 their kindly union wouhl contriinite not a httle to support more 
 solidly in the future the estahlishment of charity schools, so useful 
 to the public, " agreed that " the pastors shouhl receive from the 
 precentor the right to name and oversee the mastci's of the cha- 
 rity schools in their own parishes. " 
 
 Thus we see that, in the Church, the strife arose, not from love 
 of money, but solely from the desire to do good. The spirit of 
 charity keeps parties within bounds, and reconciles rival preten- 
 tions, and puts an end to the struggle without causing justice to 
 suffer any prejudice. 
 
 This has always been the spirit animating the Church. 
 
 ' National Archives^ Transaction of May 18, 1699, tefore M. Jousse, notary. 
 
A school prior to Blessed de la Salle, from Abraham Basse. — Drawn by fidouard Gamier, engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOLS IN THE SIXTEENTH 
 AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 '^ ROTESTANTisM has played in education 
 a part which has been greatly misun- 
 derstood. Primary schools abound 
 now in Protestant countries, and the 
 Reformation gets the credit of it. 
 This is an unmerited honor. Luther, 
 it is true, addressed, in 1524, a letter 
 to all the councillors of the German 
 States urging them to found Christian 
 schools, and fourteen years later, 
 in 1538, he published Directions to 
 Impectors which are an essay on 
 the general system of public instruc- 
 tion. But these documents appeared 
 several centuries later than the urgent decrees of the Council of 
 Lateran. What Luther tried to do in Germany, the provincial 
 
 3 
 
34 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 councils of France had succeeded in doing some years before 
 in our provinces, and with far more wisdom and precision. And 
 so it must ever be. Heresy only follows truth — steals its ideas, 
 alters them, and then presents them to the world as its own 
 conceptions. Luther speaks after the councils. The Protestant 
 gymnasium is an imperfect copy of the Catholic universities and 
 the colleges of the Jesuits. Pestalozzi, the most celebrated of Pro • 
 testant pedagogues, lived a century later than Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 But the principal idea of Luther's reform, the one which marks 
 his system, and which, later on, we shall see passing from it into 
 our legislation, is to place the exclusive direction of education in 
 the hands of the civil power. When he wants to establish schools 
 all over Germany, he addresses himself to the German nobles : " It 
 devolves on you to take in hand this work; for if we entrust the 
 care of it to the parents, we shall perish a hundred times before 
 the thing is done. I pray you, therefore, not to reject my advice, 
 l)ut to take to heart and to take in hand the salvation, the happi- 
 ness and the prosperity of Germany. " This is all that the great re- 
 former has to propose — that parents should be excluded from the 
 first of all duties towards their children, and that an appeal be made 
 to that intervention of the State, the fatal consequences of which 
 we are witnessing to-day ! If, in reality, Protestantism has exer- 
 cised any influence on the diffusion of knowledge, it is in virtue 
 of that providential law by which God brings good out of the very 
 excess of evil and the disorders caused by human passions. 
 
 The direct and immediate effect of the Reformation was above all 
 the ruin of a great number of schools. It swept over Franco like a 
 pestilence, and everywhere gave rise to fearful strife. The school 
 could not continue to live where the church had been thrown down 
 and burnt to the ground. 
 
 The documents collected by Abbe Allain ' leave no doubt on this 
 head. These testimonies ought to be known. 
 
 " We admire in our diocese, " says the Bisiiop of Evi*eux to the 
 
 * L'In$truction primaire en France arant la Bdvolulion, p. 44 and followinfr. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 35 
 
 synod of 1576, " the solicitude of our fathers; for there was scar- 
 cely a parish of any importance in the diocese where there was 
 not a school-house, and a foundation for the endowment of the 
 school. But at the same time we must curse the negligence, or 
 rather the sacrilegious conduct of our age, where we have seen 
 gentlemen, parishioners, usurp or alienate the school-houses and the 
 property settled upon them; so that now we seldom find a school or 
 a master, we will not say in the country- places, but even in the 
 towns, nay, even in the largest cities. " The Council of Rouen, in 
 1581, enjoins all the Bishops of the province to re-establish in 
 their dioceses the old schools that had fallen into decay ; it orders 
 them to have the property taken from these schools restored to 
 them, and desires them to prescribe a uniform method of teaching 
 for the whole diocese. 
 
 In his statutes of April 13th 1600, the Bishop of Avranches 
 writes : " The schools shall be re-opened in the sees where they 
 were formerly, and fathers of families in parishes belonging to the 
 said sees shall send their children to be taught there, paying the 
 customary tax. And search shall be made for all the foundations 
 of the said schools. " 
 
 These complaints recur continually through the pastorals of the 
 Bishops, like a melancholy refrain; we hear them in those of Arras 
 in 1534, of Ypres in 1577, of Saint-Omer in 1583. Th'fe local chro- 
 nicles, indeed, show that several schools perished in this troubled 
 period. In Champagne, for instance, the school of Chaource was 
 destroyed in 1572, and that of Bar-sur-Seine was ruined during 
 the League '. At Montauban, according to the report of the syndic 
 in 1599, " the young men had become so demoralized by the civil 
 wars, that they cast off all restraint, and gave themselves up to 
 dissipation, without devoting any time to the study of letters, 
 which, indeed, it is no longer possible to pursue in that town, 
 seeing there is neither school nor college there. " This sad state 
 of things prevailed everywhere. In 1590, Henri IV. declares that 
 
 ' Babeaii, p. 10; quoted by Allain, p. 47. 
 
36 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 " ignorance ran riot in his kingdom on account of the prolonged 
 civil wars'." The founder of a college, in the diocese of Mans, 
 complains, in 4594, " that good studies are cast aside and ba- 
 nished, " on account of the troubles of the kingdom '. It is the 
 universiil outcry. These fatal effects of the new heresy were filling 
 the Church with uneasiness, and this was one rea.son which caused 
 the Bishops' to insist so strenuously on the duty of education. 
 
 The Council of Trent was the signal for a new development in 
 public instruction. It began by reforning religious teaching. In 
 1546, it ordered classes of theology to be resumed in the cathednil 
 churches and in the monasteries, and in 1503 it ordered seminaries 
 to be opened in every diocese. 
 
 It went farther than this. The canons of its fifth session pre- 
 scribe that " in every church there be an ecclesiastic to teach 
 grammar gratuitously to clerical students and other poor scholai*s. " 
 
 The Bishops of Fmnce hastened to follow this movement, which 
 in certain places they had anticipated. Warned, by the example of 
 Germany, of the fatal consequences of religious divisions, they 
 turned all their solicitude to the instruction of the priests and 
 the people. Heresy carried its propaganda into the most remote 
 country parts, and the only way to fight against it was by giving 
 good, solid instruction to all classes. 
 
 The particular councils applied the general decisions of the 
 Church according to the particular wants of each diocese. 
 
 Nearly all the provincial councils and the diocesan synods of the 
 sixteenth century, anterior or po.sterior to the Council of Trent — the 
 synod of Sens in 1524, the synods of Chartrcs in 1520 and 1555, the 
 synod of Toulouse in 1531, those of Poitiei-s in 1544, of Auxerre 
 in 1552, of Arras in 1570, rec^-dl prior decisions; so does that of 
 Besan(.on in 1570, of Lyons in 1577, of Bouen in 1581; the pro- 
 vincial councils of Bourges in 1528, of Meaux in 1570, of Toui*s 
 in 1583 — deal with the question of the schools, and decree that 
 
 ' Allain, p. 46. = » Belize, p. 110. = ' Councils of Mnyence (1549), of NarbonM 
 (ItSil). Synod of Uic exempUon of Montivillicn (fixteenlh ccnlury). Cf. R. d« Beaure- 
 pairc, t. I, p. 76. 
 
nOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 37 
 
 there be a school in every parish. In places too poor to support 
 one, a priest or a competent cleric is to be charged with the instruc- 
 tion of the children. 
 
 In 1526, a council held at Chartres prescribes " that there be in 
 every parish a public school where the children can go, and where 
 there shall be a priest or a clerical student sufficiently well-informed 
 to teach them their letters, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and every 
 • thing else contained in the primer. " The Council of Tours of the 
 same year orders the Bishops to take heed " that in each parish 
 several persons be appointed, at the expense of the parishioners, 
 to teach children the alphabet, the first rudiments of grammar, 
 catechism and singing. " 
 
 The Council of Cambrai, held in 1565 under the presidence of 
 the Archbishop of that town, with the Bishops of Tournai, Arras, 
 Saint-Omer and Namur, carrying out the decrees of the Council 
 of Trent, draws up a regulation for the schools, where we read the 
 following : — 
 
 " They will be careful to restore, or to keep up. Christian schools 
 to instruct children in the rudiments of religion. There is to be 
 a school-master for the instruction of youth in every parish. The 
 boys are to be kept separate from the girls as much as possible. 
 The masters will only read to their scholars books approved by 
 the Bishops. The pastors, the chaplains, or the school -masters 
 will teach the catechism to the children every Sunday after Ves- 
 pers. The pastors will enquire every month into the progress of 
 the children, and will do their very utmost to inspire them with 
 the fear and love of God from their tenderest years. The rural 
 deans will visit these little schools once a month, or at least once 
 a year, and will report to the Ordinary concerning the method of 
 instructing youth employed by each master. " 
 
 The Council of Bourges, in 1584, decrees that the education of 
 girls be confided to women capable of forming them to Christian 
 virtues; that of Aix, 1585, prescribes that Confraternities of Christian 
 doctrine and Christian schools be founded without delay. What 
 can better express the solicitude of the Church for instruction than 
 
38 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 those words of the council of Bordeaux in 4583 quoted by Abb^ 
 AUain ' : "It was well said not long ago by a wise man of this 
 century that there was nothing one could do more divine or more 
 agreable in the sight of God than to instruct children. For yquth 
 is the hope and seed of the republic, and if, while tender and man- 
 ageable, it be diligently taught, it will bring forth fruit in abun- 
 dance and of wonderful savour, as contrariwise, if ^t be neglected 
 and despised, either it will bring forth no fruit, or will only produce 
 very bitter fruit. Christians must therefore provide by all means in 
 their power, that in every parish, or at the least in every well-known 
 and well populated borough, there be a school -master, who, be- 
 sides grammar, will teach the children what concerns religion. " 
 Such documents as these are not as widely known as they ought 
 to be. 
 
 From the particular councils, the law passes to the diocesan 
 synods, and becomes the rule of the clergy in all countries. We can 
 trace their direct affiliation. At one time we see the very decrees 
 of the council of the province reproduced word for word in the 
 synodal rules of the Bishops who were present at the council; 
 again we see the editor of these rules, who is generally a delegate 
 from the Bishop, or the Bishop himself, taking care to indicate in 
 a marginal note the council from which they are taken. All this 
 is full of wisdom, discipline and good sense. 
 
 Once these regulations make their way into the synodal decrees, 
 they remain there permanently. They are renewed periodically 
 every five or six years; the rules relating to schools, more and 
 more complete, always figure there in the same place. 
 
 The Bishop, as a rule, does not rest satisfied with promulgating 
 a general law, charging the clergy to apply it, and the archdeacons, 
 in making the visitation, to see that it is carried out; he enters 
 into details, issues pastorals, frequent, special and minute, treating 
 the question in all its bearings, and, if it be possible, he founds 
 diocesan communities charged with education. But here great 
 
 ' L' [nttruction primaire en France avanl la Rivolulion, p. 221. 
 
BOOK 1. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 39 
 
 ^scope is given in the diversity of means by which the great object 
 is to be attained. 
 
 The Church has always been the enemy of centralization. She 
 cofhmunicates to her children the charity that animates her, she 
 directs them to the same object, and exacts that they follow the 
 same path ; but she leaves to each one his own manner and his 
 own individuality. She does not seek to make them the servile 
 instruments of one will; she dreads uniformity; she permits and 
 delights in variety. This is why a certain disparity is noticeable 
 in the various dioceses where popular instruction is concerned. 
 Everywhere the same direction is given ; but it is not everywhere 
 followed in the same way. The populations have not all arrived at 
 the same standard, they are more or less advanced, more or less 
 docile. Merit and originality are also taken into account. In one 
 place, the Bishop busies himself zealously with the schools, and 
 is seconded by pious and devoted seculars; in another place, the 
 population is hostile and resists; it is more ignorant, and the same 
 efforts produce inferior results. 
 
 In order to understand all that the Church has done for popular 
 instruction, to see how she laid the first foundations of the pre- 
 sent legislation, it is necessary to peruse the synodal decrees of 
 the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 
 At Angers, in 1607, the synodal statutes decree that the school- 
 masters be " good and learned persons, living without scandal, and 
 teaching children not merely profane letters, but likewise good 
 morals, the commandments of God and the Church and the articles 
 of faith. " In 1658, the Bishop, Henry Arnaud, orders 'all the pas- 
 tors to open schools everywhere that one is wanted, to see that 
 the boys and the girls are brought up apart — the former by men, 
 the latter by women ; and in order to assure himself that these 
 orders are carried out, he desires that the names of all the masters 
 and mistresses of schools throughout the diocese be sent up to 
 him. 
 
 This principle of the separation of the boys and girls is con- 
 stant! v laid down in the Church decrees. From those statutes of 
 
40 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 the Bishop of Soissons in the ninth century, of which we have 
 already made mention, to the prescriptions of George d'Amboise 
 
 ^.^^^^^ 
 ^ 
 
 Bcbnol M(«r« llM Urn* of Bltucd.ila U 8*U<. - Comlaf out of Mhool. — lafrartw troa ik< Bi 
 prlniM by Thlelmu Kartar ( luai. — imini ii) ttoutrt Ovakr 
 
 '<arM * l« r<fr«t 
 
 at Rouen towards the end of the fifteenth century ', and of the 
 
 ' R. de Rcaurepaire. t. I. p. 72. 
 
BOOK 1. 
 
 EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 41 
 
 Archbishop of Gambrai in 1564, the Bishops never loose an oppor- 
 tunity of reminding the clergy that " it is very necessary here and 
 elsewhere that the boys and the girls should have schooling 
 apart'. " The synodal statutes of Bayeux in 1662, of Evreux 
 
 ^5^./^-? 
 
 !iWM(g.m 
 
 ., mm. 
 
 rancd&cemrttometttttm. 
 Ki)uentaenpitmtimm« 
 
 Schools before the time of Blessed de la Salle. — Fac- simile of the flrst page of the ^ jB C dee chreatiem 
 
 bound with the Heures de yolrt-Dame, of Jacques Kerver, MDLXXV. — Bibl. Carnavalet : Reserve, 
 
 The two works must have been printed at the same time. 
 
 and Orleans in 1664, of Seez in 1674, of Avrauches in 1682, and 
 a score of others, enjoin it expressly. The utmost limit of toler- 
 ation is that, if there be only one master, " the boys and girls 
 shall at least be instructed in different places and at different 
 hours '. " No doubt, the want of accommodation often led to 
 these wise regulations being infringed, but they were not any- 
 
 ' De Resbecq, pieces justificatives, Propositions de I'evcquc de Cambrai aux bour- 
 geois de Valenciennes (1364). ^ '^ AUain, p. 224. 
 
42 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 where looked upon as a dead letter. At Magny- Lambert, for 
 instance, in the diocese of Autun, the report of the diocesan visit in 
 IfJSO mentions the fact that " Michel Millot, a gootl school-master, 
 teaches both girls and boys, but not together '. " We quote this 
 merely as an example. 
 
 The synod of Angers, in 1GG4, deals energetically with this 
 grand and noble question of education : " Every parish should 
 have its schools, or at least a priest, or a clerical student siifli- 
 ciently educated to teach the children. " The Bishops of Angers, 
 full of zeal for education, occupied themselves actively about it. 
 " Amidst the many cares laid upon us by the Episcopal office, " 
 writes one of them in 1676, " there is not one that we have more 
 at heart than the instruction of children. We, therefore, en- 
 treat the clergA" to devote a portion of their own time to this work 
 wherever there is no school. In case there are several priests, 
 the last in rank shall be deputed to this work, or another older, 
 previously examined and approved by the Bishop. " 
 
 The statutes of the Bishop of Mans, in 1620, advise the opening 
 of schools in every parish '. 
 
 The episcopal decree of Senez, in 1676, on the diocesan visi- 
 tation, enjoins upon the visitor to make sure that the masters 
 teach the boys well to read, and write, and serve mass, and also 
 instruct them in the catechism. 
 
 The Bishop of Chalons in 1662', Mgr de Lascaris d'Urf6 at 
 Limoges in 1686 *, urge their diocesans to look to the religious 
 instruction of the children and increase the number of schools. 
 If we want to make ourselves acquainted with the organization 
 of schools in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we shall 
 find it outlined in the episcopal decrees. 
 
 The school -masters were named in various ways. Originally, 
 the right of naming them was exercised by the lords of the 
 manors, as part of their prerogative. We may quote amongst 
 many instances Gisors' in the fourteenth century, Clisson*, Com- 
 
 ' De Charmastip, p. IW. = • BcllAo, p. 2*2. = ' Kayet. la Rdtribulion scolaire, Parid, 
 1886, in-18. = * Allain, p. 104. = ' Dc Beaurepaire. t. I, pp. 30, \\. =- ' Mallrr, p. 4V 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 43 
 
 bon and Plasnes in the fifteenth. In some places the right be- 
 longed to the religious of the neighboring monastery, which 
 seemed natural enough. We have already pointed out this cus- 
 tom in the thirteenth century, and it will suffice to mention here 
 the school of Coulommiers, to which the Prior of Sainte-Fov 
 named the masters (in 1339) ', the school of Corbie in 1448, 
 and those of Harfleur and Montivilliers, that were dependent, one 
 on the abbey of Corbie, and the other two on the Benedictines 
 of Montivilliers ^ 
 
 In these several cases, we must undoubtedly recognize a pious 
 deference for the will of the founder of the school ; but, in reality, 
 the principle generally acted on was, that " those who pay the wages 
 of a school-master have the right to name him \ " 
 
 Acting upon this, it was, as a rule, the inhabitants who elected 
 the teachers. The municipal officers did not confine their inter- 
 ference to looking after the situation of the school and the salu- 
 brity of the children's class-rooms*. The aldermen in the 
 district of the Nord, at Villeneuve-le-Roi, for instance, in 1506, at 
 Harfleur in 1563, at Bernay in 1601°; the consuls in the south, 
 at Buis, at Caylus in the fifteenth century, at Albi in the six- 
 teenth ^ ; the parishioners under the direction of the parish- 
 priest in Burgundy, in Champagne, in Gatinais \ examine the 
 candidates for the mastership. Sometimes, as at Montelimart in 
 the sixteenth century, they put them through a public examin- 
 ation ^ Then, they make an agreement with the master, ver- 
 bal or written, engaging to pay him a salary, while he, on his side, 
 promises to teach in the school for a given number of years. The 
 numerous deeds of this nature which have been preserved in the 
 communal archives generally show a payment in proportion to 
 
 ' Lhuillier, p. lb. = ' Augustin Thierry, loc. cit.; De Beaurcpaire, t. I, pp. 32 and 3S. 
 — ^ Decree of the Parliament of Tournai (October 11, 1696); Allain, p. 122. = '' Gala- 
 bert, p. 10 (school-house and mayor's office united); Buisson, p. Ill (at Foix). =; 
 * Quantin, p. 82; De Beaurepaire, t. I, p. 33; Yeuclin. =: " Lacioix, p. lo; Galabert, 
 p. 6; Archives communales d'Albi, FF, 106. = " Allain, p. 123; De Charmasse, p. 59; 
 Babeau, pp. 68-70; Maggiolo, les Archives scolaires de la Beauce et du Gatinais, p. 9. 
 = * Buisson, p. 736. 
 
44 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 the number of children admitted into the schools— a just measure 
 calculated to encourage the mastei*s. 
 
 This payment was generally very small. The rule of the 
 schools published in 1085 by Mgr de Roquette, Bishop of Autun, 
 fixes it at five pence a month for the scholars who only learn to 
 read; ten for those who learn to read and write; fifteen for those 
 who, besides this, learn arithmetic and latin. This scale of 
 charges only existed in the towns. In the villages, people followed 
 established custom. Owing to the poverty of the inhabitants, the 
 charge seldom exceeded one or two pence a month'. 
 
 At Limoges, in the sixteenth century, the master received 
 nearly seven pence a year " for the little Abecddaires*;"^ in the 
 diocese of Bordeaux, the rate rose to three pence a month '. This 
 participation of the parents in the schooling of their children was 
 generally accepted, and the letters of the Intendants, and other 
 documents extant concerning the schools, prove that the peasants 
 were very willing to contribute their slender share *. The salary 
 of the master was paid sometimes in kind. In the environs of 
 Avignon, for instance, twelve fathers of families were, each in 
 turn, obliged to receive the master at their table for one month'. 
 Sometimes, the masters and mistresses were dispensed from 
 paying taxes, as was established at Rouen and in Cham- 
 pagne '. 
 
 The nomination of the master by those invested with the right 
 to appoint him does not suffice; the sanction of the ecclesiastical 
 authority is indispensable. The superior right of the Bishop is 
 always held in reserve. He is the guardian of faith and morals, 
 and it is for him to see that bad doctrine is not taught to the 
 people, above all to children. 
 
 " It happens, " observe the synodal Constitutions of Poitiers. 
 " that masters who are scarcely grammarians want to nibble at 
 everything and teach everything. " This conant that fancies it 
 
 ' Fayet, /<» Rdtribulion seolaire, p. 4. = • Ruifison, p. 1586. = ' Allain, p. 130. = 
 
 De Boislislc, Contrdle gim'ral de» finances, t. II, n" 344; Vcuclin, and others. 
 
 =2 ' Buisson, 2933. =:* Al Rouen in 140K, and al Troycs in 1418. Allain. pp. 139-141. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 45 
 
 knows everything, and is bent on showing off its ignorance, is, 
 apparently, no new thing ; but, in former times, it was kept in its 
 place. Tlie explanation of the Scriptures was reserved to theologians, 
 and that of grammar to school-masters, provided they were com- 
 petent. The Bishop only confided education to masters whom he 
 had examined and approved of, and who were under his juris- 
 diction. It was before him they were taken when accused of 
 any misdemeanor; it was from him they held their licence to 
 teach. There was no exception to this rule. The synod of Arras, 
 in 4570, formally decrees that masters appointed by the towns, 
 by the magistrates, even by individuals at their own expense, 
 shall be deprived of their schools unless they have been approved 
 by the Bishop or his representative. The Council of Narbonne, 
 in 1561, enforces the same principle. In a word, the commons, even 
 when claiming the right to present masters whose expenses they 
 defray, bow before the supreme authority of the Bishop, who alone 
 has the right to accept or reject the candidates proposed to him'. 
 No one dreams yet of refusing to the Church the right to control 
 the education that she had created, encouraged and upheld 
 through centuries. 
 
 The jurisprudence of the council of State invariably recognizes 
 the right of the Bishops to appoint masters; this is proved by the 
 sentences delivered for the dioceses of Sens in 168G, of Lyons and 
 Cahors in 1GG8, of Autun in 1G69, and of Sisteron in 1G95 \ The 
 Archbishop of Bourges informs the Assembly of 1685 that, in his 
 visitation of the parish of Issoudun, the Pastor complained to him 
 that certain individuals kept a school without his permission. 
 The Bishop cited them before his tribunal ; they refused to appear, 
 and the judge said they were right. The Bishop then appealed to 
 the council of State, which confirmed the Episcopal sentence. 
 The Bishop of Valence speaks of a similar decree dehvered for 
 Dauphine and Vivarais. 
 
 The Parliament of Paris acted on the same principle, as is 
 
 ' Buisson, p. 737. = '•' Memoires du clerge, t. I, p. 993 and following; Quantin, p. 33; 
 Archives of the city of Bourg, GG, p. 232. 
 
46 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 attested by the decisions piven in favor of the Bishop of Meuux, of 
 the precentor of the college church of Saint-Quiriace at Provins in 
 1653, and of the Bishop of Orleans in 1G82 '. But this was not 
 always the case with the provincial parliaments and tribunals. 
 
 These had a tendency to encroach, and looked askance at any 
 institution which inclined to withdraw from their authority. This 
 led to their being sometimes troublesome to the Church. At one 
 time we see the supreme courts of Salins and of La Bochelle 
 claiming the direction of the primary schools; at another, the 
 parliaments of Bordeaux and Toulouse contending for the right 
 of ruling over tliem. At Amiens, the aldermen of the city want to 
 get the mastership of them *. But there are other magistrates 
 who do not refuse to acknowledge the Episcopal authority, and 
 we see the parliament of Orleans, in io\)l, giving its sanction to 
 the Bishop's claim '. 
 
 The King, on his side, was disposed to favour the mission of the 
 Church. But it never occurred to any one in those days to consi- 
 der the keeping of a school as a public function paid by the State. 
 This socialistic notion of the Monarch teaching the people to read, 
 just as he raised luxes, or declared war, dates from the French 
 Revolution, which borrowed it from the Protestants, who had 
 taken it from the Republics of pagan anticpiity. In the Middle 
 Ages, if the King had wanted to instruct the people, he would have 
 found neither men nor money for the purpose. He confined 
 himself consequently to following in the wake of the Church, and 
 embodying in his edicts the laws she formulated in her councils. 
 We have already quoted a great number of councils and synods 
 in the first half of the sixteenth century which order schools to 
 be opened in all the parishes. In the Ordonnance of Orleans, 
 January 15<K), the same rule is laid down, and tin* pass,-ige is 
 worth quoting : " Besides the aforesaid theological prebend, an- 
 other prebend shall be allotted for the support of a preceptor, who, 
 
 ' RiiisROn, p. 121, orlicle from llio \>en of MafTKiolo ; Mimoiret du ctergi, 1. 1. |i. 1039. 
 =- ' Mi'moirei du clcryf, I. I. jip. SWJj and iOllO. — ' Huission, p. 121. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 47 
 
 on this account, shall instruct the children of the town gratui- 
 tously; the said preceptor shall be elected by the Archbishop or 
 the Bishop of the place, in common with the canons of their 
 church, and the mayors, aldermen and councillors of the town, 
 and shall be removeable by the said Archbishop or Bishop, with 
 the above-named advice. " 
 
 Thus it was at the cost of the Church that the State then want- 
 ed to establish schools, as was proposed by the deputies of the 
 nobility at the States General, who demanded that the pastors 
 " should give religious instruction to children of tender years '. " 
 
 But the confraternities of the tradesmen and the artisans having 
 been suppressed some years previously, in 1539, the same ordon- 
 nance of Orleans allotted the revenues of those confraternities for 
 the support of the schools of the nearest towns, boroughs and 
 villages, and charged the royal officers, the mayors and aldermen, 
 to have a care that no portion of the money was diverted to any 
 other purpose. 
 
 The Edict of 1551 ordered the school -masters to ask for the 
 approbation of the Bishop. 
 
 The mayors and aldermen would not have been sorry to meddle 
 in the administration of the schools without having to open their 
 own purses, and they managed, in Paris, to win some favor for 
 their pretentions. But the Church fought bravely for her rights. 
 and the King was generally more inclined to second her mission 
 than to impede it. Moreover, the Reformation was beginning to 
 spread in alarming proportions, so that strict watch over the 
 schools had become more necessary than ever. 
 
 In 1570, letters patent decree that all school-masters shall be 
 catholic, and " that bad books be sought for. " 
 
 In 1579, the General Assembly of the clergy, gathered together at 
 Melun, shows signs of being alarmed by the efforts of heresy to 
 pervert the faith of the people by means of the schools. Germany 
 was already lost, France was threatened. The clergy, ever the 
 
 ' G. Picot, les Etals gvneraux, t. II, p. 97. 
 
■48 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 vigilant guardi.ms of truth, give all their attention to this vital 
 concern. They recommend sound doctrine to the masters, as 
 well as good morals, and, in order the better to provide against 
 
 LE RECTEUR. 
 
 Mon rils,juf<^u'auCercucil,faut aprendre, 
 Ettenirpourperdulejourc|uis'eft paffc, 
 5i tu n^y a de quclque chofe profile, 
 Pour plus fage& fqavant tercn^re. 
 
 Commente afaire attentwnfurce qui 
 ejt ici Reprejentepar /^/ N O M S & 
 r IGUREb deFlcurs, d'unChien, 
 de la Femme, d'un Homme, d'une 
 Maifon, d'un Chapeau, duPain li 
 d'un Couteau : & continue d'obfer- 
 ver , peu a peu , ce qui fuit! 
 
 BchooU prior to Bleaacd d« la flaU* : their Iwoki, Uwlr t««rhtHii, a oli|f«('li 
 
 - Ralirlnl of « ivnii from tin Vtn tatp MtttcJ tf UmMrnt cUUm M na4 Im A«H*, tt iMlm. 
 
 tf tmral Jlfrr^ iUmMnUiimt <>/ difmnl Ikltf taMra k> lAna, Mnf M«/W, mmd mm ainMTt. 
 
 /or Hfi and MMtMoa, m wtlt M/or UWyJary tf Otd. 
 
 IMloa,Claa4< IllcliattI, prlater aa<l mu>lc-Mll«r ai 8t Joka tl» llTaa«tll<t, la-li, ao 4aU ■. 
 
 the peril, the Assembly lays down the principle that the police of 
 the schools is not a matter of secular jurisdiction, but that the 
 
 ' My child, it hehovcx thee to learn unto itealh, and hold for lost the day whereof thou 
 hast nut profited to become winerand more leaitted. Bogin lo pay aUcnlion \o what is 
 here rcpresenlcd by Ihc iiamc!< ami njfiirt'i* of Klowrrs, of a Dti^r, of Woman, of a Man, 
 of a House, of a Hat, of Dn-nd, of a Kiiifu : and fro on otiM-rviii^', little by little, what 
 follows. = * Judging from Ihf co8tuni<>», thcue ongravings are of Ihc •ixteenlh century. 
 The Kpocimcn given here belongs lo the Librnry of the Arvenal. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 49 
 
 Bishops alone and other ecclesiastical persons have the right to 
 examine and appoint school-masters and school -mistresses. 
 
 The general Assembly of the clergy in 1G05 and 4606 reverts 
 to this question, and entreats the King to interpose his sovereign 
 
 LeMaitred'Ecole. 
 
 Perd fouvent fon 
 tenis,d'Enfeigner 
 les Parefleux & 
 Negligens; 
 
 Schools prior to Blessed de la Salle : their books and teaching. — Pac-simile of a page of the Very way Method 
 for teaching children to read in Latin and French, etc.— See foregoing. 
 
 authority and compel the principle to be respected. The King 
 gave a favorable answer and promised to interfere. He kept his 
 word, and the edict of December 1606 decided that school-masters 
 should be approved of by the clergy, and that, if tliey had a com- 
 plaint to make, it would be dealt with by the Bishops. 
 
 ' The legend reads : The school -master often loses his time, teaching lazy boys and 
 careless boys. 
 
50 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Throughout the whole of the seventeenth century, the King and 
 the clergy are agreed ; the King addresses himself to the Bishops 
 to commend the schools to their solicitude. Louis XIII. writes in 
 this sense to the Bishop of Poitiers in 1640; Louis XIV. writes 
 to the Bishops of Chalons and Oloron '. The civil power unhesit- 
 atin^tly hows down before the ecclesiastical. 
 
 The royal Declarations ol Fci)ruary 1657 and of March 1666 
 renew the prescriptions of 1008. Finally, in 1685, the King, in 
 his answer to the clergy, promises to forbid persons of either sex 
 from opening a school without an episcopal authorization, and he 
 kept this promise by the declaration of 16118, which once more 
 consecrates the superior right of the Bishop* : " We desire that, as 
 far as possible, masters and mistresses be appointed in all the pa- 
 rishes where they are lacking, to instruct children, and specially 
 those whose parents have made profession of the pretended 
 reformed religion, in the catechism and the necessary' prayers, as 
 also to teach them to read and even to write, if they should need 
 it; and that in places where no other funds exist, the necessary 
 sum be levied on the inhabitants, to the amount of one hundred 
 anil lifty pounds a year for the masters, and one hundred for the 
 mistresses, and that the letters to this effect be sent forth free of 
 cost on information given us by the Archbishops, and Bishops, and 
 the commissaries distributed over our provinces for the execution 
 of our orders. " 
 
 The regulation of fiscal measures taken by the communes for the 
 support of the schools, and the settling of any differences which 
 might arise on this head — such was the prudent line of action to 
 which the State confined itself at that period, such were the duties 
 of the Inlendants. When, however, at the end of the eighteenth 
 (;entury, the latter had become contaminated by the impiety that 
 was then spreading over France, we see them sometimes faith- 
 less to their mandate. In 1760, the priests of the archpre.^bytery 
 of V«!'zelay address a petition to their Bishop, urging the need 
 
 ' Strurier, p. 12. = • Allain, p. 207. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. ai 
 
 there is of instruction in order to form true worshippers of God, 
 faithful subjects of the King, and good citizens. They want all 
 the country-people to know how to read, and point out the means 
 to be employed in order that every parish may be endowed with 
 a school. Then they add : " We feel the difficulty there is to make 
 the Intendants accept this truth ; they refuse to confirm the deeds 
 of the parishes for the appointment of school-masters, the result 
 of which is that the majority of parishes are without any. " They, 
 therefore, adjure the Bishop to carry the matter before the general 
 Assembly of the clergy, that it may thus be brought before the 
 King. But this is not a fact to be generalized, and in perusing 
 the correspondence of the Intendants, and the papers they have 
 left in the provincial archives, we find them almost always zeal- 
 ously occupied in levying the taxes for primary instruction'. 
 
 The State, having once furnished the Church with a portion of 
 the funds needed for the support of the schools *, considered its 
 role of administrator at an end, and made way for the clergy, to 
 whom belonged the right to control the choice of the masters. 
 
 The Bishops never flagged under the weighty responsibility which 
 public instruction laid upon them. They took every care that 
 persons charged with the direction of the schools should be irre- 
 proachable as to age, knowledge and morals. They called in the 
 various ecclesiastical functionaries of the diocese to assist them 
 in their mission, and sometimes these auxiliaries of the Bishop 
 had the direct appointment of the masters of the primary 
 schools. 
 
 The school-master at Amiens and at Rheims^; the precen- 
 tor in the dioceses of Paris and Sens, and in the town of Au- 
 tun*; the Dean of the Chapter of Meaux, at Grocy-en-Brie, as 
 early as the fifteenth century; the Canons of Valence at Saint- 
 Apollinaire, were charged to appoint the masters ^ At Lizy- 
 
 ' Allain, p. 213; De Charmasse; De Boislisle, Controle general des finances. = 
 '^ Allain, p. 211. The Bishop of Chalon invites the pastors to profit by the decree of 1698. 
 = 3 Darsy, p. 20; Allain, p. 64. = ^ Lhuillier, p. 9; De Charmasse, p. 26; Buisson, 
 p. 273. At Senlis (1353) it was the sub-cantor for the girls' schools, and the Bishop for 
 the boys'. Cf. Morel, p. b'l. = =^ Allain, p. 29; Lhuillier, p. 19. 
 
BLESSED l>E I.A SAI.LE. 
 
 sur-Ourcq, in the fourteenth century, the Rector and the Chancellor 
 of the cathedral shared this duty, which, at Coueron, in 151(», 
 belonged to the Dean of Saint -Pierre of Nantes'. At Chartres, 
 in 1555, the collation of the schools fell to the charge of the 
 parish -priest, who represented the Bishop. According to the 
 statutes of Chalons in 1G71, the masters were to be sent up for 
 nomination by tlfe priests of the parishes to the Deans or Promo- 
 ters, who examined them in science, piety and morals, and then 
 delivered to them a certificate, which was, in fact, a sort of diplo- 
 ma, on presentation of which to the Bishop or the Vicar General, 
 their appointment was confirmed. 
 
 By whomsoever the teacher is named, the approbation of the 
 Bishop is always essential. The newly elected candidate is exa- 
 mined by the Bishop or the Arch -priests; if he has already 
 taught, he produces a certificate from the priest of the parish in 
 which he was employed -. If he is competent, of good life and 
 morals, the Bishop accepts him, and he goes to the Episcopal 
 house, with his papers duly signed, to be invested in his office, or, 
 if he be too poor to undertake the journey, the Archdeacon in- 
 vests him when he comes round on his visitation. If he behaves 
 badly, he is revoked, but with certain forms which testify to the 
 paternal, as well as just character of the administration of the 
 period. Thus, an Archdeacon, making his round, rings a bell and 
 calls the inhabitimts to the porch of the church, and there, in the 
 presence of the pastor, the parishioners make their complaint of 
 the master, whether it be that he has misconducted himself, or 
 olasphemed, or taught the children badly; a report is drawn up 
 by the Archdeacon, who sends it up to the Bishop to be dealt 
 with. 
 
 For the masters were not left to themselves once they were 
 appointed. In Paris, the precentor convened them every year 
 on the sixth of May, read and explained the rules to them, 
 and made them promi.se to observe them. In the diocese of 
 
 < I.liiiillier. |> 16; Matlre, p. W. = * Ofdoiniancet »\jnodalr» ile Meaux (i60B|. 
 
UKIvr.RSTTY 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 53 
 
 Chalons, they were convoked twice a year by the Dean, who 
 reminded them of their duties. An Episcopal decree of Chalons, 
 in 1676, orders them, morever, to make an annual retreat of 
 five days, in the month of October, in order that they may the 
 more fully enter into the spirit, and penetrate themselves with 
 the virtues of their calling. In many other dioceses, rules were 
 drawn up for the masters and mistresses ', to which they were 
 bound to adhere strictly. 
 
 The Bishop of Autun, in 1685, recommends the masters to be 
 impartial and gentle, and to form the children to good manners, 
 to respect for God and their parents; and reminds them that they 
 must not lose sight of the children when they have left the school -, 
 but continue still to watch over them. In a decree of the early 
 years of the eighteenth century, the Bishop of Poitiers advises 
 the school -masters to employ as few corporal punishments as 
 possible '. Everywhere we see charity and prudence predomi- 
 nant. 
 
 Sometimes it was the prelate himself who looked after the car- 
 rying out of these rules, as at Castres, where the Bishop visited 
 the town schools twice a week, and those in country places every 
 other month K But, generally speaking, this duty devolved 
 on the Archdeacon or the Archpriest, who, at certain dates, 
 made a searching enquiry into the schools and their condi- 
 tion ^ Numerous reports of these enquiries are to be found 
 in the Episcopal archives ; and they constitute one of the richest 
 mines of information concerning the schools of the period. 
 
 This supervision of the Archpriest exercised a salutary influence 
 on the masters, as we may judge by the following report drawn 
 up in 1689, for the parish of Chaume, in the diocese of Autun : 
 " The school -master, Jean Royer, is well-informed enough, but 
 he seldom teaches the catechism, and has always been addicted 
 to wine, to quarrelling and blaspheming. The pastor declares, 
 
 ' Diocese of Chalons: Reglement des maitres [1616] ; Reglement dcs maUresses [168S]. 
 = ^ De Charmasse, p. 31. = ^ Buisson, p. 2933. = ' AUain, p. 90. = ■' Such is the rule 
 prescribed by M"'' tie Roquelte at Autun, in 1686. De Charmasse. p. 35. 
 
84 BLESSED DE IJi SALLE. 
 
 nevertheless, that he has improved a Httle since the Archpriest 
 rebuked him threateiiiiiitly '. " There are hundreds of examples 
 like this. 
 
 The parish-priest was charged with the immediate inspection 
 of the school; he was bound to visit it frequently, to examine if 
 the lessons were well given, and if Christian doctrine was pro- 
 perly tiiught, and '' not too dryly. " These last words are note- 
 worthy, and may well serve as a guide to catechists. This visit 
 to the schools is especially mentioned in the " Rule of the pastor's 
 day," published in the seventeenth century under the title of Eccle- 
 siastical Days. The pastor is to examine the children, " to assure 
 himself that they understand what they are taught, and to encou- 
 rage them to be industrious by making little presents of pictures 
 or Agnus Dei to those who answer best '. " It was, in fact, the 
 principle of inspection, preserved in our university laws, and 
 better organized at that period than in the present day. There 
 was the inspection of the Pastor at least once a week, the inspec- 
 tion of the Dean once or twice a year, the inspection of the Bishop 
 during his diocesan visit. 
 
 The supervision was, as we see, very strict. It extended to the 
 masters and the books. The masters were warned not to teach 
 the children to read out of " books of fables, of romance, or silly 
 or improper stories, " and above all to avoid such as contained 
 corrupt doctrine and teaching tainted by heresy. There were 
 statutes expressly ordering them to use no books but such as had 
 the Episcopal approbation. But, indeed, as we know, the use and 
 the possession of bad books were forbidden to everybody, even to 
 private individuals. The children were supplied, as nowadays, 
 with primers containing letters, single and in syllables, the usual 
 prayers and the commandments of God. The cross shone on 
 the first page. Some Bishops even took the trouble to compose 
 and have printed special books for children. Thus, the Bishop 
 
 ' De Channassc, p. 139. = • Onlonnanee I'piscopalc tie Meaujc (16d9). Cf. art. do 
 Maggiolo, diction, dc Buisson, p. 724. 
 
ROOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 of Arras, in 1570, published at Douai a little volume entitled 
 " Christian Childhood, " the use of which he recommended. 
 
 Some of these books for children are preserved in our public 
 libraries, and are now rare enough to be considered great trea- 
 sures by bibliographers. The catalogues of the Blue Library enu- 
 merate several, amongst them — " the Alphabet " or Croix de par 
 Dieu, so named because of the Maltese cross engraved on the 
 front of it; the little Hours, called longuettes on account of their 
 form '. The " Politeness for children, with the manner of learn- 
 ing to read well, pronounce and write, which we have put at the 
 beginning, " was also much used ^ At Autun, in 1G85, the 
 Bishop commends to the masters " the Christian Pedagogue, " 
 " the Pedagogue of the family, " " the Good Husbandman, " and 
 "the Parish -School'." 
 
 The last named book, a complete treatise on primary instruction, 
 composed by a priest of one of the parishes of Paris, gives a whole 
 bibliography of school classics the use of which is recommended 
 by the Church * : " Let there also be books that can be used for spi- 
 ritual reading, such as " Lives of the Saints, " by Father Ribadeneyra ; 
 the two volumes of " The Flowers of Examples, " from which stories 
 for the catechism can be taken; the Catechism of the diocese; some 
 little abridgments of the mysteries of the faith, of Confirmation, of 
 Confession, of Baptism and of Communion, which can be made use 
 of for the children. The Paradisus Puerorum, printed at Douay, 
 is also excellent for stories, of which the master should make a 
 good provision, having need of them at every turn; for children 
 retain more easily examples of others like themselves than pre- 
 cepts. " The amusements provided for the children at school 
 were likewise submitted to the approval of the Church. The 
 clergy of Troyes, in 1588, petition that " no comedies, tragedies, 
 dialogues or colloquies be represented in the schools of either 
 the towns or the villages, without their being first approved of 
 
 * Catalogue des livres dc la veuve Jacques 0;«do< (1711-1742). Quoted by Assier. = 
 2 Paris, Richard Breton 11660), small 8vo ; numerous editions. = ' Dc Gharmasse, p. 30. 
 = ■> Allain,p. 173. 
 
Sn BLESSEn DE LA SAI.LE. 
 
 the Bishop, his Vicars General, or the vicars and pastors of the 
 place '. " 
 
 Parents were earnestly entreated to send their children to school. 
 " If tlie paiishioners or the magistrates, " say the synodal statutes 
 of Arras, in 1584, " make difficulties for the erection or completion 
 of schools, let recourse be had to the Bishops, or even to the secular 
 arm, and also let parents be compelled to send their sons and their 
 daughtei-s to school, conformably to the edict of the King. " The 
 synod of Evreux, in 1576, has a similar decree. Mastere are I'e- 
 quested to be both severe and gentle, and only to use the rod as a 
 last resource. But if the parents get angry, take away their child- 
 ren without reason, or a})use the masters, they may be cited before 
 the Bishop's tribunal. 
 
 " The parish-priests, " sjiys the Council of Cambrai in 1631, 
 " will urge the magistrates and others persons in authority to 
 compel the poor l)y depriving thorn of alms, and othei's l»y various 
 means, to send their children and their servants to the Sunday- 
 school and to catechism. " 
 
 The Church does not absolutely object to compulsory education ; 
 she only stands out against it when it is used to banish religion 
 from the schools; but the force she employs is only a moral one. 
 and never goes beyond withdrawing assistance from such families 
 as refuse to see after the instruction of their children. She leaves 
 to the municipalities the system of lines, as it was practised at Lille 
 in 1585 *. Her real means are far more powerful and adapted to 
 the sanction of a purely moral obligation — the authority, for in- 
 stance, which belongs to the voice of the Bishop in a (Christian 
 community; the stigmatizing as " a grave sin " the negligence of 
 parents concerning the instruction of their children'; the threat 
 of depriving of the sacraments those who don't send their children 
 to school •. 
 
 The Church did not forget that in order to induce children to 
 
 ' Babeau, te Vitlaye, p. 260. — ' D.) Reabecq, pp. 329 and iOI. ^ ' Buisson, p. 2'W, 
 Orfhnnanee de Vivique de Saint -ilalo (I6Q0|. =:^ * l.huillier. p. 57, Ordonnanee 
 de Vipfque de TouliiOK^. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION HEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 57 
 
 frequent the schools, it was necessary to let the expense of school- 
 ing fall as lightly as possible on the families of the poor. 
 
 Free instruction has, consequently, always been one of the 
 principal preoccupations of thg Church— not that ilUisorv freedom 
 
 Coming out of school in tlic eighteenth century. — Dniwn Iij' 6doiiai-d Gamier, from Angustin de Saint- Aubiu ; 
 
 engraved by Moaullc. 
 
 which consists in making every body, rich and poor, pay for the edu- 
 cation of the children, whatever be the fortune of the parents; but 
 really free education, that which rests upon charitable found- 
 ations, and not on concealed taxes. Therefore does the Church 
 encourage to the utmost the endowment of schools. 
 
58 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 The recommendations of the Bishops on this head are extra- 
 ordinarily urpent; tlie pastoi-s and vicars are ordered to remind 
 the sick and tlie dying when making their will not to forget 
 " the Director of the schools, who is in some sort the Father of 
 the Republic'." The prelates carefully defend the interests of 
 the establishments devoted to education : " All holders of school 
 property, " says the synod of fivreux in 1576, " shall restore them 
 within two months, under pain of excommunication. All the 
 masters supported by foundations shall, within two months, come 
 and reside in their parishes and reopen their schools. If they 
 are incompetent, or of bad will, they must immediately give up 
 their place. Wherever there is not a school, one shall be opened 
 within two months with a fitting salary for the master. " The 
 administrators of hospitals, asylums and lazarettos, shall allot 
 to these foundations a portion of the property they manage. 
 The confraternities and vestries shall include the support of the 
 schools in their expenses. " Finally, if the money be not forth- 
 coming, the Church herself will provide it. 
 
 We may quote here the rules presented by the Bishop of Chd- 
 lons, in 16C2, to the Assembly of archdeacons, deans and rural 
 promoters of his diocese : " Take every year a certain sum of 
 monev on the revenue of the church -wardens, with the advice of 
 the rural dean and one of the leading parishioners, to help to pro- 
 vide a school -master in places where the poverty of the people 
 prevents their having one, without, however, doing any damage to 
 such payments and services as the church-wardens are responsible 
 for. If you can yourself contribute to the support of the schot)l- 
 master, bestow this alms in preference to otiiei-s that are not so 
 needed or so pressing. Induce such pei-sons as wish to found 
 good works for the Church to give their money to this charity, 
 and advise the dying to leave a yearly sum by will for this object, 
 representing to them alTectionatoly the excellence and gi-eat merit 
 of the charity. Exhort powerfully and unceasingly, in public and 
 
 ' S>'nod of Evrouz ( tB76). 
 
BOOK I. — EnUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 59 
 
 in private, fathers and mothers of famiUes to send their children 
 to school as soon as they are of age, setting greater store by 
 their instruction than by the slight expense it will put them to. 
 In a word, leave nothing undone that depends on your zeal to pro- 
 cure the establishment of a good school-master in your parishes. " 
 
 Docile to these exhortations and persuaded that, as the Bishop 
 of Arras said in 1678, " the greatest charity you can do the poor is 
 to procure them the means of being instructed, " the municipal 
 authorities often stipulate in their agreements with the masters that 
 instruction shall be given gratis " for the love of God to those who 
 are notoriously poor, " or who have " to beg for their living'. " 
 
 At Verdun-sur-Garonne, in 1647, " it was represented by the sire 
 Lamothe, consul, that the instruction of youth is one of the greatest 
 gains that can fall to the community of that town, that there is a 
 college to teach boys, and it is desirable that means be found to 
 teach girls, seeing that many are lost for want of instruction. " 
 And the council decides forthwith on opening a free primary 
 school for girls, under the direction of the sisters of the Ave 
 Maria ^ 
 
 But the Church, with that admirable delicacy which characterizes 
 all her charities, fears to wound the pride of the poor in throwing 
 education to them like a crust of bread to a beggar. She speaks 
 very strongly on this point, and the synodal statutes of Chalons in 
 1673, and of Aleth in 1675, remind the masters to " treat poor boys 
 with as much consideration as rich ones, and to pay the same at- 
 tention to their education '. " 
 
 All through the seventeenth century. Bishops, and holy priests, 
 and zealous missionaries, not satisfied with pleading on behalf of 
 the schools, found schools themselves. M«'' Vialart de Herse, Bishop 
 of Chalons, devoted himself so actively to this work, that " in a short 
 time, " say his biographer, " there was not a parish in his diocese 
 for which he did not procure this boon. M*'"' de Maupas du Tour, 
 assisted by M. de Lantages, in the bishopric of Puy; J. Galard 
 
 * AUain, p. 192; Inventaire des archives d'Albi, CC, 237. =: ^ Inventaire des archives 
 de Verdun-sur-Garonne (Tarn-et-Garonne), BB, 2.= ■' Allain, p. 191. 
 
fin RLESSEn DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and F. Chnllct, in Anjou; J. Gallemanf, at Pontoiso and al Aumale; 
 Michel Ic Noblelz, in Britany, all open schools '. 
 
 The instruction of jtirls is the object of the constant solicitude 
 of the Church. It was too often overlooked. If, at rare intervals, 
 we come upon a parish, such as Conches and Argilly, where there 
 is a teacher for pirls* and none for boys, it is an exceptional 
 case, whereas the contrary is of freijuent occurrence. The Bishops 
 are grieved by this state of things, and leave nothing undone to 
 remedy it. " It now remains, " writes M^' Si'guier, in 1668, to the 
 aldermen of Meaux, " to provide for the instruction of girls, which, 
 in my opinion, is a matter of the highest importance, and most 
 worthy of the episcopal solicitude, inasmuch as your daughters, 
 having received a sound education, will be capable, as mothers of 
 families, of communicating this advantage to their children. This 
 consideration has led me to entertain a proposal for the establish- 
 ment of a mona.stery of Ursuline Nuns in the town of Meaux, a 
 thing which I could not decide without your consent '. " 
 
 At Macon in 1615, at Snilis in 1620. at Toulon in 1686. the 
 Bishop opens a school '• for poor girls *. " In Pari.s, M. Olier is 
 busy about others in the parish of Saint-Sulpice, and founds 
 a House of Instruction, a kind of " workshop where all sorts of 
 manual labour was taught to young girls who lia<l left school*." 
 
 Private individuals did not remain deaf to the lu'gent solicitations 
 of the Church, nor insensible to the example of so many pious 
 ecclesiastics. In a great number of parishes, there were free schools 
 that had cost nothing to the State, and that cost the parents of the 
 children nothing. An unknown benefactor gave both the house 
 for the children, and funds for the payment of the masters — an 
 excellent example, and one that might be followe<l with go«»d effect 
 in our day. 
 
 It would Ik' impossible to enumerate all the foundations noted 
 
 ' Allnin, p. 80 and following. =. ' Do Chnrinswio. p. 134 and rollowlng. =. ' Lhuillirr, 
 p. 41. Sof- tin- rtrommcndalionn of Iho BiRhops of HcaiivniK and of Noyon (1680); 
 Morr-I. pp. 90 and 100. =: ' Rameaii. p. 179; Arehiva tie Toulon, fiO, M; Moirl. 
 p. I.IV - • Allain. p. 244. 
 
bOOK 1. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. Gl 
 
 by learned men who, of late years, have made a study of the historv 
 of primary education. We will just select a few of them from the 
 long lists of charitable institutions created for girls in tlie seven- 
 teenth century : at Amiens in 1676, at Brienne ^^n 1653, at Caylus 
 in 1678, at Dammartin-en-Goelle, at Liancourt in 1685, at Magnac- 
 Laval in 1689, at Nogent-sur-Seine in 1685, at Picquigny in 1688, 
 at Saint-Bris in 1695, at Saint-Den is-la-Ghevasse in 1696, at Saint- 
 Maur in 1672 '. 
 
 Often we see an inscription recalling the memory of the founder 
 to the succeeding generations who come to pray in the church. 
 The collection of Guilhermy, for the diocese of Paris, contains a 
 quantity of documents of this nature found at Lhay in 1591, at Pin 
 in 1603, at Vaugirard in 1612, at Servon in 1653, at Ferrolles in 
 1662, at Grigny in 1671, and at Gennevilliers in 1687. The inscrip- 
 tion which sets forth the foundation made at Etioles in 1679 by 
 Marie Gargan, widow of Jean Guenegaud, sieur des Brosses, is 
 particularly interesting : " The said lady has founded in this 
 parish a school for children of both sexes, the master of which 
 shall be a layman, named and chosen of good life and morals by 
 the said lady during her life-time, and afterwards by her sons- 
 in-law and her daughters; if he is married, his wife will teach the 
 girls. The master will instruct the children of the said place gratis 
 in the faith and the Catholic religion, will teach them to read, 
 write, sing in church, and will treat them gently and politely. " 
 
 This blossoming out of charity seems to have nowhere flourish- 
 ed so magnificently as at Lille. It is not in these days only that 
 this city has given an example of devotion to all grand and soul- 
 stirring enterprises. The mere enumeration of the schools that 
 were founded there since the fifteenth century will give an idea 
 of the noble emulation which fired the inhabitants of Lille in the 
 cause of the education of children. 
 
 There are the Good Daughters, or Orphans of the Conception, and 
 the Orphans of the Grange, establislied in 1477; the Gray Sisters 
 
 ' Allain, p. 194; Babeaii, p. 4u; Buisson, pp. 108, 1398, 2396; Darsy, p. 28; Gala- 
 bert, p. 8; Lhuillier, p. 39; Morel, pp. Ill and 113; Onanliri" P- 28. 
 
St RLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 in 1480; the school of the Grisons, opened in loS't by Hubert De- 
 liot, for eighty boys and twenty girls; the Bapaume school, founded 
 by Guiliaume de Boilleux under the same conditions; the Ursu- 
 lines, installed in 1638; the Orphanage of the Presentation, in 
 1646, where " several poor and honest orphan girls were taught 
 Christian doctrine, reading, writing and manual work; " the 
 Stappaert school or Hospital of Our Lady of Dolors, f<junded in 
 1656 for the education of ten girls; the free school of Good Sons, 
 founded in 1670; the schools created by J. Leiglart and Denis 
 Franquet, the first for girls, the second for boys, in l«i86; the 
 school of Saint-Joseph, endowed in 1688 by Jeanne Romary, to 
 take in girls, and finally Sunday-schools for those who were occu- 
 pied earning their bread on week-days. The ministers general of 
 the purse for the poor had the administration of these innumerable 
 establishments '. 
 
 The great current of charity which led to the foundation of 
 hospitals also fed the stream that was flowing towards free educa- 
 tion for the poor. 
 
 The Church did not overlook the children brought up in the 
 hospitals. The Council of Toulouse, in 151>0, entreats that in '* the 
 hospitals and other pitiful places " where a great many little boys 
 and girls are gathered together, they be taught the catechism and 
 the alphabet. The directors of these institutions do not neglect 
 this charilable office, and we see the Blind Asylum of Quinze-VingLs, 
 in 1428, paying a master to teach the little children there*. 
 
 In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the old ho 
 spitals, fallen into ruin, were thrown into one large establishment, 
 charity schools were founded in almost every town, and centres of 
 relief for the poor were opened. 
 
 Aymon de Chisse, in 1Vi5, is inspired by the sentiments ot 
 Christian charity which were moving others to these acts of coni- 
 pas.sion. This Bishop of Grenoble opens a school in a hospital 
 
 ' Dc RcRbccq, p. 225 and rollowinfr. — ' Archives dcs Qtiime - Yintjtf, rogistor 6XiO, 
 r> 32. This Axyluni was founded by Louis W. Il was callt-d Quinrc-VingU, because 
 thrrc liundrnd wa<i tho number it was originally dcalined to shelter. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 03 
 
 that he had founded himself, where six poor children are fed and 
 taught, who, " when they know how to read perfectly, " are to 
 make way for others '. 
 
 In the succeeding centuries, this blending of the hospital and 
 the school becomes universal. At Rouen, in 1555, the Committee 
 of the poor founds four schools to teach children " to fear and love 
 God, the creed and the commandments of the law, their little 
 book, reading, writing and principally good manners. " 
 
 In 1556, two more are founded for girls, and it was at the head 
 of these schools that M. Nyel, a friend of Blessed de la Salle, was 
 afterwards placed. In this same town of Rouen and at Lille, the 
 administrators of the Charity Committee lay it as an obligation on 
 parents to send their children to school; at Lyons, they distribute 
 relief in bread and clothes to poor scholars *. At Mayenne, 
 a Charity Committee, founded by the Due de la Meilleraye, organizes 
 schools in all the parishes '. At Vezelay, in 1607, the admini- 
 strators of the hospitals treat with the " rector of the schools " for 
 the instruction of the youth of the town. At Sccaux, in 1670, the 
 school-master " lives at the Maison-Dieu^ " Finally, we see the 
 schools annexed to the hospitals at Amiens, at Dijon in 1608, at 
 Saint-Malo, in 1646, at Blois, in 1657, at Angers, at Compiegne, 
 at Senlis, and in a score of other towns \ 
 
 In those towns where poverty was always rampant, this diffu- 
 sion of gratuitous instruction was further supplemented by the 
 help of parochial charities. The priests were admirably zealous 
 in founding Sunday schools for apprentices and servants, and 
 charity schools for the poor children whose parents could not 
 pay the few pence charged by the masters in payment for their 
 lessons ". 
 
 ' Notice historique sur Aymon de Chisse, by Bcllet ; Lyon, 1880, in-S". =; - Allain, 
 pp. 79 and 180; De Beaurepaire, t. II, p. 289 and foUowiiig. = -^ Allain, p. 113. = 
 * De Charmasse, pp. 24 and 117. = '•> Allain, Revue des questions historiques, t. XVII 
 (187o), p. 130; Biiisson, pp. 279, 336, 2180; Inventaire des archives de Dijon, F. 19; 
 Morel, p. 98; C. Port, Dictionnairc historique de Maine- ct- Loire, t. I, p. 646. = 
 " .'^ee chapter in. on les Ecoles de Paris; for Amiens, Darsy, p. 30: for Douai, de Res- 
 becq, p. 404; for Beauvais, Morel, p. 98 and following. 
 
04 
 
 ULKSSEI) l)E I.A SALLR. 
 
 Tlie inoini'iil luis now come when the mission of Blessed de 
 la Salle is about to be prepared by more direct and immediate 
 action. It is being prepared by the multiplication of schools, by a 
 crowd of foundations in which we can retrace the features of the 
 future work, by men of genius and by Saints whose idea Blessed 
 de la Salle will complete, and whose scheme he will enlarge. This 
 is wlifit we shall see in the following chapter. 
 
 VUVl.:--, 
 
Trent. — A flitting of the Council which had a decisive influenco on the question of the schools ( pp. 36, 75 and foUowintr . 
 — Drawn by Hubert Clerget, from a document of the iwriod ; engraved by Barhant. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PRECURSORS AND PREDECESSORS OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 T has been clearly shown in the fore- 
 going pages that former ages never 
 had that contempt for education of 
 which our ignorance is apt to accuse 
 them. Schools, even those devoted 
 to the children of the poor, were then 
 numerous and flourishing, and, in 
 some provinces, they were even more 
 numerous than at the present day. 
 Unfortunately, the traces of them 
 become more and more indistinct as 
 we ascend the stream of time. But, 
 JL 'f throughout the last two centuries, 
 
 they are definitely visible, and the proofs of their existence placed 
 beyond all doubt. The reports of the bishops in their diocesan 
 
 5 
 
66 BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 visitations bear witness alii<e to the solicitude of the Church and 
 the success of her efforts. These documents have more than any 
 others lielped to estabUsh statistics whose testimony speaks louder 
 than any other. 
 
 We shall set down here some of these figures for the seven- 
 teenth century, the period to which our research is more especially 
 directed as being that in which the Brothers of Blessed de la Salle 
 made their appearance. 
 
 The multiplication of schools was, we have asserted, amongst 
 the providential preparations made for the mission of Blessed de 
 la Salle. At Angers, each one of the seventeen parishes had its 
 own school, supported by some charitable foundation, and the 
 majority of the diocesan Communes had theirs too'. 
 
 In the districts surrounding Auxerre, we can name sixty-six 
 where the children had a master*. The four hundred and forty- 
 six Communes of Aube possessed at least two hundred and eleven 
 schools in the seventeenth century; at the end of the eighteenth, 
 they had increased to four hundred and twenty '. 
 
 In fourteen Archpresbyferies of the diocese of Autim, which 
 contained fiirec hundred and eiglity-two parishes, M. de Charmas.so 
 proves tiie existence of two liundred and two schools', ki 167r», 
 the four hundred and ninety- three parishes of the diocese «»f 
 Coutances only included one hundred and four schools for boys 
 and thirty-two for girls; but through the zeal of My Lomenie 
 de Brienne and his successors they multiplied considenibly in the 
 following century'. 
 
 The diocese of Ljmgres was more favored, and M. Fayet points 
 out, in 1680, two hundred and thirty-five schools, out of five hund- 
 red and fifty communes, in that pari of the diocese alone which 
 Uikes in the county of Haute-Marne*. 
 
 At Lyons, in 1GS8, there were no less than seventy-six schools, 
 six-and-twenty for boys, three-and-thirty for girls, and seventeen 
 
 ' BaiMon, p'. 1766. =: * Quanlin, p. 64. =^ ^ ftabeau, I'lnnlruelion primain; p. 64; Ic 
 Village, p. 271. = ' De Chaniiasai', p. KW. = "" Alloin, p. 67. = * Fayel. p. 23. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 67 
 
 mixed; but in the neighboring counties education was not so flour- 
 ishing. The Lyonnais, out of one hundred and eighty-four par- 
 ishes, had only forty schools, and Forez twenty-nine out of two 
 hundred and forty-nine'. The Bishopric of Montpellier, composed 
 of ninety-seven parishes, contained, in 1684, fifty- seven schools 
 for boys and thirty-seven for girls ^ At Rheims, every parish 
 had its school-master, chosen by the assembled parishioners. The 
 surrounding villages were largely supplied with masters \ 
 
 Primary instruction was always held in great honor in Nor- 
 mandy, and that province has had the good fortune to have its 
 history written by the author of one of the best monographs on 
 schools that have been published. In 1683, in the Deanery of 
 Foucarmont, there were twenty-two schools in thirty-eight Com- 
 munes, and, in 1687, forty-two out of fifty-six in the Deaneries of 
 Havre, of Loges and Saint-Romain. In this region, as elsewhere, 
 an immense improvement becomes visible from the beginning of 
 the eighteenth century. 
 
 Out of eleven hundred and fifty-nine rural parishes visited by 
 the Archbishop of Rouen, from 1710 to 1717, eight hundred and 
 fifty-five were provided with schools, only three hundred and four 
 being without them ; three hundred and six had schools for boys 
 and girls. But it is to be observed that in those days the parishes 
 were far more numerous than they are now. Thus, in Seine- 
 Inferieure, there were a thousand municipalities in 1790, and, 
 owing to successive annexations, there are now only seven hundred 
 and fifty-nine. Many parishes, then separate, but now joined to 
 others, could consequently at that period profit by the school of 
 the neighboring parishes of which they now form part. 
 
 In the same diocese, out of thirty-four parishes which contain 
 the ancient Deanery of Fauville, twenty-four had schools, and the 
 ten that had none are still without any*. 
 
 M. Maggiolo has come upon documents relating to one hundred 
 
 ' Buisson, pp. 1757 to 1759. = ^ Id., p. 1505. = ' Allain, p. 64. = ' De Beaurepaire, 
 I. IF, p. 382 and following. 
 
68 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and seventy-six schools of the diocese of Toul in the seventeenth 
 century, and to eighty-two of the diocese of Verdun; the first of 
 these bishopries inchided two hundred and fourteen parishes, and 
 one luindred and five annexes; tiie second, one hundred and eighty- 
 six parishes and seventy-two annexes. 
 
 These school-rooms, opened to children all over France, did not 
 remain empty. It is true that in certain country parts the pa- 
 rents did not show much zeal in taking advantage of the oppor- 
 tunities offered to them ' ; but when we light by chance on any 
 bits of information concerning the frequentation of the schools, we 
 see that this neglect was by no means general. 
 
 The school of Bergues, in 1651, received eighty poor children; 
 the schools of Cambrai, nine hundred and sixty-five; the Ursuline 
 Nuns and the Sisters of Ernemont, at Dieppe, each taught five 
 hundred little scholars in the seventeenth century. At Dijon, 
 towards the close of the fifteenth century, more than two thousand 
 children frequented the grammar school ; at Douay, in 1615, five 
 or six hundred children had lessons from six mistresses; at Forest, 
 they reckoned one hundred and ten pupils during the winter. 
 At Lille, in 1613, there was a deficit of two thousand five hund- 
 red pounds in the school accounts " because of the great number 
 of children who attended the said schools. And amongst these, 
 are reckoned twelve hundred of the very poor, who, being in 
 receipt of alms, were threatened with the privation of lliis relief 
 if they failed to send their children to be instructed'. " The mu- 
 nicipal schools of Montauban, from 1536, dispensed knowledge to 
 over fifteen hundred pupils'; those of the parish of Saint-Victor, 
 at Metz, received two hundred boys and sixty girls '. 
 
 It is difficult to judge of the results obtained by the masters. 
 The proportion of contracting parties who sign their marriage 
 deeds furnishes a certain amount of evidence; but this is not lo 
 
 ' " Tlip parisliionors do not Inke can- of llie inslruclion of Ihcir cliildron. " Synoil of 
 Toul (KiUO). C.f. A. Oil, Un Mot nur I'hmtniction pritnnirr, \t. 1. — * Allain, p. 170 
 unil fullowiiig. Infcntaii-f ilei rtcc/iiiv» tie Dijon, V. 1. = ' Biiisson, p. 2860. = * Majt- 
 piolo, PoiiilW de Metz, p. G8. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 69 
 
 be relied upon altogether, for it is no uncommon thing even in 
 these days to find in country places persons who can sign their 
 names, and yet who do not know how to write '. 
 
 As to the knowledge of reading, it is impossible to form an es- 
 timate of the extent to which it spread. And yet the quantity of 
 publications issued by the Blue Library, and which assuredly were 
 not intended for a learned or cultivated public, would seem to 
 prove that the peasants and workmen were fond of seeking re- 
 laxation from their labors by reading of an evening the adventures 
 of ancient heroes and the legends of the Saints. Indeed, the pro- 
 gramme of the masters of that period, which we accuse of igno- 
 rance, was sometimes very ambitious. In the diocese of Rhodez, 
 where, from the fourteenth century, little villages were provided 
 with schools, grammar was taught, and logic, a little Latin and 
 sometimes music. According to a decree of a Bishop of Rhodez 
 in the sixteenth century, the children were to learn accent and 
 quantity, and know how to read Latin, in prose and verse ^ 
 
 In a word, when no one as yet gave a thought to the instruction 
 of the people, the Church was actively and extraordinarily zealous 
 on the subject. Thanks to her unceasing care, France was amply 
 endowed with primary schools where the children were taught 
 pretty much the same things that they learn in those of to-day, and 
 where they were instructed above all in that Christian doctrine 
 which is the foundation of individual and social morality. The 
 Church, without burdening the State or the parents with any ex- 
 pense, had founded and kept up a great many of these schools. 
 She gave them rules, the outcome of such ripe experience that 
 their main points have been retained in the laws of existing uni- 
 versities. She held them under a discipline at once firm and 
 
 ' The following results in 76 counties are given by M. Maggiolo. The number of con- 
 tracting parties who signed their marriage deed from 1686 to 1690 amounts on an average 
 to a little more than 19 o/o; but it varies much according to places. The most favored 
 regions are the Ilautes-Alpes (45,6oO/q), Calvados (4t,8.j); the signatures grow rare 
 in Ariege (3,68 O/^), and the Landes (4,68). But these statistics, more than others, 
 must be taken as merely approximative. (Maggiolo, Etat recapitulatif, etc.; Paris, 
 1879, in-4''.) := * Journal officiel, June 3d 1887. Compte rendu des Societes savantes. 
 Communicated by M. Lempereur. 
 
70 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 gentle, and now we shall see how, after having created the schools, 
 she endeavoured to train the teachers. 
 
 The chief obstacle to the diffusion of education was, indeed, the 
 insufficiency of teachers. 
 
 The clergy, absorbed by the duties of their ministry, gave only 
 an inadequate amount of time to popular instruction. Here and 
 there, a few parish-priests or vicars do duty as school-masters, as, for 
 instance, at Rheims. where, in IGoS, "the greater number of priests 
 keep school for little children, by means of which they live, " and in 
 the diocese of Rouen, where, in 1710, ninety-four schools are kept 
 by the parish-priests, two hundred and seventy-four by the vicars 
 and deacons, and four hundred and fifty by clerical students and 
 laymen '. But, after all, the priests were for the most part obliged 
 to confine themselves to teaching the catechism. In spite of the 
 urgent representations of the provincial councils and the diocesan 
 synods, the pastor of a small parish could not shut himself up 
 from morning till night in a school-room, teaching little children 
 to read, and neglecting the church, the religious services, the sick, 
 the poor, and the business of the parish. In the larger parishes, 
 it is true, there were vicars; but there the work also was heavier, 
 and was divided amongst them. The most that could be done 
 was to tell off one of them to overlook the school, without obliging 
 him to take the class himself. There were, indeed, certain par- 
 ishes where the vicar received his stipend only on condition of 
 teaching in the school; but this was exceptional. Teaching is an 
 absorbing occupation, which demands the sacrifice of a man's 
 whole time. 
 
 ■ 11 was the game at Asni^reit (1681), Cus8y (1700), Origny (1681) and Saint- Itidu-r 
 (1670), in the diocese of Aiitiin; at Rcignac (1636), Saint-Girons-d'AiKiiesTivos and 
 i*aint-Siilpirc-de-la-Fo»»c, in the diocese of Bordeaux ; nl Accolay ii673). Mcrrj'-Scc, 
 Merry-sur-Yonnc and Sainfmits ( 1679\ in the region which correspond* lo our department 
 of Yonnc.— Allain, pp. 65 and 263; [)« Reaurepaire, /. r.,- De Charmassc, p. I3t and 
 following: Lhuillicr, p. 20; Quantin, pp. 64, 93, 9V 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 71 
 
 It was, therefore, necessary to have recourse to laymen, and as 
 there was no institution which trained them for the work, the first 
 who offered himself was accepted. Sometimes the candidate was 
 an aspirant to the priesthood, who, on the threshold of the sanc- 
 tuary, had given up his high vocation; sometimes it was a pettifog- 
 ging lawyer, who, finding he could make no way in his profession, 
 took to playing at school-master. Occasionally, a peasant, some- 
 what less of a dunce than his neighbors, undertook to teach the 
 rising generation the little that he knew; then again, we see the 
 parish fiddler installed in the pedagogue's chair, and interrupting 
 his learned lectures to go and fiddle for a wedding in the village. 
 
 Very often, the school-master, finding it impossible to make a 
 living out of his school, supplements it by some other profession, 
 some manual labor or small trade; at Lyons, in 1685, a retired 
 publican and the wife of an inn -keeper undertake the office of 
 teachers'. 
 
 At an other place, a vagabond, whom the King pardons' for some 
 gross misdemeanor, and elsewhere a stranger arrested on his 
 journey, are invested with the rank and office of a school-master. 
 A boy of fourteen is charged to teach the children in one village, 
 and an old woman in another. Generally speaking, despite the 
 prohibitions of the Church, the Royal commands and the decrees 
 of Parliament, the school is mixed; boys and girls are huddled 
 together in the same school-rooms, and this leads to evil results. In 
 the more privileged parishes, a wife, a mother, or a sister of the 
 master takes charge of the girls' class, as at Mercueil and at Macon'. 
 Few Communes are rich enough to be able to afford two separate 
 and distinct schools. 
 
 The teaching body was, therefore, it will be seen, far below its 
 mission, and pedantry is, unfortunately, by no means the gravest 
 charge that La Fontaine was justified in bringing against the poor 
 pedagogue of the seventeenth century'. Abbe Demia, director 
 
 ' Buisson, p. 17S7. ^= * Sim6on Luce, Lettre tie remission d'6tienne Cappel (1478). 
 Bulletin of the Society of the History of Paris, 1882, quoted hy Lhuillier, p. 20. = ^ De 
 Charmasfc, pp. 125 and 198; Rameau, p. 179. = * Book I, fable 19. 
 
72 
 
 RLESSED DE I.A SAI.I.E. 
 
 general of schools at Lyons, declares that " the greater num- 
 ber of mistresses are ignorant not only of the best mctltod of 
 reading and writing, but of the very principles of religion; that 
 
 B.Ignativs Loyola FvNnATOR Soc.lESV. 
 
 c~Ut cnqnoframus m terra vian tuam, in enmbus 
 qailtbus JalutttTf ttium . vjml.ce. 
 
 mj'H 
 
 7-jtfamv.M. 
 
 Tlie tnitcmott of Ble««4 d« U Sulta. — 8t Ivullot Lojrola, from » docaawM tnm ntt la Uw frtol ttptnmmi. 
 — Dnwa b; tdourt Ovnlw, •n«nr*4 tt Trtcho*. 
 
 amongst the masters there are heretics, impious men who have fol- 
 lowed infamous callings, and under whose guidance the young are 
 in evident danger of being lost. " 
 
 These complaints are general. The Uishop of Toul sums up the 
 list of the habitual faults of school-masters. " They arc gamblers, 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 73 
 
 drunkards, libertines, brutes. They pass their days in the wine- 
 
 ThepredecessorsofBleBseddelaSalle. — St Vincent of Paul, statue by ^milienCabuchet, in the cliurch of Saint-Sulpice, Paris. 
 — Engraved by Pannemaker, borrowed from the Saint Vincent de Paul, of Arthur Loth ( Dumoulin, publisher). 
 
 shops playing cards, and in places of amusement, and fiddling at 
 
74 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 the village festivals. In the churches, they do not dress modestly, 
 and instead of applying themselves to the sacred chanting, they 
 sing whatever comes into their head during the ser\'ices'. " If 
 they are assiduous at the school, they are too often incompentent, 
 and can teach the children nothing. Or else, they are heretics, 
 won over to the new sects, and they become instruments of perdi- 
 tion for the young souls that are entrusted to them. One Hishop 
 whose diocese was not extensive, admitted that he had been com- 
 pelled to dismiss twelve school -masters for having corrupted the 
 children. This explains why the Church was so severe towards 
 teachers; why she reserved to herself the right to name them or to 
 revoke them, why she kept such strict watch on them throughout 
 the year. She was always divided between the fear of leaving the 
 children without any instruction, and the terror of seeing them 
 fall into bad hands. 
 
 Teaching is not, however, conlided everywhere to such unworthy 
 persons. In many places, the masters are mentioned as " hono- 
 rable men, " and assuredly they deserve the title, the members of 
 Ihose dynasties of teachers, who, from father to son, devote them- 
 selves to the instruction of youth, as likewise those notaries, re- 
 corders, lawyers who consecrate to the noble work the leisure left 
 them by their professional duties'. 
 
 The' Church sometimes has the joy of testifying her gratitude to 
 Ihe zealous mistresses who come to her aid in teaching the little 
 ones. At Thoste, for instance, according to the report of the 
 diocesan visitation of Autun in 1071 ', " there were no schools 
 for the instruction of youth; but a good old widow instructs some 
 little boys and girls, and teaches them Christian doctrine with 
 great zeal, being very capable of this employment, and of keeping 
 the children in order." At Metz-le-Comte, in 1W)7, dame Louise 
 Brissa, wife of M* Jean Perr6ve, practitioner of the place, became 
 a teacher out of charity*. At Saint-Georges-sur-Loire, in 1687, 
 
 ' StaUils gynodaux of 1686. — • Allain, p. 138 and following; nuisson, p. S9M. 
 » Do CharmaBse. p. 180. — ' Id . p. 199. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 75 
 
 " Catherine Ravigne, school-mistress, is buried in presence of all the 
 Chapter, with the esteem of all the parishioners for the charitable 
 services she had rendered to every one '. " The information col- 
 lected concerning the teachers of the Archpresbytery of Avallon, 
 at the end of the seventeenth century, is excellent-. The sad 
 lack of masters is not felt everywhere : at Montesquioii, in 1655, 
 several persons present themselves for the office, and at Bourbourg, 
 in 1674, there are as many as fourteen candidates '. 
 
 The pastoral letter of Mgr Arnauld, Bishop of Angers, for the 
 year 1668 \ seems to give a just estimate of the character of the 
 masters of that day, some of whom were excellent, some mediocre, 
 and some detestable : " We have the consolation of possessing prim- 
 ary schools in many parishes where the masters and mistresses 
 do a great deal of good by the teaching they give the children;... 
 but we have also the pain of seeing many in other places who 
 are of hardly any use for their salvation. These teachers content 
 themselves with merely showing the children how to read. " 
 
 It was, therefore, necessary to train and discipline the masters. 
 This was to be the work of the religious and secular congrega- 
 tions. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the fecundity of these congregations in the 
 seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Council of Trent renov- 
 ated the spirit of Christendom, and faith, purified and regulat- 
 ed by discipline, produced a superabundance of vocations. Teach- 
 ing and charitable congregations above all increased. In France 
 
 ' AUain, p. 146. =^ - De Charmasse, p. tlu. = ' Allain, p. 133. The candidates, 
 
 unfortunately, did not always possess serious claims, and the municipal body of Buys can 
 hardly have been much impressed by the following petition : — " Messieurs les considx, 
 i'entends que vostre maistre d'escolle s'en va, que me faict vous escripre la presentc, 
 pour vous (aire entandre la voullante que j'e aurois vous aller fere servisse pour 
 I' instruct ion de vostre jeunesse a bonnes moeurs, it lysre en latin et en frangois, en 
 toutes sortes de lettrcs. Quant a la grammerre, j'e n'y suis point fonde, forsque Ic 
 commencement de conjugar et conslrnire quelqucs riegles de Pelbjsson. Et advan- 
 ceray aussi bien vos enffans de mon petit savoir, sans rien tounnenter tes eit/fans. " 
 (Lacroix, p. 16.) The spelling, which makes the point of the quotation and the peculiar 
 merit of this remarkable document, is absolutely untranslatable. = ' Allain, p. 109. 
 
76 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 alone, we see fifty arise in less than a hundred and fifty years, and 
 every one of them, after strupgHng through the inevitable trials of 
 their beginnings, founded branch houses on every side where the 
 poor were relieved, the sick tended, and children were taught the 
 rudiments of profane and Divine science. No words could ad- 
 equately depict the beauty of this Catholic harvest. Every province 
 produces wonders. Every diocese has its own sap, and gives 
 birth to its own congregations, adapted to the special needs of the 
 people. Among these may be mentioned the Ursulines, who, found- 
 ed in Italy, in 1535, by Angela de Merici, are introduced into France 
 in 459G, and in 1789 number over nine thousand ; the Religious of 
 Our Lady, founded in 1600 by Blessed Peter Fourrier of Mattain- 
 court, one of the most far-seeing men of his day, who declared 
 that primary instruction was " the thing most necessary and fitting 
 for the age " in which he lived ' ; the Daughters of Our Lady, 
 fovmded at Bordeaux, in 1G07, by Jeanne de Lestonac, niece of 
 Montaigne and Marquise de Montferrand, who at her death left 
 forty flourishing educational establishments; the Religious of the 
 Visitation, who, founded by St Francis of Sales and St Jeanne de 
 Chantal in 1610, possessed, in 1641, eighty-seven houses, and in 1789 
 numbered, in France alone, seven thousand nuns; the Daughters 
 of the Cross, established, in 1625, at Roye in Picardy, and who take 
 their name from the trials which attend their community at its 
 birth. Few things are more touching than the early beginnings 
 of these last-named nuns. At Roye, a school-master is dismissed 
 for a gnive misdemeanour. Four young girls at once volunteer 
 to continue his work, and rescue the little ones from grievous 
 dangers. 
 
 Under the direction of their parish-priest they assemble in a 
 poor, tumble-down house, with no help but the protection of the 
 Blessed Virgin and St Joseph, and there, renouncing the joys of 
 family life, they divide their time iK'tween prayer, education and 
 manual work. This poor little foundation, i>erseculed as well as 
 
 ' R. do Braurepairc, t. 11, p. 227. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 77 
 
 poor, soon covers the face of Picardy with its pious houses, where 
 children are born anew to Christian life. Its branches extended 
 to Paris, and the admirable Institute of the.Daughters of the Gross, 
 of Mme de Viileneuve, who train teachers for the rural schools, be- 
 comes the primitive model of our normal schools. 
 
 Predecessors of Blessed de la Balle. — M. Tronsou, priest of SaiuC-Sulplcc (p. 78), from the portrait by Uuerry. 
 — Engraved by MuauUe, from a copper -plate l>y Duflos, 
 
 In 1625, also, Jeanne Chezard du Matel founds the Congregation 
 of Ladies of the Incarnate Word. The following year sees the 
 foundation of the Sisters of the Presentation. The Ladies of the 
 School of Jesus, afterwards called " Religious of Our Lady of 
 Peace, " are settled at Provins in 1630, and at Coulommiers ' in 
 1637. In 1633, St Vincent of Paul institutes the Sisters of Cha- 
 rity, who have become the type copied by almost all charitable 
 
 ' Lhuillier, p. 39. 
 
BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 congregations of women. It is hardly necessary to add that in 
 many countries they combine the instruction of children with the 
 care of the sick; this they did for the first time at Fontainebleau 
 in 4646, and later in a hundred other towns and villages'. 
 
 In 1636, M'ne de Miramion founds the Daughters of Sainte- 
 Genevieve in Paris, and joins them to the community founded by 
 FranQoise de Blosset in 1632, " to instruct little girls and train 
 teachers for the country schools, and to shelter and feed these lat- 
 ter for a time'." 
 
 In 1647, the Daughters and Widows of the Christian Union are 
 founded. 
 
 In 1648, some pious women in the parish of Sainl-Sulpice form 
 themselves into an association to receive orphans of both sexes, 
 and this is the germ from which springs the Congregation of the 
 Mother of God, to which,- in 1810, Napoleon I. was to confide the 
 direction of the school of the Legion of Honor. 
 
 In KmO, we see arise almost simultaneously the Sisters of 
 Sainl-Josoph, in Puy en Velay; the Sistei-s of the Faith, at Agen; the 
 Sisters of Christian Union, at Fontenay-le-Comte. Foundations 
 increase so rapidly that language is at a loss for new names to 
 distinguish them, and they are at last obliged to borrow their 
 titles one from another. 
 
 In 1665, the Beates and the Ladies of Instruction are established 
 at Puy, where, to the present day, the latter continue to be one of 
 the pillars of Christian life. M. Tronson, of Saint-Sulpice, was 
 their founder, M"*-' Martel carrying out his idea practically — neither 
 one nor the other of them, as it so often happens with the servants 
 of God, dreaming of the great things that were to come of their 
 lowly work. M. Tronson's idea was simply to instil some notions 
 of Christian truth into the minds of the young girls of his parish; 
 he spoke of it to one of his penitents, who interested others in the 
 work. And in this way were grouped together the Ladies of 
 
 ' Lhuillier, p. 41. The same, nl Sainl-Quenlin (ifl98). Cf. Morel, p. 138. = * Allain, 
 p.28U. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 79 
 
 Instruction; they went from house to house, from neighbor to 
 neighbor ; they persuaded the young girls employed in lace- 
 making to join prayer to work ; to sing canticles while they threw 
 the shuttle, and to adopt a rule of Christian life in the world. 
 Soon these pious women were too few for their work, and had to 
 call in helps. They formed teachers who settled in the villages 
 and hamlets to spread instruction under the vigilant supervision 
 of the parish-priest. Without being bound by any vow, without 
 forming part of any congregation, they wore a particular costume, 
 and were restricted to certain rules. They were the guardian 
 angels of the village, bringing up the children, watching over 
 the young girls, nursing the sick, assisting the dying, and thus, 
 unknown to the world, accomplishing that blessed mission which 
 has saved the faith in France through all her revolutions. The 
 Menettcs, in the diocese of Saint -Flour, and the Filles regente.-i 
 of Aleth, who went about in the winter time teaching the young 
 girls in the country places, were equally devoted \ 
 
 All the provinces in France had their own congregations, cre- 
 ated in the first instance for the special needs of the town or the 
 diocese, and gradually growing and stretching forth their branches 
 until there is no room left anywhere for ignorance. In 16G'2, the 
 congregation of the Sisters of Providence, founded by Antonin de 
 la Haye, pastor of Saint- Amand of Rouen, soon spreads all over 
 France; in 1666, comes the congregation of the Ladies of Saint-Maur. 
 founded by Father Barre, and in 1671 that of the Sisters of the 
 Charity Schools, founded by M'le de Houdemare^; in 1679, ap- 
 pear the Sisters of Charity of Evreux, founded by Mme Tulard, and 
 who had ninety houses when the Revolution broke out. The 
 same year, in the Ardennes, arise the Daughters of Providence, 
 founded by Mi'e Morel, for the gratuitous instruction of girls, both 
 rich and poor, in Arches and Charleville. In 1680, the Sisters of 
 Charity of Christian Instruction are founded by Dom de Laveyne 
 at Saint-Saulze, in the diocese of Nevers, and in 1789 number no 
 
 ' AUain, pp. 105 and 282. = ^ De Beaurepaire, vol. II, p. 236 and following. 
 
80 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 fewer than one hundred and twenty houses; the Sisters of Charity 
 of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin hegin with a little school 
 opened hy Mother Poussepin at Angerville, in 1G84; in 1680, the Sis- 
 ters of the Christian Schools of Saint-Charles are installed at Lyons 
 
 i(A<<AHa')£?.VI 
 
 Th« predeMMon ot Neucd it la Sails. — Bt JaMpta raluuictiai (p. six — Dram hr ftdonarl.UvaiM', ngnn* br TrkiMa 
 
 from t dociinrat of J. XauttM. 
 
 by ahhe Dcniia; in 1090, the Sisters of Saint-Maurice of Charlres, and 
 of the Hospital of Eniemont spread themselves all over Normandy'. 
 In 1G9(), we have the Daughters of the Blessed Virgin of Bennes; 
 and, in 4698, the Daughlei-s of Our Lady at Tourcoing, and the 
 Ladies of the Charity Schools of Saint-Charles, at Nantes: ami finally 
 
 ' R. (le Reaurepnire, vol. II. p. 280. 
 
ROOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 81 
 
 in 1699, the Sisters of Saint Paul of Treguier, founded by that M«ie du 
 Pare de Gezerdo, who was the intimate friend of Mmc de Maintenon. 
 
 » 
 
 £J CA.-.XlEKni.- 
 
 The predecessors o£ 
 
 de la Salle. — The Venerable Cesar do Bus ( p. 85 ). — Drawn hy fidouard Garnier ; 
 engraved by Trichon , from an engraving of Charpignon. 
 
 The eighteenth century is no less productive than the seven- 
 teenth, and would furnish a catalogue equally beautiful and rich. 
 Amongst other institutions, we may mention the Sisters of Provi- 
 dence of Portien, in the Vosges; the Sisters of Providence of 
 
 u 
 
82 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Evreux; in 1702, the Congregation of the Good Saviour, at Caen; 
 in 1742, the Sisters of Christian Doctrine, or Vatelottes, in Lor- 
 raine, so called after their founder abbd Vatelot; the Religious of 
 the Blessed Sacrament in 1715, in the Vivarais; the Daughters 
 of Wisdom in Vend&; the Sisters of Charity, in the diocese of 
 Chartres; the Sisters of Saint Roch, in the diocese of Limoges; the 
 Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, at Mdcon ; the Sisters of Mercy, 
 in lower Normandy. Even during the hurricane of the Revolution, 
 new congregations arise, and the old ones spread and multiply. 
 In a word, when the Revolution broke out, there were in France 
 eighty thousand religious, nuns and sisters, a certain number of 
 whom had consecrated themselves wholly to prayer and penance, 
 but the majority of whom were given up to teaching and charity. 
 A dry list of names can give no idea of this expansion of Catho- 
 lic charity any more than the nomenclature of a herbal could 
 convey a true notion of the l)eauty of the flowering meadows and 
 the green forests where the plants were culled. In order to admire 
 these works in all their splendour, it would be necessary to go 
 through the touching annals of each, perusing them page by page, 
 and studying those vocations that come to souls in such wonder- 
 ful ways — now to the simple maid working in the fields, now to 
 the young girl surrounded by the brilliant pleasures of fortune, 
 and attracting from such various points of social life to the lowly 
 path of charity souls so widely separated by education, by cha- 
 racter and by natural tastes. It would be necessary to study the 
 rules of these various congregations, and to see with what care 
 and wisdom the founders seek to train the souls and the minds 
 of children. " Let them be Uiught, " says Blessed Peter Fourrier, 
 " Christian doctrine, horror of sin, the love of virtue ; but also to 
 read and write, to do sums, to sew and to do those many manual 
 works that are useful and fit for girls. In order to proceed in all 
 this with greater order, profit and ease, the whole school shall l>e 
 divided into three classes — in the first shall be those scholars who 
 read registers, and other papers, and letters written in hand-writ- 
 ing; in the second, those who are learning to read from printed 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 83 
 
 books, and are already pretty well advanced; in the third, the 
 little scholars who are learning their letters, and begin to put syl- 
 lables together and pronounce words'. " 
 
 At the Ursulines of Franche-Comte, the little girls are divided 
 into six different classes ^ and " it is to be remarked that in the 
 sixth [the elementary class] no work is to be taught, for expe- 
 rience has made it evident that, when these little creatures have 
 applied their wits to work before having learned their letters and 
 how to put them together, there is no getting them to attend to 
 their reading lesson. " The mistresses are to make no sign of 
 impatience or anger in presence of the girls, and are to say " no 
 sharp or rude words to them, nor despise any of them, let them be 
 ever so poor. " 
 
 We have enumerated for France alone thirty new congregations 
 in one century, and we have not named all. In many dioceses, 
 communities were formed that history never heard of and never 
 mentions. Their names are inscribed only in that eternal book, 
 richer than ours, where are registered those deeds of merit done 
 so secretly, that even the left hand of the doer never finds them out. 
 Not only did these hidden communities exist in many dioceses, 
 but there were, so to speak, none where they did not exist. The 
 learned, in searching the local archives of the period, come upon 
 traces of these fertile works, and the historian suspects their 
 existence before he has proved it. When he sees how the faith 
 has been preserved in the poorest villages in France, how tradi- 
 tions of virtue and Christian knowledge have kept their place at 
 the family hearth, holding out against starvation, revolutions, war, 
 the want of schools for long periods, he says to himself — " Some 
 diligent hands have been at work here, tilling and watering souls, 
 and scattering the seeds of Christian truth so abundantly, that, 
 from generation to generation, they have gone on reproducing 
 good fruit. " No portion of the Master's field was left uncultiv- 
 
 ' Constitutions, P. Ill, Ch. vi, § 2; Allain, Revue cles questions historiques, t. XXXIII 
 (1883), p. 536. = ^ Morey, V Enseignement chez les Ursulines de la Franche-Comte, 
 pp. 36 and 44. 
 
84 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ated ; but for this the priest needed helpmates. He found them 
 in those innumerable congregations with which the seventeenth 
 century endowed France, or in tliose lowly communities, less 
 known, but not less active, that reinforced the army fighting 
 against ignorance. 
 
 But if the congregations of women for the instruction of youth 
 were numerous, those of men devoted to the same cause were 
 rare. The few that had been started in France had proved signal 
 failures. 
 
 In Holland, during the fourteenth century, Gerard Groot, born 
 in -1340 at Deventer, and who died in odour of sanctity in 1384, 
 sketched out the work of Blessed de la Salle. There was a strik- 
 ing resemblance between the two men. Gerard Groot was also a 
 Canon, first at Utrecht, then at Aix-la-Chapelle; he also gave up 
 his living, and devoted himself to preaching, and founded a com- 
 munity of clerics, called Brothers of the Common Life, who had 
 primary schools, and taught children catechism, reading and writ- 
 ing. These Brothers made their living by copying out books. 
 The Institute was approved by Gregory XI. in 1376 '. 
 
 In 1597, an Aragonese, St Joseph Calasanctius, came to Rome 
 at the beginning of the pontificate of Clement VIII., and on account 
 of his science was named Doctor in theology. As a member of 
 the Archconfraternity of the Holy Apostles, which distributed alms 
 to the indigent, he Ciime to see the state of wretchedness and 
 ignorance in which the children of the poor were living, and the 
 disastrous effect of this neglect on their morals. He besought the 
 school -masters of the district to receive these poor children into 
 their classes ; the masters refused, unless their .salary was increas- 
 ed, and this the senate would not consent to. The Saint went in 
 search of a religious order that would have pity on the children ; 
 
 * For a beauliful and faithful account of the Brothers of the Common Life, see Thoma$ 
 (I h'empis, by Francis Richard Cruise. London, 1887. 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 85 
 
 but he failed to find one; each had its own particular aim and 
 mission, and refused to abandon them. 
 
 St Joseph Calasanctius then undertook the work himself; and 
 in the month of November 1597, he opened the first public free 
 school at Saint Dorothy's in the Transtevere, where the pastor, 
 Antonio Brendani, placed a large hall at his disposal. Two zeal- 
 ous priests joined him, and soon the school had some hundreds 
 of children. They were taught catechism, reading, writing and 
 arithmetic, and were supplied gratis with paper, books, and what- 
 ever other things were necessary. 
 
 The school was then moved from the Transtevere to Vestri 
 Palace, beside San Andrea della Valle, and here, St Joseph Cala- 
 sanctius began to form an association of priests who devoted 
 themselves with him to the instruction of the poor. He then re- 
 ceived the title of " Prefect of the pious schools, " and soon these 
 schools reckoned over one thousand scholars. 
 
 This Congregation was recognized in 1607 by Paul V., and four 
 years later erected by Gregory XV. into a regular order, with 
 the three ordinary vows and a fourth by which they devoted 
 themselves to teaching. These Religious bore the name of Clerks 
 regular of the Poor of the Mother of God for the pious schools, or 
 more briefly, Scolopii Fathers. 
 
 St Joseph Calasanctius died in 1648, at the age of ninety-two, 
 and his schools were of great service, and still exist. But they 
 did not spread as much as was hoped, and, above all, they did not 
 continue specially restricted to primary education. They became 
 veritable colleges, whose teaching at the present day extends from 
 reading and writing to the higher branches of education. 
 
 In 1592, Venerable Cesar de Bus founded at Cavaillon, in the 
 diocese of Avignon, the congregation of the Christian Doctrine, 
 approved by Clement VIII., and composed of priests and laymen 
 united by a vow of perseverance in the teaching of the catechism. 
 Venerable Cesar de Bus died in 1607, and his disciples, the better 
 to carry out his intentions, opened public free schools which flour- 
 ished in the south of France until the Revolution. But they also 
 
86 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 became eventually transformed into colleges. The chief feature 
 of Venerable de Bus's method was that of teaching Christian 
 doctrine by discussion. 
 
 At Lyons, the Christian schools had been very flourishing for a 
 time. M. Demia, a priest of Bourg, named by the Archbishop of 
 Lyons archpriest of Bresse and visitor extraordinary of the dio- 
 cese of Lyons, had been struck in 4664 by the ignorance and 
 depravity of the youth of Lyons. Feeling the need of applying a 
 remedy to this crying evil, he addressed a complaint to the Pro- 
 vost of the merchants and to the aldermen of the city. The magis- 
 trates turned a deaf ear to his pleadings; but some charitable 
 persons were moved, and a school was opened in the district of 
 Saint George. This, however, was not enough, and M. Demia again 
 addressed the magistrates, and this time his eloquent appeal so 
 stirred them, that they sent it round to the various towns of 
 the kingdom. The magistrates, moreover, decided forthwith on 
 voting an annual sum of two hundred francs to found a school 
 where children should be taught Christian doctrine, reading and 
 writing. Others were established soon afterwards. In 167'i, there 
 were five where children were received gratis. M. Demia was 
 named by the Archbishop Director general over them all. 
 
 He at once drew out minute rules for the schools. The hours 
 of class, the various methods, the punishments, were airefully 
 considered and regulated. In every school, the children were 
 classed according to what they knew. M. Demia had the instinct 
 of mutual education; he appealed to the good will of the best 
 behaved children, and created monitors amongst them who second- 
 ed the masters. 
 
 Certain methods of teaching were borrowed from Venerable Cesar 
 (le Bus. On solemn days, the children held controversies in pu- 
 blic on questions from the catechism, on politeness, on the man- 
 ner of meditating. Those who best maintained the argument 
 received as a reward such clothes as their poverty most needed. 
 
 But to direct these schools, masters were wanted. Abbd Demia 
 began by inviting to his house every three months a certain numl)er 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 87 
 
 of persons, priests and laymen, who had consented to interest 
 themselves in the schools, and he gave them rules and advice. 
 These masters placed themselves under the protection of the 
 Blessed Virgin, and every year, during the Octave of the Nativity, 
 they made a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Fourvieres. 
 
 Abbe Demia next extended his solicitude to the secular masters. 
 He obtained a decree, dated May 7th 1674, forbidding any person 
 to keep a primary school without having obtained the permission 
 of the Archbishop, and without having promised to observe the 
 rules. Former masters and mistresses were to present themselves 
 within six months before abbe Demia in order to legalize their 
 position. On the 28th of April 1675, he assembled the masters 
 and mistresses, as the precentor of Notre-Dame was in the habit 
 of doing in Paris, acquainted them with the rules that he had 
 drawn up for them, and thenceforth kept strict watch over them. 
 All the pastors of the diocese had orders to give him an account 
 of the school -masters and mistresses in their respective parishes, 
 and he sent round visitors, from time to time, to inspect them. 
 
 Abbe Demia's masters were in request on all sides. The 
 Bishops of Grenoble, of Agde, of Toulon and of Chalons, wrote to 
 him asking for them; and young men were sent to him to be 
 trained. He would have preferred to employ none but priests, and 
 with this object in view, he founded at Lyons, with his own for- 
 tune, a seminary where he purposed to train school-masters and 
 vicars for the country parishes. This seminary, called the " Com- 
 munity of Saint Charles, " opened in 1672, and approved by the 
 Archbishop in 1679, was recognized by letters patent in May 1680. 
 M. Demia, without residing there, directed it by means of a 
 School -Board composed partly of priests, partly of seculars. 
 
 M. Demia died on the 23tli of October 1689, in the fifty-third 
 year of his age. But, despite all his efforts, his work did not 
 survive him. The Community of the Sisters of Saint Charles, 
 which he founded for the education of girls and the care of the 
 sick, is still flourishing; but the seminary became a common 
 seminary like any other. 
 
88 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Congregations of priests were not suited for teaching the child- 
 ren of the people : they swerved by degrees from their aim, gave 
 themselves up to secondary education, and took the direction of 
 
 TAT/iy^euir . J A 
 
 f:j.a!AK.NiEP.dti} 
 
 rta prciltoeuon of Bltuad it t* Salle. — M. Mmi* ( p. M ud follawiBf ). Dram l<r timur* Oarain ; 
 cngrared by Tricbon, (rom a portrait i«ini«I by Bacllr. 
 
 the colleges. We might speak here appropriately of the Society 
 of Jesus, and of St Ignatius as one of the procui-soi-s of Blessed de 
 la Salle; but the Jesuits, above all others, turned their attention 
 to secondary education, and only occupied themselves incidentally 
 with primary schools. And secondary eduaUion was the stum- 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 89 
 
 bling-block to be avoided here, and Blessed de la Salle exerted his 
 utmost zeal not to strike against it. This, next to God's help and 
 his great virtue, was the secret of his success. 
 
 The predecesaoi-s of Blessed de la Salle. — Blessed Peter Fourrier of Mattaincourt ( i'. 89 ). — Drawn by^douard Garniei' ; 
 engraved by Trichon, from a drawing by Baumgartncr. 
 
 And yet, the idea of founding lay congregations had occurred to 
 others before Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 Blessed Peter Fourrier of Mattaincourt, founder of the Congre- 
 
90 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 gation of Our Lady for tlie education of girls, and a man eminently 
 alive to all the wants of his age, had formed a community of men 
 for the education of poor boys of the towns and country parts; 
 but he was not able to g?t it approved in Rome, and the young 
 men whom he had gathered together, grew tired of the work, and 
 went back into the world. 
 
 At Orleans, Peter Tranchot, a barrister, founded a primary 
 school in 1G52, and with one of his nephews set to teaching little 
 children. But this generous initiative provoked no imitators. 
 
 Towards 1G60, Francis Perdouls founded schools at Blois, at 
 Tours, and in the country places; but the work did not spread. It 
 was the same thing at Autun, in 1687, where three priests of the 
 town " devoted themselves with all their hearts to the instruction 
 of youth, and principally the children of the poorest among the 
 poor, offering themselves voluntarily and with pleasure to establish 
 a charity school. " Their efforts to extend their work over the 
 diocese remained unavailing'. 
 
 In Paris, in 1678, the Reverend Father Barr^, founder of the 
 Congregation of the Ladies of Saint Maur, wanted to establish some 
 kind of seminaries for school -masters; but the project did not 
 succeed. The young men that he gathered together thought more 
 of themselves than of their holy vocation; they looked at it in the 
 light of a useful calling, and so lost the grace to remain faithful to 
 it. At the end of a short time, they dispersed, and their schools 
 were closed. 
 
 The Bishop of Beauvais, Mgr de Buzanval, tried to found a semi- 
 nary to tiain school -masters with a view to disseminating them 
 afterwards through the parishes; but he could not command the 
 necessary funds for carrying out the plan. M. de Chennevi6res, 
 who styled himself " a piiest who served the poor, " seems not 
 to have been more successful with a petition that he sent up to 
 Louis XIV. concerning the incomparable necessity of founding a 
 seminary "for school -masters and mistresses in every diocese*. " 
 
 ' Allain, |.. 2b7. = « National Library, Ms. fr. 2386, quoted by Allain, p. 128. 
 
't>*^ Of ii". 
 BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. V^^CALii-oB' 
 
 At Rouen, a pious layman, M. Nyel, charged by the hospital to 
 teach the poor children, established a sort of community whose 
 members, laymen themselves, seconded hiin in his work; but the 
 little community, which reckoned some twenty members during 
 his life, died out soon after his death. 
 
 These unsuccessful attempts were so many abortive schemes of 
 the great work, that Providence meant to accomplish through 
 Blessed de la Salle, and these pious men were his precursors. 
 Like him, they saw the need of organizing Christian education for 
 the poor, and forming masters to take charge of it; like him, they 
 began the work, but they failed to carry it on, either because they 
 lacked the strength for the sacrifices essential to its success, or 
 because they had not received the gifts and the capacity without 
 which it could not be accomplished. 
 
 All these undertakings, after beginning brilliantly, perished for 
 want of masters to carry them on. They all laid down precisely 
 the conditions that were necessary for the success and duration of 
 the work; they were so many experiments, that were destined to 
 help Blessed de la Salle one day in drawing up his own rules. The 
 majority of their founders, though they failed to accomplish their 
 purpose, had a direct or indirect influence on M. de la Salle, and 
 became unconsciously his fellow-workers. 
 
 The remonstrances of M. Demia, that were forwarded to Rheims, 
 were communicated to Canon Roland and M. de la Salle, and may 
 have contributed to incline the charity of the latter towards the 
 good work of teaching. 
 
 In 1708, he inquired carefully into the Institute of the Fathers of 
 the Pious Schools in Rome; he sought to make himself acquainted 
 with their rules, their conduct and their government '. Father 
 Barre, while he lived, was his guide and counsellor. M. Nyel was 
 his first partner, and the one who put this work of the schools 
 into his hands. 
 
 Every thing, therefore, at the end of the seventeenth century, 
 
 ' Letter xviii. Letter to Brother Gabriel Drolin, then in Rome. 
 
92 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 converges towards the foundation of an Institute destined to direct 
 Christian schools, every thing is ready, and awaiting the Founder. 
 
 M. Bourdoise, one of the most ardent propagators of ecclesias- 
 tical reform, and the friend of St Vincent de Paul, had been struck 
 by this necessity. " I wish, " he wrote to M. Olier, " we could 
 have a school filled with the supernatural spirit, and where child- 
 ren might learn to read and write, and also be trained into good 
 parishioners. For to see money spent on teaching them merely to 
 read and write, without making them better, or more Christianlike, 
 is really a pity; and yet this is what generally is the case. Now- 
 adays all classes of children go to school, but to schools where 
 nature is every thing. We must not, consequently, be surprised 
 if, afterwards, they don't lead Christian lives; because, in order to 
 have a school useful to Christianity, one must have masters who 
 will labour there like perfect Christians, and not like hirelings, 
 regarding the ofQce as a miserable trade, taken up to get their 
 bread. For my part, I declare from my heart, / ivould loillinghj 
 beg from door to door to procure the means of living for a real 
 school-master, and, like St Francis Xavier, I would implore all the 
 Universities for men, not to go off to Japan and the Indies to 
 convert the infidel, but to begin this excellent work. It is easy 
 enough to find amongst the clergj' men ready to take a vicarage or 
 a parish; but to find any one with piety and the other qualities 
 necessary to keep a school, and who, having also the means of 
 living, is yet willing to work under the authority of the pastor, 
 this is very rare indeed. Whence I conclude that to devote one's 
 self to forming such masters, is a work more useful to the Church 
 and more meritorious than to preach all one's life in the pulpits of 
 the largest towns of the kingdom. / beliei'c that a priest who had 
 the science of the Saints would be a school- master, and would be 
 canonized for it. The best mastei^s, the greatest, the most esteemed, 
 the Doctors of the Sorbonne, would not be too good for the office. 
 Hecause the parish schools are poor, and taught by poor men, 
 
nOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 93 
 
 people imagine tliey are nothing. And yet it is the only means of 
 destroying vice and instilling virtue, and I defy all men united 
 to find a belter one. I believe that if St Paul and St Denis were 
 to come back to France now, they would undertake the work of 
 school-masters in preference to any other. " 
 
 " For fifty-seven years, " adds M. Bourdoise, " I have been familiar 
 with the work of a field laborer; and during all that time I have 
 seen no work more futile than that of sowing in ground that has 
 not been previously well manured and ploughed. Now, it is by 
 means of Christian schools that hearts are prepared to receive the 
 word of God from preachers. " And elsewhere he says : " The 
 school is the novitiate of Christianity. It is the Seminary of 
 seminaries. " These are golden words. 
 
 At last, more and more possessed by this idea, he undertook to 
 found an Association of prayers to obtain from God the blessing of 
 Christian school- masters for France. He was then at Liancourl; 
 and there happened to be there at the same time a great many ec- 
 clesiastics and Religious whom civil war had driven away from Paris. 
 Seventy of the number, amongst whom were several members of the 
 Community of Saint Sulpice, entered into the Association, which 
 was placed under the protection of St Joseph. All the Associates 
 pledged themselves to celebrate the feast of the Saint with great 
 devotion, to pray incessantly that God might inspire ecclesiastical 
 superiors with zeal for Christian schools, and to do their utmost 
 personnally in the cause. M. Bourdoise himself set the example. 
 He wrote, he preached, he lectured with his accustomed ardour. 
 One day, in the church of Gentilly, near Paris, he spoke with such 
 burning eloquence on the subject, that, after the sermon, eighty 
 persons had themselves inscribed as members of the Association. 
 This Association began on the 15th of March' 1649; two years later, 
 on the 30th of April 1G51, John Baptist de la Salle was born. God 
 had sent into the world the future Founder of the Brotherhood of 
 Christian Schools. 
 
94 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 What was at that period the situation of the Church and of Eu- 
 rope? In Rome, Pope Innocent X. was governing the Church with 
 a firm hand. In France, the troubles of the Fronde were not over, 
 and Louis XIV. was beginning amidst the liorrors of civil war that 
 king reign whidi was destined to be such a glorious one. In Ger- 
 many, the treaty of WestphaUa had broken the ancient constitution 
 of the German Empire, and consecrated the political indcpondance 
 of the Protestant States. France had gained some territory by it; 
 but these brilliant conquests were only too dearly purcha.sed, for 
 they were preparing the advent of the power that is oppressing 
 France to-day. In England, Cromwell was inaugurating the series 
 of bloody and Regicidal republics, and Charles II., son of the mur- 
 dered King, was flying to France, for the shelter and hospita- 
 lity which England was one day to pay back to the brother of 
 Louis XVI. 
 
 In a word, the old Christian constitution of Europe had fallen 
 under the blows of Protestantism, and the world was entering 
 upon a new era in which the stale, political and social, was to rest 
 altogether on the principle of private judgement and the separation 
 of the two powers, the temporal and the spiritual. The Papacy 
 alone saw through the vices of this new organization and the 
 disasters that must result to Europe from it. The Pope had 
 condemned the terms of the treaty of Westphalia which were 
 contrary to canon law; but his voice was lost in the confusion 
 caused by these upheavings and these wars. 
 
 The Church, meantime, was not disheartened. She strove vigo- 
 rously against Protestantism, by her works and by her doctrine, 
 and, after condemning a Reformation that was bent upon des- 
 troying her, she reformed with a strong hand all the abuses that 
 had crept into her own breast. The decrees of the Council of 
 Trent were being executed everywhere, even in France, and began 
 to produce fruit. Saints had come to enforce them. In France, 
 St Vincent of Paul was working with an energy unimpaired by 
 the weight of years : he had reformed the morals of the clergy, 
 secular and regular, organized ecclesiastical instruction, instituted 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 95 
 
 the Sisters of Charity, the Lazarist Fathers, and formed by his direc- 
 tion and his example a multitude of priests who were destined 
 to uphold the faith through the trying years that were at hand. 
 M. Olier, founder of the Seminary and the Society of Saint Sulpicc; 
 M. Bourdoise, founder of the Seminary of Saint Nicholas -du- 
 Chardonnet; the Reverend Father Barre, founder of the Sisters 
 of the Infant Jesus, and many others, seconded his efforts in this 
 weighty task. 
 
 Christian life had, therefore, lost nothing of its old fertility; but 
 the Church was occupied above all about education. While Pro- 
 testantism was laying down the principle of private judgement and 
 pretending to emancipate reason, she kept shedding light on souls 
 by incessant preaching. After creating the universities, which, be- 
 coming jealous of her rights, grew to forget their origin, she sent 
 forth the Jesuits, a militant and teaching order, which, though 
 scarcely a hundred years old, had already covered the face of Europe 
 with colleges destined to the education of the wealthy and the 
 middle classes. She had founded seminaries for the education of 
 the clergy, Bourdaloue, Bossuet and Massillon were teaching the 
 King and his courtiers from the pulpit of Versailles. Bossuet was 
 breaking lances with the chiefs of Protestantism, and teaching them 
 the Scriptures, which they were disfiguring, and history, which 
 they were striving to forget, and with all this he still found time, 
 like Fenelon, to devote to the education of princes. The Benedic- 
 tines of the Congregation of Saint Maur by their learned publications 
 were laying the foundations of historical science and criticism. 
 The Oratory was disputing the palm of sacred learning with them. 
 The Seminary of Foreign Missions was founded for the Christian- 
 izing of pagans and barbarians. Innumerable Congregations were 
 being formed for the education of girls. M. de Ranee was about to 
 revive the austerities of the monastic rule amongst the descendants 
 of the ancient orders fallen into relaxation; and at the summit of 
 the Church, the Pope, keeping watch over the purity of doctrine 
 and the integrity of. human reason, was, in condemning the propo- 
 sitions of Jansenius, defending liberty. 
 
06 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 The reign of Truth is never peaceful. IKifsy in a thousand 
 forms is ptrpetually attacking her and trying t** usurp her phice. 
 Just now, under the name of Jansenism, it was trouhhng the 
 
 Church, and was to go on dislurhing her for a whole centur)*. At 
 the &im«' time. Gallicanism, of older date and «'qually dangei-ous 
 influence, continued its nivagcs, ensnaring Louis XIV. through his 
 pri<l«', and fascinating even the genius of Bossuet. Tiie very yeai^s in 
 
BOOK I. — EDUCATION BEFORE HIS TIME. 
 
 97 
 
 which M. de la Salle was born, Dupuy published the new edition 
 of his Preuves des liberies de I'Eglise gallicane. 
 
 Such was the period in the midst of which Blessed de la Salle 
 was born into the world. He also was to be the creator of a 
 system of teaching. He was to receive doctrine in trust; he was 
 to preserve it intact, to assimilate it by prayer and meditation, and 
 then to distribute it around, and find innumerable disciples who 
 would go on distributing it after him. In this universal education, 
 dispensed with such prodigality, there was, nevertheless, one class, 
 the humblest and most numerous, that was neglected and left 
 without masters. These were the little boys of the lower middle 
 classes. It was to them that Blessed de la Salle was sent. 
 
BOOK THE SECOISD 
 
 LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE 
 
Ilheinis. — Interior of the Cathedral of which Blessed de la Sallc was Canon. — Drawn by fedouard (iarnier, 
 
 engraved by Cabarteux. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PREPARATION. 
 
 TRAVELLER, visiting Rheims, and 
 seeking for some remnant of the 
 ancient town amidst the new buildings 
 of the modern one, will sometimes be 
 tempted to loiter in the narrow Rue 
 de I'ArbalSte, before a large house 
 whose battered remains still testify to 
 bygone splendor. Above the ground 
 floor there runs a wide frieze decor- 
 ated with military trophies, amongst 
 which is a broken escutcheon. Be- 
 tween two windows of the first floor 
 is a deep niche, crowned with a stone 
 canopy, and from which the statue has disappeared. To the right 
 is a slender tower of three stories, inside of which is a winding 
 
102 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 staircase, while the outside is flanked with a stone buttress. On 
 either side of the entrance door, are two stone statues, life size; one 
 represents a man with a board, and the other a woman wearing 
 a broad belt crosswise. They will tell you in the town these two 
 personages are Adam and Eve, placed there by the builder of the 
 house in memory of Adam the flax-seller, a famous flax merchant 
 of the fourteenth century. At that period, the Rue de I'Arbaldte, 
 which then bore the name of the Hempdresser', was in the centre 
 of the linen trade of Rheims, which rivalled that of Flanders. 
 
 In 4651, the mansion in question was not inhabited by a mer- 
 chant. It iK'Ionged to Mn>e Barbani Coquebert, widow of Lancelot 
 de la Salle, who resided there with her second son, Louis de la 
 Salle, King's Councillor at the presidial court of Rheims. It is, 
 therefore, in this house that, most probably, the founder of the 
 Rrotherhood of the Christian Schools was born. His father lived 
 there to i&\\, and it is certain that his first years were passed 
 there. 
 
 The family of la Salle, originally from Beam, was of ancient no- 
 bility — one of its ancestors, being, it is SJiid, grievously wounded 
 in the ninth century when fighting for Alphonsus the Chaste. 
 This story is open to discussion; but there is no doubt that the de 
 la Salles sprang from a vigorous. Christian race. 
 
 This noble family was divided into .several branches. The 
 Champagne branch had carried on the profession of arms with 
 l^eat renown. In the fifteenth century, one of the ancestors of 
 Blessed de la Salle, Menault de la Salle, was man-at-arms and 
 Knight of King Charles VIII. He fought in Brittany under the 
 Chevalier Bayart. and he took part in the expedition to Naples. 
 His grandson, Lana'lnt de la Salle, came to settlf at Rheims, ami 
 had two children who divided the family into two new branches. 
 The elder bninch entered the magistracy, the younger went 
 into trade. John Baptist de la Salle comes from the elder branch. 
 Louis, his father, purchased the commission of royal Councillor of 
 
 ' Rue de In Chanvreri«>. 
 
BOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 103 
 
 the presidial court of Rheims. In 1650, he alUed himself to an- 
 other family of magistrates; he married Nicole Moet, daughter of 
 John Moet, equerry, seigneur of Brouillet, councillor at the same 
 court, and of Perrette Lespaignol, his wife. 
 
 The 30th of April 4651, his first child was born, and baptized 
 the same day in the church of Saint-Hilary, which no longer 
 exists. The boy had, for God-falhor and God-mother, his maternal 
 grandfather and grandmother, and received from them the name 
 of John Baptist. This was the future founder of the Christian 
 Schools. 
 
 In the midst of this troubled age, where every man feels in the 
 depth of his soul the reverberations of the agitation around him, 
 we can hardly realize the tranquillity that reigned in the bosom 
 of Christian families of the last centuries. Society, solidly estab- 
 lished on its own basis, allowed individual lives to flow peacefully 
 on, in an even tenor, uniform and pre-arranged. The eldest son 
 followed his father's career, and contrived with the fortune inher- 
 ited from him to maintain the honor of the name, and to take 
 care of any of his brothers who failed to make an independence 
 for themselves. The other children might follow their inclination, 
 some taking up the profession of arms, some entering the Church. 
 Religious vocations were more frequent, not that they were im- 
 posed by the families, but because in those elevated Christian 
 souls, untouched by doubt, the spirit of God breathed more easily 
 and efficaciously. 
 
 The livelihood of all the children being thus assured, nothing 
 troubled the peace of the domestic hearth. Families were numer- 
 ous and united. The gloomy anxiety which weighs upon so many 
 parents in these days was then unknown. There was then hardly 
 any example of these sudden fortunes which kindle the flame of 
 covetousness in the calmest breasts, nor of those instantaneous 
 crashes which make the most solid positions seem insecure. Such 
 violent disturbances might happen in Paris, at Versailles, amongst 
 those launched in the vortex of court extravagances; but only in 
 that world of perpetual excitement and extremes. The provinces 
 
i04 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 knew hardly anything about them — and the provinces then were 
 all France. 
 
 We do not want to paint in too seductive coloure those remote 
 ages, nor let it be supposed they were free from trouble. Fortunes 
 
 HouK whrn DIeMM de la BtUt wu Nirn, it iuwima i p. liii >. — BMtltiiUiia hr M. L'k. rtckM ; 
 envraTed hf H. Joffrojr. 
 
 were less divided than in our day. The upper classes weri' rich ; 
 the middle classes lived by their industry and grew wealthy; but 
 the lower classes were poor and rkcd out a scanty living by fol- 
 lowing hard and trying trades. They. found it difncult to rise above 
 theircondilion, and from time to time famine swept over them and 
 decimated them. 
 
 Hardship, did not, however, ap|)jirenlly, make moi*o victims than 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 105 
 
 it does now, and, above all, it had not the horrible features that 
 distinguish it in our age. It was poverty, not pauperism. It was 
 frugal life, hard work, but bravely borne by serene souls and 
 healthy bodies; it was not that mixtui^e of vice and of revolt that 
 agitates the lower classes and exhausts them more than any amount 
 of privations could do. The peasant and the workman did not mur- 
 
 Uouse where Blessed de la Salle was born, at Rheiius ( p. 101 ). — ilcstitution by M. Ch. Pichot ; 
 engnred by Fuyplst, 
 
 mur then against the conditions in which Providence had placed 
 them. They knew of no others, and it did not occur to them that 
 there could be any other for them. The sphere of their ambition 
 was limited, and no unreasonable longings troubled their placid 
 labour. Moreover, the sunshine of faith threw its mild and tender 
 glow over these industrious toilers, and beyond this life they fore- 
 saw another, where the inequalities of this one were to be made 
 right. 
 Nothing is more consoling, more refreshing, than the account 
 
106 KLESSED DE I.A SAI.I.E. 
 
 of Blessed de la Salle's childhood. We see him liviiip in the 
 bosom of his family, amidst the serious and austere habits of the 
 magistracy in the seventeenth centur>'. No boisterous pleasures 
 disquiet his soul; no unseemly word tarnishes the purity of his 
 mind, nor disturbs his faith. His days flow on smoothly, divided 
 between prayer and study. 
 
 This calm exterior life deepened the natund gravity of his dis- 
 position. Of an open and loveable nature, young de la Salle g-ave 
 early signs of rare piety. He did not care for the amusements 
 of his age. His great pleasure was to make little oratories and 
 altars, and imitate the ceremonies of the Church, and his greatest 
 happiness was to be taken to church, where he assisted at the 
 services with extraordinary recollection. Worldly gatherings had 
 no charm for him. One day, all the family were assembled for a 
 great feast. Their noisy merriment saddened young de la Salle; 
 he drew his grand -mother aside and got her to read the lives of 
 the Saints for him. According to one of his biographers, the pre- 
 destined child loved passionately that beautiful, that incomparable 
 book, and his mother was in the habit of reading it fo him con- 
 stantly. His father wished him to learn music, but the child had 
 so little taste for the art, that the father did not insist upon it. He 
 cared for nothing but the singing in church. He learned how to 
 serve mass, obtained leave to be an altar-boy, and performed the 
 duties of the office with such piety that all who saw him were 
 edified. It is clear that already God was speaking to him, and 
 that an inferior voice was beginning to close his ear to all vain 
 conversations. But his piety, far from being stiff or montse, 
 was simple and sweet, and in no way took from the charm of 
 his conversation, or the serenity of his countenance. It merely 
 rendered him more conscientious in his studies, more docile to 
 his parents, more affable to everybody. 
 
 It was not without a purpose that we recalled the ancient 
 lineage of the de la Salle family, although the saintly founder of 
 Christian schools renounced for him.self all honors and nobility. 
 The virtues and qualities of parents leave their imprint on the 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 107 
 
 souls of their children. Like unto his ancestors, Blessed de la Salle 
 was valiant, and his life was a perpetual warfare. If he was not 
 a soldier in the King's service, he was a knight in the service of 
 God. He fought against unseen enemies, more formidable than 
 enemies of flesh and blood, and he displayed as much heroism in 
 exterminating evil and vices, as the head of his family ever showed 
 in combatting the Saracens. Like his father, he had the sense of 
 justice in a high degree, but he made use of it only to walk 
 strictly within the lines of duty. He had a good right to bear the 
 family arms^ 
 
 Young de la Salle was therefore born to those possessions 
 which most men seek and strive for all through their lives : 
 birth, honors and fortune. Happily for him, along with these 
 advantages. Providence reserved him others that were less perish- 
 able. He was born of a Christian family. 
 
 His maternal grandfather, following a custom which was very 
 general amongst laymen at that period, recited his Breviary every 
 day. His father fulfilled all his duties as a Christian, and the 
 tender piety of his mother diffused its fragrance through her home. 
 No wonder, then, that out of the seven children that God gave 
 them, four consecrated themselves to His service in the Religious 
 life and in the Priesthood. It was a noble reward, and a foretaste 
 of heaven. 
 
 John Baptist had a brother, Joseph de la Salle, who in his early 
 youth entered the community of the Canons regular of Saint Gene- 
 vieve at Senlis. Having taken his degrees, he taught philosophy 
 and theology at Blois; he was then named pastor of Saint Martin's 
 of Blois, where he remained eighteen years, and afterwards became 
 pastor of Saint Martin's of Chauny, in Picardy. He died four years 
 after Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 A second brother, John Louis de la Salle, was, after John 
 Baptist, Canon of the church of Rheims and seneschal. Notwith- 
 
 ' The family arms consist of a brace of shields, in one of which is an azure field with 
 three chevrons in gold, placed two and one; in the other, the field is argent with a 
 pointed heart of gules. 
 
lOR 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 standing certain doctrinal difficulties that he had occasionally with 
 his brother— John Biiplist remained always submissive to the 
 Holy See, whereas Louis figured amongst the appellants — the lat- 
 ter was devoted to the work of the schools, and his name figures 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 r '^ 
 
 RiMtmi. — HoBM ia lb* Rat dM AifUlt, funuriy H« 4e to ToarMlto, wt»n Mum * «• to a>ll« trw wMt, 
 
 tm Jun« Mth IMO, to Ur« ia oomiaon witb " tht nuien ". Ba aoM ton 11 M raaMt la Rne XtiT*. 
 
 — DrttWB by richof Jualor. 
 
 in the deeds beside that ot his brother, for securing to the 
 schools of Rheinis tlu* right over property which had U-en given 
 
 them. 
 
 One of the sisters of Blessed de la Salle entered the Abl>ey of 
 Saint-ttienne-des-Dames, of the Urder of Guionessos of Saint 
 Augustin, at Hhcims. 
 
 The other children, two sons and a daughter, were married; but 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 109 
 
 they upheld in the world those grand and noble traditions which 
 had from time immemorial been the honor of the family. One of 
 them, Peter de la Salle, succeeded to his father's office, and was 
 like him counsellor of the presidial court of Rheims. His name 
 should be inscribed amongst the benefactors of the schools, since 
 he was universal legatee to all his brothers, and secured the 
 
 Arras of Blessed tie la Salle ( p. 107 ). — Drawn by Sellier. 
 
 transfer of such property as was deeded over to the schools of the 
 Institute. 
 
 Towards eight or nine years of age, young de la Salle was sent 
 to the University of Rheims, founded in 1554, and directed at this 
 period by the rector Thomas Mercier. He soon made great pro- 
 gress, for he had quick intelligence, great love of work, and that 
 ever present fear of God which made him attentive to all his du- 
 ties. He gained at once the esteem of his masters, who were 
 delighted with his docility, and the affection of his companions, 
 
IIU RLESSei) I)K I.A SAM.K. 
 
 who liked his amiable disposition, so that, after having been the 
 model of children at home, he become the model of scholars in 
 his class. 
 
 His piety, meantime, increased from day to day. His grand- 
 father had taught him liow to recite the office, and he practised 
 this devotion with a pleasure altogether rare for a child of his age. 
 He had acquired the habit of it long before he received the ton- 
 sure, and he never afterwards failed in it. 
 
 This fidelity in the service of God and taste for devotional 
 practices were so many signs of a vocation. His family noticed 
 this, and tluew no obstacle in his way. Although his parent.-^ 
 would probably have preferred that the eldest son should inherit 
 the family name and fortune, they were careful not to st^md be- 
 tween the spirit of God and their child, and there is no evidence 
 of his having had the smallest opposition in obeying the Divine 
 voice. Christian families are loots destined to produce Saints. 
 These latter are tht; flower and fruit of that evangelical sap, which, 
 after flowing down through generations, every now and then, 
 blossoms out in certain privileged souls, that shed honor on the 
 race they spring from. 
 
 The family of Blessed de la Salle were prouder of his vocation 
 than if he had inherited the paternal office, and the Priesthood, 
 though it debarred him from perpetuating his race, endowed him 
 with a spiritual paternity that was one day to give him innumer 
 able sons. 
 
 At eleven years of age, young de la Salle received the tonsure 
 from the hands of the Bishop of Aulone, Mg«" Maleveau, in the 
 archiepiscopal chapel of Rheims, March Hth 16G"2. 
 
 The th«!n Chancellor of the University of Rlu-ims was Peter Do- 
 zet, former Vicar General, Archdeacon of Champagne, and C;ujon 
 of the c^ithedral for over fifty-three yeai"s. He was a man of great 
 piety and wide h-arning. 
 
 He had noticed the happy tlispositions of John Baptist, who was 
 his relation. Old, worn out, feeling death at hand, he determin- 
 ed to leave his caiionry to the young levite, convinced that the 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED LA SALLE. 
 
 m 
 
 Church of Rheims would have reason to thank him for the choice. 
 He gave in his resignation, which was accepted, and young de la 
 Salle was named in his place to the twenty -first prebend, in 1666. 
 He took possession of his canonry on the 17th of January 1667. 
 He had not yet attained his sixteenth year. Peter Dozet died the 
 following year. 
 
 The chapter of Rheims was one of the most illustrious of 
 
 Costume o( the Canons of Kheiras. — Drawn by Fichet, from an enlarged seal of the Seneschal 
 of the chapter of Rheims, and following. 
 
 France. It numbered fifty-six canons, sixty- one chaplains, four 
 priests and four sacristans. It had at its head eight dignitaries : 
 the dean, a great archdeacon, the archdeacon of Champagne, a 
 provost, a precentor, a treasurer, a deputy of the Bishop in mat- 
 ters temporal ', and a professor of divinity. In 1789, thirty-three 
 of its members had been Bishops, twenty had occupied the archi- 
 episcopal see of Rheims, twenty- one had worn the Roman purple, 
 
 ' He was known as the VUlame. 
 
Mi 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 four had sat upon the throne of St Peter, under the names of Syl- 
 vester II.. Urban II., Adrian IV. and Adrian V.. and they heaped 
 
 C*U»dtml at BIwiau, wbn* Mim^ << ta Ml* «w Cuoa. - Dnn 19 ToMMtal. 
 
 privileges on the venerable both to which they had for a time 
 belonged. 
 The Ciinons of Rheinis wore a rich costume— in summer, a 
 
BOOK II. - LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 H3 
 
 violet camail and the aumuce'; in winter, tlie large camail bord- 
 ered with ermine. The Chapter took rank immediately after the 
 
 
 i'i:iv - ill" I hiii,".''!;„w,, j ,r 
 
 
 
 \'^'';i" |l'"il';| 
 
 1 1,1 HI. I" ' 
 
 L . CUILi M*caj .-i,- 
 
 Ptirta preliota, at Rheints. — Drawn by Cli. Fichot ; engraved by L. Guillaumot. 
 
 Archbishop. Peter Dozet must have had great confidence in the 
 solid piety and virtue of a boy of fifteen to create him a member 
 of this illustrious body. But he had known the boy well and long. 
 
 ' A fur worn on the arm by certain Canons. 
 
414 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 He was not, however, sparing of advice to him on this acrount. 
 " My little cousin, " he would say, '• bear in mind that a Quion 
 should be Hke a Cistercian Monk, passing his Ufe in sohtudc and 
 prayer. " And his Httle cousin never forgot this admonition. The 
 premature dignity with which he was invested was not without 
 dangers of its own. There was the possibility of its smothering 
 in the soft ease of an assured position the budding of the youth, 
 and proving fatal to the higher vocation which was calling him to 
 more arduous work. But the young Canon, on the contrary, only 
 regarded his office as a heavier duty imposed upon him. He was 
 regular in choir, punctual at prayers, and assiduous at woik. 
 
 He began at once to prepare himself to receive the four minor 
 Orders. Cardinal Barberini was then titular Aj-chblshop of 
 Rheims; but he had not yet been able to obtain his bulls, and 
 the see was vacant. Young de la Salle received minor Orders on 
 March 17th 1668, at the hands ui Mgr Chailes de Bourbon, Bishop 
 of Soissons. 
 
 Every new title that Blessed de la Salle received was regard- 
 ed by him in the light of a new obligation, and a higher duty. 
 According as he committed himself more fully and irrevocably to 
 the service of God, he felt the need of rendering himself more 
 worthy. As a Canon, it was necessary for him to be learned in 
 divine sciences, and fit to take his place amongst [\w eminent 
 men who surrounded him. So the moment he returned to Rheims. 
 he began to attend the classes of the University, lie (inishe«l his 
 studies in the humanities, and went through the two yeai-s coui*se 
 of philosophy necessary for obtaining the degree of Master of Arts, 
 which he took very brilliantly in 16G".>. 
 
 He was already too deeply versed in the secrets of Christian life 
 not to understand that science has its dangei-s, and that to possess 
 it witlumt peril, we must not separate it from the love of Go<l. In 
 the midst of his studies, young de la Salle relaxed nothing of the 
 assiduous piety which had formeil the <lelight of his childhood, 
 and begjm henceforth to give himself up to that practice of pen- 
 ance which was to be tin- sustenance of his life. As lie did 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED I)E LA SALLE. 113 
 
 everything in secret, liis humility carefully concealing from all 
 eyes whatever might have raised him in the esteem of men, his 
 austerities are hard to trace. It is only known that at this date 
 he slept on a bed that was more than monastic in its hardness, 
 consisting as it did of logs of wood, in order to conquer the flesh, 
 and not to lose in sleep hours that might be spent more profitably 
 in communion with God. 
 
 His biographers say no more; but this one instance will suffice 
 to show \Nhat the moral standard of his life was. We must be 
 satisfied if we can lift one corner of the veil which covers the 
 merits of the Saints. They love the hidden virtues above all 
 others, those that are practised under the eye of God alone, and 
 that men can only guess at, but never see. 
 
 The degree of Master of Arts which young de la Salle had taken 
 was only the preliminary to the doctorship. His father wished 
 him to pursue his studies in Paris, and looked out for a house 
 where he would be safe from the perils which were sure to assail 
 him in a city which was, even at that period, a hotbed of corrup- 
 tion and a centre of pleasure. 
 
 There was then in Paris, as now, an institution whose principal 
 aim was to train good priests and prepare them for the apostolate 
 by developing in their souls the interior life of Jesus Christ and 
 His holy Mother. 
 
 This was the Institution of Saint-Sulpice, founded towards 1649 
 by M. Olier, and solemnly approved in 1651, the year that Blessed de 
 la Salle was born. When young de la Salle entered the seminary, 
 in 1670, M. Olier had been dead thirteen years; but his spirit 
 lived there still, and the example of his virtues, still fresh in the 
 memory of all, was guiding his successors in the way in which lie 
 had walked so admirably. M. de Bretonvilliers, who succeed- 
 ed M. Olier himself, Nvas then superior of the seminary, and 
 M. Tronson was director. 
 
 The latter had a firm soul and an upright mind. 
 
 Trained by M. Olier, associated in his labors, the depositary of 
 his traditions, he had become an enlightened guide in the direc- 
 
116 BLESSED DB LA SALI.E. 
 
 tion of ycjuntr prifsfs. Tho books he lias left us on this subject 
 are full of his own long experience, and that peculiar wisdom 
 which comes only to those wIk> are in the habit of dealing with 
 the things of God. It was under him that Abbe de la Salle was at 
 once placed. He had, however, as special director a man who, 
 amidst that goodly company of great Christians, wa.s distinguished 
 by profound humility and that simple pifty, free fnun all display, 
 which is one of the chantcteristics of the Society of Siiint-Sulpice. 
 
 This was M. liaiiyn. One inciilent, the memory of which has 
 been preserved in the traditions of the seminary, will give some 
 idea of his great perfection. Bossuet was one day paying a visit 
 to M. Tronson, and the convcrsjition fell on the Saints. The Bishop 
 of Meaux complained that the age, grown sterile, no longer pro- 
 duced any. M. Tronson denied this, and declared that the Church 
 was always fruitful, and that souls of the highest virtue were still 
 to be found. He mentioned M. Baiiyn, and extolknl his deep 
 humility. Just at this moment, some one knocked at the door. 
 It was M. Baiiyn come to consult his superior. The latter, who 
 knew who it was, did not answer, and M. Baiiyn contented himself 
 with waiting in the next room. 
 
 When Bossuet was going away, he was still there; .M. Tronson 
 saw him, and, to give his visitor the proof of what he had Im-cu 
 just saying, he tuined on M. Baiiyn, accused him of having listen- 
 ed at the door; he sharply upbraided him for such uns«'emly 
 behaviour, and dismissed him. M. Baiiyn offered neither denial 
 nor excuse, but meekly accepted lhe.se inmierited reproaches, so 
 wounding to self-love. lie bowed his head hund>ly. and with- 
 drew, leaving his superior full of joy at his fidelity under the trial, 
 and Bossuet confounded. 
 
 We relate this incident in order to exemplify tho kind of 
 direction that Abbe de la Sidle received fiom M. Bjuiyn. The 
 disciple was to follow in the footsteps of the master; we shall see 
 him, also, silent under unmerited accusations. 
 
 M. Baiiyn appivciated at a glance his hidden virtue-s; he felt 
 himself drawn into sympathy with a soul that was in so msuiy 
 

UNIVERSITT 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE l.X SALLE. 117 
 
 ways kindred to his own, and set himself earnestly to develop the 
 treasures it contained. There sprang up at once between the two 
 men a friendship which neither time nor events ever weakened. 
 
 When, later, M. de la Salle returned to Paris, he took 
 M. Baiiyn for his director; he consulted him in his difficulties 
 and trials, and it is said that M. Baiiyn, then broken down with 
 age, used to come and visit him. If Blessed de la Salle did not 
 come at once, M. Baiiyn would kneel down in the garden, or 
 wherever he happened to be, and pray while waiting for him. 
 
 Amongst the other ecclesiastics charged with the management 
 of the seminary were M. Leschassier, who became director after 
 M. Tronson; M. Baudrand, afterwards parish-priest of Saint-Sulpice, 
 and who called Blessed de la Salle into his parish because of the 
 impression he retained of him; M. Charles Picote, one of the first 
 companions of M. Olier, and who kept up his traditions in the 
 seminary, where he lived to the 1st of December 1679. 
 
 M. de la Salle made his entrance there on the 18th of Octo- 
 ber 1G70, and his name may be read to-day on the register of 
 admission of that period in the following terms — •' John Baptist 
 de la Salle, acolyte and Canon of Rheims. " 
 
 Several young ecclesiastics who attained afterwards to high 
 dignities in the Church were his fellow-seminai'ists. Amongst 
 these were Jean Claude de Vertrieu, of Montdidier, who was 
 Canon of Saint Jean of Lyons in 1G80, and Bishop of Poitiers 
 in 1702; Paul Godet des Marais, who became Bishop of Chartres, 
 and always entertained a deep friendship for Blessed de la Salle; 
 M. des Hayes, afterwards pastor of Saint Saviour's at Rouen, and 
 who, by his intlucnce, brought the Christian Brothers to Darnetal 
 in 1702; M. Meretz, who became Canon of Nimes, and establish- 
 ed the Brothers at Alais; i\I. Canel, afterwards councillor-clerk at 
 the Parliament of Grenoble; M. de Saleon, lirst Canon of Saint- 
 Andre of Gren(jble, and who was pi-omoted successively to the 
 Bishoprics of Agon and of Rodez, and finally to the Archbishopric 
 of Vienne. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, in his humility, refrained doubtless from 
 
118 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 making any use of these numerous influential acquaintances ; at 
 any rate, there is no trace of his having ever done so throughout 
 his history. They must, nevertheless, have contributed to draw 
 the attention of many important ecclesiastics to his work from the 
 first, and if, throughout the endless opposition which was woven 
 into his very life, he found warm and solid friendships that stood 
 by him during the ordeal and protected him against his detractors, 
 we may seek the origin of them at Saint-Sulpice where he gave 
 such an example of every virtue. 
 
 Abb6 de la Salle spent a year and a half at the seminary. It is 
 characteristic of ecclesiastical houses wisely governed, that good is 
 done there without noise or display. In those mysterious retreats, 
 far from the vain agitations of the world, the future soldiers of the 
 Cross are trained in prayer and study. Those only who direct 
 them know what light and strength they need in the battle of life, 
 and in what triple armour their hearts must be encased before they 
 can face the attacks which the world has in reserve for them. 
 These weapons, they receive from their priestly education. Alone 
 with themselves, under the guidance of experienced ecclesiastics 
 who teach them how to sound the depths of their hearts, they 
 come to know the world whose image they reflect within them- 
 selves. Their inward eye, made clear by prayer, acquires a sin- 
 gular power of seeing through the most complicated questions. 
 In the habit of concjuering themselves, they secure their future 
 triumph over their external enemies, which are easily disarmed 
 when they have not one's passions for accomplices. Divine truth, 
 pondered on in their hearts, penetrates them wholly, and fuses heart 
 and mind within them in a wonderful manner; the purity of the 
 heart guarding the lucidity of the mind, the one giving its warinlh 
 in exchange for the light of the other, and both a)operating in 
 vital works. Thus are formed those legions of priests whose 
 virtues, hidden under the modest simplicity of their lives, are 
 scarcely discernible to the outer world, but who, in reality, bear on 
 their shoulders almost the whole burden <»f Christian civilization. 
 They it is who receive the deposit of Divine truth, who preserve 
 
ROOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SAI,LE. 119 
 
 it pure from all alloy, who defend it against every assault, who keep 
 it alive, and propagate it amongst souls; they it is who feed the fire 
 of charity which produces good works, and almost all the good 
 that is done passes through their hands. They restrain the im- 
 petuous, awaken the somnolent, bring back the wandering, uphold 
 the weak, and continue that Divine apostleship which has been 
 carried on for eighteen centuries. 
 
 The seminary of Saint Sulpice must have been an incomparable 
 school for Blessed de la Salle, who was destined to become the 
 shepherd of such a numerous flock. We know very little of his 
 life there. The work of his education was silently done. This is the 
 way of all seminarian life; humility drops her veil around it, and 
 virtues, like flowers, put forth their buds noiselessly. The testi- 
 mony of one of the professors in this blessed house shows us the 
 impression that de la Salle made there during his short sojourn. 
 " He was from the first, " says M. Leschassier, " a faithful observer 
 of the rule, and punctual at all the exercises of the community. 
 His conversation was always gentle and decorous. He never 
 seemed to me to have annoyed any one, or merited any reproach. " 
 
 From a man so sparing of praise, such a judgment is full of elo- 
 quence. But what better than any masters testifies to the excellent 
 education of Blessed de la Salle are his virtues. He showed 
 throughout his life a firm and tender piety wherein we recognize 
 all the characteristics of the direction of Saint Sulpice. He mani- 
 fested on every occasion respect for Divine things, observed strictly 
 all the rules of propriety, and gave himself up to his attraction for 
 prayer. God was his refuge. In all his difficulties he had recourse 
 to Him; He was the star that ever guided him through the storm 
 and preserved him from shipwreck. . 
 
 The life of the seminary, so conformable to his tastes, was not 
 to last long for Blessed de la Salle. Less than a year after his en- 
 trance to Saint Sulpice, on the 20th of July 1671, he lost his 
 mother, and this death was a deep grief to him. A few months 
 later, his father was carried off. They both died at a compar- 
 atively early' age, leaving him a large fortune to manage, and a 
 
120 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 numorous family to bring up; six children to whom he was 
 honccforth to l)e botli father and mother. 
 
 His father died on the 9th of April 1G72; on the 19th of the 
 same month, Blessed de la Salle left the seminary, and return- 
 ed to the paternal mansion in Rheims, to take the direction of the 
 family of which he was now the head. 
 
 / 
 
 W' 
 
 (V9. lir, 119, ud fjUovins).— Kiitfra^oU by M «till«. fntm « ttortrail wf P. AMrp, • 
 CDgrmved uo cuiiperi-UU W J- Moyrua. 
 
 He experienced at this crisis, not a temptation against his voca- 
 tion — it had taken too deep root in his soul to he shaken — hut 
 a certain hesitation hefon; binding himself in Holy Orders. He 
 did not wish in so momentous a concern, to follow his own lights; 
 the way of obedience se<'meil the safest to him. With this feeling, 
 he placed himself under tlu* direction of a priest of great virtue 
 and experience, Canon Roland. 
 
 Canon Nicolas Roland was born at Rheims, on the 2nd of 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE, 
 
 121 
 
 December 4642. He belonged to a good and wealthy family. His 
 father had been Commissary of war, and his mother, Nicole 
 Beuvelet, was the sister of M. Beiivelet, priest at Saint-Nicolas-du- 
 
 M. Roland Cl'. l^io, and folloving), from a portrait of the period. — Drawn by Vidal ; en^jraved by MuauUe. 
 
 Chardonnet, who left behind him a great reputation for sanctity. 
 Young Nicolas was educated at the Jesuits; he was afterwards re- 
 ceived as Doctor at the Sorbonne, and returned to Rheims, where 
 he was named Canon and theologian of the Cathedral. 
 
122 ilLESSED DE LA SAI.LE. 
 
 He was a pious man, enlijihtened, detached from the world, seek- 
 ing and coinmendinp povi'ity, humiUation and penance. He 
 wore a hair-sliirt and an iron heU, lodged in a wretched place, 
 and depiived himself of everything approaching to luxury or com- 
 fort. He took in a certain number of young ecclesiastics whom he 
 prepared for the priestly life, and whose studies and con.science 
 he directed, so that his house was a kind of little seminary. Bles- 
 sed de la Salle was not apparently one of his boarders, but he was 
 amongst the most docile of his penitents and the most faithful of 
 his disciples, and his life has many traits of resemblance in com- 
 mon with that of M. Roland. 
 
 The latter very soon discovered to what a perfect way the soul 
 confided to him was called. He advised him to respond quickly 
 to grace. This counsel, given with authority, put an end to the 
 perplexities of young de la Salle. 
 
 Two months after his return to Rheims, he set out for Laon, in 
 order to receive the first of the major Orders; but there was no or- 
 dination there, nor at Noyon, whither he hastened, so he was ob- 
 liged to go to Cambrai, where he was ordained sub-deacon, on the 
 eve of Trinity Sunday, in the year 1672. He was just twenty- 
 one. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle never took a step backward in the way of 
 perfection. When he had acquired the habit of a virtue, or adopt- 
 ed a salutary practice, he never gave it up, and no external 
 circuinstances could change him. At the Seminary of Saint Sulpic«, 
 he felt the value of a rule of conduct. He carried this principle 
 into his own house, where he and his brothers observed a monas- 
 tic regularity of life. Rising antl going to bed, work and prayer, 
 recreations and meals were always at the sjmie hour, and lasted 
 a given length of time. The only fruitful lives are those that are 
 thus regulated. They are a faithful imitation of nature, who is 
 always methodical and rhythmic in her march. They arc aliK> 
 the only free lives. 
 
 Thus did Blessed de la Salle pass six years of his life without 
 in any way coming before the world. These years were, in real- 
 
BOOK II. — MFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 123 
 
 ity, a continuation of his hidden hfe; the hour for manifesting 
 himself before men had not yet come. It was not, on this account, 
 a barren hfe that he was leading. He resumed his studies, which 
 had been interrupted by the death of his parents. He would gladly 
 have gone to Paris to finish them, but this desire was sacrificed to 
 the primary duty of watching over the education of his brothers 
 and sisters. He remained, therefore, at Rheims, and followed as- 
 siduously the classes of the Faculty of Theology; he took his 
 degree of Licenciate, giving to prayer and good works all the time 
 that remained to him after his studies. 
 
 M. Roland, seeing the growing ardour of the young priest, feared 
 that his office of Canon did not offer a wide enough field for his 
 zeal. 
 
 He advised him, therefore, to enter the active ministry, and to 
 exchange his canonry for a parish in the town. The parish-priest 
 of Saint Pierre of Rheims was anxious to procure such an exchange 
 for himself, and Blessed de la Salle, the moment he saw that it of- 
 fered him a chance of being more useful, at once accepted it. But 
 the consent of the Archbishop, Mgr Letellier, was necessary; and as 
 he was just then in Paris, Blessed de la Salle set out for that city, 
 to get himself ordained Deacon, and to submit his desire to the Pre- 
 late ' at the same time. The latter flatly refused to accede to it. He 
 considered Blessed de la Salle too young to administer a parish : 
 and he thought that it was too soon for him to abandon the di- 
 rection of his family; consequently, he ordered both the pastor and 
 the Canon to stay where they were. For the pastor, it was a sac- 
 rifice. Blessed de la Salle accei)ted the order with perfect sub- 
 mission. An interior voice whispered to him that he was not 
 called to direct a parish, and he was glad to find that the orders 
 of his superiors agreed so fully with the dictates of his conscience. 
 
 The pious Canon fulfilled with unfailing regularity all the duties 
 of his canonry. He was assiduous at office, and in the ancient 
 
 ' In those days, it was not unusual in France to see parishes administered by clerics 
 who were not yet raised to the priesthood. The functions of their charge were performed 
 by priests who were sanctioned and authorized in the diocese. 
 
124 nLESSED nE LA SALLE. 
 
 sanctuary which had been the cradle of French Royalty, lie took 
 part in that public prayer which is the sign of enduring faith in 
 France, and the proof of her power. In his own home, he {rave 
 lontj Ijours to prayer, and solitary communings with God. He al- 
 so continued his studies, for, in sacred science, degrt'es are onward 
 steps, and do not mark limitations in the road of knowledge to be 
 traversed. 
 
 With all this, he had leisure for charity. But charity, like 
 science, knows no bounds, and to embrace it wisely, we need a 
 guide. Here again Blessed de la Sidle found one in M. Boland. 
 
 M. Roland had made a vow to consecrate himself to the edu- 
 cation of youth, anil to found free .schools for girls. Going to preach 
 the Lent at Rouen, he became inlimiite with Father Barre, a mis- 
 sionary, who was very nmrh occupied with the eb'mentary 
 schools. After thinking over the matter, he had come back U* 
 Rheims to carry out his scheme. 
 
 There was just then at Rheims an orphanage of thirty children 
 founded by a dame Varlet, and which the town persisted in refus- 
 ing to take charge of because of the expense it would involve. 
 M. Roland asked to be allowed to take it up and manage it, and 
 the request was granted with alacrity. The unfortunate children 
 were badly fed, badly clothed, in bail health, and utterly bereft of 
 care. M. Roland immediately supplied them with all the neces- 
 saries, an(i henceforth his fortune was devoted to providing for 
 them. 
 
 His solicitude extended beyond their temporal to their spiritual 
 wants, and he watched carefully over their .souls. Finding that 
 the persons in charge of them were quite unfit for their oflice, be- 
 ing etpially wanting in virtue and intelligence, he at once dismis.si«d 
 them, and applied to Father Barre for daughters of Providence to 
 replace them. Father Barr«3 sent him Sister Franaise, Superior of 
 the ln»use at Rouen, and two other mistres.ses of the smie con- 
 gregation. These were placed in chai*ge of the orphanage. M. R<h 
 land appealed to some pious young women to come and help in Uie 
 good work, and very soon a little conununity was formwl. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 123 
 
 M. Roland's zeal was indefatigable. Not satisfied with educat- 
 ing the children of his orphanage, he set liis heart on educating 
 the children of the town, and as soon as ho had trained a few 
 mistresses, he got permission to open free classes for girls in the 
 orphanage. 
 
 A great number ot young girls flocked in, and soon the school 
 was so crowded, that it was necessary to open others. The num- 
 ber of Sisters multiplied rapidly; M. Roland hired rooms in various 
 parts of the town, where they went every morning and held classes 
 all day. He also trained mistresses for the country places; but the 
 orphanage, which continued to be the centre of the work, was wholly 
 devoted to children, and took the name of the Community of the 
 Holy Child Jesus'. 
 
 This excellent M. Roland was anxious to perfect the method of 
 teaching. Whenever he heard of a famous school in any place, 
 he set forth to visit it, and to enquire into the system employed 
 there. He sent for experienced mistresses to teach the Sisters, and 
 procured a choice library for their improvement. He had little by 
 little initiated Blessed de la Salle into this work, being the more 
 desirous of attaching him to it, because, owing to his own weak 
 health, he feared leaving the Community without a protector. Ac- 
 cording as the work grew, contradictions and hindrances grew 
 with it. The school -masters were jealous, the town was indif- 
 ferent, even the ecclesiastical authorities were mistrustful and ill- 
 disposed. 
 
 In 1677, M. Roland went to Paris in order to obtain through the 
 Archbishop the legal recognition of his community; but the Arch- 
 bishop took no heed of his request, and let him wait in his anti- 
 room without condescending to pay him the slightest attention. 
 M. Roland came back to Rheims without uttering a murmur, and 
 attributed his failure to his sins : " God had better take me out of 
 the world, " he said, " for I only hinder His work-. " 
 
 But all these obstacles did not wear out his charity; M. de la 
 
 ' Manuscript life of M. Roland. Archives of tlie Sisters of the Infant Jesus, at Hheims. 
 = * Ibid. 
 
126 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Salle had encouraged and supported him. He also felt a deep ten- 
 derness for these forsaken children, and he loved them as the Siiints 
 know how to love. 
 
 While he was laboring in this cause, he was preparing himself 
 for the priesthood. Me received it, on the 9th of April 1G78, 
 from the hands of Ms"" Letellier, in the ciilhediid of Hhcims, and 
 it was in one of the Chapels of that same church that, on the 
 following morning, he celebrated his first mass. He performed 
 that great action with fervent piety, but without any outward show, 
 fearing that external pomp might interfere with his recollection, 
 and trembling lest he should lose a particle of the graces which 
 abound in the soul of a man called for the first time to offer at the 
 altar the sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. He ever 
 retained in the same intense degree these sentiments of respect 
 for this supreme prerogative of the priestly life. Faithful in the 
 daily fulfilment of this duly, he allowed nothing to deter him from 
 it. Even illness did not prevent him. When he was infirm, he 
 still dragged himself to the altar, or was led there, and celebrated 
 the Divine mysteries with such unction and piety, that the assis- 
 tants were moved to tears, and more than once he was seen, 
 after communion, motionless, like one unconscious and wrapt 
 in prayer. 
 
 Eighteen days after his ordination, he lost his director, M. Ro- 
 land. The latter, on his return from Paris, fell ill, on the 7th of 
 April 1G78, and after a terrible illness courageously borne, he gjivc 
 up his soul to the Lord on the 27th of the same month, being only 
 thirty five years old. In his last days, he appointed M. de la Salle 
 his executor, and begged him to take care of the Community of the 
 Sisters of the Child Jesus. He even gave him to understand that 
 he believed him called to found a similar work himself. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle accepted courageously the legacy bequeathed 
 him by his venerable friend. Nature shrank from it. He was 
 afniid of letting his piety evaporate amidst the distritctions of 
 manifold occupations. He had been ready enough to devote some 
 of his spare time to tiie Connnunity of the Holy Child Jesus, but 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 127 
 
 he had never dreamed of burdening himself with its direction. 
 He owed it, however, to the memory of M. Roland not to let his 
 undertaking fall to the ground, and he resolved to do what he 
 could to secure and continue it. 
 
 His first care was to get the new work legally recognized so as 
 to secure its position. This was no easy matter, for even M. Ro- 
 land himself had failed to accomplish it. It was necessary to have 
 the consent of the town, of the Archbishop, and to obtain letters 
 patent registered in Parliament. 
 
 The administration of the town feared to impose the burden of 
 a new Community on the citizens, the prudence of the Archbishop 
 hesitated to approve officially a community that had scarcely 
 had time to prove itself, and Parliament was not disposed to mul- 
 tiply religious congregations. 
 
 Rlessed de la Salle took up the matter with his usual activity. 
 He stirred up all his friends and relatives. He invoked the me- 
 mory of M. Roland's virtues; he made much of the services ren- 
 dered by the Sisters; he touched some, he convinced others, and 
 ended by obtaining the formal and written authorization of the 
 magistrates of the city. 
 
 This authorization was granted on the following conditions : — 
 " The Daughters of the Child Jesus were to keep four free- schools 
 in the four quarters of the town, the orphanage of dame Varlet 
 was to be joined to the new community, which was to take charge 
 of it; the Superioress was not to receive an orphan without a ticket 
 from the town lieutenant, who might withdraw the child at the 
 age of seven or eight to place it in the hospitals; finally, the Daugh- 
 ters of the Child Jesus were never to be cloistered'. " 
 
 Blessed de la Salle promised to conform to these regulations, and 
 this first victory gained over the obstinacy of the magistrates was 
 the signal for a complete success. The Archbishop, hearing that 
 the municipality had given in, pledged himself to obtain the consent 
 of the King. He was the brother of M. de Louvois, and his in- 
 
 ' Legislative Arcliives of Rlicinis, vol. I, pp. 130 and 470. (CollecUon of unpublished 
 documents on the iiistory of France.) 
 
128 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 (luonce was supromo. lie had only to ask for the lottfrs to jrel 
 them; they were trnuilftl in 1(»79. Tlu' ArchMshop Iia«l thorn re- 
 {listercd at his own cxpt-nsf' in the I'ai'liamont of Paris, and wished, 
 moreover, to provide by his liberality for the future of a community 
 whieb was a veritable seminary for school -mistresses. This com- 
 munity was, therefore, founded, endowed with a civil personality, 
 reco*tnized by the ecclesiastical and s<'eular authorities, and, dilTering 
 in this respect from other charitable institutions of Rheims, it had 
 a priest, M. Rogier, an intimate friend of M. Roland's, for sole 
 administnitor and director '. All M. Roland's wishes were ivalized. 
 Ilaving thus paid the debt of gratitude he had contnicted towards 
 him while under his direction, M. de la Sjille went back to his own 
 quiet lite, and resumed the course of his habitual 04.'cup:itions. 
 
 ' Legislative Aicliivcs of RlieimF, vol. I, pp. 130 and VIS. [Colleclion of unpublislicd 
 dorumcnU on llie history of France.) 
 
Uoueu ; (feneral view in the life time of M. de la Salle, — It wa:? to tlii-i town that ho removed his Institute 
 and it was here that he died. — Drawn hy Fichot junior ; engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 VOCATION. 
 
 FTER the pious and industrious em- 
 ployment of the years of his youth 
 that we have attempted to describe, 
 Blessed de la Salle was ready to ac- 
 complish great things. He had strong 
 faith to stand out against trials, an 
 enlightened mind to carry an under- 
 taking safely through difficulties, and 
 he had above all good will. Without 
 any fixed plan of his own, he stood 
 ready before Providence like a good 
 workman who awaits the orders of 
 his master. 
 
 Over and above these valuable qualities, he had those gifts that 
 shine before the world, and which were far from being of no 
 
130 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 account in the difficult mission to which he was cjilleil. He was 
 rich, independent, and settled in a town where his family occupied 
 an influential position. But that which human wisdom looks upon 
 as a means, is often in the eyes of God an obstacle. Neither his 
 fortune, nor his title, nor the influence of his relations was destined 
 to be of use to his Institute. In laying the foundations of a work 
 that was to last so long, God did not see fit to make use of tliese 
 perishable elements. He did not need then). One man, without 
 money, without credit, without renown, provided he were faithful 
 and of good will, sufficed; he even suited better, for he let the hand 
 of the Divine Ai-chitect remain more distinctly visible through the 
 lines of the edifice he was to build. 
 
 Blessed de la Salic was truly the workman that Providence 
 meant to employ; but lie had not yet attained the necess;uy per- 
 fection; he still held on to the world by a thous;md ties that, un- 
 known to him, enthralled his liberty. He would, moreover, have 
 been frightened by the grandeur of the scheme he was to accom- 
 plish if it had been revealed to him as a whole. So gigjuitic an 
 undertaking would have appeared to him beyond his strength, and 
 he would have recoiled from it. But he was brought to see it by 
 degrees. God, with that infinite delicacy which takes into account 
 all the infirmities of man, n'vcaled to him his work day by day. 
 M. de la Salle began to occupy himself with the schools without 
 suspecting the difficulties that lay before him. When he cjmie 
 to measure their extent, it was too late to draw l«ck, and he had 
 t<t make up his mind to go on to the end. This line of action we 
 have now to relate in detail. 
 
 There lived at Rouen a lady who had formerly Iw-on renowne<l 
 for her vanity, and who still contiiuied to excite public attention 
 by her extraoi-dinary convei-sion. Mn'« de Maillefer was a native 
 of Rheims, where she still had relatives and friends. After Imt 
 marriage, she canie to live at Rouen, where her Inisband was 
 Supervisor of Accounts. She had been «'ndowed with fatal gifl-s 
 gifts whi« h are full of peril for (^.hristian souls — birth, fortune, 
 beautv and wit. Her ardent nature had not Infu able to n>sisl the 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 131 
 
 allurements that her position held out to her. She flung herself 
 headlong into the vortex of pleasure, without heeding the abyss to 
 which it led. No delicacies were too costly for her table, no gems 
 too precious to adorn her beauty. Her one thought was to dazzle 
 the crowd of her admirers. She lay a-bed till noon, in order, she 
 said, to keep her mind undisturbed and spent the whole day ar- 
 ranging new toilets. On Sunday, she went to the last mass, not so 
 much to pray, as to show off her splendid dresses, and outdo the 
 women who attempted to rival her. Such was the person that God 
 intended to make use of for the foundation of Christian schools, 
 and who was to provide the first means for establishing them. 
 
 One day, a beggar knocked at Mme de Maillefer's door. Those 
 whose soul is vain and sensual generally have a hard heart — 
 Mme de Maillefer sent the beggar away rudely. But he was weary 
 and sick, as well as hungry, and his miserable aspect, which 
 failed to move the heart of the mistress, excited the compassion of 
 her servants. M^e de Maillefer's coachman took the beggar into 
 his stables. He died there in the night. What was to be done? 
 They must bury the dead man, and, consequently, reveal to their 
 mistress the act of charity they had dared to perform. The coach- 
 man confessed what he had done; M^e do Maillefer, furious at his 
 daring to disobey her, dismisses him on the spot, and then throws 
 him a sheet to bury this corpse that encumbers her stables. The 
 beggar was buried; but that same evening, on sitting down to 
 table, she saw the sheet she had flung so contemptuously to her 
 servant, folded and laid before her. She turned angrily to know 
 why it was there : had the burial not yet taken p'ace? Yes, it hatl. 
 The beggar was in his grave; but he would not accept after his 
 death a present from one who had refused him a crust of bread 
 when he was starving, and a mysterious hand had brought back 
 the sheet which the servants had seen wrapped round the corpse, 
 and supposed to be under the earth. 
 
 This incident produced a deep impression on M'"e de Maillefer. 
 She recognized the hand of God in it, and, like St Paul on the road 
 to Damascus, she was converted instantaneously. She made up 
 
132 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 her mind at onco, and resolved to l)reak off with the life she had 
 heen leading and with the world that had ruined her; she made 
 this breach with resolute boldness. The following!; Sunday, she 
 went to high mass at the parish, attired in her usual festive splen- 
 dour, but wearing over her dress a kitchen apron, coarse and dirty. 
 Nothing more was needed to lower her in the eyes of everybody 
 who knew her; she was set down at once as a ridiculous devotee, 
 and her' friends all di-ew away from her. She had gained her 
 object. 
 
 Her table was at once reformed, and all luxury banisiied from 
 it. Vanity no longer held any place in her life. Her days were 
 passed in the churches, at the foot of the Cross, or in the hovels of 
 the poor. Her austerities were all the more incomprehensible in 
 the eyes of the world from the contrast they formed to her past 
 life, and she became the laughing-stock of the society whose idol 
 she had so long been. 
 
 Her husband, who was charitable, without going so far in the 
 way of perfection; her director, who was an enlighfened man, 
 sought to moderate a zeal which seemed to them exaggerated. 
 She yielded with a good grace to tiieir advice, but endeavoured to 
 make up by secret penances for tho.se that she renounced extern- 
 ally. Not long after this, her husband died, and she was left ab- 
 solute mistress of her fortune and her conduct. Nothing hence- 
 forth, arrested her in the path of penance. She used to prostrate 
 herself in the nmd before the Crucifixes on the roadside. She used 
 to kneel for houi-s at the doors of the churches, amidst the |)oor 
 whose supplic;ili(ms she had so often spurned, accepting alms like 
 them, and sometimes vituperated for taking her share of the ptMioe 
 thrown t<» them by the faithful as they passed. She, who fonnerly 
 dwelt in a sumptuous mansion, now lived in a miserable little un- 
 fuinished room, where her only be<l was a bundle of straw; her 
 food consisted of mouldy bread and rancid soup, that she ate reflect- 
 ing bitterly on the former waste and luxury that dishonoriHl her 
 table. A scarf of black linen nplae.-d the line pearls that used to 
 adorn her neck. Her eyes, that had gay.ed only on vanity, wen- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 133 
 
 now melted with weeping, and her unkempt hair suggested only 
 contrition and grief. 
 
 For fifteen years, it was believed at Rouen that she had gone 
 mad, and she did nothing to remove an error that gratified her 
 humility; but people began, at last, to perceive the heroic virtue 
 that was concealed under this excentric exterior. They found that 
 her large fortune, none of which was spent upon herself, was now 
 given to the poor, and devoted with rare wisdom to doing good. 
 The folly of the Cross shone out through the folly of the world, 
 and, after passing for a lunatic, M'nc de Maillefer passed for a Saint. 
 
 The neglect of the children of the poor in their tender years was 
 one of the forms of wretchedness which most attracted her solici- 
 tude. Father Barre was at Rouen at this period, and was begin- 
 ning to put into execution a plan he had long cherished for the 
 education of young girls. He also was to lend his hand to the 
 foundation of the Christian schools. He was certainly one of the 
 most esteemed advisers of Blessed de la Salle in the beginning of his 
 undertaking, and had considerable influence over him. But, unlike 
 M"ic de Maillefer, Father Barre had always led a calm Christian 
 life, and advanced towards perfection by the straight road. 
 
 Born at Amiens in 1620, thirty years before M. de la Salle, 
 Father Barre entered in early youth the order of Minims, founded 
 by St Francis of Paule; he was professed there, and during many 
 years he taught theology with brilliant success. He was eminently 
 pious, and stimulated every one around him to do good. His 
 thoughts on Christian life were always expressed in strong and 
 striking language, and he made use of the simplest things in 
 daily life as images and symbols to illustrate the highest counsels 
 of evangelical perfection. 
 
 The stamp of his direction is visible in the soul of Blessed de la 
 Salle, and we shall constantly find him, in the various phases of 
 his life, remembering and practising Father Barre's maxims. 
 
 Father Barre had been called from Paris to the convent at Rouen; 
 he had spent fifteen years there, and had long and earnestly con- 
 sidered the best means of teaching the poor. Towards the year 
 
134 HI.ESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 1G0(», he liiially made a In'^'inning. Uv assomhled some charitable 
 women, trained them, and sent them to found free schools in three 
 neighboring towns. Some months hiter, he opened four others in 
 various quarters of Rouen. 
 
 The town's people were religious, and very charitable. Memlxrs 
 of the clergy, Councillors of Parliament, barristers, interested them- 
 selves in the new work, and contributed funds towards its supjwrt, 
 in spite of Father Bane's resistance, for he feared riches. The 
 town of Rouen in this way came to be endowed with a seminary 
 for school-mistresses which was to branch out all over Normandy. 
 
 Mme de Maillefer had been actively zealous in laying the foun- 
 dation of the schools, and success inspired her with the desire to 
 establish one at Rheims, her native town. She made acquaintance 
 with Can<m Roland in one of his visits to Rouen, and contributed 
 towards the foundation of the community of the Daughters of the 
 Child Jesus. This, however, did not satisfy her zeal, and she 
 wished to found a similar school for boys. She confided this new 
 idea to M. Roland, who approved of it, and they concerted together 
 as to the means of realizing it, when the death of the holy canon 
 seemed to put an end to the whole scheme. 
 
 But M"'e de Maillefer resolved not to give it up, and God having 
 taken one helpmate from her, she at once set about finding another. 
 
 There was then at Rouen a pious layman named Adrien Nyel, 
 •who had interested himself in the children of the poor all his life. 
 He was a native of Beauvais', and had apparently been adled to 
 Rouen by M. Laurent de Bimorel, administrator of the hospital. 
 In 1657, he was appointed, at a salary of a hundred francs, to 
 instruct the young men of the Office in Christian doctrine, to teach 
 them to read and write, and at the same time he had to look after 
 the house. Later on, he occupied himself with the children who 
 were serving as apprentices, or placed out as servants. He found 
 out some poor laymen who, for the meagre remuneration of fifty 
 francs a year, undertook to be at one and the same time teachers, 
 
 ' Not the city of Beauvait, hut a villafro of the same name' in the dioMse of L^ion. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 135 
 
 sacristans and infirmarians, under the direction of the Reliev- 
 ing OfGce. They called themselves Brothers. Piety was the sole 
 motive of their vocation, and, without being bound by any vow, 
 they generally remained faithful to it. 
 
 M. Nyel held a somewhat independent position in the Office, and 
 was greatly esteemed. He was intimate with one of the adminis- 
 trators of the hospital whom we have mentioned, M. Laurent de 
 Bimorel, who, before his death, bequeathed to the establishment 
 a considerable income to keep up two charity schools, of which 
 M. Nyel was named director for life, being also lodged and board- 
 ed in the house. 
 
 M. Nyel's whole life had thus been passed amidst children, and 
 it was unanimously agreed that he was the best man to found 
 schools at Rheims. Being of an enterprising nature, he accepted 
 Mme de Maillefer's offer, and set out for Rheims. He was then 
 fifty-nine years of age. Before leaving Rouen, he gave to the Re- 
 lieving Office a sum of thirteen hundred francs for the poor, on 
 condition that the Office should pay him a hundred francs annuity, 
 and- have prayers offered up for his soul after his death. 
 
 Mme de Maillefer signed an engagement to allow him a salary of 
 one hundred crowns ' for his support and that of a lad of fourteen 
 that he took with him. She gave him, moreover, letters of intro- 
 duction — one for Blessed de la Salle, to whom she was related, 
 and another for the Superior of the Sisters of the Child Jesus, 
 whom she had known at Rouen, where that Religious had di- 
 rected the Community of Providence. 
 
 M. Nyel arrived at Rheims armed with Mmo de Maillefer's in- 
 structions, but never dreaming of the great work of which he was 
 to be the first instrument. Blessed de la Salle himself was far 
 from thinking then of the schools. 
 
 More than once, charitable persons had endeavoured to turn his 
 zeal in that direction, but without success. Educated in an exclu- 
 sive society, of refined manners and intellectual conversation, he 
 
 '■ An ^cu (crown) was worth three francs. 
 
13G BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 felt little interest in those school - mastei-s, who were men of 
 obscure condition, narrow minds and rough mannei-s. If any 
 one had foretold to him that he would one day be their father and 
 their fi'iend, and that his life was to Ik* spent in evoking and 
 directing tiie self-sacriQce that was hidden under those rude 
 exteriors, he would have scouted the notion. But God glories in 
 sending his grace to overcome nature, and compel it to act against 
 inclination. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was, moreover, a humble and docile soul. He 
 thought very little of himself, he did not trouble himself as to the 
 mission appointed him, nor peer curiously into the future, but 
 strove simply to do his duty from day to day. 
 
 When Canon Roland, his director, spoke to him about the com- 
 munity of the Chilli Jesus, he took an interest in the work out of 
 deference for its founder. Later, he interested himself in it to fulfil 
 the last wishes of a dying man; but he viewed it in the lijrht of a 
 passing incident that was not destined to take a lasting place in 
 his life. As soon as he got the community legally recognized, he 
 considered that he had done all that was to be exi)ected of him. 
 
 He had, however, kept up friendly and conOdential intercourse 
 with the Superioress of the Community. One day, he went to see 
 her, and as he reached the door, he found a stranger there in the 
 act of knocking. The stranger had come from Rouen, bearing 
 letters for the Superioress, whom he wished to consult on a matter 
 of imporlance. M. de la Salle allowed him to pass in fiivt; but in 
 a few minutes, he was himself sent for by the Superioress, who 
 begged him to assist at the interview. The stnmger was M. Nyel. 
 
 Bless<'d de la Salle listened with great interest to his plan, but at 
 a glance he seized all its diflieidties. A new foundation interferes 
 with vested interests, knocks against the genend indifference, and 
 meets a host of natural enemies in all those narrow-minded |>er- 
 sons who .set their faces against anything they have not themselves 
 invented. The girls' school had not been founiled at lUx'ims with- 
 out difficulty; but the boys' school was lik«'ly to provoke far greater 
 opposition. The official school -master would see his authority 
 

 BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 137 
 
 threatened; the magistrates would tremble at the prospect of new 
 taxes on the town; the kindness of the Archbishop was likely to 
 have been exhausted by all he had done for the Community of the 
 
 ^^ /.A 
 
 The Rev. Father BarrL-, from a contemporary portrait. — Drawn by Taddeo ; engraved hy MJaulle. 
 
 Child Jesus. All these reasons must be weighed and discussed in 
 secret, before rousing the opposition that was inevitable. It was 
 necessary that the arrival of M. Nyel, and above all the object of 
 his visit, should be kept a profound secret. 
 
138 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Mme de MailU'for had desired him to go and stay at the house of 
 her brother; Blessed de la Salle dissuaded him from this. '' In 
 going to M. de Maillefer's house, " he said, " you (troclaim your 
 scheme, and in proclaiming it you foil it. Your residence there 
 will excite suspicion as to the motive of your coming. The wide 
 social distance between you and your host will set |>cople wonder- 
 ing what brings you here as his guest. They will ask questions, 
 and gossip, and you will be the butt of all the idle busy bodies of 
 the place; your every step will be watched and pried after, and 
 when it is found out what you are seeking, every door will l>e shut 
 against you. " 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was so convinced of the truth of what he 
 urged, that he offered M. Nyel hospitjdity in his own house, in 
 order to screen him from the inevitable consequences of being 
 M. de Maillefer's guest. " Come to me, " he said; " my house is 
 an inn where ecclesiastics are in the habit of stopping. You look 
 just like a country pastor; you will eitsily pass for one. At any 
 rate, I have a right to lodge whom I choose. I don't care what 
 people think, and still less what they say. You cm easily pass a 
 week in my house unnoticed. This will give you time to reflect, 
 to look about you. You can then make a pilgrimage to Notre 
 Dame de Liesse as you intended, and, on your return, you cim 
 make an attempt to open the school. " 
 
 M. Nyel accepted the hospitality that was thus kindly offered to 
 him, and wrote to Mn>e de Maillefer to announce the good begin- 
 ning he had made. Meantime, Blessed de la Salle consulti-d 
 Almighty (lod, his guide in all things, for although he heartily 
 approved <tf the undertaking, he knew not how to set about it. 
 Mistrusting his own lights, he resolved to submit the difliculty to 
 some pious ecclesiastics of the town, amongst otheiv, the Rev- 
 erend Father Claude de Bretagne, prior of Saint-Hemi, and after- 
 wards prior of the abbey of Saint Germain - des - Pi"6s, in Paris. 
 
 They met at the house of the pious Canon, and held private 
 conferences to examine into the affair. M. de la Salle's advice 
 was to confide the school to a parish -priest who would be zealous 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 139 
 
 enough to take the management of it, discreet enough not to talk 
 about it, and generous enough to support it. After reflecting well 
 on this vital point, Blessed de la Salle was of opinion that they 
 ought to address themselves to the parish -priest of Saint Maurice, 
 M. Dorigny, a man of zeal, firmness and piety, and whom they 
 
 rELOQJ^ENCE 
 
 F 
 
 F^AtiCOJ.SE^ 
 
 caefii 
 
 dSlL 
 
 ^t. done 
 
 Jele Villain, Librairefc V 
 
 Ch« Claude 
 .&eficurdu Roy,dcmeuraot3la 
 lueduBeca la bonne 
 RcDomthee. 
 
 I i o £.'■ 
 
 Title-page of a book given to tlie College of Itlieinis by M"* de Maillefer, a relative of Blessed de la Salle, 
 and who played a great part in the foundation of the Christian Schools. 
 
 all judged capable of ensuring the success of the venture, if he 
 would consent to undertake it. Everybody agreed that this was 
 sound advice, and all begged M. de la Salle himself to open the 
 matter to M. Dorigny. 
 
 Works that are in God's design, in spite of the trials they have 
 to pass through, meet with extraordinary helps at their birth. The 
 hills are levelled to make way for them, and one feels that the 
 spirit of God moves souls towards them. It so happened that 
 M. Dorigny was thinking of opening free schools in his parish, 
 when Providence sent him both the man and the money wherewith 
 
140 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 to carry out his dosipn. He received the overture with joy, and 
 insisteti on having at his tahle l)oth M. Nyel and the younj; com- 
 panion who assisted liim in the chiss. M^e de Maillefer's ainniity 
 sufficed U) cover all expenses, and the school was opencnl in 1G79. 
 It was the first kernel of the Christian schools, and M. de la Salle, 
 having helped it on so successfully, considered his interference 
 and responsihility at an end. 
 
 Again he was mistaken. Providence, seeing how faithful he was, 
 had no intention of curtaihng his destined mission, of which this 
 first achievement was only an outline. He was ohedient to grace, 
 and grace was about to lead him whither he knew not. 
 
 M. Nyel had kept up constant intercourse with Blessed de la 
 Salle. He often came to see him, consulted him in his difficul- 
 ties, and sometimes wanted little ser%'ices which the kindly Canon 
 rendered him with pl(>asure. Neither the one nor the other had 
 any future plans, or dreamed of any future partnership. 
 
 A few months later, a pious lady of the parish of St James, 
 Mn'c Catherine Leclerc, widow of M. Antoine Lev^ue de Croyi're, 
 heard about this school of Saint Maurice, and conceived the idea of 
 endowing her parish with a similar one. She was rich and child- 
 less; she was dangerously ill, and wished for nothing better than 
 to devote part of her fortune to good works. 
 
 M. Nyel, who dreamed only of foundations and of seeing his 
 dear schools planted everywhere, heard of her wish, and hastcni»d 
 to see her. He laid his plans before her, explained what steps 
 were to be taken, and, to strengthen her further in her good 
 resolutions, he assured her that M. de la Salle, who had consented 
 to be the protector of th<' Saint -Maurice school, would lend her 
 his help. 
 
 But when Blessed de la Salle heard this, he did not show the 
 promised alacrity to cooperate in the new venture. He was of 
 opinion that the work ought not to be too widely diffus«Hl before 
 it was consolidated. He did not wish, however, to be an obstacle 
 in the way of a good work, so he went to see M"* de Ci-oy^re, who 
 was anxious to talk the matter over with hijn. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 141 
 
 She congratulated him on the good he had done in the parish 
 of Saint Maurice, and implored him to second her wishes : — 
 " I must profit by this favorable opportunity, " she said, " for 
 it is already some time since God first put this thought into my 
 heart, and I should be greatly comforted to see it carried out 
 before I die. " 
 
 She offered an annuity of five hundred francs on her income 
 for the foundation, and to leave at her death a sum of ten thous- 
 and francs to secure it after her. Blessed de la Salle could not 
 withstand these earnest entreaties. The terms were accepted, 
 and M'no de Croyere died six weeks later without having enjoyed 
 her good action. Her heirs carefully carried out her intentions, 
 and the school was opened in the month of September 1679. 
 M. Nyel himself took charge of it, having placed other masters at 
 the head of the Saint-Maurice school. 
 
 The new school w^as soon as flourishing as the first, and later on, 
 the parish of Saint Jacques itself, which inherited Mme de Croyere's 
 rights, pledged itself legally to give the Brothers the interest of 
 a capital of ten thousand francs. 
 
 So the schools rose by degrees, and Blessed de la Salle found 
 himself committed, so to speak, unawares. He has left us a charm- 
 ing account of his own feelings and the way that Providence 
 worked to compass the purpose it had in view. " It was, " he 
 tells us in one of his Memoirs, " through a meeting with M. Nyel, 
 and a proposal of M^e de Croyere's that I was led to take charge 
 of the boys' schools. I had no idea of doing it. Not but that it 
 had been proposed to me. Several friends of M. Roland's had 
 tried to persuade me into it; but they could not get it into my 
 head, and it did not occur to me to undertake it. If I had even 
 dreamed that the care I took of the masters out of pure charity 
 would one day lead to my living with them, I would have given 
 up the whole thing at once; for, as I naturally looked on those 
 whom I employed in. the schools, especially in the beginning, as far 
 beneath me, the mere thought of having to live with them would 
 have been intolerable. 
 
442 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 " I felt a great repugnance, indeed, when they used to (X)me to 
 my house for the fh-st two years. It was apparently, on tliis 
 account, that God, who does all things gently and wisely, and does 
 not as a rule force men against their inclinations, hrought it 
 about so imperceptibly and gradually, that one engagement leil me 
 to another, and I found myself committed to the entire care of 
 the schools without having foreseen anything. " 
 
 M. Nyel was the nominal superior of the dawning community. 
 He taught the class and managed the children well; but he was 
 much less skillful in managing the m.isters. 
 
 Active, too active perhaps, often absent ti-avelling, always full of 
 new plans, he was not the one to inspire recollection in the mas- 
 ters and that spirit of regularity that is essential to the fostering 
 of vocations. Blessed de la Salle saw these defects, and strove to 
 make up for them. He could not hut feel interested in a commu- 
 nity which he had been chietly instrumental in founding. He went 
 there fn-cjuently, and was helpful to it in many ways. There were 
 five masters for the two schools, and they were all lodged in 
 the house of the parish-priest of Saint Maurice; but the house had 
 now become too small for so many people; they were ill at ease 
 in it, and their means were very straitened, the resources of the 
 community all told consisting, in Mnjc de Maillefer's three hundred 
 francs and the five hundred of Mmo de Croyi^re, whereas they 
 would have required at least a thousand. 
 
 Blesse<i de la Salle could not, without being moved to pity, see 
 the wretched plight of the poor masters. It occurred to him that 
 the best way to lu'lp them would be to hire a house close to his 
 own where he could lodge them, and have food carried to them 
 from his own kitrhen, and thus greatly reduce their expenses. 
 He consulted M. Nyel about the plan, and the latter having aj)- 
 proved it, he hired on a lease of eighteen months a house behind 
 Saint Symphorien, near the rampart, not far from his own, and 
 installed the masters there on the 2r»tli of Deremlier dG70. 
 
 When they were settled in their new abode, Blessed de la Salle 
 wrote out a rule for them, so that their life might Ik? well onlered. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 143 
 
 and their work and hours well proportioned. He fixed the hours 
 for rising and going to bed, for prayer, for meals, and he used 
 continually to look in to assure himself that the rule was duly 
 observed. 
 
 Meantime, M. Nyel had improved the opportunity by opening 
 a third school in this new house for the children of the district, 
 and it was soon as full as the other two. 
 
 So passed the year 1680. 
 
 All this time, Blessed de la Salle was going on with his theo- 
 logical studies at the University of Rheims. He passed his examin- 
 ations, maintained his theses, and in 1681 received the Doctor's 
 cap at the age of thirty. Science seemed to be removing him 
 farther and farther from that primary popular education which 
 was to absorb his life. " I imagined, " he writes in his Memoirs, 
 that the direction of the schools and the masters, being merely an 
 exterior direction, committed me to nothing more than providing 
 them with the necessaries, and taking care that the latter acquit- 
 ted themselves of their duty with piety and assiduity. " He was 
 mistaken; the care of them was to be his exclusive occupation, 
 and these very studies that he was pursuing with so much ardor, 
 were only to be of use hereafter in guiding him to direct the 
 rising Institute, and to preserve his future disciples from the theo- 
 logical errors into which sectarians would one day try to ensnare 
 them. 
 
 Insensibly, Blessed de la Salle was being rivetted to the school- 
 masters. 
 
 Although he found them uncouth in manner, he admired their 
 good will, and considered them as emissaries charged to bring 
 souls to Jesus Christ. It behoved them, therefore, to form them- 
 selves on that model, and he labored indefatigably to make them 
 perfect. He could not,. however, devote as much time to them as 
 they required. The canonical office took up a portion of his day, 
 and, added to this, he bad his hours for study, his own business, 
 his family, and could only attend to tlie masters in odd moments, 
 as it were bv stealth. 
 
144 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 He thought it all over, and saw that there was nothing for it 
 
 "^t^HT f - mmr '^^-^^^f -■-- — 
 
 ararck o( Xotn • IMu* it I.Imm ( |k IW '. - Dratn 14 p. litnm*. 
 
 but to let them Uxkc thfir meals ul his table, instead of having 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 14o 
 
 their food carried out to them; the expense to him would be the 
 same, and he could utilize the hour spent at table. Having 
 
 church of Motre-Dame ile I.iease. - Driiwu by Fichot Juuigr; engraved hj- H. Joflroy. 
 
 decided that this was the best plan, he at once adopted it. The 
 school -masters came and sat at board with him twice a day. 
 One of them read aloud, and the holy priest took advantage 
 
 iO 
 
146 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 of this to make tlioiii a little discourse on the duties of their 
 Cidling. 
 
 This growing intimacy, and the rapid way the schools were 
 encroaching upon his life, beg-an to cause his family some anxiety, 
 and they remonstrated with him. " Sucli work, " they said, " was not 
 lit for him; he was letting himself be absorbed by it to tiie neglect 
 of more imperious duties. Before busying himself about stran- 
 gers, he owed himself to his brothers who lived with him, and on 
 whom he had no right to force such company. " Blessed de la 
 Salle made no answer to this. The gooil he was doing the mas- 
 ters was manifest, and not to be relinquished. He was bound even 
 to prefer it to his own benefit, and to try and make this work fit 
 in with his other duties. He already began to find the hour of 
 meals too short, and to reckon up all the stray moments during 
 the day that he might turn to account for the masters if they 
 were near him. Yet he liesitated still to take them altogether 
 into his bouse because of the opposition lie was sure to en- 
 counter. 
 
 Just at this juncture, the town of Guise, which is next to 
 Hheims, manifested a great zeal for cliarity schools. Ml'* de Guise 
 iiad opened three for girls, and had applied to Father Barre for 
 mistresses. The aldermen wanted oliiei-s to be founded for boys, 
 and as they had heard of those in Rheims, they went to M. Nyel. 
 and begged him to come and organize some in their town. 
 M. Nyel could not resist such an invitation. In vain did Blessed 
 de la Salle represent to him that he could not absent himself, and 
 compromise for an uncertJiinty a work already founded, but still 
 weak, and leave the young masters without direction; such a line 
 of action could not draw down God's blessing, and so nish a ven- 
 ture could not succeed. But \f. Nyel was not to bo moved fi-om 
 bis purpose. 
 
 Mis absence, he said, would b<> short, and he could not miss so 
 good a chance as this. He started olT, accordingly, in Holy Week 
 of the year illHI, reckoning secretly on Blcs-sed de la Sidle 
 rp|)lacing him. The latter could not. indeed, make up his mind 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 147 
 
 to leave the young masters without supervision, even for a few 
 days. Tliey rose at five o'clock, made their meditation, and heard 
 mass at six. He wished that, on coming out of church, instead 
 of going home, they should come to his house, and spend the day 
 there, except during the class-hours when they were at the schools. 
 All the rest of the time they were with him, eating in the same 
 refectory, each receiving his portion, and performing all their duties 
 at a fixed hour until night prayers, when tliey went to their own 
 house to sleep. 
 
 This lasted for eight days, when M. Nyel came hack from 
 Guise without having founded his school; but, in this interval. 
 Blessed de la Salle had discovered in the lives of the masters cer- 
 tain grave disorders to which a prompt remedy must be applied 
 if the work was not to fall to pieces. There were many draw- 
 backs attendant on M. Nyel's wandering life. He acknowledged 
 it himself without seeing his way to mend the evil, and seeing 
 the marked improvement that had taken place in the masters 
 during the week they had been under Blessed de la Salle's 
 direction, he besought him to take them into his house alto- 
 gether. 
 
 The holy man was grievously perplexed. The lease of the hired 
 house was nearly run out, and expired on the feast of St John 
 the Baptist. Should he renew it, or take the masters into his own 
 house? It was a serious matter to decide. Not only would it 
 involve a complete change in his own daily life, hamper him with 
 new burdens, extra fatigue and anxiety, but it would arouse the 
 anger of his friends and the opposition of his family. What a 
 battle he would have to fight to make them consent to it ! 
 
 He could not decide without taking advice, so he set out for 
 Paris to consult Father Barre, who was living in a convent of his 
 order in the Place Royale. After passing fifteen years at Rouen, 
 Father Barre had returned to Paris in 1675, and had founded 
 schools there. The first was opened in 1677 in the parish of 
 Saint Jean-en-Greve, and he had founded at the same time a 
 seminary for school -mistresses. There were thirty of them, and 
 
i48 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 they went every day to hold classes in the parishes of Sjiiiit Eus- 
 taclie, Sjiint Ltmrent and Saint Louis-en-l'lle. 
 
 Father Barre had also interested himself in the tnlucation of 
 boys, but without success. He gathered into the parish of Saint 
 Gervais a ceilain number of Brothei-s who had fallen into evil 
 courses, and ended by desei'ting their cidlinjr. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle laid before him the state of the si-hools at 
 Rheims; told him how he had been imperceptibly led into taking 
 the direction of them; explained the results that had been obtain- 
 ed, and the difficulties that had still to be overcome. On hear- 
 ing all this, the saintly Religious no longer hesitated. He ssiw 
 clearly now why it was that he, who hat put his hand to this 
 work, had not been able to found it. Bles.sed de la Salle was the 
 man destined to accomplish the mission, and the very obstacles 
 in his way were so many means to the end — for God makes u.se of 
 trials to strengthen the souls of His workmen. Father Barre left 
 nothing undone to carry this conviction into the mind of the 
 future founder. "' The grandest designs of God on a soul, " he 
 said, " are only achifved Ihiough contradictions. Exterior and 
 interior trials and afflictions slaughter natui'e, but they invigorate 
 the soul. As you could get no wine out of the gnipc without 
 crushing it in the wine-press, neither can a soul produce any 
 great woi'k until it has been in the wine-press of tiMuptations, 
 pei"secutions, tribulations and afflictions. The perfect Christian 
 ought to be like the cock on the church steeple that turns with 
 every wind without ever coming out trom under the cross '. " 
 Blessed de la Salle was deeply impivs.sed by these counsels, and 
 left Pai'is with his mind fully made up. 
 
 On the 24th of June 1081, the feast of his patron, St John 
 the Baptist, he took the whole Connnunity into his hous(>. This 
 final step exasperated his family to the last degree, and excited 
 the wonder of society beyond all bounds. Up to this point, it 
 had been possible to hope that his si-heme would not go beyond 
 
 ' Spirituiil Maxims, by Hev. Follicr Barr*. p. 28. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF ni-ESSED DE LA SALLE. 149 
 
 encouraging a useful work, as any good man might do; he had 
 directed souls, as in duty bound by his priestly office, but this had 
 not absorbed him to the detriment of all other occupations; now, 
 however, the secondary work had suddenly become the principal, 
 almost the exclusive one. He gave himself up to it wholly ; he 
 seemed to have no other concern on earth but to direct school-mas- 
 ters. The world laughed at him, the world does not understand 
 the beauty of Divine work, and knows not what charity is. It 
 laughed at this man of good birth who demeaned himself to such 
 low company; at this Doctor who sought the companionship of 
 poor teachers whose business was to point out a 6 c to children , 
 and who knew little more than their pupils. In fact, people were 
 almost scandalized to see a Canon stooping to such an office. As 
 to his family, their indignation knew no bounds. They were hu- 
 miliated, and injured in their dearest interests. They had dreamed 
 of Church dignities for M. de la Salle, honors to which his birth 
 and his talents naturally called him, and they now beheld him giving 
 himself up to work which could bring him neither honor nor profit. 
 Blessed de la Salle, guardian of his brothers, was the eldest and 
 the head of the family. His other relations were in the habit of 
 dining with him at stated times, and these repasts were an op- 
 portunity for talking over the family interests and affairs, and keep- 
 ing alive concord and affection amongst all the members. These 
 meetings, formerly a source of Christian recreation and delight to 
 Blessed de la Salle, were now a trial and a suffering to him, for 
 his relations took the opportunity to upbraid him concerning his 
 absurd purpose. As soon as they began on this chapter, he would 
 fold his arms on his breast, and listen with the patience of an 
 angel, answering nothing. 
 
 The arguments they brought forward were not of the kind that 
 could influence him, or shake his determination. What did it 
 matter to him that the school-masters were men of low birtli, if 
 they were servants of God; that their manners were coarse, if their 
 conscience was delicate ; that they made a poor figure with their 
 black coat and thin white collar, if they filled a great function ? 
 
ISO BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 But tin- unceasing reproaches of his family made some impres- 
 sion on his brothers, and two of them left Ijim. The eldest, who 
 loved him tenderly, would not separate from him, and continued 
 to live in the same house. The second went away and took up 
 his abode with a brother-in-law; the third, who was younger, 
 was removed and placed at school with the Canons regular at 
 Senlis. This grieved Blessed de la Salle, but it did not discourage 
 him. All the ties that bound him to the world were being broken, 
 one by one, in order to make the final breach easier. He felt him- 
 self freer. But suddenly a terrible trial was sent to him : lu* began 
 to doubt. 
 
 At the very moment when he was sacrificing the affection of his 
 family and the api)roval of the world, he asked himself if he was 
 not pursuing a phantom, and if the work he loved was not going 
 to vanish from him like a shadow. The masters that M. Nyel 
 had brought together, and who had grown used to an independant 
 life while he directed them, would not bear the regularity which 
 Blessed de la Salle exacted from them. The greater number had 
 no vocation; M. Nyel had taken them here and there, as chance 
 offered, without discernment. When they found themselves in a 
 house as regular in its rules as a monastery, where they were 
 treated like Religious, after having stipulateil simply to be school- 
 masters, they slunk away, one after the other. A few had to be 
 dismissed as incompetent, so that in a short time the house was 
 almost empty. Only two masters remained faithftd. 
 
 This exodus was. a terrible blow to Blessed de la Salle. His 
 work seemed on the point of perishing. After having braved the 
 reproaches of his relatives, the criticisms of his brother priests, 
 and the malignity of outsiders, he was going to find himself with 
 nothing left but his shattered scheme. He lu'ld on brav«'ly, he 
 prayed, and, lo ! before the end of the year l(i82 new subjects be- 
 gan to arrive. Blessed de la Salle had already put in practice the 
 exercises that are still followed in the Institute, so the new-comers 
 could have no illusions. They knew what they were committing 
 themselves lo, and underetood the obligations they were about to 
 
HOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 181 
 
 contract. By their piety and their aptitude for teaching, their self- 
 devotion and spirit of community life, they showed that they were 
 chosen of God. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle continued more devoted than ever to them. 
 He was like the courageous lahorer who hesitates to put his hand 
 to the plough, but who, once the ploughing is begun, drives his 
 furrow straight on, unmindful of stones and thorns. He lived 
 with the masters, and strove to fashion them more and more into a 
 religious community. Without imposing practices on them as one 
 in authority, he made them feel the necessity of them, inspired 
 them with the desire of prayer and self-denial, and led them to 
 embrace observances which seemed to be their own suggestion 
 rather than his. Finally, when a resolution was adopted, he saw 
 that it was faithfully carried out, and was the first to set an ex- 
 ample of constancy. 
 
 In order to train all these souls of such varied callings and with 
 such opposite dispositions, to cut and fashion them like stones that 
 are to fit into a noble and solid building, a great unity in spiritual 
 direction was necessary. The choice of a confessor was even more 
 important than the choice of a superior. Blessed de la Salle made 
 the masters understand the necessity of all confessing to the same 
 priest. 
 
 They sought a fitting one long and earnestly; but the right man 
 was not easy to find : one was good and capable, but he had not 
 the right spirit, and disheartened the Brothers; another was all 
 they wanted, but he lived too far off, and so on with many others. 
 These repeated failures at last determined them to appeal to M. de 
 la Salle himself. He was their superior, their father; he lived 
 with them, and knew, as no one else could know, the point they 
 had started from, and the one for which they aimed. He was 
 both firm and gentle, and he had their whole confidence. They 
 besought him to become their director. He, however, hesitated 
 long before consenting; he feared that difficulties might arise 
 from the functions of temporal superior and spiritual director be- 
 ing united in one person. He took counsel with several enlight- 
 
152 BI.ESSKD l>E LA SALLE. 
 
 died ecclesiastics, who ailvised him not lu be delerred by tliis 
 scruple. He yielded, therefore, to the desire of the masters, and 
 while he lived remained their c(tnfessor. 
 
 At Chrismas tide in the year 1G81, M. Nyel left Rheims. He was 
 delighted at the improvement he saw in the house, and, judging 
 his presence no longer necessary there, he gav(> himself up with a 
 clear conscience to his passion for travelling, and set out to found 
 new schools. Blessed de la Salle was now left quite alone in the 
 direction and management of tlu- house at Rheims. 
 
 About this time an event occurred which brought him to the 
 brink of the grave, and increased still more his confidence in God. 
 He was riding home from the country; the snow lay thick on the 
 ground, fdling up the ditches and blotting out the roads. M. de 
 la Salle lost his way, and fell into a deep hole. He calleil out for 
 help; no one came. The place was lonely as a desert, the bad 
 weather kept all travellers away. He strove in vain for a long time 
 to get out of the pit; night was coming on, his position was hope- 
 less. He had recourse to God, and God hearkened to his prayer. 
 After a last violent effort, he succeeded in climbing up to the level 
 ground, and found his way, but not without beaiing ever after 
 traces of the danger he had run; he received internal injuries 
 which were a source of suffering to him all his life, but which 
 served chiefly to keep alive in his heart the remembrance of the 
 mercy God had shown him in rescuing him from a certain death. 
 He never spoke of the circumstance without profound gratitude. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had remained hitherto with his disciples in 
 the house of liis fathers; but it was ill ailapted to its new destina- 
 tion, and was situated in too frequented a neigbborliMod, where 
 the stir of business and the gay world disturbed the school-mas- 
 ters. The holy priest looked out for a quieter abod«', and after a 
 good deal of trouble found one at the entrance of the Rue Neuve, 
 opposite Sainte-Claire, in the fauboui-g Ssiint-Remy. which an- 
 swered his purpose; so he hired it, and the community movetl into 
 it on the 24th of June 1()82, the feast of his patron, St John the 
 Baptist. The Brothers never afterwards left it. 
 
BOOK JI. — I.IFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 153 
 
 In leaving the paternal house, Blessed de la Salle broke oil' with 
 his past. He said good-bye to the memories of his childhood, to 
 the joys of his youth, and to all that had surrounded his life up to 
 this time. He had now moved farther away than ever from his 
 kindred, his friends and the world, and he was advancing towards 
 an unknown future with no guiding star but his love for God. 
 
 ■\.^iliu'!l. 
 

 Laon, where Blessed dc la Sallo founded one of his first houses (p. 159). 
 
 engraved by Bar bant. 
 
 ■ Drawn by Hubert Clerget ; 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SACRIFICE. 
 
 Y his fidelity to grace from the 
 earliest years of his life, Blessed 
 de la Salle had deserved to be 
 called to the highest duties. He 
 had kept his youth free from sin, 
 and, in taking orders, he conse- 
 crated himself wholly to God 
 
 'o 
 
 service. And, lo! God, to reward 
 his generosity, had come and taken 
 him by the hand, and had, without 
 his knowledge, confided to him an 
 incomparable work, the Christian 
 education of childhood. 
 The mere strength of human nature did not suffice for 
 such an undertaking, and one man, whatever might have been 
 
156 ItLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 his gonius and his pei-severanco would not have compassed 
 it. It needed more tlian courage, more than genius : it needed 
 sanctity. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, hefore undertaking his great work, had flrst 
 to accomplish a work on himself. He had still to purify his life, 
 which he had preserved thus far in piety and the fear of God. He 
 was to rise from the easy virtues of youth to the more arduous 
 duties of evangelical perfection, to renounce honoi"s, fortune, family 
 affections, his own inclinations, in order to give to these poor child- 
 ren whom God confided to him, a heart no longer held captive 
 by a single earthly tie. 
 
 Grace had called M. de la Salle : this we saw in the la.st chap- 
 ter. M. de la Salle corresponded to grace by a complete sacrifice 
 of himself : this is what we shall see in the fnllnwing pages. 
 Nothing could be more interesting than the object of such a nar- 
 rative, rather of such a drama. 
 
 The Christian schools, once solidly established iji Hheims, began 
 to spread beyond their centre, like those plants which, having 
 taken root, put out fresh branches on every side. In many towns, 
 the municipalities and the clergy, struck by the necessity for or- 
 ganizing education for the poor, were deterred by the difficulty of 
 finding masters. The fact that Rheims had excellent ones soon 
 became known in the neighboring districts, and the desire arose 
 to obtain othei-s like them. 
 
 Rethel was the fii-st town that made a demand for them. In 
 4682, the aldermen and the parish-priests addressed themselves to 
 Blessed tie la Salle, and b»'gged him to found a scIuk)1 in their 
 town, promising to furnish the necessary funds. The holy priest 
 hesitated. He feared that too rapid a growth might exhaust 
 his new-born Institute, and that by developing to<i quickly, it 
 might perish away. In order to confide the direction t»f schools 
 to mastei-s removed from under his own watchful eye, it was 
 necessary that the mastei-s should have gained strength in their 
 vocation by a long novitiate, and he only ha«l at his disposed young 
 men of still uncertain vocations and untried virtue. He was, 
 
BOOK II. — MFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 137 
 
 therefore, inclined to refuse, at least for the present, all proposals 
 from without. 
 
 He rightly believed that in the life of every foundation there are 
 two periods : a period of preparation during which the elements 
 are fermenting and organizing, and a period of expansion when 
 the sap rises, and circulates, and produces fruit; in other words, 
 the hidden life and the public life, the movement of concentration 
 and the movement of propagation. Such is, in fact, the law which 
 regulates the development of all created beings, from the plant u[) 
 toman; and it applies equally to works, and those works that ignore 
 it run the risk of dying of inanition. We have seen only too many 
 and too striking examples of this. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had, however, reckoned without M. Nyel, 
 whose impatience could ill brook these delays. His way was to 
 go as far as he could from one foundation to another. He volun- 
 teered to go off at once to Rethel and manage the whole thing by 
 himself. Soon a new and weighty influence was brought to bear 
 on M. de la Salle : this was the Due de Mazarin, who strongly sup- 
 ported the demand of the aldermen, and offered to contribute 
 to the maintenance of the masters. After this, there was no hold 
 ing in M. Nvel. He set out to Rethel, hired a house, and the 
 Due de Mazarin, the parish -priest and a charitable person named 
 M"e Bouralletti, gave the necessary funds. The school was opened 
 in 1C82. The sympathy it met with gave Blessed de la Salle the 
 idea of buying a house at Rethel soon afterwards for the purpose 
 of estabhshing his seminary there. 
 
 But the schools were not to go on flourishing without obstacles. 
 It was necessary that their basis should be solidly established, and 
 the trials of their founder were, in a measure, the price to be paid 
 for their development. M. de la Salle, having gone to Rethel, the 
 Due de Mazarin, who held him in the greatest esteem, wished to 
 make his acquaintance; he honored him with a visit, and proposed 
 to him to raise an annuity on the ducal domains to secure the 
 support of several masters. Blessed de la Salle gratefully accepted 
 this advantageous proposal. The contract was settled; but some 
 
158 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ill-disposed misdiief-makei-s meddled in the affair, and it fell to 
 the ground. The pious Canon suffered the disappointment with- 
 out a murmur. He knew that, aciording to Father Bane's maxim. 
 • we must, in order to arrive at humility, be very glad not to 
 succeed even in the concerns that God gives us to do for His own 
 glory. " 
 
 Some time afterwards, two rich inhabitants of Relliel died, and 
 left him a considerable sum, to make the foundation he had in 
 view; but no sooner had he got all the necessjuy deeds and titles 
 in hand, then the heirs refused to carry out the will. Blessed de 
 la Salle gave up the legacy rather than go to law about it. 
 
 This never-failing patience ended by triumphing over the most 
 obstinate resistance, and carried him through all difficulties and 
 opposition. In 4G85, M. de Mazarin took up the scheme which 
 had fallen through some years before at Rethel. He gave a capi- 
 tal of three thousand two hundred francs, the interest of which 
 was to go to support a community of young men who were pre- 
 paring to be school -masters. This community was under the 
 management of two directors named by Blessed de la Salle, and 
 dates from 1G85. 
 
 On the 22th of September of the same year, a similar foundation 
 was made on the estate of the Marquis of Mont -Cornet, and 
 M. de Mazarin contributed three burses to the establishment. 
 
 Soon after Rethel got its school, the town of Ch4teau-Portien 
 said it must have one. On the 20lh of June 1G82, the dean of the 
 aldermen wrote to Blessed de la Salle to ask him for masters. 
 The letter was so pressing that M. de la Salle answered it the 
 same day : — " Even if I took but little interest in what concerns 
 the glory of God, I shouUl be very hardened not to be moved by 
 the earnest prayers of your dean and by the obliging manner in 
 which you have done me the honor to write to me to-day. It 
 would be very wrong of me, Gentlemen, not to send you mastei-s, 
 seing your ardour and eagerness for the Christian education of 
 y»»ur children. I beg you. therefore, to believe that I have nothing 
 more at heart than the seconding of your gmxl intentions, and no 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 139 
 
 later than next Saturday I will send you two masters, with whom 
 I hope you will be satisfied, to open your school the day after the 
 feast of St Peter. " 
 
 The promise was punctually kept, and the school opened. The 
 town of Guise again came forward. The year before, M. Nyel had 
 gone there, but he had failed to found a school. He had scarcely 
 been six months at Rethel when Guise called him back, and was 
 ready to accept all his conditions. The aldermen gave the house, 
 and M"e de Guise paid the salary of the masters. M. Nyel found 
 some one to replace him at Rethel, and came to put the new 
 school in working order. 
 
 Next came the town of Laon. The aldermen, the parish-priest 
 of Saint-Pierre and the Abbot of Saint-Martin had all coalesced to 
 start this noble and useful enterprise. The town gave the house, 
 and provided part of the salary; the Religious and the parish- 
 priest furnished the rest. M. Nyel at once came flying to Laon, 
 and, having placed the Guise school in safe hands, took the manage- 
 ment of this new one, which he continued to direct for two years ; 
 a considerable time for him to remain stationary, who was always 
 moving from place to place. But from this centre his solicitude 
 reached out to all the neighboring schools, for Blessed de la Salle 
 would only undertake the direction of those at Rheims. He had 
 numerous other occupations. Over and above the duties of his 
 canonry, the Archbishop, who knew his zeal, employed him some- 
 times in divers missions. Then in 1684, the Vicars general of 
 Rheims sent him to convert a neighboring little town that had 
 fallen away from all religious practices. He undertook the mis- 
 sion, and owing to God's blessing, he succeeded in it. 
 
 M. de la Salle held to doing thoroughly everything that he 
 undertook, and therefore he followed the wise principle of not 
 undertaking more than he could accomplish. Towards the end 
 of the year 1682, it seemed to him, he tells us, that God was call- 
 ing him to take charge of the schools, and that, as he had to be 
 first at all the exercises of the community, he could not be as 
 assiduous at the Divine office as was expected of him. For the 
 
160 Itl.ESSED DE LA SAI.I.E. 
 
 first lime, it occurred to him to resign his canonry. But this was 
 an important step not to be hghtly decided on. He prayed, and 
 reflected long before making up his mind. 
 
 The reasons which suggested it weighed more fieavily each day 
 on his awakened conscience, and otiiers came to re-enforce them. 
 Symptoms of discouragement were appearing amongst his dis- 
 ciples. They were bearing up und«'r the present, but tlie future 
 terrified them. Wfiat was to become of them "when they were old 
 and infirm? When tliey should have worn tliemselves out in 
 work without pay, were they to die of want? After a life of toil 
 and privations, nothing but inevitable star\'ation awaited them. 
 Bh'ssed de la Salle in vain strove to revive their confidence. He 
 reminded them that God never abandons those who put their trust 
 in Him, and proposed to them the parable of the lilies, that spin 
 not, and that God clothes; of the birds, that reap not, whom God 
 feeds. But the hearts of the Brothers were deaf to his words; 
 even the Gospel could not strengthen their faltering r(»urage. 
 
 What made M. de la Salle's counsels and exhortations of so little 
 avail was that he himself preached more byword than by e.vample. 
 One day, at last, the Brothers spoke out, and exposed all their 
 anxieties to him. Confidence, said they, came easy «'nougli to 
 him, because he wanted for nothing. He had a good canonry 
 backed by a good j)atrimony. Want could n»n'er overtake him. 
 and the ruin of the schoi^tls would leave him unharmed. But 
 what was to become of them, who had neither property, nor in- 
 come, nor trade? How were they to go on living? 
 
 These i-eflexions finally decided Blessed de la Salle. He under- 
 stood that on his side, as on theirs, the foundations of the Insti- 
 tute must be poverty and absolute abandomnent to God. Duty 
 seemed now clear to him. 
 
 The two functions were manifestly incompatible. He no longer 
 hesitated between the two. The one was easy, honorable and 
 lucrative; the other was an obscure cidling, as y»'t imcertain. 
 without honour, and without profit, lie made his choice of the 
 latter, and resolved to resign his canonry. tie at once conunu- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 161 
 
 nicated his resolution to his director. The latter combated all his 
 
 Liiuu, — Tile cathedral ; oue of the mott aucieitt aud complete types of Uotluc architecture 
 of the first period, — Drawn by SeUier. 
 
 reasons, blamed his plan, and ordered him to give it up. '• Such a 
 
 11 
 
162 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 determination, " he said, " was most likely the result of a caprice, 
 and an ecclesiastical career was not to be upset in that fashion 
 without long and serious reflexion. If it \vas the voice of God 
 that was making itself heard in his soul, it would end by triumph- 
 ing over all human resistance. Meantime, he must wait and 
 consider. " This was the voice of wisdom. 
 
 Blessed- de la Salle submitted humbly; but lie could not com- 
 mand his thoughts, and the reasons that had led to his determi- 
 nation pui-sued him incessantly. He could not make the days be 
 long enough to furnish time for all his duties ; he could not, above 
 all, prevent the masters from contrasting bitterly their precarious 
 condition with the state in which he lived. Some months went 
 by like this. He then made another efi"ort to convert his director 
 to his views; but again the latter desired him to wait. 
 
 He waited; but, considering it necessary to have recourse to 
 several opinions in so important an aflair, he went to Paris to 
 consult Father Barr^, whose interior light he had already had 
 occasion to appreciate. Father Barr6 fully and unreservedly ap- 
 proved of his design. He would have wished it even more 
 perfect, he would have wished it to include absolute detachment 
 from all the things of this world. 
 
 " The foxes have their dens, " he said to him, •' and the birds ot 
 the air their nests, but the Son of man has not whereon fo lay His 
 head. " Those are the words of Scripture, and this is what they 
 mean : The foxes are the children of this world who attach them- 
 selves to earthly things; the birds of the air are Religious wlio 
 have their cells for a shelter; and school- masters, whose vocation 
 it is to teach the poor after the example of Jesus Christ, should 
 have nothing more on earth than the Son of man had. " 
 
 These arguments made a deep impression on Blessed de la S;ille; 
 they seemed to him as the voice of God, and even his director 
 at last was conquered by them, and withdrew his opposition. 
 
 Notwithstanding the secrecy with which he had surrounded 
 his intention, it rkctl out, and created an extraordinary sensiilion 
 in the town. Astonishment .«<oon gave way to blame, and a sort 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 163 
 
 of league was set on foot to prevent the pious Canon from car- 
 rying out his design. His relatives, his friends, liis brother Ca- 
 nons, liis superiors, all coalesced against him. His family were 
 furious at his giving up a post which reflected honor on them; 
 his brethren were grieved to lose a man whose high qualities 
 they esteemed; his superiors, who had found him a useful auxil- 
 iary, regretted his services. No arguments were spared to shake 
 his determination. " He was about, " they said, " to renounce duties 
 consecrated by the Church, for a perilous undertaking the success 
 and duration of which nothing guaranteed. Had he not formerly 
 recognized the vocation which called him to be a Canon, and was 
 it no longer possible to please God in that holy state ? Moreover, 
 if he was doing good now, it was at the expense of others. By 
 this extraordinary step, he was throwing discredit on his family, 
 and might injure the prospects of his brothers. Was perfection 
 really to be found in this uncommon way, or was not a secret 
 pride leading him to it? He wanted to be singular, to found 
 an order, to wear a habit that would attract attention, and this 
 was a serious temptation where souls more perfect than his had 
 perished. " 
 
 Blessed de la Salle hesitated before these grave reasons, and 
 before the unanimous opposition of those whom he loved and was 
 accustomed to obey. His soul had to face one of those conflicts 
 which decide the destiny of a life-time. His past rose up before 
 him, and clung to him to hold him back. 
 
 He entered into himself; he probed the depths of his heart 
 before God, and found it pure. He weighed the reasons that had 
 guided his resolutions with those that were now put in the bal- 
 ance against them, and found these wanting. He came victorious 
 out of this final struggle, his courage strengthened, and ready to 
 carry out his resolution without further delay. 
 
 It was the month of July 1683. Blessed de la Salle set out to 
 Paris to place his resignation in the hands of the Archbishop of 
 Rheims, who was there just then; but he did not see him; the 
 Archbishop had gone back to Rheims. Bl(>ssed de la Salle went 
 
164 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 to Saint Sulpice, and saw M. de la Harmoiidi^re, the parish - 
 priest; he related to liiin the history of his undertaking, and the 
 pious ecclesiastic was so charmed with it, that he made him pro- 
 mise on the spot to send him two Brothers at once. This was the 
 breaking of tlie dawn. 
 
 On his return to Rheims, Blessed de la Salle went to the Arch- 
 bishop's house; hut he was refused admittance. Powerful in- 
 fluences had been brought to bear on the Archbishop to prevent 
 his accepting the holy ])riest's resignation; and not knowing how 
 to refuse his consent, the prelate preferi-ed not to see him. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was not to be shaken by this new resistance. 
 He went to see M. Pbilbert, one of the Superiors of the seminary, 
 and who had great influence with the Archbishop, and laid his 
 scheme befoie him. M. Pbilbert entirely approved of it. Then, 
 unwilling to do anything without tJod's help, Blessed de la Salle 
 went to the Cathedral, prostrated himself before the Blessed Sac- 
 rament, and remained several hours ab*f)rbed in |)rayer, implor- 
 ing God to enlighten him, to strengthen him, and to accomplish 
 the Divine will in him. Two persons saw him come in bxtking 
 very depressed, and were witnessess of this ardent prayer. " It 
 is M. de la Salle, " said one of them; '• piay for him, for he has 
 lost his reason. " — " You are I'ight, " replied the other, who was 
 aware of his sanctity, •' but it is the reason of this world that he 
 has lost. " 
 
 When Blessed de la Salle rose up from his knees, his prayer 
 had been heard. He K'ft the cburch. went straight to the Arch- 
 bishop's, and was let in without any difliculty. The prelate asked 
 him if he had sought advice before adopting so grave a determin- 
 ation. M. de la Salle replied that he had consulted M. Pbilbert. 
 The prelate inunediately sent to fetch the latter from choir, and 
 far from belying Bless«'d de la Salle's wor»ls. the worthy C-uion 
 declared that he had advised him to give up his canonry to his 
 brother. " 1I<' may give it to whonjsoever he likes. " n'pli«'d the 
 Ar(hbisho|>: "1 accept his resignation. " That evening, he signed 
 the acceplalion. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 165 
 
 The Archbishop was undoubtedly sorry to lose so good a Canon, 
 and manifested in the presence of several persons the pain it 
 caused him; but he showed no reluctance before Blessed de la 
 Salle, thus sparing him all the distress of answering arguments or 
 regrets. The great obstacle had been removed, and God had 
 smoothed it in order to make the sacrifice easier. The holy priest 
 was so filled with joy, that on returning home, ho assembled the 
 Brothers, and sang the Te Down with them in thanksgiving. 
 Like St Bruno of yore, who had also been a Canon of Rheims, 
 and who gave up the office in order to embrace a more perfect 
 life, Blessed de la Salle was free to go whither God called him. 
 
 M. de la Salle loved his brother tenderly, that brother who had 
 remained deeply attached to him, and who, when the others had 
 turned from him, had clung the more closely to him. In leaving 
 him his canonry, Blessed de la Salle would simply have paid him 
 a debt of gratitude by providing for his future. But this motive, 
 which would have amply satisfied another, stopped Blessed de la 
 Salle. He feared to yield to nature, and to seek his own advan- 
 tage while seeming to give it up. His sacrihce, in order to Ije 
 agreeable to God, he would make absolutely disinterested and 
 purified from all selfish feeling. 
 
 He, therefore, gave in his resignation after inscril)ing upon it 
 the name of one of the humblest and holiest priests in the town, 
 M. Faubert, who was far from dreaming of such an honor. The 
 Archbishop was gone to Paris, and intrigues of all sorts began 
 again to prevent his accepting this proposal of Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 Every one meddled in it : the Chapter, grieved at losing their 
 brother - canon , desired to see him replaced by a man at least 
 equally well-born; his family considered it a crying injustice to 
 rob them of the prebend which had been bestowed upon him, and 
 an outrage on the young Abbe de la Salle to exclude him from the 
 inheritance; his friends could not understand his casting away 
 from himself and his brother a position that was so universally 
 coveted, and they condemned as a piece of excentricity a sentiment 
 that was completely at variance with the general opinion. 
 
166 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 The Archbishop himself was shaken by all these worldly consi- 
 derations; the Chapter had written to him; all sorts of persons 
 were circumventing him. Without withdrawing the consent he 
 had so distinctly given, he determined to make one more attempt to 
 persuade Blessed de la Salle to relinquish his purpose. He charged 
 M. Callou, Vicar-general and Superior of the seminary at Rheims, 
 with this delicate mission. The negociator used all his tact and 
 exhausted his eloquence, and then confessed himself not only 
 conquered but converted. Blessed de la Salle's arguments were 
 irresistible, and M. Gallon's parting words to him were : — " God 
 forbid that I should advise you to do what so many are trying to 
 induce you to do ! Follow where the spirit of God is leading you. 
 This counsel, the very opposite of the one that I came charged to 
 deliver, is the true one. It is the only one you must listen to. " 
 
 Thankful for this unexpected assent. Blessed de la Salle hastened 
 to communicate it to the Archbishop, who felt he could no longer 
 hesitate; he at once sent to M. Faubert the required provision. The 
 latter took possession of his canonry on the 16th of August 1083, 
 and the future showed that in refusing to resign in favour of his 
 brother, M. de la Salle had obeyed a wise inspiration. Some years 
 later, the Archbishop presented a vacant prebend to Abbe Louis 
 de la Salle, " in order, " he said, " to make up to him for his 
 brother's folly. " 
 
 The Abb6 Louis de la Salle afterwards espoused the cause of the 
 Jansenists, and was amongst those of the clerg\' of Rheims who 
 resisted the Bull. If Blessed de la Salle had placed him in the 
 Chapter, how bitterly he would have reproached himself for having 
 listened to the voice of nature, and thereby put weapons into the 
 hands of his own brother to divide the Church. It is true, Canon 
 Faubert did not quite justify the hopes that were built upf)n his virtue. 
 He deteriorated under prosperity. So long as he was poor, he was 
 full of fenor. While Blessed de la Salle was near him, he followed 
 his example. He came to live in his house, and founded there, 
 side by side with the seminary for scho(»l-mastei-s, a seminary for 
 young ecclesiastics whom he directed with great piety and pru- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 167 
 
 dence. But when Blessed de la Salle left Rheims, the establish- 
 ment fell away with the decay of the zeal that had supported it. 
 No one, of course, could foresee this result. It is in no man's power 
 to penetrate the future dispositions of others, or to fix them in the 
 right way. All that can be done is to act according to one's light, 
 with a pure intention, free from personal interest and natural sym- 
 pathy, and this is what the holy priest had done. 
 
 After separating from his family and leaving the Chapter, Bles- 
 sed de la Salle thought of leaving the town, and going to Paris. 
 M. Philbert advised him to do this in order that during his absence 
 the angry excitement he had aroused might die out. M. de la Bar- 
 mondiere was impatient for him to arrive in Paris and endow his 
 parish with a most useful establishment. Father Barre was also 
 urging him to come, and assuring him that it is in Paris alone 
 that his Institute could be solidly founded, so as to branch out 
 thence over the kingdom. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was sorely perplexed. He consulted his di- 
 rector, who took a different view of the question from that held by 
 all these venerable persons whom we have mentioned. He said 
 the Institute was as yet too young to be transferred without dan- 
 ger from one place to another, and that the establishment which 
 M. de la Salle would leave behind him at Rheims would quickly 
 fall away when deprived of fostering care. In Paris, he would 
 have to go to great expense, and to overcome obstacles which seemed 
 vague in the distance, but were certain to arise. It was better to 
 wait. The promise he had given the parish-priest of Saint Sulpice 
 was only binding on the condition of being useful and reasonable. 
 If it was to be hurtful, he had much better adjourn its fulfilment. 
 
 These were wise reasons, and Blessed de la Salle succombed to 
 them. He wrote to M. de la Barmondiere and to Father Barre, 
 explaining the motives of his decision. He then set to work more 
 earnestly than ever at his own sanctification. 
 
 M, de la Salle, in rehnquishing his canonry, had given up hon- 
 ors; but he still remained rich. His fortune, a considerable one 
 at that period, amounted to forty thousand francs. He was there- 
 
KiH BLESSEn I)E LA SALLE. 
 
 fore in a very different position from tlio masters whom he was 
 l)earinfr after him into a career of evan^eUcal perfection; con- 
 sequently the objections of the latter still held good. 
 
 He was resolved to remove this difference, and no longer to 
 continue in the enjoyment of opulence while he was counselling 
 them to embrace poverty; he had begun his breach with the world 
 by separating from his family and giving up his title, he now 
 determined to consummate the sacrifice by giving up his fortune. 
 
 He began, as usual, by consulting his confessor. The latter, 
 accustomed as he now was to the extraordinary virtue of his peni- 
 tent, was surprised into admiration of this heroic renunciation, 
 and, without actually opposing his design, he again advised him to 
 wait. Blessed dc la Salle obeyed unhesitatingly. " I will not give 
 it up if you don't wish it, " he said; " I will only give up as much 
 as you wish, and if you desire me to keep anything, were it only 
 five pence, I will keep them. " A year went by in this way. 
 M. de la Salle's obedience was an admirable proof of the purity of 
 his intentions. His director recognized it, and gave him leave to 
 do what he liked with his patrimony. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had now to struggle with a violent tempta- 
 tion. Since he was bent on giving his fortune to the poor, people 
 said, why not give it to those school -masters whose vocation was 
 imperilled by their poverty? Why not devotejt to founding Chris- 
 tian schools? Nothing could be more legitimate, and the merit 
 of his sacrifice would not be lessened, since he would be none the 
 richer for it. This was the advice given him by many persons who 
 passed for being wise, and who re-enforced it by quoting the 
 example of M. Roland. But an interior voice was whispering 
 to Blessed de la Salle that it was better to cast away all human 
 elements in founding his work and to build only on evangelical 
 poverty. Father Barre was of this opinion. He was against all 
 endowments. He feared that security might dry up the source of 
 grace, an<l that his Religious, feeling themselves provided for, might 
 be less perfectly submi*ive to the orders of Providence and of their 
 Superiors. He wanted that the spirit of his own Institute should 
 
BOOK H. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 169 
 
 draw its strength from absolute disinterestedness, from the love of 
 poverty, from the pure desire to labor for the salvation of souls in 
 perfect abandonment to Divine Providence. The moment the com- 
 munity was securely provided for, girls with no vocation would 
 be wanting to enter, simply to get a living. They would dissemble 
 their purpose, make a sliow of zeal, and there would be no discern- 
 ing the true vocations from the false. " It is better, " said this 
 holy man, " that the schools should only last twelve or fifteen 
 years without funds, and preserve their fervor, than that they 
 should last longer and fall away and become relaxed. " And he 
 repeated incessantly to the Sisters : " If you endow, you will 
 sink'. " 
 
 Father Barre stood faithful to these maxims to the last. He had 
 given in at Rouen, not to hurt the feelings of the founders of his 
 schools; but he held his own in Paris, and refused money that was 
 offered him to found a house and obtain Letters Patent that would 
 have secured it against want. He would have the Sisters lodged 
 in a house that was lent to them on precarious terms, and he was 
 constantly setting this foundation against Rouen, and declaring 
 that the latter was accursed because it was endowed. " We have 
 murus and ante-murale, " he used to say; " Rouen is the ante- 
 murale — outside the holy city; Paris nmst be the murus which 
 represents the purity of the apostolic spirit. " What Father Barre 
 had practised so faithfully in his own Institute, he advised Blessed 
 de la Salle to do, and the latter was quite willing to follow the advice. 
 He probably imbibed in the society of the holy friar much of that 
 love of poverty, that detachment from the things of this world, and 
 that perfect abandonment to the will of God of which he was to 
 give such numerous and marvellous examples. For heroic souls 
 like M. de la Salle, the difficulty lies, not in doing their duty, but 
 in knowing it. He did not wish to decide too quickly, for he knew 
 that there is a variety of ways of going to God, and that every 
 Institute has its own rule and its own ideal. 
 
 ' Si vous fondez, vous fondrez. 
 
170 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 He had recourse fo prayer, his usual resource, and addressed 
 the following humble petition to God : — " My God, I do not know 
 whether to endow, or not to endow. It is not for me to found 
 communities, nor to know how to establish them. It is for Thee, 
 my God, to know, and to do it in the way that pleases Thee. 
 If Thou endowest them, they will be well endowed; if Thou dost 
 not endow them, they will be without endowment. I pray Thee, 
 my God, to make known Thy will to me. " 
 
 He decided finally to give all his goods to the poor, and no 
 sooner had he made this resolution, than the occasion presented 
 itself for putting it into execution. 
 
 The year 1684 brought a famine which devastated the whole of 
 Champagne, and the town of Rheims was especially stricken. 
 Blessed de la Salle sold all he possessed, and fed the hungry. He 
 proceeded in this crisis with the order that he carried into all he 
 did, and distributed his alms with great discretion and prudence. 
 He divided his patrimony into three parts. The first was for the 
 children; all those who came to the schools received a piece of 
 bread which sufficed, not only for them, but for their families. 
 The second was for the shy poor who were too proud or too timid 
 to leave their homes, and w^ho preferred to suffer rather than beg; 
 Blessed de la Salle visited them himself, and carried them his 
 gifts, doing all in his power to sweeten the offering to them. The 
 third part was given away in the house. Every morning, the poor 
 assembled there, and Blessed de la Salle, or one of the priests who 
 lived with him, addressed a few familiar words to the crowds, 
 and when their souls had been thus nourished, their bodies were 
 fed. Blessed de la Salle generally spoke after his mass. His piety 
 was so ardent, and his charity so tender that he saw in every beggar 
 Jesus Christ clothed in rags, hungry and cold. He would prostrate 
 himself, and then on bended knees offer bread to those poor creat- 
 ures with the same respect and joy that he would have had in 
 giving alms to Jesus Christ. He considered it an honor to be one 
 of the poor himself, and to receive his pittance with the rest, as 
 an alms. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 171 
 
 This distribution began in 1685 and lasted about two years. 
 When it was over, Blessed de la Salle, stripped of everything, and 
 become himself poor with Jesus Christ, resolved to taste poverty 
 in its bitterest extremities. Having occasion to go to Rethel in 
 order to confer with the Due de Mazarin about establishing a 
 seminary for village school - masters, he travelled on foot, and 
 begged his food all along the road. He had great difficulty in 
 getting a piece of black bread from an old woman, and he ate it 
 with delight. This was truly the workman God was waiting for. 
 Blessed de la Salle was now three and thirty years of age. 
 
abeims. — Church of Saint- IWmi. — Drawu by Hubert Clorget ; engraved by Meaulle. i See more iletaUed view, p. 176.) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FOUNDATION. 
 
 JL f 
 
 assumed a definite shape, 
 mould of his Institute. 
 
 T was now four years since M. de 
 la Salle had conceived the idea of 
 renouncing everything in order to 
 give himself exclusively to the Chris- 
 tian schools; it took him from lG8'i 
 to 1G86 to divest himself wholly of 
 the goods of this world. During that 
 time, his Institute had been gradually 
 emerging from the clouds of his first 
 conception, and it really seemed as if 
 in proportion as Blessed de la Salle 
 advanced in perfection, the Commu- 
 nity formed itself on his model and 
 The soul of a founder is as it were the 
 
I7i ULESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle's firet care had been to hring his flesh under 
 subjection, in order to fit himself for the mission he had under- 
 taken, and to draw down the Divine blessing upon it. He wore a 
 hair-shirt whose sting exercised his patience, and banished that soft 
 ease which is so often the germ of sin. He wore, besides this, a 
 leathern belt with iron points turned against the flesh. Frequent 
 flagellations with a discipline of iron points still further helped to 
 bring down that rebellious body, which is inevitably our master, if 
 we do not compel it to be our slave. Blessed de la Salle came forth 
 from his chamber, with lacerated flesh, but with a heart joyous, 
 free, ever ready for work and sacrifice. 
 
 Born in opulence, he had been brought up with great care, and 
 his health was delicate. His stomach recoiled from coarse food, 
 and had always to be humoured a little. But the holy priest was 
 not going to put up with this, and to be tyranized by an organ that 
 is made to obey; he resolved to get the better of it, so he sat down 
 to the common table, and was served like the others. At first, 
 nature rebelled; his throat seemed to close against the food. The 
 struggle lasted several days at the cost of painful suffering. Neither 
 the flesh nor the spirit would yield. Blessed de la Salle then 
 condemned himself to a rigorous fast which brought him to long 
 for food with an intense craving. Hunger was the goad that 
 conquered nature, and his stomach accepted whatever food was 
 offered it. The conquest was so complete that the holy man no 
 longer even noticed what he ate. One day, the cook, by mistake, 
 served up a dish of wormwood. On tasting its bitterness, the 
 Brothers thought that they were poisoned, and would eat no more. 
 M. de la Salle alone went on quietly finishing his portion; he per- 
 ceivi'd nothing. 
 
 The Saints do nothing without prayer, and thus it is that they 
 arrive at founding works that enduie. The soul that places itself 
 in the presence of Clod before beginning an undertaking, grasps all 
 its bearings more firmly. Seeing things from a greater height, it 
 embraces a wider scope, and rises above pei-sonal consiclerations 
 that often dim the vision. It sees clearlv whether it is animated 
 
BOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. I7.i 
 
 in its endeavours by human sentiments, changeful as the interest 
 that prompts them, or by one of those higher motives whose do- 
 minion time only confirms. In a word, man feels that he is 
 leaning on God, and then his confidence is strengthened. First, 
 boldness comes to him, then energy, then patience. We do not 
 do the thousandth part of the work we might do. What we want 
 is first the courage to dare, and then to persevere. With these 
 two virtues, we might do all things. 
 
 Moreover, prayer, like a magnet, draws down the blessing of 
 God. Events arrange themselves according to the will of those 
 who pray; hearts open and grow sympathetic, and workmen hurry 
 from the four points of the compass without any one calling them. 
 Those who have followed the growth of Christian foundations have 
 infallibly remarked the extraordinary coincidences that have pres- 
 sed into their service elements the most unlikely. One seems to 
 feel that an unseen hand is putting in motion a variety of forces 
 that we could not control, and we discover unknown allies who, 
 against all hope, bring about the success of the boldest, the rashest, 
 the most vast conceptions. 
 
 This blessing does not chain down our liberty; it does not dis- 
 pense us from efforts, nor destroy the obstacles that spring up on 
 our path; on the contrary, sometimes it seems to create them. As 
 the laborer sows the seed, and then waits until winter has passed 
 and harvest time shall come round, so do the Saints sow in fields 
 that remain a long time barren. They work without making any 
 progress; but their merit is not lost; the angels gather it, and put 
 it safely away in the eternal granaries. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle found in constant prayer the secret of those 
 incessant victories which he gained over himself. He prayed by 
 day, he prayed by night, and his life was one long communion 
 with God. Jealous of sleep that interrupted it, he cut short his 
 rest as much as possible. He slept on the ground or on a chair, 
 and interrupted tliese comfortless slumbers by prolonged prayers; 
 yet the early bell always found him up and dressed, and with a 
 countenance that betrayed no signs of the penances of the night. 
 
176 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 At Rhoims, lie liad himself locked into the church of Saint-Remi 
 ever)' Friday evening, and spent the night watching in prayer on 
 
 HCKMIEK <• 
 
 Rlwlnu. - Church of (Mm . Benil , whn* Hleunl d« te nuie »r»ich<>d trtrr "••» lkro»f li 
 — HecuDd eitcrlur tl«w, »hlch •hown all the iMUlU i.f th« rc^lhraUd porUl. i HM Ikt 
 — Drawn br tdoiunl Uvstor : twnrtd b; Miaulla. 
 
 f rrM«). 
 
 the tomb of the Saint. Tho mission that he had undertaken was 
 not perhaps Nvithout some rcsemhlance to that of the holy Bishop. 
 
BOOK IF. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 177 
 
 He too was called to teach the doctrine of Christ to barbarians, to 
 that rude and ignorant people that the Revolution was one day to 
 
 Hheims. — Interior ot the church of Saint-Hemi. ~ Drawu l)y ^Uouard Gamier; engraved by Mcaulie. 
 
 crown King, but who was not faithful, like Clovis, to the lessons ot 
 the Church. 
 
 This life of prayer was never interrupted. Blessed de la Salle 
 never deviated from the rule which bade him seek in God the light 
 
 12 
 
178 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and strength that he needed. The roots of his soul were, so to 
 speak, steeped in prayer, and his external actions were but the 
 visible fruits of a hidden life. 
 
 The fire which consumed the holy founder communicated itself 
 to his disciples. Several young men of the town came to him. 
 Some forsook manual labor for the harder work of education; 
 others came from the colleges, and renounced profane studies to 
 apply themselves under his direction to the higher science of sal- 
 vation. All strove to emulate him in austerity and virtues. The 
 house they occupied, being now too small for his flock, that was 
 increasing daily, he hired another in Rue Neuve, and this one may 
 be considered the cradle of the Institute. The public christened 
 it little La Trappe. The Brothers practised, in truth, all the rigors 
 of M. de Ranee's Rule, but in the midst of a town, with all the noise 
 and din of external life around them, and none of the ineffable 
 consolations of solitude. It was here that Blessed de la Salle began 
 to draw up the outline of his Rule. 
 
 He knew that no community can be real or fruitful without a 
 Rule that unites all the different wills of its members, and makes 
 the effort^ of all converge to one end. The Rule passes for a slav- 
 ery in the eyes of the world; but in reality it is an emancipation. 
 It arranges for each one what he has to do, and liberates all from 
 the bondage of deciding about those innumerable little actions of 
 daily life which harass our freedom, or scatter its energies on a 
 thousand unworthy trifles. Wise minds feel so strongly the ad- 
 vantage of such a method, that they adopt it even in the world, and 
 make to themselves a rule fo which they generally remain faithful. 
 
 Rut the prudent founder did not choose that the Rule should 
 be his own work. He was too experienced and too humble. He 
 would only draw up his Rule after long and careful reflexion, 
 prayer still longer, and under the dictation, as it were, of the Holy 
 Ghost. His disciples, whose conduct it was to govern, were also 
 to have their share in the writing of it. They would be all the 
 more docile to its prescriptions, if they had recognized its wisdom 
 beforehand. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 179 
 
 He therefore gathered twelve of them together, to discuss these 
 important questions. They began their deliberations by a retreat, 
 in order to draw down the Divine blessing and light on the resolu- 
 tions they were about to adopt. This meeting is looked upon 
 as the first general assembly that was held in the Institute. The 
 retreat opened on the 10th of May, which happened to be the eve 
 of the Ascension, in 1684. Blessed de la Salle made known the 
 object of it : — " It was necessary, " he said, " that the masters, 
 hitherto bound together by frail ties, should now become a com- 
 munity endowed with a life of its own, and through every part of 
 which the Christian sap should flow. Rules were necessary for 
 this purpose; but, before being written, they should' be observed. 
 Habit would thus render the burden lighter, and experience would 
 retrench whatever might be exaggerated in it. By this wise con- 
 duct, you will find nothing but what is already familiar to you in 
 the new rules; your heart will recognize its own work in the book 
 that is going to be compiled, and its laws will appear mild to you 
 because you will have been yourselves the law-makers. You have 
 now reached the point to which I wanted to lead you. Having 
 witnessed your fervor and your piety, I wish to take steps with 
 you to fix your state, to confirm your dispositions, to cement 
 your union, and to begin the edifice of which you are the first 
 stones. " 
 
 The retreat lasted till the feast of the Blessed Trinity. The 
 masters then discussed the various points of the Rule they were 
 about to adopt. Each one had a right to speak out freely, without 
 restraint, and to express his own feelings and opinions. The wise 
 founder, who presided over these deliberations, rectified any views 
 that struck him as mistaken; but he never imposed his own will; 
 he generally addressed himself to God to implore His goodness to 
 enlighten the rebel minds and the darkened hearts. 
 
 And yet this assembly did not bring forth a Rule, properly so called. 
 The hour had not struck for it. But it was necessary to come to 
 an agreement on the majority of points that constitute life in com- 
 mon, on the question of clothing and food, on the name to be taken 
 
180 RLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 by each, on the distribution of the day, and on the character of the 
 bond which was to bind eacli master to the work lie had under- 
 taken. In a word, it was not the Rule, but the materials lor the 
 Rule that were about to be prepared. They decided, conse(iuently. 
 to adjourn the drawin^t up of the statutes. The second point dis- 
 cussed was the kind of diet to be adopted. It was to be substan- 
 tial but frugal. The Rrothers were workmen employed in a liard 
 task: they ought not to practice more abstinence than what the 
 (jhurch imposes on all ; but they were also poor workmen, and 
 should, therefore, banish from their table everything like super- 
 lluity. The body should have what was necessary; nothing more. 
 Fowl and dainty dishes were forbidden. On fasting days, tliey 
 were to content themselves with vegetables and herbs cooked with- 
 out any flavoring. Fish was excluded as a luxury, except of the 
 kind which the poor themselves used. The quantity was measured 
 with a view to restoring strenglh without heaviness to the body, or 
 any loss of activity to the soul. 
 
 The question of costume was next discussed. A great many 
 reasons necessitate a common costume in a religious community. 
 The habit is a symbol; it should remind the wearer of the call- 
 ing he has embraced, and be to him a kind of epitome of the Rule 
 to which he is subjected. In casting aside the raiment of this 
 World, the Religious renounces all the frivolities it represents, 
 and a thousand tiresome remembrances depart from the soul 
 together with the costume that suggested them. In entering on 
 a new life, one adopts a new costume. 
 
 The habit is, moreover, a rallying sign which enables the mem- 
 bers of the same family to recognize one another without ever 
 having met, and so come mutually to each (»ther s aid. They pri>- 
 claim thus to the world to what master they belong, and avoid 
 mistakes. It is not that they seek after honors or respect ; the liv- 
 erv of Christ is not wont to win these ; but thev do not wish to 
 be treated as being of this world when they have ceased to belong 
 to it. The habit is also a protection against sin; it raises a barrier 
 between the world and the Rcligi«»us. A certain .sense of honor, 
 
BOOK II. — I-IFE OF BLESSED DE I.A SALINE. 181 
 
 which still lives in every soul, obliges him who wears the religious 
 habit to respect it, and to shrink from dishonoring it. Temptation 
 will generally stand aside from his path. The founders of orders 
 are too humble to despise this support to the virtue of their dis- 
 ciples. Lastly, Religious are poor, and a uniform costume is an 
 economy. It affords no opportunity for variety of stuff or diversity 
 of fashion. 
 
 The habit should answer to the profession. The soldier has his 
 armour, the Monk ought to have his; for both have a battle to fight. 
 The soldier is exposed to bullets and sword-thrusts and girds 
 himself with steel. The Religious has to fight against the assaults 
 of the flesh ; he arms himself with the livery of poverty, humility 
 and penance. 
 
 This habit appears odd, yet it has not the ridiculous character 
 of many which are adopted by fashion, and which look out of date 
 the moment that the caprice which chose them has discarded them. 
 Religious costumes are more conformed to the law of aesthetics. 
 They answer their purpose, which is to cover and to clothe. 
 They are of plain tissue and sombre aspect. Their beauty does 
 not depend on colour or material, and it seems, on the contrary, 
 as if the coarseness of the stuff only lent greater ampleness to 
 their folds. Art loves to reproduce them, and it does so without 
 the minute labor that is often required in making the best of 
 worldly garments. 
 
 The very unchangeableness of the religious habit constitutes a 
 charm. Time goes by and years pass over and over without its 
 growing old. Relonging to no period, it always remains young, 
 and thus partakes of one of the attributes of eternity. The mas- 
 ters, therefore, reflected long over the costume they were to adopt. 
 Hitherto, they had gone on wearing the clothes they had brought 
 with them, merely adding the little collar; but the time seemed 
 now to have come for them to distinguish themselves from secu- 
 lars. They could not, however, decide upon anything, so they 
 left the matter to the wisdom of their founder, who only settled 
 the question some months later. 
 
182 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Winter had come, and tlie mayor advised liim to give his dis- 
 ciples a capote, tlicn generally worn in Champagne; it was a 
 large cloak with hanging sleeves that was a protection against the 
 wind, the rain and the cold. Blessed de la Salle thought this 
 cloak both simple and commodious, and ho adopted it. He had 
 it made long in common black stuff, and it became the distinctive 
 habit of his Religious. Under it, they wore the soutane, without 
 a belt, fastened with iron hooks. Thick shoes with double soles, 
 and a broad-brimmed hat completed their costume. 
 
 Once the habit was adopted, the holy priest would never give 
 it up. He had even to withstand strong opposition on the point, 
 and his resistance was the cause, later on, of a veritable persecu- 
 tion against his rising Institute. And yet he was right. The 
 founder of an order should, before deciding a point, reflect well, and 
 listen to advice ; but when he has made up his mind, he should 
 never let the question be mooted again, nor yield to every passing 
 opinion. Man's mind is changeable, and he who would fain con- 
 ciliate everybody would never decide anything. If Blessed de la 
 Salle had consented to change once the form of garment he had 
 chosen, a thousand other reasons, equally serious, would have fol- 
 lowed, and new changes should have been adopted, until the cos- 
 tume would have been at the mercy of the caprice of fashion. 
 
 The habit chosen by Blessed de la Salle drew great ridicule 
 on him. The world is always ready to laugh at anything new. 
 When the Brothers appeared in the streets clothed in their long 
 soutane of coarse stuff, their wide cloak, their broad -brimmetl 
 hat, and their heavy shoes, they were the butt for all kinds of 
 jokes. 
 
 People ran out to stare at them as they passed, and jeered at 
 them with the most unseemly remarks. They accepted these hu- 
 miliations for Jesus Christ's sake, and clung to their costume, 
 which is now respected all over the world. 
 
 It was at this same period that the masters agreed to take the 
 name of Brothers of the Christian Schools, which they still bear, 
 and which is the most beautiful and most typical of names. 
 
nOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 183 
 
 But the most difficult question of all that had to be settled was 
 that of the vows. Should they make vows, and what vows, and 
 for how long ? 
 
 The new Brothers had seen their predecessors lose heart at the 
 first obstacles, and leave the new-born community under pretext 
 that no barrier withheld them. Made fearful by this example, and 
 feeling themselves full of fervor, they desired to bind themselves 
 for life, and make perpetual vows. They were resolved in the 
 bottom of their heart. Since they had the pain of the sacrifice, 
 they would have at least the merit of the promise. What would 
 the engagement add to the life they were already leading? Poverty? 
 They had tasted all the sweetness of it during the two years they 
 had passed through. Chastity? The greater number of them had 
 for many years been aspiring to the priesthood or the monastic 
 state, and they had given up all idea of marriage. Obedience? 
 They felt every day how light is the yoke of Christian authority 
 to a soul that has cast off the burden of its own will. There was, 
 therefore, nothing to prevent them from pronouncing with their 
 lips the engagements they had long since made in their hearts, 
 and whose extent they had fully measured. 
 
 Nevertheless, Blessed de la Salle did not yet allow them to take 
 imprudent vows which might have lured their souls to perdition. 
 He knew human nature too well not to dread its allurements. Al- 
 though he was satisfied with his disciples, he pointed out to them 
 the necessity of mistrusting their own strength, of proving their 
 virtue, and of learning in time to distinguish between those desires 
 which float on the surface of the soul, and those which rise from 
 its depths. It would be more perfect in them to wait upon 
 grace than to run before it, and to show themselves faithful in 
 small things in order to merit the grace to be faithful in great du- 
 ties. It was, consequently, decided that they should only take the 
 vow of obedience and of stability in the Society for three years, 
 but that this vow should be renewed every year. 
 
 The ceremony took place on the feast of Holy Trinity. 
 Blessed de la Salle himself drew up the form of the vow. He 
 
184 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 signed it; all the others copied it and pronounced it after him. 
 Events showed how wise lie had been in postponing the perpetual 
 vows. Out of the twelve Brothers who pledged themselves, only 
 eight presented themselves at the renovation of vows, a year later. 
 They continued to renew the vow of three years, until iG94, when 
 the vows took another form. 
 
 The twelve Brothers had fixed their own engagement. It was 
 now necessary to determine the nature of the bond that should be 
 imposed on the other menibers of the community, or those who, 
 being younger and more liable to change, could not be bound for 
 a period, or left altogether free. It was decided they should only 
 be bound by the vow of obedience for one year; they could renew 
 it every year until their vocation was confirmed. 
 
 M. de la Salle occupied with his disciples the house they had 
 hired in Rue Neuve ; M. Faubert, the Canon, who had succeeded 
 him, asked leave to live with him. Following his example, 
 he had founded a community of students whom he was pre- 
 paring for the priesthood; but the presence in one house of 
 young men who were following different careers was open to 
 certain objections — so Blessed de la Salle preferred to give up 
 the liouse altogether to M. Faubert, and go elsewhere. The 
 number of Brothers went on increasing, however, and soon the 
 new abode was too small; at the beginning of the year 1685 
 the holy founder was obliged to go back to his old house, which 
 M. Faubert in turn gave up to him. Confidence in God — this was 
 the sentiment that constantly guided Blessed de la Salle in all his 
 foundations. " Our Brothers, " he repeated, " only keep up so long 
 as they are poor; they will lose the spirit of their vocation the 
 moment they take to working to earn the commodities of life. " 
 He cultivated this virtue in himself, and he recommended it 
 unceasingly to his disciples. 
 
 Not only did he distribute all his goods to the poor, but he chose 
 henceforth to be fed, clothed and lodged like a pt«ir priest; sou- 
 tane, hat, shoes, he selected the worst and the shabbi(»st of every- 
 thing. His soutane was always clean, but of the coarsest stuff, 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 183 
 
 thread -bare, and covered with patches; so long as it could be 
 made to hold together by mending, he would not have it chan- 
 ged, so that when he finally put it away, it was impossible to 
 make any use of it. Two robbers stopped him once on the 
 high way, and stripped him ; but when they examined his clothes 
 they gave them back to him. They were ashamed to carry off 
 such booty. 
 
 He possessed nothing but his breviary, the New Testament, an 
 Imitation of Christ, his crucifix, and his rosary ; and when some 
 one upbraided him with this excessive poverty, he replied : — 
 " What do you mean? Is one not very rich with the holy Gospels 
 to draw the treasures of eternal life from whenever one wishes? 
 Was not this the whole wealth of the solitaries of the desert, and 
 the mine from which they drew their treasury of virtues? " 
 
 He always chose the smallest room in the house; he often oc- 
 cupied the common dormitory, or else retired into some corner 
 where only one person could fit. At Rheims, it was a narrow cell, 
 a sort of dovecot, situated at the top of the house; at Saint- Yon, it 
 was a half underground room, close to the stables, and pervaded 
 with the smell of them. 
 
 His greatest desire was to die at the hospital, and in 1690, in 
 a serious illness that attacked him, he implored the Brothers to 
 carry him there. 
 
 He never ceased commending to his disciples this virtue of 
 poverty, so loved of the Hermits of the desert and the Prophets. 
 Without tolerating dirt or untidiness which spring from vanity or 
 sloth, he severely blamed all complaint or self-seeking. A Brother 
 having written to expose to him the poverty of the house, the lover 
 of poverty made answer : — "You are poor. Our Lord was poor, 
 although he might have been rich. Y'ou must imitate tiiis Divine 
 model. It looks as if you expected to want for nothing. Wlio 
 would not be poor on those terms? Even the rich would be con- 
 tent to put up with such poverty. Remember, I pray you, that you 
 did not come into the community to have your ease, but to em- 
 brace the state of poverty with all its inconveniences. Y'ou are 
 
180 ulessed de la salle. 
 
 poor, you say ; well then, you never had so many opportunities of 
 practising virtue. » 
 
 The vow which Blessed de la Salle found it hardest to practice 
 was obedience. He was the superior. What chance was there 
 that a priest, a Doctor of Divinity, should ever have to obey poor 
 laymen so far beneath him both intellectually and socially? And 
 yet, all his life he was tending to this. Soon after ttiking his vows, 
 he thought of resigning his office of Superior; he pursued this 
 purpose for years, and succeeded in accomplishing it before his 
 death. In truth, his whole life had been a long act of obedience 
 to the Rule as to all the duties imposed upon him by the direction 
 of the Institute. The Superior of a religious order may, while 
 exercising command, practice this vow of obedience in all its 
 perfection, for he has above him God and his Rule. 
 
 The pious founder had submitted with docility to that of the 
 Brothers. A master being wanted in the school of Saint Jacques, 
 M. de la Salle immediately took his place ; he put on the soutane 
 with the iron hooks and the mantle with the large sleeves, and 
 wont twice a day to the school and taught the class. He took the 
 children to mass, and brought them back, and spent the day in- 
 structing them. This conduct, criticized in the Brothers, was con- 
 sidered altogether excentric and degrading in a Doctor of the 
 Faculty, a Canon of the cathedral. His friends and relatives did 
 not spare him. Mortified by his manner of life, they took sides 
 with his adversaries, and set down his behaviour to pride and to 
 madness. 
 
 M. Nyel had declined to enter the community of Blessed de la 
 Salle. He had not the vocation, and his volatile nature would 
 have been incapable of keeping steady to it. His mission was to 
 come and go on every side, clearing the way, preparing minds, and 
 laying the first stones of those schools that M. de la SiiUe was to 
 build. 
 
 He was at Laon now, where he had founded a school, of which 
 he had several times entreated Blessed de la Sidle to take the 
 management, but the latter had always refused. M. Nyel at last 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 187 
 
 resolved to force him into consenting. He knew that if he went 
 away, the holy man would take up his work and continue his 
 functions; so he took himself off to Rouen, where the general hos- 
 pital granted him, in consideration of his long services, the title 
 of Superintendant of Poor Schools. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle found himself in a most embarrassing po- 
 sition. The parish-priest of Saint Pierre of Laon, who was a 
 friend of his, hastened to Rheims, and made him understand 
 that he could not let a flourishing school fall to pieces; if he 
 did not come to the rescue, the masters would lose heart and 
 the children would cease to be instructed. The servant of God 
 could never resist such arguments as these. He went off at once 
 and, moreover, he added to the direction of the Rheims schools 
 those of the schools founded in the neighboring towns. He thus 
 came to have a large congregation to manage. 
 
 These multifarious occupations in no way diminished his love 
 of solitude and retirement. He seized every opportunity of fly- 
 ing from the world, and being alone with God in whose presence 
 he found the wisdom and strength he needed. He had reserved to 
 himself at the top of the house, a lowly little room that no one knew 
 of, and there he used to hide himself, only leaving it when duty 
 commanded him. But these imperious calls left him little leisure. 
 Besides the cares of governing his community, he had countless 
 visits to receive. The growing reputation of his holiness drew 
 to him crowds of people who wanted his advice, and whom he 
 could not refuse to receive. His Brethren of the Chapter were 
 curious to see for themselves whether all they heard about his 
 humility and his mortification was true. The Abbe of Saint 
 Thierry, of the order of St Benedict, and many others, came with 
 certain prejudices in their minds against the singularity of his 
 mode of life, but all went away deeply edified by his conversation. 
 He resisted these interruptions as far as possible, and wrestled, 
 as it were, with God to remain with him in the silence of prayer 
 and contemplation. 
 
 In 1686, he made a retreat in the solitude of Mount Garmel, 
 
188 BLESSED DR LA SALLE. 
 
 near Louviers, some leagues from Rouen. He took his precautions 
 not to be disturbed, and did not leave his address. He placed a 
 Brother at the head of the house of Rheims with ordei-s to provide 
 for all that was needful, and in the event of any difficulty arising, 
 to write to a Nun at Rouen who would forward any necessary 
 letters. 
 
 But hardly had the holy man departed, than the two Brothers 
 who were directing the school at Laon fell dangerously ill, and 
 the Brother at Rheims only arrived in time to receive their last 
 sigh. He wrote at once to Blessed de la Salle, who hastened his 
 return within three days. 
 
 Painful as this event was to him, it did not disturb him, for 
 he always submitted to the will of God unmurmuringly. Having 
 nobody to put at the head of the Laon school, he broke it up, de- 
 clared the liolidays begun, and sent the children home for two 
 months. Then, he set out at once for Rheims with the lirother 
 who had sent lor him. They travelled part of the night on foot 
 without taking a moment's rest. A. little before midnight, the 
 holy priest consented to swallow a glass of wine and a crust of 
 bread in a suburb about four leagues from Rheims ; then, they 
 started anew on their way. On arriving at Rheims, Blessed 
 de la Salle sent the Brother to lie down, while he himself went 
 to prepare for his mass by meditation. Prayer was his rest. 
 
 But all this while, death was making havoc in the little flock. 
 From 1681 to 1688 seven Brothers died, all under thirty years of 
 age. The most perfect, the ones who were ripe for heaven, were 
 the first to go. 
 
 Brother John Francis, who had given up an important appoint- 
 ment to enter the community, lived about eighteen months, and 
 died in 168^4. He had been noted for his great piety, which did 
 not forsake him during his last painful illness. Even in the rav- 
 ings of delirium be gave utterance to the sentiments that filled 
 his soul, and died in a sort of extasy. pronouncing joyfully the 
 name of God. 
 
 Brother Bourlette went soon iifler him. He also was from 
 
UOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 189 
 
 Rheims, and of easy circumstances. His parents, whose idol he was, 
 surrounded him with every sort of care, and it was this which 
 made him turn away from the paternal house. He wanted a more 
 bracing life and a more assured object. The hard trials that Bles- 
 sed de la Salle had to undergo attracted him, and he knocked so 
 persistently at the door that the holy man could no longer refuse 
 to admit him. His parents were deeply afflicted by this deter- 
 mination of their son. and left nothing undone to shake it; but 
 he stood faithful. 
 
 He was sent to Rethel, where he overworked himself, in spite 
 of all that could be said to hold him back ; nothing could restrain 
 his ardor. His colleague having fallen ill, he insisted on keeping 
 the two classes. " I have the right foot in one school-room, " he 
 said, " and the left in the other, my mind with our sick Brother 
 and my heart in heaven. " He was making haste to gather in his 
 harvest of merits, as if he had a presentiment that the time would 
 be short. Sickness took him, indeed, suddenly as it did his fellow- 
 brother, and carried him off also in a few days. He died in 1G8G. 
 The whole town mourned him. 
 
 The following year, the community lost Brother Maurice, also a 
 man of singular piety. Two of the Brothers in the Community 
 were stricken with the same disease, consumption. The doctor 
 advised them to leave the community, giving them reason to hope 
 that out of it they could be cured efficaciously. Brother Maurice 
 refused to give up his vocation. He died on the 1st of May 1687, 
 in his twenty-second year, full of resignation and fervor. The 
 other Brother followed the advice of the doctor, but without avail, 
 for he died three months later, and not without regret for having 
 failed in perseverance. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle took the tenderest care of all his sick dis- 
 ciples, and neglected no means of prolonging their lives; but it is not 
 in man's power to postpone the hour marked by Providence for our 
 departure from this world. M. de la Salle, moreover, had no an- 
 xiety concerning the salvation of his disciples; he knew the purity 
 of their souls, and he knew how worthv they were of the eternal 
 
190 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 reward. Their death alone would have reassured him. The par- 
 ish-priest who {jave them Extreme Unction said : — " Never did I 
 see any one, even at the age of eighty-four, die with such courage 
 and resignation. " 
 
 In 1G83, the lioly priest heard of another death, which, though 
 it did not occur in the community, deprived it of a powerful 
 protector and devoted friend. Father Harr«5, after a hfe spent 
 in holy works, gave up his heautiful soul to God full of merits. 
 We know the share he had in the foundation of the Christian 
 schools, and the valuahle advice he often gave to M. de la Salle. 
 The latter did not forget this, as we shall see in the course of his 
 future life. 
 
 The spectacle of these frequent deaths so near him inspired 
 Blessed de la Salle with the desire to prepare himself, and to 
 keep his soul continually in the presence of God. Me wished to 
 resign the position he held amongst his disciples, and to confide 
 the government to one of them, so as to he ahle to hury him- 
 self more completely in obscurity and obedience. His humility 
 was so profound that it deceived him. He fancied he was not 
 wanted, and that he could serve the Brothers better in praying for 
 them than in governing them. He accordingly gathered them 
 together, and laid his wishes before them with such forcible unc- 
 tion and wisdom, that he convinced them and made them believe 
 it was essential to relieve him of the burden of authority. He had 
 enough to do, he said, in confessing them and directing their souls, 
 and the administration of the Institute disturbed him in this im- 
 portant duty; there were, moreover, amongst the Brothers many 
 who were capable of filling his office, and since be must inevitably 
 give them a successor, it bad much better be during his life-time, 
 when the new Superior might benelit by his experience and have 
 recourse to his atlvice. Was it not, in fact, better that the Su- 
 perior of the Brothers should be one of themselves, a man of their 
 own condition, and distinguishetl from them only by his office? 
 
 These arguments prevailed with tlu' Brothers, and, grieved as 
 they were to be deprived of an authority whose wisdom they had 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 191 
 
 learned so fully to appreciate, they consented to their father's 
 resignation, and proceeded at once to a new election. Brother 
 Henri L'Heureux was chosen. He was the most competent. He 
 was intelligent, pious, and if Blessed de la Salle had had the 
 choice, it would have fallen upon him. But the poor Brother re- 
 coiled with terror from the new duties imposed upon him. He 
 accepted them out of ohedience; but it seemed to him that the 
 house had been turned upside down when he found that he had 
 to command him who was his Superior in every way, and whose 
 voice he had ever obeyed with joy. M. de la Salle, however, by 
 his humility and submission, made tlie task easy to him. He be- 
 came instantly the most obedient of Brothers, and the most regular 
 of novices. Assiduous at all the exercises, never dreaming of tak- 
 ing advantage of his former authority to obtain any dispensation, 
 he seemed the last and the lowest of all. Morning and evening, 
 he made the public accusation of defects. For the least omission, 
 he went humbly on his knees, and confessed aloud what he 
 considered he had done wrong, and begged for a penance. He 
 would not have dared to receive a visitor, nor to open his lips be- 
 fore a stranger, without permission. Not only did he obey the 
 Superior, but he looked upon every Brother who held any office 
 as the depositary of authority, and carried out his least injunc- 
 tions with punctual docility. The most repugnant tasks did not 
 deter him; his humility anticipated them. He asked as a favor to 
 sweep away the dirt of the house, and he was often to be seen 
 pealing vegetables, like St Bonaventure, and washing up the 
 dishes under the orders of the Brother cook. Nothing could stop 
 him from seeking these lowly offices, and Providence allowed it in 
 order that his example might profit to his numerous family, and 
 that in future all superiors, school -masters, Brothers and novices, 
 should find a model in him. 
 
 The very excess of his humiUty betrayed him. It had been 
 agreed that, in order to avoid public comment, the change in the 
 community should not be mentioned. One day, some notabilities 
 having come to see M. de la Salle, he said he could not speak to 
 
192 
 
 BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 them without permission from his Superior, which he went at 
 once to solicit. Tiiis surprised them so much that they could not 
 conceal Iheir amazement and disapproval. The incident was noised 
 about the town and gave rise In a kind of scandal. People said 
 it was not fitting for a Priest, a Doctor of Divinity, a former Canon, 
 to be under tlie orders of a simple school-master, that the natural 
 
 Rbalmi. — Tomb oT St Rani, tij which Bleu«d •!• !• sslia nich«4 : lia *t>tM*iun u It wu 
 dnrlny hi* life -time. — Drawn hr fidouanl tiArmler. 
 
 order of things was reversed, and that the dignity of the ecclesias- 
 tical stale was lowered by it. Evcrybotly had sonn-thing to say 
 about it, until at last the news came to the palace of the Arch- 
 bishop. The Vicars-general were of the opinion of everylK>dy 
 outside; they thought the position was abnormal, and went straight 
 oir to the little Community to replace M. de la Sidle at the head of 
 it, and Brother L'Heureux under his orders. 
 The latter was delighted to be relieved of a function which had 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 193 
 
 been a heavy burden to him, and the servant of God resumed it 
 without murmuring, though not without regret. He began at once 
 to consider in what way he could continue to satisfy his love of 
 obscurity. Meantime, he exercised command as faithfully as he 
 had practised obedience. He was by turns the most submissive 
 of disciples, the firmest of masters, always humble. 
 
 Rheims. — Tomb of St ilemi : its present cuuditiou. — Drawu by l^douard Garuler ; engraved by Farlet. 
 
 This humility had only too many opportunities of manifesting 
 itself. The children were hard to manage and little used to disci- 
 pline; it was necessary to train them, and consequently to chastise 
 them. The Brothers, as yet inexperienced in the art of directing 
 schools, yielded sometimes to a very pardonable impatience, and 
 went rather too far. The parents, indignant, took the side of their 
 children, and came to reproach Blessed de la Salle with the faults 
 of his disciples which they exaggerated purposely. These com- 
 
 13 
 
194 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 plaints brought crowds daily to the doors of the house, and he 
 could not show himself without being assailed with abusive epithets. 
 Sometimes even, the mob followed him in the streets, hissing and 
 hooting after him. 
 
 Despite of all these trials, the great work of Blessed de la Salle 
 was spreading and perfecting itself. One day, a boy of fifteen 
 asked to be admitted to the Brotherhood. The founder did not 
 habitually receive such young cimdidates; he feared their not being 
 strong enough to bear the rigors of the Rule, anil to gi-ant them 
 dispensations would be a source of disorder in the Comnmnity. 
 The boy, however, seemed animated with such good dispositions, 
 that Blessed de la Salle made up his mind to receive him. Al- 
 most immediately, three other young fellows of the same age came 
 knocking at the door, soliciting the same favor. The holy priest 
 saw in this incident an indication of Providence. He questioned 
 the lads, and having assured himself of their excellent dispositions, 
 he received them, and conceived at once the idea of fttrming a little 
 Community apart from the larger one, for which it should be a 
 preparation. He established it in a house separated from the 
 principal one, and only comnmnicating with it by a door. Dormi- 
 tories, refectory, class-rooms, everything was distinct. The kitchen 
 alone was in common, and from here the meals were carried to 
 the two communities who ate separately. 
 
 M. de la Salle placed the young aspirants under the guidance of 
 an elderly and experienced Brother, and gave them a Rule which 
 was a modification of the Statutes. Every day, they recited the 
 little Office of the Blessed Virgin and the rosary. Twice a day, 
 they had the examination of conscience, spiritual reading and 
 prayer; they went to Communion generally on Sundays. 
 
 The rest of their time went in completing their studies. They 
 learnt to read, write and cypher. Their exercises were at fixed 
 hours; in a word, they followed a rule of life very similar to that 
 which is now used in noviciates. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle loved to come amongst these young students 
 to relax from the strain and fatigue of heavier duties, and de- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 195 
 
 lighted in initiating their innocent souls into the secrets of per- 
 fection. He gave them as a model the Child Jesus, whose image 
 he placed in their oratory. On Christmas day, he was the first 
 to consecrate himself to the Divine Infant, and he did so with as 
 much fervor and piety as if he had held him in his arms. The 
 young novices followed. The life they led had transformed them. 
 They had lost the giddiness and petulance of youth, and assumed 
 an air of gravity and discretion which struck all beholders. They 
 did not wear the habit. The collar and cropped hair were their 
 only external signs of resemblance with the Brothers, and yet 
 they had the air of professed Religious. Occasionally, Blessed de 
 la Salle called one of them, whose vocation seemed to him certain, 
 to teach in the schools with the Brothers. 
 
 This community flourished. It had begun with four members, 
 and at the end of a few months it reckoned twelve. It had proved 
 efficacious in training masters. It was a veritable novitiate. 
 It held on at Rheims for two years after Blessed de la Salle's de- 
 parture; but, deprived of his direction, it grew relaxed; the young 
 men went off, one after another, and no new comers replaced 
 them. The holy founder was obliged to bring to Paris the few 
 who remained. 
 
 Towards the same period, that is to say in 1686, several village 
 pastors from the neighborhood of Rheims, having heard of the 
 Christian schools and their good results, entreated Blessed de la 
 Salle to send them masters. The country schools were the most 
 neglected of all. The perspective of the lowly and impoverished 
 life that awaited them kept aloof such teachers as were really 
 competent, and the school w&s handed over to the first comer. 
 The pastors, urged by the Church to organize primary education 
 in the parishes, did not know where to turn for school-masters. 
 
 M. de la Salle could not satisfy them; he had not masters 
 enough; besides this, he had made a rule of never exposing his dis- 
 ciples to the dangers of solitude; consequently, he always sent two 
 together to every school; and these poor villages could not support 
 two Brothers. The pastors, getting no help from that quarter, de- 
 
196 BLESSED DB LA SALLE. 
 
 termined to find masters themselves, and send them to Blessed de 
 la Salle to be educated. They recruited in their parishes young 
 men full of good will and ready to devote themselves to this ar- 
 duous career, and they .sent tiiem off to M. de la Salle, begj^ing 
 him to train them on the model of the masters at Rheims who 
 were so useful and valuable. 
 
 The holy priest welcomed the newcomers, and did not shrink 
 from the extra burden of labor and expense they entailed, for they 
 brought nothing themselves, and the pastors were too poor to con- 
 tribute anything, so the whole weight fell upon M. de la Salle, 
 lie settled them in a separate wing of the building, and formed 
 them into a new community which soon numbered five and twenty 
 members, and was placed under the care of an experienced Bro- 
 ther. A perfect spirit of union reigned amongst these young men, 
 who had their exercises and regulations quite apart. They were 
 formed to piety, but not bound to the rigors of religious life, 
 for they were laymen, and were to remain laymen. They kept 
 their secular dress, having merely, like tiie novices, the turned- 
 down collar, and close cut hair. They learned reading and writ- 
 ing, and, as they would he expected to chaunt at the parish services, 
 they were taught plain chaunt. When they were sufficiently well 
 instructed, they went back to their village, and taught in the 
 school. They were subjects of edification for the whole parish, 
 precious auxiliaries for the pastors, and devoted masters for the 
 children to whom they taught the rudiments of knowledge and 
 the practice of Christian life. 
 
 This Community, which was called the Seminary of school- 
 masters for the country, was the first model of the Normal 
 Schools. The genius of Blessed de la Salle had anticipated the 
 civil law of France by more than a century. He liad embraced 
 with one glance the whole system of primary education, anti had 
 established both religious and lay teachei-s at the same time, re- 
 serving the former for the towns, where tliey lived in community 
 and coultl excite one another to the perfection of their calling, and 
 sending the others into the country. For these latter, Ufe in com- 
 
BOOK n. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 197 
 
 munity was not necessary, for their profession was less arduous, 
 and it was enough for them to have passed a certain time with 
 the Brothers, and been disciplined by their Rule, and formed to 
 holiness by their example. 
 
 It was not chance that led Blessed de la Salle to found successi- 
 vely these various establishments that were needed for children. 
 It is true, he let himself be led by circumstances which to him 
 indicated the will of God; but, once his mind was made up, ho 
 kept to his plan with unwearying perseverance. The Seminary 
 of school-masters for the country, which he founded at Rheims, 
 flourished so long as he remained there, but it could not survive 
 his departure, and died out. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had, therefore, at Rheims three communities 
 which formed together a sort of complete University for primary 
 education : these were the Community of the Brothers, that of the 
 Novices, and that of the school-masters They comprised about fifty 
 persons that he had to govern, to instruct and to support. Now 
 M. de la Salle had no means whatever. He began this foundation 
 by giving his patrimony to the poor, reserving nothing cither for 
 himself or his disciples. And yet so long as he was at Rheims, 
 they wanted for nothing. The blessing of God was upon him. 
 
The old church of Saint Bulpice. — Drawn hy l^onard Gamier, from a print of the period; engrared by Trichon. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SULPICIAN SCHOOLS. 
 
 ND now, the Institute of the Brothers 
 is founded. All the establishments in 
 which Blessed de la Salle is to interest 
 himself later on, exist at Bheims — at 
 least in the bud. The principal points 
 of the Bule are fixed and put on trial. 
 The work must now be transferred 
 to a wider sphere, just as a plant, 
 whose vigorous growth can no longer 
 ])e compressed within the earthen vase 
 where it first sprouted up, must be 
 transplanted into the ground where it 
 will have room to put forth its roots 
 and extend its branches unimpeded. At Rheims, the Community 
 of the Brothers must have remained a diocesan institution, and 
 
200 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 would have yielded hut scant fruit, whereas it was destined to 
 reform the Christian education of the children of the people all 
 over the world. 
 
 Neither could it have been thoroughly tried at Rheims. The 
 virtue of Hlessed de la Salle had found it easy to bring over the 
 little local hostilities with which Providence surrounded the rising 
 work, like those little thorns by means of which an intelligent la- 
 borer protects a delicate flower when it begins to blossom. 
 
 In order that neither pride, nor vanity, nor self-indulgence 
 should tarnish or corrupt the generous desire which had prompted 
 him to devote himself to children, ho had had to bear with the 
 opposition of his family, the contempt of his Brethren, the rebuffs 
 of his superiors, the jeers and outrages of the crowd. But his 
 patience, his chanty and his piety soon disarmed his advecsaries. 
 
 lie was destined to undergo other trials. 
 
 The soul of the Saints must be beaten down by omtradiction, 
 by en\\, by the hatred of men; they must be purified in the fire of 
 suffering. They are made strong by those ver^' blows which break 
 to pieces less courageous wills. Iron is tempered where glass is 
 shattered. Straw is burnt up by the fire from which gold comes 
 forth purer and more brilliant. 
 
 It was well, moreover, that Blessed de la Salle should be with- 
 drawn from that centre to which his life was attached by so many 
 human links — his family, his friends, the memories of his child- 
 hood. These were means that Providence had no need of, leading- 
 strings which became hindrances, and, after having assisted his 
 first steps, prevented him from taking his flight unimpeded. He 
 must needs be cast forth alone, unknown in a stitmge world, car- 
 rying his work with him, and having only Clod to lean (»n. 
 
 Paris was the place destined to be his abode during this new 
 phase of his existence. There, alone, he could 1m5 quite lost in 
 the crowd, and given up to his enemies, without being able to 
 turn to his past for protection. From this centre only could his 
 Institute, if it stood out against all contradiction, branch forth all 
 over the world. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 201 
 
 Blessed de la Sallc had long been anxious to settle in Paris. 
 
 Father Barre had frequently advised him to do so, and he had 
 himself promised M. de la Barmondiere, parish-priest of Saint 
 Sulpice, to come and found a s(;hool in his parish. 
 
 But he was the servant of Providence before everything else, 
 and never sought to anticipate God's hour. He would not leave 
 Rheims without being authorized by his superiors to do so, nor 
 
 ar. ^ .^■,„,.ll.-.b,i.iAL 
 
 tl jifrrjb{il» Jr 
 
 iouviN be RocHcrmt 
 
 
 Plan of the itariah of Saint- Sulpice In 1672.— DrawTi by Legrand. 
 
 would he go to Paris without being called thither. Mic Letellier, 
 on hearing of his intention, first endeavoured to hold him back; 
 we cling most to the treasure we are about to lose. The Arch- 
 bishop saw the advantage that M. de la Salle would be to the 
 diocese, if he could persuade him to settle down there, and to this 
 end he made him the most seductive offers. He promised to 
 defray all the expenses of the community, and to give him the 
 means of extending it throughout the diocese. He named only 
 one condition ; the holy man was not to found any schools 
 beyond it. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle would not accept these terms. He had 
 distributed his fortune to the poor, and had kept nothing for 
 
202 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. c 
 
 himself; he was not to he tempted by other people's money. His 
 sole amhition was to establish his Institute solidly, and to ensure 
 its development. He laid his reasons before the Archbishop, 
 and the latter appreciated them. He was not a man to put his 
 own interests above those of the whole Church, and he left Blessed 
 de la Salle free to follow his inspirations. 
 
 At this period, the parish -priest of Saint Sulpice, remembering 
 the promise which had been made to him, l)egged Blessed de la 
 Salle to come to Paris and fulfil it. The parish of Saint -Sulpice 
 was, in truth, ready to receive him. 
 
 The faubourg Saint- Germain had long been one of the most 
 ill-famed quarters of Paris. It was not that it lacked religious 
 establishments; it was filled with them. The parish of Saint 
 Sulpice, more extensive but less populous than it is now, was 
 bounded, on the east, by the Rue des Fosses-Monsieur-le-Prince 
 and the Rue Dauphine ; on the west, by the wide stretch of waste 
 ground that separated the Rue du Bac from the Invalides; at the 
 north end flowed the Seine, and at the south ran the Rue Notre 
 Dame-des-Champs, beyond which there were no more habitations. 
 In this district, which was really as vast as a town, there was 
 plenty of room for the Abbey of Saint Germaia-des-Pr^s, with its 
 courts and buildings clustering roimd the church ; for the Carme- 
 lite monastery whose gardens faced the Luxembourg; for the 
 Jesuits, whose principal novitiate stood where the Rue Madame 
 now begins; for the Seminary of Foreign Missions, and a score of 
 other convents belonging to a score of different orders. 
 
 In and about the deserted streets and waste ground that lay 
 between these enclosures, the thieves and vagabonds held high 
 court and eluded all supervision. So that side by side with the 
 pious population within monastic walls there was another popu- 
 lation that bore no resemblance to it, and was infei-ted with ever)' 
 vice. 
 
 The pastor of Saint Sulpice who immediately precede*! M. Olier, 
 despairing of the parish, wanted to send in his resignation in 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 203 
 
 St Vincent de Paul, struck by this state of things, came and 
 preached a mission there, the only one he preached in Paris. The 
 result was quite extraordinary. It was in 1642. An immense 
 number of his hearers were converted on the spot. The most 
 hardened sinners, at the sound of his voice, publicly struck their 
 breast, and rushed sobbing to the confessionals, to obtain pardon 
 of their sins. The word of God sown by such an apostle could 
 not prove barren. 
 
 The following year, M. Olier, his friend and disciple, accept- 
 ed the presbytery, and moved it close to the church of Saint 
 Sulpice with the community of priests that he had formed at 
 Vaugirard, and he poured out upon that abandoned population the 
 treasures of his inexhaustible charity and the marvellous graces 
 that followed on his steps. The parish came from his hands regen- 
 erated. After some years, it had gained, by the piety of its in- 
 habitants and the multitude of its good works, that reputation 
 which still distinguishes it above all other parishes in Paris. 
 
 In 1652, the year after the birth of Blessed de la Salle, M. Olier 
 retired to the Seminary to devote to its direction all the strength 
 that remained to him. lie wished, before dying, to insure not 
 alone the regeneration of one parish, but of all France, by form- 
 ing a nursery of priests who would carry their zeal into every 
 land, and found in their turn other nurseries of evangelical 
 workmen. 
 
 In giving up his presbytery, M. Olier had not given up his 
 parish. From the Seminary, he continued to watch with fatherly 
 eyes the growth of his works, and he was still the model and the 
 inspirer of his successors. After him, Rl. Bretonvilliers, M. Pous- 
 se, M. de la Barmondiere, kept his traditions which thus had time 
 to take root, and are still living and observed. 
 
 The parish was administered by the Pastor of Saint Sulpice 
 with the assistance of the priests of the Community and the Di- 
 rectors of the Seminary, who formed but one and the same Society. 
 The priests of the Community fulfilled the functions of Vicars, and 
 each of them was charged with some special work. Attached to 
 
204 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 the parish -priest was a Council of Vestry men who met regularly 
 and managed the temporal concerns of the parish. Finally, 
 M. Olier had organized charity meetings, some composed of men, 
 some of women, that helped him to direct, support and propagate 
 his good works. 
 
 These works were innumerable. Fifty years after the death of 
 M. Olier, on that soil which had seemed dried up by vice, and 
 which religion had so magnificently fertilized, there existed, 
 without counting the great monastic establishments that we have 
 already mentioned, a score of communities of various kinds, 
 teaching and charitable; more than thirty confraternities of arti- 
 sans; congregations of gentlemen; asylums for orphans, for ser- 
 vants out of place, for young women who wanted to mend their 
 evil courses; houses of retreat for persons in the world; in a word, 
 all the inventions of a charily overflowing with zeal and most 
 ingenious in its means and devices. 
 
 Up to l(3Gl>, the Abbot of Saint Germain had under his juris- 
 diction all the primary schools of the faubourg. The masters 
 were obliged to instruct gratis all the poor wlio presented a ticket 
 from the office. The faubourg Saint-CJermain had been thus 
 divided into seventeen districts, and in each of these there was a 
 master and a mistress, which represented thirty-four schools. All 
 the masters, with one exception, were laymen, and generally 
 speaking the husband and the wife kept two schools, one for the 
 boys and one for the girls. Besides these paying schools, there 
 were charity schools. They had been founded by M. Olier him- 
 self, and were at first kept in the empty rooms of some buildings 
 belonging to the Church. 
 
 There was a Rule for these schools. They wore placed under 
 the supervision of the Association of charity, which decided on 
 the admission of the children. Tiiese latter were to be poor, at 
 least seven years old, and domiciled in the parish. A member of 
 the Association was named overseer of eacli district, and had the 
 list of the children with their names, their ago, the address and 
 condition of their parents. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 205 
 
 These volunteer inspectors visited the schools two or three 
 times in the month; they had no fixed day for their visit, but 
 came without being expected, the better to see for themselves how 
 things went on. They enquired if the children were regular in 
 their attendance, and they took note ot those who were absent. 
 If their irregularity had no plausible excuse, the overseers 
 spoke to the parents; if it was persisted in, the children were 
 dismissed. j 
 
 The overseers also saw that the children were punctual to the 
 appointed hour, and that there w^ere no boys in the girls' school, 
 and no girls in the boys' school. When a scholar was ill, they 
 went to see him at his parents', and if these latter were too poor 
 to take care of him, he was taken to the hospital. 
 
 The children stayed two years at school, and then they were 
 struck off the list to make room for others. But the overseers 
 continued to look after them, and if they were going to be put to 
 a trade or in a situation where there was evident danger for their 
 soul, the overseers tried to dissuade the parents, and sometimes, 
 this failing, called in the authority of the parish -priest. 
 
 The children were first taught to read, and at the end of six or 
 seven months they were expected to be ready to learn to write, 
 and they were set to what was called the bastard Italian letters, 
 which were the easiest. If the master did not know how to write, 
 the child was sent to another school. 
 
 " Instruction in piety and the knowledge of things necessary 
 to salvation, " says the Rule, " was the principal object in teach- 
 ing the children. " The parish -priest sent from time to time an 
 ecclesiastic to give an instruction on the catechism, which the 
 master made the children learn. Over and above this, the child- 
 ren were taken every Sunday and holiday to the public catechism 
 which was taught in various parts of the parish. Reading began 
 and ended with prayer, and the children were taken to mass every 
 day by the master. 
 
 Such was the regulation that prevailed in tlie parish of Saint- 
 Sulpice from the year 1052, and which, in order to be fruitful of 
 
206 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 much good only needed good masters. Hut these were scarce. 
 They generally lacked either capacity or good conduct. Some did 
 not even know how to write ; others, instead of taking the children 
 to church themselves, charged some of the elder ones to take 
 them there, and mass thus became an opportunity of misc<^nduct 
 to all. Then, masters were wanting. In \GT>^2, the parish had 
 been divided for the schools into seven districts, which supposes 
 at least seven schools. In 1688, when Blessed de la Salle was 
 called to Paris, there was only one, in the Rue Princesse, a lai-ge 
 house standing half way down the street, looking to the east. 
 There was a picture of St Anne over the door. This house was 
 close to the one occupied by the priests of the community. 
 
 M. Claude Bottu de la Barmondiere was then parish -priest of 
 Saint Sulpice. He was the third successor of M. Olier. Well 
 informed, a Doctor of the Sorbonne, Director of the Seminary 
 where he had been brought up. he was full of zeal for the parish, 
 of which he had been named pastor in 1C78 by the Abbot of 
 Saint Germain. The charity-schools had been the object of his 
 solicitude, and he had placed them under the care of M. Compa- 
 gnon, a priest of the Community. 
 
 But M. Compagnon was breaking down under the burden. He 
 had over two hundred children to manage, and his only assistant 
 was a young man, quite inexperienced, who filled the functions of 
 school-master. The pastor, wishing that the children should 
 learn a trade while they were being taught reading, writing and 
 the catecliism, had established a woollen manufactory in the 
 house, and placed at the head of it a man named Hafrond who was 
 to teach them the trade. In spile of the efforts of these tliree |)er- 
 sons, the charity-school of the parish of Saint Sulpicfe was a 
 centre of dissipation and disorder. M. Compagnon was over- 
 whelmed with work, and he .saw that all his efforts were fruitless. 
 He suddenly bethought him of Blessed de la Salle, of whom he 
 had heard the parish -priest speak, and he wrote to him in the 
 month of June 1G87, to ask him for a master who would second 
 him in the management of the school. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 207 
 
 The pious founder had long desired to establish his schools in 
 Paris, and preferred the parii«h of Saint Sulpice to any other. He 
 had had an opportunity of admiring the zeal of the clergy and the 
 faith of the parishioners, and it reminded him of the happy days 
 of his ecclesiastical studies. This offer was, therefore, very tempt- 
 ing, and he was inclined to accept it. But he withstood the 
 temptation, not wishing, even under these circumstances, to deviate 
 from his habitual prudence and the rules he had laid down for 
 himself. He never sent out a Brother alone, and never took 
 charge of a school unless invited to do so by the parish-priest. 
 He replied to M. Compagnon that he was willing to give him two 
 school -masters if the parish-priest approved of it. 
 
 M. Compagnon set off immediately for Bheims to arrange the 
 matter, but Blessed de la Salle was absent, so he had to come 
 back without seeing him. 
 
 On his return. Blessed de la Salle heard of M. Gompagnon's 
 visit, of his urgent entreaties that one of the Brothers would go 
 back with him to Paris, and he was thrown into great perplexity. 
 Ought he not to yield ? By being too rigid, was he not running 
 the risk of losing an opportunity that he had long been waiting 
 for, and that God now sent him? He prayed, he took counsel, 
 and resolved to abide by his first decision. 
 
 He wrote to M. Compagnon, repeating what he had said in his 
 first letter; he could not take charge of the school unless the 
 parish-priest consented to employ two Brothers. M. Compagnon 
 replied that he accepted these conditions. 
 
 The Abbe Louis de la Salle, brother of Blessed de la Salle, was 
 going to Paris to enter the Seminary of Saint- Sulpice. The holy 
 founder desired him to call upon M. Compagnon, and tell him 
 that he was ready to come to Paris, on the terms ho had men- 
 tioned, and as soon as he should be sent for by the parish- 
 priest. 
 
 Two months went by before M. Compagnon stirred in the affair. 
 The needs of the school were growing more urgent, the burden 
 heavier. M. Compagnon thought over the matter, and went off 
 
208 
 
 BLESSED nE LA SALLE. 
 
 to Abbe Louis de la Salle to ask him the cause of his brother's 
 delay. The Abb«5 replied that his brother was waiting for orders. 
 M. Gompatrnon wrote to l\heims. Blesse<l dc la Salle did not 
 move; he wanted orders from the parish -priest; M. de la Bar- 
 mondidre must be consulted. Tlio latter, being himself member 
 
 M.OIitr, lairUh-prleii of Siiliit.Ailpte* (ti.iOt,«ad toUmrlao, tna* portnil ol Um »«tiK.— BacnTW Iqr lUuU*. 
 
 of a community, loving his Rule, and practising obedience to his 
 Superiors, exacted obedience from those under him. Me was 
 delighted with the sentiments of deference shown in Blessed dc 
 la Salle's manner of proceeding, and was confirmed in his g«x»d 
 opinion of him. He immediately desired M. Bjiudrand, his assis- 
 tant and future successor in the government of the parish, to 
 write and tell him that he might come with his two masters. 
 an<l that he and they would be heartily welcome. All dilTicullies 
 were now removed. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 209 
 
 Blessed de la Salle set out with the two Brothers, and arrived 
 in Paris on the 24th of February 1688, eve of the feast of saint 
 Mathias '. After a few days' rest, the Brothers went to their task 
 together with the young master who had been assisting M. Com- 
 pagnon. They divided the school into three classes, according 
 
 M. de la Barmondiere , parish-priest of Saint Sulpice (pp. 20€-2l3), from a portrait of tlie period. 
 — Engraved by H. Joflroy. 
 
 to their degree of instruction, and each master took one. Blessed 
 de la Salle overlooked them all. He passed up and down the 
 rows, exhorting the children to be steady, and instructing them in 
 Christian doctrine. This first reform at once brought forth fruit. 
 The children flocked in such numbers that the Brothers were 
 overworked, and one of them fell iH. The servant of God at 
 
 Moved to the 25th. on account of leap year. 
 
 14 
 
2i0 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 once took his plaa\ and gave in Paris the same example of humil- 
 ity that he had given at Rheims. He kept the class, conducted 
 the children to mass, and taught them reading and writing until 
 the master was recovered. 
 
 Nevertheless, despite the zeal of the Brothers, the school was 
 always in disorder. The AbW Compagnon did not live there, 
 and, moreover, he had none of the qualities that go to make a good 
 manager. He was active, but fickle and quarrelsome. He was 
 quite alive to these faults himself, and having had experience of 
 M. de la Salle's capacity, he oflfered him the entire management of 
 the school. But Blessed de la Salle modestly declined the olTer, 
 preferring to keep to his own function, which was that of super- 
 vising the classes. The Brothers, although they also sulTered from 
 the irregularity of the exercises, had orders to be silent and utter 
 no word of complaint, shutting their eyes so as not to see, their 
 ears so as not to hear, accepting gently what they could not avoid. 
 and living in peace with all. Blessed de la Salle .saw the evil, bui 
 he waited patiently for God to send the remedy. 
 
 In the month of April, M. de la BarmonditVe caine to visit the 
 school with M. M^tais, a priest of the comnmnity. He was struck 
 by the progress the children had made, but also by the disorder 
 which still reigned in the house, and which rendered the school 
 more hurtful than helpful to youth. M. de la Barmondiere, with 
 great sagacity, guessed that M. de la Salle, whose value he was 
 able to judge of after a month's experience of his work, was the 
 only one capable of getting the school into a good condition, and 
 he begged him to take it in hand, M. Compagnon giving up all 
 authority. M. de la Barmondiere added that if two Brothers were 
 not enough, M. de la Salle could send for others, the parish allow- 
 ing a salary of two hundred and filly francs for each. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle accepted this new work from obedience, but 
 not without fear; for he fore.saw it would be a source of trial to 
 him, and that M. Gompagnon's jealously would put obstacles in 
 hi.s path, lie was not, however, stayeil by these apprehensions, 
 but set to work courageously. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OK BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 211 
 
 The Rule which had borne such good fruits at Rlieims, was 
 at once appUed in Paris. The Brothers lived as they had done 
 heretofore, making prayer and penance the foundation of their char- 
 ity for the children. The latter were put under a severe disci- 
 pline. The doors of the school were open at a stated hour, and 
 closed as soon as class began. Those who were late had to stay 
 in the street. Every day, the children were taken to mass. The 
 day, by being properly divided, was roomy enough for all the 
 exercises. Even manual labor was retained. Blessed de la Salle 
 did not approve of it; he considered it a source of dissipation 
 without any benefit; but the parish-priest had established it, so 
 M. de la Salle would not suppress it. 
 
 These reforms produced marked results in a short time. The 
 children grew more docile and industrious. They made rapid 
 progress. Even in the streets their improved behaviour was notice- 
 able, and the neighborhood, that had long suffered from their 
 noise and quarrelling, now admired their good manners. But 
 everybody was not so satisfied with this improved state of things. 
 The young master did not enjoy being restricted to a new manner 
 of life, much more penitential than the one he had led before. 
 The hosier, Rafrond, was also discontented; he still directed a 
 manufactory in the house of the Rue Piincesse, and he had to 
 train the children of the school there to be workmen. The time 
 allowed for manual labor had been cut short by Blessed de la 
 Salle, and Rafrond, therefore, made less money, which did not 
 suit him. But above all, the Abbe Compagnon could not forgive 
 Blessed de la Salle the contrast between the present management 
 of the school and the late one. He let himself be carried away by 
 jealousy, and resolved to take advantage of the bad humour of 
 his former auxiliaries in order to injure M. de la Salle in the opi- 
 nion of the parish -priest; and the better to succeed in this, he 
 resolved to destroy the manufactory. 
 
 He egged on Rafrond to complain ; but Blessed de la Salle paid 
 no attention to this. Rafrond, fancying himself necessary, walked 
 off. The holy man let him go without a word. Knitting was 
 
212 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 the trade taught by the hosier. Rheims was famous for its knit- 
 ting; M. de la Salle sent for a Brother who was well up in the 
 work, and could teach it to the children. The manufactory was 
 quickly set up, and became more flourishing than ever. 
 
 The enemies of Blessed de la Salle felt their jealousy increasing 
 with this increasing success, and redoubled their etforts to gel 
 him sent away. Tricks and manoeuvres not having suweeded, they 
 had recourse to calumny. One day, towards the month of July 
 1688, at a charity meeting of ladies held at the parish -priest's, 
 M. Compagnon so far forgot himself as to bring a most serious 
 charge against Blessed de la Salle. We cannot say what it was. 
 The Saints are quick to forget injuries, and those who have been 
 guilty of them have no interest in remembering them. The accu- 
 sation was, however, so cleverly got up, that it made an impression 
 on several sensible persons, and the parish-priest himself l)clieved 
 it. He was a simple, straight forward man, easily deceived. In- 
 capable of deceit himself, he never suspected others of deceiving. 
 He let himself be prejudiced against the holy man, and showed 
 this by the coldness of his manner, which, coming after his for- 
 mer kindness, was the more marked. 
 
 The sei-vant of God suffered all in silence, humbly offering In 
 (Jod the injustice of which he was the victim. Evil reports spread 
 quickly. P>om the month of July to September, the charges 
 brought against Blessed de la Salle and cleverly worked up by 
 their inventor became so overwhelming, that the parish-priesf 
 determined to send back the Brothers to Rheims. As. however, 
 he did not wish to make a sc;indal, he sent word to M. de la Salle 
 liy his director, M. Baudrand, to go away of his own acct)nl, and 
 to take advantage of the holidays to do it quietly. M. de la Salle 
 did not ask the cause of this unjust an<l unexpected dismissal. 
 It was the ruin of all his hopes and his most cherished dreams; 
 but he submitted without a uuirmui-, and tnado ready to depart. 
 The Abbe Compagnon had triumphed, lie saw himself once 
 more at the head of the school, and already announced the news 
 of the Brothers impending departuir. But the wicked ones are 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 213 
 
 apt to blow their trumpets and cry victory too soon, for God 
 interferes betimes in favor of those who leave the care of their 
 honor in His keeping. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had settled with M. Baudrand what day he 
 was to present himself at the house of M. de la Barmondiere and 
 take leave of him. This interview weighed upon the parish-priest 
 and woke up in his mind certain anxious doubts. The sight of 
 the servant of God, whose countenance shone sweetness and holi- 
 ness, shattered in a moment the whole edifice of lies that had 
 been raised against him. The clouds of calumny fled before the 
 brightness of virtue, and M. de la Barmondiere said no more 
 about Blessed de la Salle's departure. When the latter alluded 
 to it, he replied : " We will think about it. " On leaving the room, 
 M. Baudrand said to his penitent : " He will think about it for the 
 next three years without changing anything. Live in peace, and 
 keep quiet. " 
 
 M. Compagnon redoubled his intrigues. Every day saw some 
 new plan against the Brothers. The parish-priest and the com- 
 munity were called in as judges, until the parish rang with the 
 accusations. Blessed de la Salle alone remained calm amidst all 
 this noise and uproar, and attended to his school as if he heard 
 and saw nothing. 
 
 At last, M. de la Barmondiere resolved to get at the truth of the 
 matter. He opened an enquiry, and charged the Abbe de Janson, 
 afterwards Archbishop, to conduct it. The latter was a clever 
 and prudent man, well suited to throw light on the affair. He 
 took his time, visited the schools, got to the bottom of the various 
 stories, questioned, kept watch, and discovered nothing in any 
 quarter except proofs of Blessed de la Salle's patience and humi- 
 lity. His astonishment was so great that he could not resist inter- 
 rogating the holy man himself; he adjured him to break silence, 
 and to tell him the whole truth concerning M. Compagnon. 
 M. de la Salle tried to excuse himself, said that, as he had not 
 examined the matter, he had nothing to say. The only favor 
 he asked for himself was, that he might be informed of any faults 
 
ili ItLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 that had been noticod in his ))ehuviuur, and given any advice that 
 could help him to correct them. 
 
 This hist trait of iiumility, being repeated to the parish -priest, 
 entirely opened his eyes. He gave back all his esteem and friend- 
 ship to Blessed de la Salle, and hencefcjrth only sought how to 
 assist him in the free and peaceable management of the schools. 
 But he was very weary, and thought (tf giving up his presbytery. 
 In the month of January 1G89, he resigned in fav(jr of M. Bau- 
 dnind, and withdrew into a community of priests, where he lived 
 in prayer until his death in iG94. 
 
 M. Baudrand was an old pupil of the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, 
 who by his merit and virtues rose gradually to the rank of direc- 
 tor. He possessed M. dc la Barmondii^re's whole conGdence, and 
 assisted him in the administration of the parish. He knew Bles- 
 sed de la Salle better than any one, since he had been his spiritual 
 director. He did not wish, however, to seem partial or over- 
 eager in this affair, and let several months go by without coming 
 to a decision. lie was waiting for an opportunity. Towards 
 Christmas that year, the priest who directed the acolytes of the 
 parish died, and M. Baudrand appointed M. Compagnon to take 
 his place, and withdrew him altogether from the schools, which he 
 entrusted entirely to M. de la Salle. The latter, by his gentle- 
 ness, had overcome everv' obstacle. 
 
 Once free, he applied all his zeal to the reformation of the 
 schools which soon beaune extraordinarily prosperous. The 
 children, attracted by the good order of the classes, and the 
 excellent teaching given them, became so numerous that it was 
 necessary to open a new school. This was the wish of tin* 
 holy foundei-, who had spoken of it to M. de la Baruu)ndi6re. 
 M. Baudnmd reverted to the project, and at the lx>ginning of IGIK). 
 the new school was opened in the Rue du Bac. near the Pont 
 Royal, which was just hnished. Blessed de la Salle was requeste*! 
 to send to Rheims for two more masters, and the parish-priest 
 promised to conlribute two hundred and fifty francs lo tlieir 
 support. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OP^ BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 215 
 
 The school in the Rue du Bac was soon as flourishing as the 
 one in the Rue Princesse. But in the Uves of the Saints trials 
 succeed one another. They change their character, but the chain 
 is never broken. • 
 
 No sooner was he free from the persecutions of M. Compagnon 
 than Blessed de la Salle had to contend with the school- masters, 
 who brought an action against him; with the parish-priest, his 
 protector, who abandoned him; with his own disciples, who rebel- 
 led against him. 
 
 The opening of the school in the Rue du Bac began to attract 
 the attention of the school- masters. They lost a few pupils, who 
 were drawn to the Brothers, either by their gratuitous instruction, 
 or by their excellent method, and suddenly the whole pedagogical 
 world took fright. Who were these new-comers, and why were they 
 meddling with other people's business? Was it a reason because 
 they chose to live like beggars and teach for nothing that they 
 were to ruin the school -masters and send them to the hospital? 
 What right had they to come to Paris? Had not the school- 
 masters a privilege, granted by the precentor, recognised by Par- 
 liament, and which nobody had a right to touch? 
 
 These masters were poor fellows, eking out their living pain- 
 fully, and theretore always on the watch against any attempt to 
 cut down their scanty earnings. The school fees were a mere pit- 
 tance, and it was often hard to get that pittance paid. The mode 
 of teaching that prevailed forbade their receiving many children 
 together in a school. They knew nothing as yet of the system of 
 simultaneous teaching, or mutual teaching, which were invented 
 later by Blessed de la Salle. The children were taught one by 
 one. The school rooms were small, the scholars few, and the 
 schools very close together. The distance that was to separate 
 them was strictly regulated by law : '' There were to be about 
 ten houses between each school in the populous quarters, twenty 
 in the others. " Many of the classes only reckoned ten scholars. 
 Often, in order to increase the profits, the wife kept a school as 
 well as the husband. She taught the girls in one room, while he 
 
216 BLESSED OC LA SALLE. 
 
 taught the lx)ys in another. But even when the income was 
 doubled, it remained a pittance. The scliool-masters were, conse- 
 quently, a poor little needy colony, jealous, looking askance on 
 anything like competition, and ready to seize upon the rash mor- 
 tal who ventured to trespass on their rights. 
 
 The masters seldom pleaded themselves — they had neither the 
 time nor the money ; hut the corporation took their part and stood 
 up for them. There was a syndic that held very much to justifying 
 its function, elders who were the watchful guardians of the privi- 
 leges of the corporation, a common purse that had to be spent on 
 something. They began a law-suit, and carried it from court to 
 court with the slow solemnity of the law and the imperturbable 
 patience of the age. Sometimes the suit lasted half a century, 
 sometimes a whole century. 
 
 The tribunal of the first proceedings was that of the precentor. 
 He gave judgment in the first instance on the differences that 
 arose amongst the school-masters, and the quarrels they had with 
 the rivals who encroached on their privileges. His decisions 
 could only be reversed by Parliament. 
 
 True, the Brothers kept charity schools for the poor, and these 
 latter, emancipated from the common law, were placed under the 
 exclusive authority of the parish -priests. But children in easy 
 circumstances came also, and if the Brothers did not refuse them, 
 (he paying schools would soon be abandoned. The school-masters, 
 therefore, concerted together, and resolved to crush in the bud 
 this work which they perceived dangerous to their own interests. 
 The result was a war against the Brothers of tlie Christian schools 
 which lasted fifteen years. 
 
 There were intervals and truces; the Brothers were sometimes 
 victorious, sometimes vanquished. The affair was carrieil before 
 •livers tribunals; but, finally, the school - masters won the day, for 
 an act of the Parliament of Paris decided in their favor, in as 
 much as it obliged Blessed de la Salle to remove the principal seat 
 of his Institute to Rouen. 
 
 From the first, the battle raged hotly. The school -masters of 
 
BOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 217 
 
 the district of the Rue du Bac sent bailiffs to seize the furniture 
 and shut up the classes. Then they summoned the Brothers 
 
 3]. Baudrand, parish - priest of Saint Snlpice (p. 214 aod fullovin?), from a portrait of the period. 
 — Engraved by Meaulle, 
 
 before the precentor of Notre Dame, who was, as we have said, 
 the first authority to be appealed to. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had a horror of litigation. He practised 
 to the letter that maxim of the Gospel : " If your enemy takes 
 your cloak, give him also your gown. " He did not defend him- 
 
218 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 self. He considered his right too clear and strong to have any 
 need of legal support. 
 
 He received at his schools the poorest children who were 
 repulsed from everywhere else, and who could not pay the mas- 
 ters. Whom, therefore, was he wronging? The school -masters 
 accused M. de la Salle of hiding under the name of charity-school 
 a real school open to many children who might otherwise have 
 come to them. The precentor, only hearing their statement, agreed 
 with it, and condemned the Brothers. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was grieved by this decree; liis whole work 
 was compromised. Even his director told him he ought in con- 
 science to defend himself, or rather to defend the poor children 
 whose cause he represented. Blessed de la Salle allowed himself 
 to be persuaded. Convinced, however, that he could do nothing 
 without the help of (lod, he began by making a pilgrimage witli 
 I he Brothers to Notre Dame-des-Vertus, a place of devotion not 
 lar from Paris, and much frequented at that time. He said mass 
 there, and the Brothers received Communion from his hand. The 
 entire day was spent in prayer. They had all gone on foot, and 
 come back in the same way, humble and penitent and tired, like 
 real pilgrims who are in quest of a groat grace. The Brothers 
 had a piece of bread for their day's food ; but Blessed de la Salle 
 would touch nothing, preferring to fast the whole day, and only 
 eat on his return at nightfall. 
 
 Thus prepared, he went confidently into court. He had no 
 difficulty in proving that his school in the Rue du Bac was a char- 
 ity school, opened at the urgent request of the parish -priest, that 
 it did no harm whatever to the school -mastei-s, and that there wa.s 
 no reason for suppressing it. These arguments prevailed; the 
 sentence was reversed, and for some years the Brothei-s were left 
 in peace. 
 
 But saircely had this diflicully hi'ou settled when another start- 
 ed up. The costume of the Brollu'rs, which had not yet l>een 
 consecrated by long services and the gratitude of nations, appear- 
 ed ugly and excentric. It had been criticized nt Rheims; it was 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 219 
 
 now criticized in Paris. They laughed at it in the streets. Society 
 found fault with it. One wanted the cloak to he short, another 
 disapproved of the shape of the hat. 
 
 The parish-priest of Saint Sulpice allowed himself to be preju- 
 diced by these opinions. He disliked the costume. He would 
 have preferred the Brothers to adopt the ecclesiastical habit and 
 long cloak. Blessed de la Salle would not consent to this. He 
 held essentially to the Brothers not being confounded with the 
 clergy. M. Baudrand insisted, and could not understand why he 
 met with so much resistance concerning a matter of such verv 
 small importance. But Blessed de la Salle could not yield. He 
 had not decided this question of the costume without good reasons 
 and grave deliberation. Every detail had been considered. The 
 public were now growing used to it; the Brothers had become 
 attached to it; changes would involve expense, and, above all, they 
 would upset the stability of this part of the Rule. One parish- 
 priest found one fault with the dress, his successor would find 
 another. What pleased in this diocese would not please in the 
 next, and if the founder gave way once, there was no reason why 
 he should not do so again. 
 
 The habit of the Brothers would become the sport of caprice 
 and fashion; even its uniformity would disappear, and it would 
 be obliged to change according to the parish. 
 
 These considerations determined M. de la Salle to remain firm 
 against all influences, and, to justify his resistance, he drew up a 
 memoir which, he said, " had been approved of by many wise 
 persons. " The parish-priest of Saint Sulpice would not, how- 
 ever, give in; he said the servant of God was obstinate, and 
 punished him by diminishing the allowance he had made him 
 for the schools. Blessed de la Salle was deeply grieved to find 
 himself at variance with a man whose virtues he appreciated, 
 and from whom he had received benefits ; but he felt that he alone 
 was the superior of the Brothers, and, therefore, being responsible, 
 had received the necessary graces for guiding them. 
 Other trials were added to these, sharper trials, for they struck 
 
220 HLESSEU DK LA SALLE. 
 
 at tlie heart of the holy priest. He had brought with liiin from 
 Rheim.s two Brothers carefully chosen, and who, in the beginning, 
 answered all his expectations. They were earnest workers and 
 patient under trial. But the number of scholars having increased, 
 they no longer sufficed for the amount of work to be done, so 
 M. de la Salle sent for two more Brothers. One of these was a 
 man of eminent piety, and was placed at the head of the house. 
 The first Brothers were vexed at this preference, and considered 
 that the honor should have fallen to them by right, and that, as 
 in the army, promotion depended on length of service. One of 
 the Brothers could not bear the vexation, and went away. He 
 was an excellent master, a good penman, and clever at imparting 
 knowledge to youth, but pride spoiled these qualities. His depar- 
 ture was a loss to the school, a deplorable example for his col- 
 leagues, a wound in the heart of his father. The comrade of this 
 Brother remained; but he had a violent temper, and gave way to 
 it. He also left the house, and ended badly. 
 
 The successive trials that Blessed de la Salle had undergone, 
 joined to his austerities and privations, seriously undermined his 
 health. Towards the close of the year 1690, he had gone to 
 Rheims, on foot as usual. On arriving there, his strength sud- 
 denly failed him, and he fell ill. He struggled against the malady 
 for a time, but all his energy could not sustain the worn out 
 body. He was compelled to take to his bed, and for a moment 
 the Brothers feared they were going to lose him. Terrified at the 
 prospect of this misfortune, which would have entailed the ruin 
 of the wliole community, they sent up fenent prayers to God for 
 the recovery of their father. The medical men prescribed rest, 
 care, and substantial diet to build up his strength. He might 
 have had all this with his family, and especially in the house of 
 his grand - mother, who still bore him the lendcrest affection; 
 but he refused to leave the community, and only accepted 
 the relief and restoratives that were compatible with the Rule. 
 In sickness, as in health, he was to be a jierfect mmiel for the 
 Brothers. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 221 
 
 At the outset of his illness, he gave an admirable example of reg- 
 ularity. His grand-mother came to see him; but he refused to let 
 her come to him in his room. He kept her waiting in the parlor 
 while he had himself helped out of bed and dressed, and then, 
 dragging himself down stairs as best he could, he met her with a 
 cheerful countenance to prevent her seeing how ill he was. His 
 grand-mother complained of this strictness, which, under the 
 circumstances, she thought exaggerated. What harm could there 
 be in letting her go to her son's room? Was it not a want of 
 respect to refuse to admit her? Blessed de la Salle replied that 
 he might certainly have with propriety received her visit, but that 
 he thought it better not to do so. No Brother could now ever 
 complain that his door was shut against his near relations when 
 he heard that the founder, when seriously ill, had refused to 
 receive his grand -mother. It is the duty of Superiors to set an 
 example in everything, and even to go beyond the necessary, so 
 that their children may not infringe its limitations. 
 
 At last, the illness was conquered, and M. de la Salle was con- 
 valescent. He wanted to set off immediately, and could not be kept 
 back by the advice of the doctors. He thirsted fo return to his 
 austere life; but he was still very weak, and he had scarcely 
 reached Paris when he had to take to his bed again, and at the 
 end of six weeks, a more serious illness than the first declared 
 itself. The community was plunged in deep grief. Blessed de la 
 Salle alone preserved his serenity undisturbed; he bore pain 
 patiently, saw death approaching without fear, and was even free 
 from all anxiety about his work, which, he knew, was in the hands 
 of God. 
 
 The prayers of his children prevailed. He was attended by a 
 very skilful doctor, the celebrated Helvetius, who prescribed one 
 of those heroic remedies that either save the patient, or kill him. 
 Before, however, administrating it, he warned his patient of the 
 danger he must run, and advised him to receive the last sacra- 
 ments. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle prepared for death. He asked for the holy 
 
m KLESSED DE LA SAI.LE. 
 
 viaticum, and M. Baudrand brought it to him in solemn procession 
 witii several priests of tlie community and the seminary; a great 
 number of pious persons joined the cortege. 
 
 Seeing tiie Brothers weeping round the l)ed of their beloved 
 Superior, the parish-priest of Saint Sulpice addressed a few words 
 to them full of affection and piety. He promised to be a father to 
 them, and begged the servant of God to give them his blessing. 
 The latter who was seated on his bed, wearing the surplice and 
 stole, stretched out his hand, which a Brother held up that he might 
 give the blessing; but he was so feeble that he could only pro- 
 nounce these words that contained all his last will : " I recom- 
 mend to you great union and great obedience. " lie receivetl 
 Communion with fervent piety, and then placed himself resign- 
 edly in the liands of his doctor. The remedy had the desired 
 effect. As soon as it was administered, a salutary crisis declared 
 itself. Providence had desired to give Blessed de la Salle and those 
 who loved him the merit of sacriflce without exacting from them 
 the sacriflce itself. The servant of God was reserved for further 
 labor and still greater trials. 
 
 Danger disappeared almost instantaneously, and strength re- 
 turned quickly. The holy man was able to resume his austere life 
 and his arduous work, without taking any heed of the warning 
 he had just received. He had been compelled to cut short his 
 stay at Rlieims; he now went back there, leaving the Brothers 
 under the charge of Brother L'Heureux, whom he designed for his 
 successor. He was a pious, intelligent Brother, whom Blessed de 
 la Salle was preparing to receive Holy Ordei"s with a view to 
 making him superior, and then withdrawing info retreat. 
 
 He had to this end made him follow the classes of the Canons 
 regular at Bheims, where he won the esteem and admiratiim of 
 his masters by the .solidity and wisdom of his answers. Brother 
 L'Heureux had returned to Paris, and was on the point of seeing 
 his hopes realized : he was about to be ordained. 
 
 While Blessed de la Salle was at Rheims, hesu<idenly receive<l a 
 letter with the news that Brother 1,'lleureux had fallen ill; he had 
 
BOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 223 
 
 been seized with a fever. Next day, came a letter saying the pa- 
 tient was much worse. Blessed de la Salle hoped at first that the 
 Brothers exaggerated the serious character of the malady; but a 
 third letter brought tidings of the sick man being at the last extrem- 
 ity, and expecting death every moment. Blessed de la Salle, in 
 dismay, set off at once, in hopes of seeing his dear son once more; 
 but all his haste was unavailing. He learned, on arriving, that 
 Brother L'Heureux had been two days in the grave. 
 
 This event was a great blow to the servant of God, and cause^l 
 him one of the greatest sorrows of his life. When, on reaching 
 the house, he learned that Brother L'Heureux was no more, his 
 tears burst forth; but soon his courage rose to meet the trial, and 
 he bowed to the will of God without a murmur. 
 
 He saw in this incident a warning from Providence that he was 
 to modify all the plans he had made. Not only had he meant to 
 put Brother L'Heureux in his place, but he had intended that in 
 each house there should be a priest to say mass for the Brothers, 
 and confess and direct them. In the presence of this death, he 
 saw everything under a different aspect. He saw that the mixing 
 of priests and Brothers might be a cause of division and jealousy 
 in the Institute. The highest in dignity would impose their par- 
 ticular views on the others, and would dishearten them. All the 
 Brothers would be aspiring to the honor of the priesthood, and 
 would despise the humble work of the schools; they would get to 
 prefer preaching and study to the ungrateful task of teaching, and 
 the community would die out for want of subjects. All these rea- 
 sons, which had before escaped his notice, now rose up in the 
 mind of the founder. Not only he resolved never henceforth to 
 receive a priest into the community, but he strictly forbade the 
 Brothers to think of entering Holy Orders, and as if to remove 
 from them the temptation of doing so, he prohibited the study of 
 Latin; on this point he remained always inflexible. And he was 
 right. 
 
Parish of Saint Sulpice, where Blessed de la Salle first established his work, before founding the house at Vaagirard ( p. 227 ). 
 — The old Rue des D^chargeurs ,near the Church of Saiat Sulpice. — Drawn by Hubert Clergot ; engraved by Caharteux. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 VAIIGIHARD (1691-1697). 
 
 t/f^:-j-r 
 
 hind him three flourishing communities, 
 numbered six Brothers, without reckoning tlie two tliat he liad 
 
 13 
 
 K have seen the trials tliat 
 awaited Blessed de la Salle on 
 his first arrival in Paris, where 
 he was abandoned and mis- 
 trusted by those who had called 
 him thither, and who ought to 
 have befriended him to the end. 
 But another painful trial was 
 to follow on this one : he was 
 destined to feel the pangs of 
 want, and the dread that his com- 
 munity might die of starvation. 
 When he came away from 
 Bheims in 1687 he had left be- 
 The Brothers' House 
 
326 BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 brought with him; there were thirty masters in the Seminary for 
 country scliool- masters; and, histly, there were fifteen young men 
 in tlie novitiate. But when the founder went away, the work began 
 to perish. The Brother who succeeded him as director was harsh, 
 and wanted t<ict. Owing to him, eight Brothers left the house in 
 1688, and for four years no new recruits rephiced them. The 
 country school -masters went into the villages and directed the 
 schools; but as Blessed de la Salle wjjs no longer there to inspire 
 confidence, no new subjects presented themselves, and this excel- 
 lent institution was not carried on. The novices themselves were 
 not properly directed, and M. de la Salle was obliged to call them 
 hack to his own house. But in Paris he had not the same liberty 
 as at Rheims. The parish-priest of Saint Sulpice and the s^icristan 
 insisted on the children spending all their morning in the church, 
 serving masses. In this way they lost all regularity and steadiness. 
 The novitiate lost its fervor, and soon died out. At last. Blessed 
 de la Salle was obliged to send to Bheims for two now Brothers 
 to keep the school in the Rue du Bac, so that there only now re- 
 mained in the cradle of the comnmnity five or six Brothere, just 
 the number they had had eight years before. Nothing could more 
 clearly prove that lilessed de la Salle was the very soul of the 
 Institute. Not only had he conceived the idea of it, but he was 
 the workman who was indispensable to increase and uphold it. 
 Owing to his presence and personal influence, the work had been 
 founded in spite of all opposition, and had spread in spite of all 
 hindrances; but the moment he went away, it beg;ui to languisii. 
 and if his absence were prolonged, it was in evident danger of p<M*- 
 ishing, notwithstanding the sympathy that surrounded it, and the 
 help it might receive from outsiders. This bon<l which attached 
 the Institute to his person was a constant source of preoccupation 
 for Blessed de la Sidle. It wounded his humility, and. as a found- 
 er, it alarmed him for the future. This fact explains many cir- 
 cimistances of his life. This is why he so frequently tried to find 
 and train some one to lie his successor. He gives in his resigna- 
 tion; he hides himself; he leaves the Brothers without news of him 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 227 
 
 and without direction. They accuse him of forgetfulness and 
 neglect; he only wants to accustom them to do without him, like 
 the mother who, when guiding the first steps of her child, draws 
 back, and leaves it by degrees to walk alone. 
 
 As yet, the moment had not ai'rived to make this experiment; 
 this was made clear by what was going on at Rheims. In a few 
 months, three flourishing branches fell, and the whole work seemed 
 on the point of drying up at the root. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was, therefore, obliged to provide for what 
 was most urgent. He had to seek for fellow-laborers in his work, 
 and to bind them to that work by the most solid engagements. In 
 this way the work could be secured, and safe from any blows that 
 death might deal it, for its destinies would no longer rest solely 
 on one life. 
 
 The condition of the schools presented other matters for uneas- 
 iness. Many of the Brothers were overworked, ill, exhausted by toil 
 and privations. Shut up from morning till night in dark, narrow 
 school-rooms, tied to a hard and ungrateful task, poorly fed, badly 
 lodged, their strength soon fell away. M. de la Salle, who watched 
 over them with the tenderest solicitude, saw that it was absolutely 
 necessary to secure them some retreat where they could recruit 
 themselves. Moreover, several among them, when deprived of his 
 vigilant superintendance, grew careless, and fell away from their 
 primitive fervor. They relaxed the practice of their Rule, and 
 being no longer sufficiently strengthened in their religious life, 
 they could not withstand the enervating effect of the world 
 around them. It was necessary for them to return from time to 
 time to their spiritual father in order to fan the flame of their vo- 
 cation, to revive their inward strength, and stimulate their aspira- 
 tions towards that ideal of perfection which he had conceived and 
 realized so perfectly. With a view to these necessities, Blessed de 
 la Salle hired a house at the entrance of the village of Vaugirard, 
 a poor, isolated house, healthily situated, with a garden; and of 
 this he made a kind of second cradle for the Institute. He re- 
 mained there seven years, and, during that time, the Brothers of 
 
228 RLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 all llie Houses came to spend their holidays there, and those of 
 Paris their free days. The sick or overworked Brothers also 
 came there to rest, and new-comers to reflect on their vocations 
 and be trained for their new duties. 
 
 It was just at the approach of the holidays in iG91, that tliis 
 house was hired, and Blessed de la Salle took advantajje <tf this 
 circumstance to assemble all the Brothers of Rheims, Laon, Be- 
 thel, Guise and Paris. Thev all met on the 8th of October in tliut 
 blessed house of Vaugirard. But as he had not directed them for 
 several years, he thought that a few days' retreat would hardly be 
 enough for them, so he kept them till near the end of the year. 
 
 Having all his sons gathered about him, he began by making a 
 retreat of ten days with fhem. Each one of them, forgetting the 
 world, found himself alone with (Jod, and meditated undisturbed 
 on the life he had embraced, and the duties it imp<^sed upon him. 
 When the noise of the world does not deafen a soul, the voice of 
 (lod makes itself heard. At the end of the refroaf. the Brothers 
 were renewed in spirit. Blessed de la Salle then put them through 
 a strict practice of their Hule. lie reformed abuses, corrected their 
 faults, and set himself to develop in each one of them the virtues 
 proper to their state as Religious and teachers of childhood. 
 
 He chose amongst them all those who seemed to him the 
 strongest and best fitted to become pillars of the Institute. He 
 addressed himself to Nicolas Vuyart and tJabriel Drolin, and pi-o- 
 posed to them that they should all three together make a vow 
 binding themselves for ever to the work. They consented, and hav- 
 ing redoubled their prayers, they pronounced the following vow : — 
 
 '• Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, prostrate in 
 |)rofound respect before Thine intinite and adorable Majesty, we 
 consecrate ourselves entirely to Thee, to procure with all oin* 
 might and with all our elTorts the establishment of Christian 
 schools in the way that seems to us most agreeable to Thee, and 
 most useful to the said Society. And to this efl^ecl, I, J.-B. de la 
 Salle, priest; I. Nicolas Vuyart. and I, (jabriel Drolin. vow fn»m 
 this dav forth and for ever, to the end of our lives, to procure and 
 
BOOK II. — MFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 229 
 
 maintain the said establishment without leaving it, even though 
 only we three should remain in the said Society, and should bis 
 compelled to beg alms, and to live on bread alone. In view of 
 this, we promise unanimously, and with common consent, to do 
 all that we believe in conscience, apart from all human considera- 
 tion, to be the good of the said Society. Given on this 21st of 
 November 1694, feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, 
 in faith of which we sign. " 
 
 Out of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus Christ, there was 
 one traitor. Out of the two disciples chosen of Blessed de la Salle, 
 one was to prove faithless. Brother Nicolas Vuyart let himself be 
 tempted later on by the power that his master's confidence gave 
 him. He claimed to keep for himself what he had received for 
 the Institute, he tried to set up his authority against that of his 
 Superior, and to become the independent head of a school. But 
 God always strikes down the proud, above all in those holy so- 
 cieties that are more especially devoted to His service, and whose 
 foundations should be humility and obedience. Brother Vuyart 
 ended miserably. Brother Drolin, on the contrary, stood firm to 
 the last in the way he had elected. He withstood alike adversity 
 and prosperity, he bore patiently the most cruel want, and later 
 on he rejected honors and fortune. Sent to Rome by his Supe- 
 rior, he remained there almost alone for eight and twenty years, 
 faithful to his vows, observing his Rule, keeping school, and at 
 last came back laden with virtues and with age to die at Auxonne, 
 long after the death of the master he had so loved. 
 
 Reassured as to the future. Blessed de la Salle gave all his ener- 
 gies to perfecting the Brothers, and worked at their sanctification 
 unceasingly. They, on their side, seconded his efforts with the 
 utmost good will, and l)y the end of the year they were so many 
 new men, recollected, docile, patient, penitent and humble. M. de 
 la Salle could, therefore, send them back to their posts with his 
 mind at rest; but he was too prudent to leave them to themselves 
 after such a trial. He exacted that they should wTite to him once 
 a month to give an account of their interior dispositions. He an- 
 
230 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 swered them punctually, and his letters are models of Grmness 
 and gentleness, of elevation and fer^'ent piety, and at the same 
 time of practical knowledge of men and experience of life. 
 
 He visited the Brothers, moreover, once a month, in order to see 
 for himself that no abuses crept in, and having had reason to re- 
 joice in their sojourn at Vaugirard, he invited them all there for 
 the holidays of the following year, and so long j»s he kept that 
 house, they came every succeeding year to make a retre;U of ten 
 days, and follow the exercises of the novitiate for a month. 
 
 But it was not enough for Blessed de la Sjille to keep safe the 
 disciples that he had. It was necessary to All up the gaps that 
 occurred amongst them, and increase the number of Brothers to 
 supply the demand that was coming in from all directions. The 
 work (»f the schools was a painful one, and wore out the workmen 
 quickly. Death was mowing them down rapidly, whether it was 
 that they were worn out with fatigue, or that God thought them 
 ripe for heaven. It was necessjiry, therefore, to replace them 
 without delay. 
 
 A novitiate was indispensable, and the house at Vaugirard 
 could alone serve this purpose. But it was not to be founded 
 without obstacles. In the seventeenth century, new works met 
 with extraordinary difficulties in their foundation. All those that 
 already existed drew close together so as to keep them out. It 
 was as if the old establishments thought the earth was too small 
 to feed, or too weak to bear any new-comers. 
 
 The parish-priest, whose permission M. de la Salle asked before 
 founding his novitiate, forbade him to do it. He feared, no 
 doubt, that this new work, which he might have to support, 
 would be too heavy a burden on the parish. Blessed de la S;»lle 
 could not give up his plan, and yet he would not disol)ey the 
 parish -priest, so he had recourse to his customary arms, mortifi- 
 cation and prayer, and addressed himself to God, imploring Him 
 to move the will of his superior. His patience was put to a long 
 test; M. Baudrand was inflexible. He even sent him word that 
 he had better cea.se from practising useless ni»sterities which would 
 
BOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 231 
 
 not have the effect of making him, M. Baudrand, change his mind. 
 Happily, God is more easily moved than men. He hears the prayer 
 of His Saints, and when He has yielded, human wills are forced to 
 surrender. M. Baudrand ended by giving his consent, and Blessed 
 de la Salle, in order to forestall further difficulties, got from Mar de 
 Harlay, Archbishop of Paris, the necessary authorization for giving 
 to his house the form of a community. 
 
 On the 1st of November 1692, a month after the opening of the 
 novitiate, M. de la Salle gave the habit to five novices and one lay 
 Brother. The Rule was hard both from virtue and from necessity. 
 The house was poor; the doors and windows were badly closed, 
 and let in the cold, and there was no fire in the hearth even in 
 the depth of winter. The food was coarse and insufficient. The 
 Brothers lived on the scraps that were given to them; every day 
 one of them went into Paris to collect their precarious meal, and 
 sometimes he was stopped on the way and deprived of it by starv- 
 ing robbers. Badly lodged, badly fed, the Brothers carried on 
 their persons the livery of poverty. Patched habits, shoes that a 
 beggar would not have picked up on the road -side, and battered 
 old hats composed their costume. But through these rags shone 
 a strange light of majesty, which drew towards them the respect 
 of all good men. If their garments were shabby and soiled, their 
 souls were pure. The bodies suffered, but the hearts were happy, 
 and their countenances beamed with a serene joy which illuminated 
 their whole person. Poverty is only repulsive when it is the out- 
 come of a life dishonored by idleness and vice. When it is a trial 
 cheerfully accepted by Christians and freely chosen in preference 
 to wealth, as the counsellor of wise thoughts and the grand mistress 
 of the supernatural life, it is at once transfigured and wears a ce- 
 lestial grace. So do we see it in the Saints; so it was with Blessed 
 de la Salle and his companions. Many amongst them had fol- 
 lowed his example, and left a position of ease, sometimes of afflu- 
 ence, to embrace a life of poverty. All these unavoidable mor- 
 tifications did not suffice to souls that were eager to suffer for 
 God's sake. To privations they added fastings; to the hard bed 
 
i32 RLESSEIt DE LA SALLE. 
 
 they added lonp watches; to cold and fatigue they added the dis- 
 cipline; to the lowliness of their wrctclied condition they added 
 the public confession of their faults. The world does not under- 
 stand this holy cruelty; it laughs at it, and takes scandal at it; and 
 yet how necessary it is! Dlcssed de la Salle called young men 
 hrought up in the joys of family life, in ail the ease that compe- 
 tence gives, and invited them to embrace with him the hardest life 
 that can be imagined. Was it not necessary, in order to ensuix- 
 their perseverance, that they should first bring nature into subjec- 
 tion, and break all the bonds by which their heart and their senses 
 held them captive? Was it not essential that, before engiiging 
 themselves by vows, they sliould serve an apprenticesliip to the 
 hardships they would have to suffer afterwards? 
 
 They were to be sent without sack or scrip into distant towns to 
 teach the poor gratis. They would have to suffer hunger and cold 
 and weariness, and was it not well that they should find in their 
 novitiate a condensed experience of their future mode of life? They 
 were likely later on to be assailed by fatigue, and disgust, and sad- 
 ness, and was it not better, at the generous moment of their sjicri- 
 fice, to light in their hearts a flame of Divine love which would give 
 them strength through life? It was necessary, also, to arrest at 
 the outset the feeble, the tepid, the cowardly, the fickle, those who 
 were liable to illusions, and all whom any human motive might 
 have led to the community. Those who do not reflect are apt to 
 accuse the founders or superiors of Orders of decoying the un- 
 initiated to their houses by all manners of artifices. Tlie contrary 
 is the truth; their great aim is to guard the entrance to it. The 
 world has so few attractions of its own, that many people seek to 
 get out of it. There is no lack of occiisions. But all are not called 
 of God, and false vocations are the [test of religious houses. Blessed 
 de la Salle was to experience this himself. He was, nevertheless, 
 very ciireful only to accept those novices who gave prottfs of real 
 piety and had the strength needful for practising the Hule in its 
 unmitigated rigor. Me set the example himself. He was the first 
 to rise, and he waked the other Brothers. Punctual at all the 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 233 
 
 exercises, observing faithfully all that he exacted from others, sub- 
 jecting himself like them to fasting, to poverty, to the public con- 
 fession of faults, to penance; he was the last to retire to his cell, 
 and he passed part of the night there in prayer. He kept down the 
 flesh by severest corporal mortifications. More than. once, his dis- 
 
 BleBsed de la Salle during the faiuines of 16y3 and 1709 (p. 236 and folloving ). — Bas-relief of Falguiere, 
 on the flocle of the statue at Rouen. — Drawn by Chapuis. 
 
 ciplines were found stained with blood, and the floor of his cell 
 bore traces of his penances during the night. Inflexible for him- 
 self, he was gentle and pitiful for others. Without permitting any 
 relaxation from the Rule, he was so kind in listening to their com- 
 plaints and raising up their courage, that the Brothers, after a few 
 minutes' conversation with him, would go away cheered up and 
 full of zeal, ready to walk after him in the way of perfection. 
 
231 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle passed the years 169i, 1692, and i693 in 
 this dear house at Vaugirard. The Paris Brothers wmie there 
 twice a week, Thursday and Sunday, and rekindled their souls in 
 the fervor that hurned on the hearth of the Institute. At what- 
 ever hour they arrived, whatever condition they were in, fagged, 
 perished with cold, or drenched with rain, they joined the exercises 
 of the house, and nothing di.stinguished them from the novices. 
 The Rule stood them instead of rest and refreshment, and when, 
 next morning, they took leave, and went back to their work, it 
 was with a sense of being strengthened and invigorated. 
 
 We may here map in our minds the road over which the ser- 
 vant of God passed so often, and the better to do this, we will call 
 the places by their present names. Starting from the Rue Vau- 
 girard, near Saint Sulpice, Blessed de la Salle passed along the gar- 
 dens of the Luxembourg as far as the Hue d'Assas opposite which 
 was the monastery of the Carmelite Monks amidst fine wooded 
 grounds. 
 
 A little beyond the garden of the Luxembourg, amongst the 
 houses which are now at the entrance of the Rue Notre Dame-des- 
 Champs, was the convent of the Annonciades, a large house which 
 the holy man was one day to live in. The city ended here. Tlie 
 Rue Notre Dame-des-Champs was only built upon one side. At its 
 western angle was the Convent of Saint-Thecla; then the plain l)egan 
 extending on both sides of the present Rue Vaugirard to Vaugirard 
 and Issy. To the lefl, at the angle of the Rue de Fourneaux, was 
 the Mill of la Pointe; at wide intervals on the same side were other 
 mills still more celebrated ; the New Mills, the Butter Mill, the 
 Galette Mill, the Mill of the Three C.ornets, favorite promenades of 
 the students of Paris, who came there on holidays. The last- 
 named was the particular meeting-ground of the Jansenists, after 
 whom it was named. Here Father (Juesnel used to confer with 
 the heads of the sect. 
 
 The wide Rue de Vaugirard was also bordered on the right by 
 fields. First you saw the house of the Child Jesus, and the convent 
 of the Benedictine Nuns, and after that there were no houses until 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 235 
 
 the spot which is now Rue Copreau. The house occupied by the 
 Brothers was in all probability the one that makes the corner of 
 that street and the Rue Vaugirard, for it was long called the House 
 of the Brothers. It became afterwards a famous inn. Blessed de 
 la Salle had himself exercised hospitality there, that generous 
 Christian hospitality which entertains more willingly the poor and 
 the lowly. This house, the first of the village, then stood apart; 
 on one side was a mile -stone with the manorial arms of Saint 
 Genevieve. Up to this point, you were in the parish of Saint 
 Sulpice, but on one side lay the territory of Grenelle, which be- 
 longed to the Abbey of Saint Genevieve -du- Mont; on the other 
 side, the territory of the village of Vaugirard. It is not difficult 
 to picture to oneself this landscape of the environs of Paris. 
 
 A number of young men came to knock at the door of the no- 
 vitiate. Some were drawn thither by curiosity, others by restle- 
 ness, some also by the hope of finding comfort and rest. Others 
 again were animated by a certain love of God, but without being 
 called to serve Him in that state of life. Blessed de la Salle was 
 not long in sifting out the true vocations from amidst the false 
 ones. But, indeed, they soon made themselves manifest. The 
 imaginary ones did not persevere; a few days of the Rule sufficed 
 to make them pass out; but their places were filled up by others, 
 and in spite of so many failures, the number of Brothers rose at 
 last to five and thirty. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, poor as he was, fed this large family; or 
 rather he prayed to God, who supplied all his wants. Frugal and 
 austere as the life was, these wants were manifold, for nobody was 
 refused admittance at Vaugirard. 
 
 In 1693, a great famine devastated Paris, and the Brothers suf- 
 fered cruelly from it. The charity that fed them grew cold, and 
 more than once, they were without bread. Blessed de la Salle 
 was not moved from his serenity, nor shaken in his trust. He re- 
 fused to be better treated than any one else, and in spite of the 
 difficulty he had in feeding his flock, he continued to receive every 
 one who came to his door. But at last the famine became so ter- 
 
236 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 rible. that the Brothers ran the risk of dying of hunger. Their 
 food was brought from Paris, and robbers used to lie in :imbush 
 and seize it. The environs of Paris were frequented by thieves 
 and vagabonds who roamed about the country seeking lierbs 
 wlierewith to appease tiieir hunger. Starvation is a bad council- 
 lor; it goads to crime. The Vaugirard house, l)eing isolated and 
 badly secured, was not safe. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was obliged to bring the Brothers back to 
 Paris, to the house in the Bue Princesse. They remained there 
 two years, but they were not protected even here from the mise- 
 ries of the famine. More than once M. de la Salle had to say to the 
 Brothers : " There is no bread in the house. " Then they went 
 to the refectory, and said the Benedicite Ijefore an empty table. 
 
 Every day this hard problem had to be solved : " where were 
 they to get tlie day's food ? " A piece of black bread was a treasure, 
 and all partook of it sparingly. One day, a Brother was sent out 
 with four pence, and this was all the money that remained to the 
 community, lie wanted to buy a few vegetables for a last meal. 
 On his way, he saw a house at the door of which a crowd of beg- 
 gars were gathered round a charitable lady who was distributing 
 alms to them. The Brother joined them. Surprised to see one 
 in his habit asking for alms, the lady questioned him, and hearing 
 that the Brothers were starving, she went to the parish-priest, and 
 obtained relief for them. 
 
 But these last resources and every other came to be exhausteil. 
 and still the famine raged. Blessed de la Salle was not, however, 
 for one instant disheartened or impatient. He dealt with the 
 necessities of each day as well as he could-, and accepted calmly 
 the evil he could not remedy. By a special mercy of God, none of 
 the Brothers fell ill. 
 
 In UVM, the famine ended, and the holy father returned to Vau- 
 girard, leaving nine Brothers in Paris to keep the schools. He 
 took with him all the others and the novices. Once more in his 
 solitude, he resumed his exercises as l)efore. He only thought 
 of sanctifying himself and sanctifying his disciples. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 237 
 
 The trials which threatened to destroy the community only 
 served to consolidate it. It is always so with the works of God. 
 They thrive on what kills the works of man. In the midst of this 
 great family, the Brothers, far from growing disaffected towards 
 the community, grew more attached to it, and were eager to 
 change their vows of a year and three years into perpetual ones. 
 The reasons they gave for this were very touching. " Why, " they 
 asked, " do we behave towards God as field laborers do to their 
 masters? The year over, they are quits, and may seek another 
 master, having one foot in the house and one foot out of it. Wc 
 are like mercenaries. The period of our vows once over, we take 
 back, at our risk and peril, that liberty which is the cause of all 
 our misdoings, and perhaps of our ruin. If we made a complete 
 sacrifice, God would make our hearts stable. " 
 
 Blessed de la Salle with his usual prudence heard these prayer.s 
 without being in a hurry to answer them. He adjourned his re- 
 solution to Trinity Sunday and desired the Brothers to pray well 
 that he might discern the will of God. Then, the time being 
 come, he chose twelve of the most fervent, and called them to 
 Vaugirard to make a retreat. He remained in their midst, exposing 
 to them the gravity of the engagement they were about to take, 
 questioning them closely. At last, Trinity Sunday arrived. M. de 
 la Salle first renewed vows which consecrated him for life to the 
 holy mission he had embraced, and then, turning to the twelve 
 Brothers, he received their perpetual vows of stability and obe- 
 dience. The original formula is preserved in the archives of the 
 Institute, written and signed by Blessed de la Salle. It reads as 
 follows: — 
 
 " Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, prostrate 
 with most profound respect before Thine infinite and adorable 
 majesty, I consecrate myself wholly to Thee, to procure Thy glory 
 as far as I possibly can, and as Thou mayest demand of me. And 
 to this effect, I, John Baptist de la Salle, priest, promise and make 
 vow to unite myself and remain in society with the Brothers 
 Nicolas Vuvart. Gabriel Drolin, Jean Partois. Gabriel Charles Besi- 
 
238 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 gade, Jean Henry, Jacques Compain, Jean Jacquot, Jean Louis do 
 Marcheville, Michel Barlhelemy Jacquin, Edme Leguillon, Gilles 
 Pierre, and Claude Ronssel, to keep together and hy association 
 free scliools in whatever place it may be, even if I should be com- 
 pelled for this to beg alms, and to live on broad only, or to do for 
 the said Society whatever I may be employed in, whether by the 
 body of the Society, or by the Superiors who may have the 
 guidance thereof. Therefore it is that I vow obedience to the 
 body of the Society, as well as to the Superiors. The said vows, 
 both of association and stability in the said Society, and of obe- 
 dience, I promise to keep unbroken all my life, in testimony of 
 which I have signed. Given at Vaugirard, this sixth day of June, 
 day of the feast of the most Holy Trinity, of the year one thousand 
 six hundred and ninety-four. 
 
 " Signed : De la Salle. " 
 Blessed de la Salle, seeing his religious family thus constituted, 
 thought that the time had come for him to resign his title of superior, 
 and descend humbly to the lowest place. He, therefore, assembled 
 the Brothers the very day after they had pronounced their vows, and 
 tried to convince them of the excellence of his purpose. He said, 
 amongst other things, that since God had united them, they ought 
 to seek every means of making that union so strong that neither 
 the world nor the devil could break it. They should, consequently, 
 put all their conDdence in God, and not lean upon a man, who, like 
 a frail reed, breaks and pierces tlie hand that leans upon him. 
 They ought not, therefore, to depend upon a man like him, who 
 was only a poor priest, witli no power, who three years ago had 
 been called back from the gates of death, and might return there 
 in three days. It was advisable that while he was still alive, they 
 should elect another superior, and choose him from amongst them- 
 selves, so that the priestly character might not place between them 
 and him a distance which might be detrimental to their union. 
 If they did not decide promptly, and that he should die, all the 
 hou.ses would be independent ; there would be as many superiors 
 as there were schools, and the flock would l>e sciittei'ed. If their 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 239 
 
 ecclesiastical Superiors should then give them a chief taken from 
 amongst the clergy, the latter not having their traditions or their 
 spirit, most likely, would want to make changes in the Rule, and 
 the work would be marred. 
 
 The Brothers did not enter into this reasoning. They remem- 
 bered the experience they had had, and were not at all minded 
 to put the flock in the place of the shepherd, the Brothers above 
 the father, the penitents to direct the confessor. Blessed de la 
 Salle saw at once that they w-ere not convinced, and forthwith 
 began a new discourse more eloquent than the first. 
 
 The Brothers, out of humility, did not make any answer. Fan- 
 cying from this that he had gained them over to his views, and 
 seeing them ready to proceed to the vote, he urged them to make 
 half an hour's prayer in order that the Holy Spirit might direct 
 them in their choice. They prayed, and then the election took 
 place; but the name of the servant of God came out without one 
 dissenting voice. Disconcerted, touched, he reproached the Bro- 
 thers tenderly with overlooking the true interests of the Institute, 
 and deceiving themselves as to his merits, and left nothing undone 
 to make them see that he was incompetent and unworthy to guide 
 them. He then implored them to vote a second time, in tlie hopes 
 that the Holy Spirit, moved by his prayer, would direct their choice 
 differently. The Brothers consented, but this very humility dis- 
 played by the holy man only confirmed the desire of the Brothen^ 
 to have him for their superior. 
 
 He was again elected with one voice. The Brothers now made 
 him see that he ought to accept an office which was visibly con- 
 ferred upon him by God Himself. At his death, which would 
 come too soon for them, however long it was postponed, it would 
 be time enough to put a Brother at their head ; meantime, he must 
 resign himself to remain there. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle raised his eyes to heaven, and submitted. 
 But still convinced of the danger there was for the Institute in be- 
 ing governed by a priest, he made the twelve Brothers who had 
 elected him sign the following deed : — " We, the undersigned, 
 
240 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Nicolas Vuyart, Gabriel Drolin, etc., after having l»y llie vows we 
 took yesterday associated with M. J.-B. de la Salle, priest, to keep 
 
 VifyL^Ct^ 0«-«i*»*i51-wxA— Oc 9»w»y, eZ-^/f ^nx-'— 2»/-eV#f^ /-i^. ^SejCr*— 
 
 Flnt toniiUs at BkiMd d< te ■lOl^'i towi, wrltim »IUi kia e«a ku4. - Tk* orldaal to ta Uw •rcklna 
 uf the iDiiliiiM <>( U* BrMlMn. 
 
 free schools, recognize that iti consequence of these v<avs and of 
 this association contracted hy us, we have chosen for Superior 
 M. J(»hn Haptist de la Salle, whom we pruinise to obey with en- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 241 
 
 tire submission, as well as those whom he may appoint our Supe- 
 riors. We also declare that we do not mean the present election to 
 
 MoDsclgsenr de NoaiUes, Archbishop of Paris ( p. 242 ). — Drawn by Vidal ; engraved bj- H. Joffroy. 
 
 make any precedent for the future, our intention being that after 
 the said M. de la Salle, and for ever afterwards, no person who is 
 a priest, or has received Holy Orders, shall be admitted amongst us, 
 nor elected as our Superior; Ihat we will never have for Superior 
 
 16 
 
Hi BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 any one who is not associated with us, and wlio has not made 
 vows like us and like all those who will be afterwards associated 
 with us. Given at Vaugirard, the seventh of Juno, one thousand 
 six hundred and ninety-four. " 
 
 In 1005, the Archbishop of Paris, Mg«; de Harlay, had died 
 of a fit of apoplexy, and he was replaced by Mgr de Noailles, 
 Bishop of Chdlons. The latter, after his customary visitation, 
 reformed various abuses that had crept into the administra- 
 tion. He had been above all struck by the multitude of private 
 chapels. Not alone every community, but every private person 
 wanted to have his own chapel in his country house, and have 
 services there. The parish churches were nearly deserted ; nobody 
 came there but the poor people, and all who should have given the 
 example were abseiit. The Archbishop could not allow such an 
 abuse to continue. Divine service ought to be celebrated publicly, 
 so that, all united under the eye of their pastor, the parishioners 
 may mutually encourage one another, and receive more easily tlie 
 counsels or the commands of the Church. 
 
 The Archbishop, consequently, issued a decree interdicting all 
 private chapels. This threw Blessed de la Salle into the greatest 
 perplexity. He was in the habit of going every morning to sjiy 
 mass in a little chapel close by, and taking the Brothers there. H«' 
 was dispensed from going to the parish-church, which was distant, 
 and which he could only reach by roads that were impracticitble 
 in winter and in bad weather. M. de la Salle went to the Arch- 
 bishop, and asked permission to have an oratory in his house. He 
 explained the reasons which induced him to ask this favor. It 
 was not only on Sundays, but every day, that he had to take his 
 disciples to mass. Badly clothed, and miserable looking, they at- 
 tracted the ridicule and rudeness <»f the people, and it was painful 
 to him to expose them to this trial. Moreover, this long daily pro- 
 menade was a source of distraction to the novices, and causi'd 
 great disctrder in the interior exercises of the house. The Arch- 
 bishop appreciated these reasons. He had, besides, been Bishop 
 of ChAlons, and had heard of the generous sacrifices made by 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 243 
 
 Blessed de la Salle. He knew his piety and entertained a profound 
 regard for him personally. When he met the Brothers, he always 
 enquired for their Superior, and would add : " He is a holy man ; 
 I ask his prayers. " Animated with these sentiments, he could 
 
 Old church of Vaugirard (p. :'44}. — Drawo by P. Le Grand, 
 
 not refuse the holy man's request. He gave him leave to have 
 a chapel, confirmed in writing the verbal authorization given by 
 his predecessor to establish the community in Paris, and added to 
 this all the powers necessary for exercising the sacred ministry, 
 a great favor which he granted to hardly anyone. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle hastened to prepare a decent oratory in his 
 house. With his own hands he helped to raise an altar, and a 
 
214 BLESSED DC LA SALLE. 
 
 Vicar general came to bless the little chapel in which the com- 
 munity was to hear mass and recite the offices both on Sundays 
 and week days. 
 
 The parish-priest of Vaugirard was exceedingly angry when he 
 heard this news. So long as private chapels were permitted, he n>- 
 signed himself to the absence of the Brothers, but when they were 
 suppressed, he counted on them for the edification ot his parish. 
 He came to sec Blessed de la Salle, and being a Doctor of the Sor- 
 bonne and very argumentative, he set to work to prove to him that 
 the Brothers were in duty bound to renounce their new privilege, 
 and to assist at the parochial services. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle justified himself. He did not deny the excel- 
 lence of the principles laid down by the parish -priest; only they 
 did not apply to him. " If the rule of assisting at the parochial mass 
 is open to an exception, " he said, " grant that exception to a group 
 of young fellows who cannot go out of their house without danger. 
 You would grant it willingly to a man in danger of imprisonment. 
 If that man, in order to elude the clutch of the bailiffs in pursuit 
 of him, were to come early in the morning to hear the first 
 mass, you would dispense him with hearing the parochial mass. 
 Let your charity extend the same indulgence to people who can- 
 not appear in public without risking their vocation and exposing 
 their soul to danger. Assuredly, no one deserves it more than 
 these young men, who have not yet shaken off the impressions of 
 the world, and who cannot appear there without feeling its in- 
 fluence, and without being subjected to mockery and insult thai 
 their virtue is not yet capable of enduring. You should respect the 
 privilege our Archbishop has given me of erecting a chapel for the 
 community. And this privilege seems to include exemption from 
 the duties of the parish. " 
 
 There is nothing surprising in those struggles between the pa- 
 rish on one side and the religious Orders on the other. The 
 history (»f the Church is full of them. The parish is a little world 
 where all the ordinary needs ut Chri.stian souls are sup- 
 plied; there are found the baptistery, the altar, the confessional 
 
BOOK II. — MFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 245 
 
 and the pulpit. As to the religious Orders, they are intended 
 to meet the extraordinary needs of Christian society and of 
 souls. They form an august and necessary advance guard ; 
 they fight in the first ranks ; they triumph over obstacles which 
 the parish could never overcome. The parish and the convent 
 are the two poles on which the Catholic world turns. 
 
 The parish -priest of Vaugirard would not understand these 
 laws of Christian organism, and revolted against the pretentions 
 of M. de la Salle. His vexation was so great, that he came one 
 day to the house of the Brothers and broke out into bitter com- 
 plaints against them because they refused to follow the procession 
 of the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed de la Salle tried in vain to 
 appease him. Some time afterwards he calmed down, listened 
 to the reasons which in the first heat of anger he had not under- 
 stood, and restored all his affection to Blessed de la Salle. It was 
 agreed between them that, every first Thursday of the month, 
 M. de la Salle would come to celebrate a solemn mass of the Blessed 
 Sacrament at the parish, and that he would bring the Brothers 
 with him. He took them to the parish, besides this, on Easter 
 Sunday, and on the feast of St Lambert, patron of the church, 
 and the Brothers, by their modesty, their devotion and their re- 
 collection, edified all beholders. M. Baiiyn, director of the little 
 seminary of Saint Sulpice, also took the seminarists to the parish 
 on those days, and said mass for them. 
 
 The two venerable priests, were to be seen going to the altar 
 one after the other, offering the Holy Sacrifice with the piety of 
 Saints, and distributing Holy Communion to their disciples, who 
 all vied with one another in fervent devotion. 
 
jTjT. G^jH^Z'^y. 
 
 Church of the Carmelite Monks, from a print of the end of the seventeenth century (p. 2-18, and following ,. 
 — Drawn by :fedouard Gamier ; engraved by Trichon. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE LARGE HOUSE (1698-1703). 
 
 LESSED de la Salle had been three 
 years at Vaugirard; he had spent 
 there the years 1695, 1696 and 1697, 
 and had taken advantage of the rest 
 he enjoyed there to draw up the 
 Rule and compose his first works. 
 But, during this time, the number 
 of postulants and novices had con- 
 siderably increased, and from all 
 directions young men were coming 
 to consecrate themselves to the 
 Christian education of childhood. 
 Many amongst them were not ac- 
 tuated by perfectly pure motives, or over-estimated their strength. 
 They had, nevertheless, to be received, to be examined, to be 
 
248 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 tried; for it was not possible to see at a glance whether they were fit 
 for the office they aspired to fulfil, and the demand for Christian 
 school -masters was so urgent, that it would have been a pity to 
 send away any aspirant without giving him a lair trial. 
 
 The house at Vaugirard was too small to lodge a great number 
 of persons; it was also too far from Paris; so Blessed de la Salle 
 was obliged to look for one nearer and larger. 
 
 He had noticed in the Rue Vaugirard a vast building which 
 looked suitable. It was situated a little higher up than the Car- 
 melite convent, on the other side of the street, and was composed 
 of several separate buildings, courts and large gardens. On one 
 side, this house adjoined the gardens of Luxembourg, which then 
 extended much farther than they do now, and on the other, it ad- 
 vanced quite close to Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, which lay 
 along the fields. The barrier of Vaugirard was very near. 
 
 This edifice had been occupied by a community of Annonciade 
 Nuns, of the Institute of Blessed Jane of Valois, known under the 
 name of Our Lady of the Ten Virtues; the Princesses of France 
 used to be educated there. Then, the community became relaxed, 
 and was dispersed. The house remained long uninhabited; it was 
 said to be haunted, and this report frightened away tenants. The 
 landlord, consequently, consented to let it for sixteen hundred 
 francs a year, a very small sum considering the extent of the 
 buildings, but a very large one for Blessed de la Salle, who had 
 nothing. Rut he was not downcast by this. The house suited 
 him, and he resolved to hire if. He went to see the parish -prie.st 
 of Saint Sulpice, whose parishioner he was about to become again. 
 The parish had now a new pastor. M. Baudrand had had a para 
 lytic stroke in 1006. Seeing death drawing near, he wished to 
 pass in retirement the few remaining days he had to live, and 
 therefore took steps for placing the parish in good and worthy 
 hands. He knew M. de la Ch(^tardie, a Siilpician who had directed 
 the seminaries of Puy and of Bourges, and who was now prior of 
 Saint Cosme-ITsle-l(^s-Tours, a l)enefice that he held from his grand 
 uncle, councillor clerk of the Parliament of Paris. He was a man 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 249 
 
 of good birth, great information, and with large experience of ec- 
 clesiastical affairs. He consented to exchange his priory for the 
 presbytery of Saint Sulpice, and took possession of it on the 13th 
 of February 1696. 
 
 M. de la Chetardie brought to his new functions great firmness 
 of character, affable manners, very sound doctrine, and an ardent 
 zeal for the service of God. He soon gained the general esteem. 
 The Archbishop of Paris, Mgr de Noailles, whose opinions regarding 
 Rome he did not approve of, confided several important missions 
 to him, and amongst others, that of obtaining Mme Guyon's retrac- 
 tation, a difficult undertaking, which he succeeded in. 
 
 He was the declared enemy of all new fangled theories, and he 
 showed this several years later by dismissing M. Oursel, Superior 
 of the Community, who had expressed as his opinion in the 
 Sorbonne that the Constitution Unigenitus ought not to be received. 
 So long as he lived, he showed a great regard for Blessed de la Salle. 
 He differed from him from lime to time as to the manner of gov- 
 erning the Institute, but on every occasion he bore witness to the 
 purity of his faith. 
 
 M. de la Chetardie was greatly esteemed by the King, Louis XIV., 
 who liked to converse with him, and in 1702 tried to make him 
 accept the bishopric of Poitiers. He refused the dignity rather 
 than leave the parish. 1 have sixty-six reasons for declining Your 
 Majesty's offer, " was his reply. — " And what are they? " — 
 " My sixty-six years. " 
 
 M. de la Chetardie had also much intercourse with Mme de Main- 
 tenon, from whom he got great help for his parish. He turned 
 all his influence to account for his good works, and his charity 
 for the poor was unbounded, and as liberal as it was tender. From 
 the day that he was named parish-priest, he placed all his income 
 in the charity fund, to be distributed amongst the poor, reserv- 
 ing only the bare necessaries for the support of himself and a 
 Servian t. 
 
 M. de la Chetardie heard with some surprise Blessed de la Salle's 
 intention of hiring a house at sixteen hundred francs a year, when 
 
250 lU.ESSEU l)E LA SALLE. 
 
 he hail sixty persons to feed and had not the means of paying for 
 bread for them. lie could not, however, mistrust the gfXKlness 
 of God, who had always borne them tlirough hard times. The 
 pastor of Saint Sulpice heard all he had to say, and ended by 
 approving of his scheme. He even promised to increase by 
 fifty francs the yearly pension of the lirothers, in order to lighten 
 his expenses. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle at once made up his mind, signed the lease, 
 and installed his community in the large house in April 1G98. 
 
 The house was unfurnished; but there resided in the parish 
 of Saint Sulpice a very charitable lady, Mn>e Voisin, widow of a 
 secretary of State, who was venerated by everybody on account of 
 her abundant almsgiving. On the advice of the parish-priest, the 
 Brothers addressed themselves to her, and she gave them seven 
 thousand francs which served to buy beds, mattresses, curtains, 
 tables and chairs, and in fact all the furniture necessary for the 
 community. 
 
 A little chapel formerly used by the Nuns was still standing. 
 They enlarged it by adding a choir, and it was blessed on the IGth 
 of June 1698, by M'jr Godet des Marais, Bishop of Chartres. It 
 was dedicated to St Cassien, who had been himself a school-master 
 in times of persecution, and died a martyr, killed by one of his 
 scholars for having taught them Christian doctrine. The Brothers 
 were not martyrs, it is true; but every day they devoted their health 
 and strength to the children, and wore out their lives teaching 
 them the word of God. No patron could have been better suited 
 to them than the holy school-master of the fourth centui-y. 
 
 As soon as thoy were settled in the big house, Blessed de la Salle 
 set himself to work to multiply the schools, but he wanted first to 
 share with some of the Brothers certain parts of the direction of the 
 house. The twelve Brothers who had pronounced their vows with 
 him were no longer in Paris. He had sent them off to various 
 houses of the Institute as masters and models. He selected two 
 others; one of whom he placed over the novices, while to the 
 other he confided the government of the Paris schools. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 251 
 
 He was deceived in his expectations, and we shall see how these 
 two Brothers, by their excessive harshness, discouraged those un- 
 der them, and by their imprudence raised a storm in which the 
 Order was near perishing. But these drawbacks were not apparent 
 at first, and the Servant of God, confiding generously in the future, 
 thought he might trust them with the responsibility of their grave 
 functions, and turn all his own attention to the general direction 
 of the Institute. 
 
 For many years he had been thinking of opening a new school 
 in the parish of Saint Sulpice, for the district of the Incurables. 
 He found a house that appeared to him suitable in the Rue Saint 
 Placide, and the parish-priest consented to hire it. It was soon 
 as full as it could hold. The success of this foundation again set 
 the school-masters in arms. They began by seizing the furniture 
 of the Brothers and the children. Blessed de la Salle flew to the 
 rescue, but his protestation did not stop the bailiffs. The Bro- 
 thers were summoned to appear in court; the suit lasted eight 
 months, and during that time the school was closed. 
 
 M. de la Salle had been ill, but he recovered just in time to 
 present himself before the magistrate with the Brothers. He 
 spoke for them, and defended their case. The school -masters al- 
 leged that they took in children in easy circumstances, who paid 
 for their schooling. This was not true. Blessed de la Salle de- 
 fied them to prove it, and consented to lose his suit if they did so. 
 They failed in producing any proof, and were condemned. The 
 school was re-opened. It gained a new prestige, and was soon so 
 large that the four Brothers in charge were no longer sufficient 
 for the work, and two more had to be sent. There were over four 
 hundred children. M. de la Chetardie came to visit the school, 
 arid was amazed at so vast a result in so short a time. He could 
 not restrain his enthusiasm. " Ah ! my dear sir, " he exclaimed 
 to the holy Founder, who had come there to receive him, " what 
 a work is this 1 Where would this great crowd of children be now 
 if they were not all gathered here? They would be running 
 about the streets, serving their miserable apprenticeship to vice. " 
 
352 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 He then went round the classes, questioning the children on the 
 mysteries of the faith, and he was so delighted with their 
 answers that he embraced the brothers who had trained them 
 so admirably. 
 
 These free schools were the favorite good work of M. de la CM- 
 tardie. He visited them once a month, and distributed rewards 
 to the most deserving children. Order, silence, even recollection, 
 reigned in these precincts lately so noisy and disorderly. The 
 good pastor had established a particular custom for these scholars 
 who were so well disciplined and so charming. On the first Sat- 
 urday of every month, the children of the various classes, walking 
 two and two, went to Saint Sulpice, where lighted tapers were put 
 into their hands; they then walked in procession to the chapel of 
 the Blessed Virgin, where they assisted at a solemn mass founded 
 by M. Olier to place the parish under the protection of the Blessed 
 Virgin. After this, they received each a little blessed loaf that was 
 given by some benevolent ladies, and then they went back to school. 
 This spectacle of a thousand children, formerly left to themselves, 
 and now so well behaved, greatly delighted the parish, and kept 
 alive a warm interest in the free schools. M""* Voisin, who visited 
 them sometimes with M, de la Ch(5tardie, contributed large sums 
 of money to them, and up to her death in 1714,was a devoted bene- 
 factress of the Brothers. 
 
 There were, therefore, three schools in the parish of Saint Sul- 
 pice, and when Blessed de la Salle removed his novitiate to the 
 Rue de Vaugirard, he opened another there. Finally, M. de la 
 Chetardie founded one in the Rue des Fosses-Monsieur-le Prince, 
 near the Saint Michel gale; but this one only existed three or four 
 years, when it died out for want of support. The historians of the 
 period state that in 1(508 the Brothers taught in fourteen classes 
 in the parish of Saint Sulpice, and instructed over a thousand 
 children. 
 
 The big house in the Rue V'augirard being easily available for all 
 the plans of Blessed de la Salle, he made haste to found successi- 
 velv all the works to which his Institute was to apply itself later. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 253 
 
 Not only did he erect there a novitiate for the young Brothers, 
 a mother-house where the Religious from all the other houses could 
 come from time to time, and rest from their labors and renew 
 themselves in a more rigorous exercise of the Rule, a centre from 
 which direction went for the entire Institute, but he established 
 various schools there, schools which still serve as models for all 
 the schools kept by the Brothers at the present day. 
 
 For besides the charity-schools, destined to the children of the 
 poor, Blessed de la Salle had opened a boarding-schoul. 
 
 In 1688, James II., driven out of England by William of Orange, 
 took refuge in France, where Louis XIV. extended to him the most 
 sumptuous hospitality, lodging him in the castle of Saint Germain, 
 where the dethroned King kept up his court. A great number of 
 lords followed him into exile, and many who remained behind 
 sent him their children that he might have them educated in the 
 Catholic faith ; for the persecution which then reigned in England 
 had closed most of the establishments that existed for the educa- 
 tion of youth. 
 
 The greater number of these young men were Irish. James II. 
 consulted the Archbishop of Paris, as to what he was to do with 
 them, and the Archbishop consulted M. de la Chetardie. The lat- 
 ter said that he knew no one more capable of undertaking the edu- 
 cation of these young men than M. de la Salle. The prelate im- 
 mediately begged M. de la Salle to receive them into his house, 
 and the holy man, who never refused a good work that was pro- 
 posed to him, at once opened a boarding-school. Fifty young Irish 
 lads were confided to him, and became the objects of his whole soli- 
 citude. A Brother assisted him in this task; but as these young 
 men needed a higher education than that given to the children of 
 the poor, Blessed de la Salle himself took special pains with their 
 instruction. He succeeded in this enterprise. After some time, 
 James II. wished to see for himself how the children who had been 
 entrusted to him were faring, so he came with the Archbishop of 
 Paris to visit the servant of God. He was delighted with the pro- 
 gress and the good manners of the young boarders, and expressed 
 
254 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 his lively gratitude to Hlessed de la Salle. In a short time, the 
 youths were fitted to occupy the divei-s posts to which they were 
 called. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was, indeed, looked upon as the father of llie 
 young. People had recourse to him in all difficult emergencies, 
 and although the direction of the primary schools was his work of 
 predilection, he could not restrict himself within that single frame, 
 too narrow for his all-emhracing charity. 
 
 Parents who had unmanageahle or rebellious children addressed 
 themselves to him, and confided them to him to be reformed. 
 The Fathers of the Oratory brought him a young Abbe who liad 
 been entrusted to them, and whose bad habits they had found it 
 impossible to cure. This young Abbe was eighteen years of age, 
 and belonged to one of the great families; he had an uncle a bis- 
 hop; he was therefore likely to be called to ecclesiastical dignities; 
 but he had no inclination for the priesthood. Confined in the 
 house of the Oratorians, Hue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques, he con- 
 trived to escape constantly from their supervision. He broke open 
 the doors, he jumped over the walls, and ran away to pass the 
 night in dissipation and gambling. The Fathers, despairing of 
 being able to tame this wild nature, bethought them of handing 
 him over to Hlessed de la Salle, who passed for iiaving marvel- 
 lous graces for the training of the young. 
 
 He received this young man, and put him into the novitiate. 
 The young libertine was at once impressed by the appearance of 
 the Brothers, by their piety, their recollection, their fervor. Mis 
 heart, hitherto closed against every good innuenci>, opened as if by 
 miracle. M. de la Salle had long conversati<ms with him. He 
 made him blush for his past conduct, then he moved him to weep 
 over it, and inspired him with such contrition and .such a love of 
 perfection, that, of his own accord, he asked to folhtw the exercises 
 of the novitiatf. He took upon himself the lowliest offices, he 
 kissed the feet of the Brothers, ate on the ground out of penance, 
 and was always on the look out tor mortifications. In a short 
 time he became the model of the community, and he who had 
 
~ OF TH» ^r \ 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 255 
 
 been the least, soon outstripped all in his ardent pursuit of per- 
 fection. 
 
 Full of gratitude to the community where he had obtained his 
 conversion, he aspired to the happiness of passing the rest of his 
 life there, and entreated Blessed de la Salle as the greatest favor to 
 give him the habit. The holy priest was too prudent to yield at 
 once to his desire; he feared lest this sudden fervor might be one 
 of these youthful flames quickly kindled and quickly extinguished ; 
 moreover, he could not consent to engage in so humble a career a 
 young man whose family meant to push him on to high ecclesiastical 
 functions. He must at least have the consent of the family. The 
 young Abb6 employed every means to obtain it. He wrote to his 
 parents, and had recourse to the good offices of the Bishop, his 
 uncle; but all to no purpose. The pride of his family could not 
 brook the idea of their name being buried under so despised a 
 calling. His letters remained unanswered. One of his relatives 
 came to see him and used all his eloquence to disgust him with 
 a condition so unworthy of his rank; but nothing could shake his 
 determination. Time went by without abating his ardor. At last, 
 as his family, worn out by his entreaties, took the line of not an- 
 swering him, he took this silence for consent and, redoubling his 
 supplications to Blessed de la Sallo, he persuaded him to grant his 
 prayer. He received the habit, and when he saw himself clothed 
 in the shabby soutane — he chose the most threadbare he could 
 find — when he saw his feet in the hobnailed shoes, and beheld 
 himself attired in the complete livery of poverty, his joy was ex- 
 treme. He would not have exchanged his hat for that of a car- 
 dinal, he declared. But his happiness was of short duration. His 
 family were deeply mortified on hearing of what he had done. 
 They dissembled their anger for a time, when one day they came 
 down unexpectedly, and carried him off by force to another com- 
 munity, where he died two years later. This fact, which is by no 
 means an isolated one, proves that Blessed de la Salle had a great 
 grace for converting young souls, and great zeal in the exercise of 
 it. He had the gift of touching hearts. 
 
2S6 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 The parish-priest of Saint Hippolyte, in the faubourg Sjiiiil 
 Marcel, having seen the good which the schools of Blesstxi de hi 
 Salle were doing at Saint Sulpice, wishetl to have some in his 
 parish. He offered to defray the necessjiry expenses. The Ser- 
 vant of God sent him two Brothers, and the school was opened 
 towards the year 1700. 
 
 This pastor of Saint Hippolyte was a man full of zeal. He de- 
 sired to extend far beyond his own parish the benefits of the Christ- 
 ian schools, and was above all concerned at the great need there 
 was of them in the country. He spoke of this to Blessed de la 
 Salle, who in turn related to him the effort he had made at 
 Rheims to found a seminary for country school-masters, and how 
 it had failed. He was ready to renew the attempt; but he had no 
 money. The pastor of Saint Hippolyte at once volunteered to find 
 the money, and the foundation was made towards the year 1700, 
 simultaneously with the opening of the school. A person named 
 Lemoinc hired a house in the Hue de Lourcine. The deed was first 
 made out in the name of lirother Vuyart, and then replaced by a 
 regular lease on the 22nd of April 1701 to M. de la Salle. The pa- 
 stor of Saint Martin, of the Cloister of Saint Marcel, contributed to 
 this foundation. Blessed de la Salle confided the direction of it to 
 Brother Nicolas Vuyart, one of the oldest membt?rs of the Institute, 
 who, with Brother Gabriel Drolin, had first taken the vows. The 
 young men from the country were all sent to this house, and the 
 seminary was established. These young school -masters rose at 
 half past four, went to bed at nine, and divided their day between 
 prayer and study. 
 
 They had meditation, spiritual reading and examination of con- 
 science; they learned reading, writing, arithmetic and plain-chaunt. 
 They also learned the art of teaching, under the supervision of 
 Brother Gervais, who was director of the scho<jl. They retain«>d 
 their secular dress, and had no expense but their clothing. It 
 was, in fact, a Normal School .such as may now b«' founti in nearly 
 every country in Europe and Anu-rica, except that this one was 
 entirely gratis, and under Christian direction. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 257 
 
 This establishment had difficulty in getting on. The landlord 
 of the house first took an action against Brother Vuyart; the 
 writing-masters took another, no doubt because he taught the 
 boys to write. But the influence of the parish-priesJs of Saint 
 Hippolyte and Saint Martin enabled him to get the better of these 
 
 Jamos II. and tlie Arcliliishop of Paris visiting tho young Irish boys wbo -norc conlldcd to Blessed de la Sslle ( p. 253 1. 
 — Bas- relief bj Falgui^re, on the socle of the statue at Roueu. — Drawn by Cbapuis. 
 
 attacks. Ruin came from another quarter where it was least to 
 be expected. 
 
 The parish-priest of Saint Hippolyte, having fallen ill, and feeling 
 death approaching, wished to secure the future of his foundation. 
 He could not bequeath his fortune to Blessed de la Salle, who 
 was already known as the Superior of the Brothers; he could not 
 
 17 
 
258 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 leave it to the latter, who had not yet obtained Letters patent 
 and did not constitute a pei-sonality capable of inheriting, so he 
 made Brother Vuyart his heir. 
 
 It was this bequest of the parish-priest of Saint Hippolyte that 
 ruined Brother Vuyart. It gave him a temptation to avarice; he 
 yielded to the temptation, and appropriated the property to him- 
 self. When Blessed de la Salle, on the death of the parish-priest, 
 came to make arrangements with him, he sent him about his bus- 
 iness with the remark that the fortune belonged to him, and that 
 he would know how to spend it according to the wishes of the 
 testator. M. de la Salle was too much accustomed to trials, and 
 too faithful in following his master, Jesus Christ, to be surprised 
 when, like Him, he was persecuted by his enemies and denied by 
 his friends. He received the affront in silence, and refused to take 
 any legal step to gain possession of the property which, under the 
 name of Brother Vuyart, was destined to him. 
 
 This event caused the downfall of the Seminary for country 
 school-masters, which bad been in existence from five to six years. 
 Those who were supporting it, on witnessing the contluct of its 
 director, withdrew their contributions, and the young men all left. 
 Brother Vuyart threw aside his habit, bad himself released from 
 his vows, drove away his companion, and continued the schools 
 on his own account. He kept them on for several years. At last, 
 stung by remorse and by want, he made .an effort to get back 
 into the Brotherhood, but did not succcctl. He fell ill the day after 
 the death of Blessed de la Salle, and died five months later. 
 
 The holy founder had, we see, the intuition of all the institu- 
 tions that c(»dd be useful for primary educjition, and which at 
 this day are flourishing. He conceived them, he realized them, 
 he cast their mould and drew up their Bule; then a variety of cir- 
 cumstances brought about their dissoluti(»n. Proviilence enabled 
 his genius to forecast them; but his age could not understand 
 them, and he was only permitted \o sketch their outline, and to 
 lay the first stones of the edifice which was not to lie built up for 
 a century later. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 259 
 
 Besides the schools destined to little children, Blessed do la Salle 
 opened, at M. de la Chetardie's desire, a Sunday-school for young 
 men who were at work in their shops all the week round, and had 
 only Sunday free for seeking instruction. These Sunday-schools 
 already existed in Holland; but in France they were as yet un- 
 known '. The servant of God at once saw the great value of them, 
 and left nothing undone to ensure their success. To draw young 
 men away from the pernicious amusements to which they were sure 
 to be tempted iii their leisure hours, it was necessary to provide 
 them with the attraction of solid instruction, which might be of 
 use to them in their business. It was, therefore, agreed that they 
 should be taught not only reading and writing, but also arithmetic, 
 geometry and drawing. This education was tantamount to what 
 is now called " higher primary. "' Blessed de la Salle chose two 
 intelligent Brothers who had a taste for the arts; he procured lessons 
 for them, and put them at the head of this Christian academy. 
 
 This school was opened in 1G99, by special permission of the 
 Archbishop. It was held in the big house of the Bue Vaugirard, 
 which then served as novitiate, and it took place every Sunday at 
 mid-day. All young men under twenty might attend. The lesson 
 lasted two hours; it was followed by the catechism, and then one 
 of the Brothers made a shoit spiritual exhortation. The school 
 was such a success that it soon numbered two hundred scholars. 
 Unfortunately it dit not last. 
 
 The success of these Brothers excited their vanity and their cov- 
 etousness, and they formed the design of leaving the Institute 
 and opening a school where they would get other payment for 
 their trouble than the unseen rewards of the world to come. They 
 informed their superior of this intention, who, needless to say, left 
 nothing undone to turn them away from it. He spoke to them of 
 their vocation, of the perfect life which they had embraced, and 
 which they were going to abandon for the miserable gratifications 
 of life in the world. He reminded them of their engagements, 
 
 ' Sunday- scliools for religious leaching were first established in Milan by St Charles 
 Borroraeo, in 1564. See Buisson, art. Hcoles du dimanche. 
 
260 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and strove to awaken in their hearts sentiments of faith and piety, 
 as well as a little tenderness for himself, whom they were forsaking 
 and grieving, and whom they would compel to close a school which 
 had cost him so much care and struggle. Hut he pleaded in vain. 
 His arguments broke against their hardened hearts. One of the 
 Brothers ran away; the other lingered on a few months, and then 
 rejoined his companion. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was in dire perplexity. The parish-priest of 
 Saint Sulpice attached great importance to these Sunday-scho«»!s, 
 which he regarded as the outcome of his own thought, and which 
 shed a certain lustre on the parish. 
 
 M. de la Salle at once selected from amongst the other Brothers 
 the one who was l>est fitted to replace the two deserters, and 
 wished him to have the lessons necessary to qualify him for 
 teaching in the Sunday-school; hut the Brother recoiled from the 
 proposal with insurmountable reluctance. These new accomplish- 
 ments must be dangerous, it seemed to him, since they had been 
 the ruin of two of his comrades, and he preferred to continue in 
 the humbler work that he had so far been devoted to. Not only 
 was he filled with this sentiment of fear himself, but he commu- 
 nicated it to the other Brothers so strongly, that the holy founder 
 could not find one amongst them who would consent to undertake 
 the new work. 
 
 They drew up a note setting forth the dangers of the Sunday- 
 schools, and entreated him to take them into account, not doubt- 
 ing, they said, but that he would agree with them. Blessed de la 
 Salle made no answer. Their minds were too warped just then 
 to give up their prejudices. He went to the parish-priest of Saint 
 Sulpice, and laid the difficulty before him; but M. de la Chetardie, 
 who was already annoyed, would listen to nothing. He accused 
 M. de la Salle of being the cause of the departure of the two Broth- 
 ers, the resistance «)f the others, and the closing of tlie scluml. 
 
 The holy man knew not what to say in his own defence. It oc- 
 curred to him a few days later to go back to the parish -pri«»st and 
 show him the petition the Brothers had dmwn up in order to jus- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 261 
 
 tify their resistance. This simple action was wrongly interpreted. 
 The pastor received him more coldly than ever, and accused him 
 of having himself WTitten the document, or ordered it to be written. 
 Blessed de la Salle defended himself, but the parish-priest, carried 
 away by his temper, called him a liar. The servant of God re- 
 ceived the unmerited outrage with his usual serenity, and con- 
 tented himself with answering cheerfully : " Well, sir, it is with 
 that lie on my lips that I am going to say mass. " And he went 
 to the church, and offered up the holy sacrifice. 
 
 He did not, however, give up all hope for the Sunday schools. 
 By dint of seeking, he found a Brother who made the sacrifice of 
 his personal tastes, and consented to acquire the neccessary know- 
 ledge. The school was re -opened, and was very soon as largely 
 attended as before. Young men flocked to it from all directions, 
 and passed the whole day there in pious exercises, studies and 
 amusements. They forgot their bad habits, kept the day holy, 
 lost their vices little by little, and many became thoroughly con- 
 verted from evil courses. This school was removed in 1703 to 
 the parish of Saint Paul, where the jealousy of the writing-masters 
 finally caused it to be given up. 
 
 Good was being done, but always in spite of obstacles. As to 
 the Brothers who abandoned Blessed de la Salle, they were not 
 long in reaping the penalty of their fault. Thus, the Brother who 
 left the Sunday-school in order to make money did not succeed 
 in his purpose. He led a wandering, wretclied life, and died of 
 want in 1709, in the parish of Saint Boch, without even being 
 able to receive the Sacraments. 
 
 The greatest trial of the Saints is not the opposition of their 
 natural adversaries, but of those who share their own sentiments 
 and, like them, are servants of God. When the wicked persecute 
 them, they have no reason to be surprised ; but when the righteous 
 torment them, they are sometimes startled and disturbed. Is not 
 righteousness the same for all men, and can there be two ways of 
 understanding it? Thus it happens that when the founder of an 
 Order meets with opposition from men whose sanctity he vene- 
 
262 BLESSED.de la SALLE. 
 
 rates, and from whom lie is accustomed to receive advice, he be- 
 gins to doubt everything, and asks himself if he is not the sport of 
 his own illusions. 
 
 (Jod permits those conflicts, and the history of the Church ofTors 
 numorous examples of tlum. Hlessed de la S;ille, whose patience 
 was destineil to he fashioned, so to speak, in every sense, and 
 hammered out on every side, had to endure persecutions fr<im 
 those who had long been his friends and protectors. Tlie parish- 
 priest of Saint Sulpice himself, notwithstanding his devotion to the 
 Brothers, took sides with the advei-saries of Blessed de la SsUle. 
 We have shown liow great were the virtues of M. de la Ch^tardie; 
 it is needless, therefore, to say that malice went for nothing in 
 this opposition. He simply did not take the same view of the 
 constitution of the Brotherhood of the Christian schools as their 
 holy founder. He saw things from a lower level, and his glance 
 did not reach so far. He admired the good that was being done 
 in the schools, and seconded it to his utmost; but, like the Arch- 
 bishop of Rhoims on a former occasion, he would fain have re- 
 stricted the community within the limits of his own parish, or at 
 least within those of the diocese. It was his predecessoi-s who had 
 called the Brothers to Paris; he himself had helped them to set up 
 their schools, and he was still helping them. He considered him- 
 self as their chief, and would have liked to manage them aa-onl- 
 ing to his own ideas. He would not have prevented them from 
 establishing themselves elsewhere, and going wherever they were 
 wanted; but if he had had his way, each school would have been 
 dependent on the parish-priest or the bishop of the di(X"ese, with- 
 out having any other links but those of a common end, so that 
 the totality of the houses would not have l)een one vast Institute, 
 governed l)y an independent power. 
 
 The parish -priests of Paris had had, up to the present, the ex- 
 clusive management of the charily schools, and had contrive*! 
 even to emancipate themselves from the authority of the precentor. 
 After such a victoiT, they were but little disposed to recognize a 
 new authority which had neither the majesty nor the pi-estige of 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALI,E. 263 
 
 the former one. As the principal establishment of the Brothers 
 was in the parish of Saint Sulpice, it was there that the struggle 
 was to begin. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle could not yield. He was not jealous of his 
 authority; wo have seen how again and again he strove to pass it 
 on to another, how humble he was and how eager to be forgotten ; 
 but so long as he was at the head of the Institute, be was bound 
 to defend its interests. He had, moreover, special lights for gov- 
 erning it which God reserves to founders, and which, to those 
 who receive them, bear the character of unerring certainty. To 
 make these lights prevail, was to watch over the treasure that had 
 been entrusted to him; to abandon them, was to prove himself 
 unfaithful to his mission. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle could not, therefore, sacrifice the Rule he 
 had established, and subsequent events proved how wise he was 
 in remaining inexorable. The Church of France was about to be 
 divided by Jansenism, and was beginning to feel the first symptoms 
 of the heresy. Several bishops were to fall victims to its seductive 
 wiles. What might not have happened if the Brothers had been 
 under their separate and exclusive direction, without being sup- 
 ported by the bond that bound them to the mother house? The 
 greater number would have been, in their turn, drawn into error 
 and revolt, and the faith of the people would have been grievously 
 weakened. They were preserved from the contagion by the or- 
 thodoxy of their founder, who remained immovable in his perfect 
 allegiance to the Holy See. In several dioceses, the Brothers were 
 persecuted because of their attachment to the decisions of Rome; 
 but they stood firm, and their union secured their independence. 
 
 In holding out against the plans proposed to him. Blessed de la 
 Salle did not certainly foresee the final consequences of his firm- 
 ness, any more than his adversaries foresaw the fatal results 
 which the triumph of their reforms would have produced. Both 
 sides were actuated by straight-forward motives; but M. de la 
 Salle, having an Institute to found, had special inspiration to guide 
 him, and he was resolved, even at the price of his honor and his 
 
261 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 peace, to carry out to the end the mission that had l>een confided 
 to him. 
 
 The conflict l)roke out in regard to ceitain administrative do- 
 tails. IMcssed de la Salle had placed at the head of the Novitiate 
 a lirother whose imprudent zeal did not sufficiently consider the 
 relatively weak virtue of his disciples. When the servant of God 
 was there, he softened this indiscreet severity; hut during an ah- 
 scnce of some days which he had to make on the business of the 
 community, the directoi' of novices, feeling himself no longer re- 
 strained, gave way to the vehemence of his temper, and over- 
 powered some of the y«iung men with exaggerated penances. 
 These latter, instead of awaiting the return of their father, broke 
 forth into loud complaints, and went off to the parish-priest of 
 Saint Sulpice, to whom they related the treatment they had suf- 
 fered, and the marks of which they still bore. They did not ac- 
 cuse Blessed de la Salle, who was absent, and for wliom they had 
 the deepest tenderness; but M. de la Chetardie, who had had some 
 differences of opinion with him, held him responsible for the faults 
 of his subordinates. He demanded a written deposition of the 
 plaintiffs, and then waited for an occasion to make use of it. 
 
 The director of the Paris schools. Brother Ponce, was himself 
 much too severe. lie was of a hard nature from which Blessed 
 de la Salle had to suffer later on. One Sunday, he went with the 
 Brothers to the Novitiate, where he imposed a rigorous penance 
 on a young novice who was learning in the schools under his 
 direction. The novice made his esc^ipe, and carried his grievance 
 straight to the parish-priest. 
 
 On hearing this new complaint, M. de la Chetardie no longer 
 had any doubt but that these results were the effect of an or- 
 ganized system of direction imposed by the founder himself, and 
 as he already found fault with his administration, he concluded 
 that he was totally unfit to govern. Without examining farther 
 into the affair, he received the new declaration, joined it to the 
 others, and drew up a brief which he forwarded to the ecclesias- 
 tical authorities. It is very likely that he seized this op^tortunity 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 263 
 
 to lodge his own complaint, and give his opinion on several points 
 of M. de la Salle's administration. The latter was accused not 
 only of having made a had choice in the directors of the Brother.^, 
 and of having ordered them to be too severe; his doctrine was in- 
 criminated, and the facts brought against him were laid to the 
 account of a mistaken piety; the accusers went so far as to charge 
 him with Quietism. 
 
 Cardinal de Noailles occupied at this date the Archiepiscopal 
 See of Paris. He was a well-informed and charitable man; but of 
 weak character and vascillating mind. As Bishop of Chalons, he 
 had approved of Quesnel's moral reflexions; as Archbishop of 
 Paris, he had condemned the Jansenist book of Abb6 Barcos. 
 Some time afterwards, he took up arms against the Jesuits, and 
 caused divers propositions taken from their writings to be con- 
 demned in the Assembly of the clergy of 1700. In 1713 he re- 
 fused to receive the Bull Unigenitus; some months later, he re- 
 voked the approbation he had given to Quesnel's book. In 1717 
 he put himself at the head of those who appealed against the Bull 
 Unigenitus, and published a Pastoral letter which was condemned 
 in Borne. Finally, he repented; he made his submission, wrote 
 a touching letter to the Pope, retracted his appeal, and kept all 
 his promises to the Holy See. 
 
 Such a man was likely to be easily prejudiced. Although at the 
 outset he was favorable to Blessed de la Salle, to whom he had 
 granted extended powers, he now lent his ear to the charges that 
 were brought against him, and ordered his Vicar general, M. Pirot, 
 to enquire into these complaints. M. Pirot w'as Doctor and Pro- 
 fessor at the Sorbonne, Canon and Chancellor of Paris, and sev- 
 enty-one years of age; he seemed just the right man to carry out 
 prudently so delicate a mission. For an entire month, once a 
 week, he came to the Novitiate, armed with powers from the 
 Archbishop, and obliged the Brothers to reveal to him on their 
 oath all the grievances they had. Blessed de la Salle was then 
 absent, probably at Troyes, founding a school. He returned while 
 the enquiry was going on; but, humble and resigned, as usual, he 
 
266 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 asked no questions, did not defend himself, but waited patiently 
 on the good pleasure of Providence. 
 
 The investigation proved favorable to him. All the Brothers 
 loved him dearly; they were living in peace, happy in their call- 
 ing, attached to their Rule, and, with the exception of three who 
 wore discontented with the others l)ecause they were discontented 
 with tiieinselves, nobody complained. 
 
 Admitting even that complaints were grounded, they did not in- 
 culpate M. de la Salle, whose gentleness every one praised, and yet 
 tlie holy priest was alone made responsible. Calunmy had its own 
 way against this silent man, who did not answer his accusei's, but 
 confined himself to praying and doing good. Petty jealousies 
 excited by his virtues had gathered round him, and were now cir- 
 cumventing him, and shutting out the remembrance of his works. 
 M. Pirot allowed himself to be deceived, and carried the Arch- 
 Ijishop with him. Soon after. Blessed de la Salle went to pay his 
 respects to the prelate, who received him with his usual p<jlite- 
 ness, but after a few minutes' conversidion, without a word of 
 reproach or explanation to account for his decision, he remarked 
 quietly : " Sir, you are no longer Superior of your community; 
 I have provided it with another." Blessed do la Salle folt the blow 
 thus harshly dealt him, and for which nothing had prepared him. 
 He did not try to parry it, he asked no questions, but withdrew in 
 silence, blessing God who had permitted him to be humiliated. 
 He had often desired to be relieved of the burden which weighed 
 so heavily on him. His prayer was heard. 
 
 He came home, and said not a word to any one about what had 
 occurred. M. Pirot, who had been charged with the enquiry, 
 was also charged to execute the sentence. He sent word privately 
 to Blessed de la Salle what day he would come and install the 
 new Superior, and Blessed do la Salle, fearing some resistance on 
 the part of the Brothers, merely announced to them that there 
 was to be a groat assembly, witlmut saying for what purpose. 
 
 The first Sunday of Advent 1702, all the Brothers of Paris were 
 collected in the large house. A hall had been prepared and dec- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 267 
 
 orated. The Brothers were wondering who would be the high 
 personage that was expected, and what ceremony he was going to 
 preside over. Blessed de la Salle, cheerful and smiling, as usual, 
 superintended every thing. At four o'clock, after Vespers, a coach 
 stopped at the door. The Vicar general, M. Pirot, alighted, accom- 
 panied by a young Abbe. M. de la Salle received him with due 
 honor, and conducted him to the seat that had been prepared for 
 him. His companion sat down beside him, and the bell rang to 
 call in the Brothers, who were all curiosity as to what was going 
 to happen. 
 
 When silence reigned in the hall, M. Pirot opened speech. 
 
 Accustomed to address audiences that were often hard to man- 
 age, and foreseeing resistance, he proceeded cautiously, and began 
 by extolling M. de la Salle, proclaiming him the man chosen by 
 God to found the work, and carry it to its present point. He 
 spoke of his virtues, the labors he had undergone, the services 
 he had rendered, and was lavish of praise. The Brothers listened 
 with delight while their beloved Father was spoken of in these 
 terms, and drowned M. Pirot's voice at intervals with their bursts 
 of applause. 
 
 But suddenly the tone changed, the orator turned from Blessed 
 de la Salle to the new companion he had brought with him, and 
 began his panegyric. M. Bricot, whom he had the pleasure of 
 introducing to them, was a young priest from Lyons, full of vir- 
 tues and merit; he trusted they would obey him in all things, for 
 he was worthy of their esteem and confidence. The Brothers, at 
 first surprised and mystified by this discourse about a stranger, 
 pricked up their ears and began to see through its meaning. The 
 moment they perceived what the orator was about, one of the prin- 
 cipal among them, unable to contain himself, advanced respectfully 
 to M. Pirot, and informed him in the name of all that they 
 already had a Superior, and begged that he would not think of 
 giving them another. 
 
 M. Pirot, quite unmoved, waved him aside with a gesture of his 
 hand, and, resuming his discourse, went on to speak with precision 
 
268 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 of the oriler he had to execute, and the duty it was on their side 
 to ohey it. It was, in fact, a formal command. 
 
 Then began the tumult : " M. de la Salle is our only Superior; 
 we will have no other! " cry out the Brothers and novices in cho- 
 rus; and they add that the Archbishop must have \>een deceived, 
 otherwise he never would have come to a decision so contrary tt> 
 justice and their unanimous desire. The holy founder, grieved 
 by this resistance, raised his voice to quiet the uproar, and re- 
 minded the Brothers of their promises to him. In virtue of that 
 authority invested in him, he requested them to submit to the or- 
 der conveyed to them, and not set an example of obstinacy and 
 rebellion. 
 
 Under other circumstances, his words would have had their 
 immediate efTect ; but the Brothers had now strong reasons to op- 
 pose to them, and they spoke them out boldly. They had sub- 
 mitted themselves to him precisely because he had their whole 
 confidence, but they could not transmit that confidence and his 
 authority at a moment's notice to another. He had created the 
 work, he had directed it; what proof was there that he had lost 
 the grace of God, and that another had obtained it? The motive 
 in changing him was to change the Bule. But they were attached 
 to the Rule, and it would be unfair, as well as cruel, to come now 
 and overthrow the work to w hich they had devoted themselves, and 
 the stale they had embraced. 
 
 All this clamor proved to demonstration how false were the 
 reports on which the Archbishop's sentence had been founded. 
 If the Rule had been too severe, and M. de la Salle a hard 
 and harsh master, his disciples would assuredly not be so hot in 
 his defence. 
 
 M. Pirot ought to have seen at once the mistake he had made, 
 and withdrawn. But the battle had begun, and self-love was up 
 in arm.s. 
 
 He had no sound arguments to oppose to those of the Brothers, 
 so he entrenched himself behind the principle of authority. He 
 took out the Archbishop's orders, sealed with his seal, and read 
 
BOOK II. - LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 269 
 
 them. This deed, in which were set forth the so called misde- 
 meanors of Blessed de la Salle, increased the tumult. The Brothers 
 could not contain their indignation against those who had traduc- 
 ed their Superior, and they appealed from the Archbishop duped 
 to the Archbishop in possession of the truth. 
 
 The master of Novices, whose imprudent direction had brought 
 about the complaints, interfered in his turn, and began loudly to 
 defend his Superior; but he only drew upon himself the wrath of 
 M. Pirot, who looked on him as the author of the unpleasant 
 position in which he, M. Pirot, found himself. He silenced him 
 rudely. " What ! you dare to speak, you who are the primary 
 cause of all this scandal, and unworthy of the post you hold! " 
 The unlucky Brother held his peace and withdrew. 
 
 But there was another person present, who was to the full as 
 much embarrassed. This was M. Bricot, who had come here to 
 be solemnly installed, and who, instead of the honors he anticipated, 
 got nothing but snubs. It was plain that nobody had the least in- 
 tention of obeying him, and the discussion was only increasing the 
 antipathy of the Brothers for a Superior who was being forced upon 
 them. The latter felt he was playing a ridiculous part while his rights 
 and titles were being fought over. He endeavoured to put an end 
 to the scene by begging M. Pirot to leave the Brothers their Supe- 
 rior, adding that, for his part, he would never consent to take the 
 keys of a house where the hearts were closed against him. The 
 conflict lasted a long time. The Brothers would not yield, and 
 M. Pirot would not own himself beaten. But the one who suf- 
 fered most of all was M. de la Salle. 
 
 This public testimony of esteem and affection from his disciples 
 hurt his humility. The rebellion distressed him. Besides this, 
 the hopes he had cherished of being relieved of his burden, and 
 consecrating the rest of his days to solitude and prayer, were 
 again disappointed. 
 
 He did not despair, however, of bringing the Brothers round in 
 time, and when he was accompanying M. Pirot to the door, he 
 told him so. But the Brothers overheard the remark, and at once 
 
270 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 flatly contradicted him. " Our determination is bound up with 
 our vow, " they declared ; " in keeping to the one, we feel tliat we 
 are being faithful to the other. We will have no Superior but our 
 father. If another is forced upon us, let that other bring new 
 subjects with him, for we are all resolved to walk out ol the 
 house. " 
 
 M. Pirot took his departure, carrying with him the conviction 
 that the bond between M. de la Salle and the brothers was indis- 
 soluble, and that it would be impossible to remove him without 
 destroying the community. As he was a most worthy man, ho 
 would not for any consideration, any more than the Cardinal, 
 have ruined a work which was visibly blessed of God, and which 
 produced excellent fruits. There only remained for him to get 
 out of the dilemma as well as he could. 
 
 The authority of the Cardinal had been openly defied, and it 
 had been said that he had been misled. Alas! it was just at this 
 moment that he was himself publicly declaring that the Church 
 " might be mistaken, in asserting that the condemned propositions 
 were in Jansenius;" and some years later, he was to appeal from 
 the Pope to the Council, in regard to Uie Bull Unigenitus. 
 
 M. Pirot could not do less than bear witness to the close union 
 which subsisted between lilesseddela Salle and his disciples, and 
 he added that if it were the same in every community, it would 
 be Paradise, and all the inmates saints. This eulogy of the Broth- 
 ers was fatal to the saintly founder. The Archbishop grew more 
 incensed; hf was angry with his Vicar general, whose vehemence 
 and awkwardness he blamed; with the Brothers, whose resistance 
 held his episcopal authority suspended; with M. «le la Salle, whose 
 virtues had been a scandal to less perfect men. 
 
 It was not that M. de la Salle did not humble himself, and .try 
 to disarm his adversaries. Fearing lest he should be held re- 
 sponsible for the attachment that his children bore him, he went 
 to the Archbishop, fell on his knees before him, and with tears 
 begged pardon for the Brothers' resistance to his orders. The 
 prelate remained some time as if struck dumb. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 271 
 
 He knew how true was Blessed de la Salle's assertion, but it 
 cost him too much to own it; he stood up, and leaving the holy 
 man prostrate before him, walked away without uttering a word. 
 Blessed de la Salle accepted unmurmuringly this new outrage; he 
 went home, and resumed the tenour of his life. 
 
 Meantime, the conflict continued. The Brothers of Paris resolv- 
 ed to interfere and put an end to it. They had recourse to the 
 parish-priest, whose prudence and devotion to the Institute they 
 were sure of. M. de la Chetardie in his turn confided the delicate 
 negociation to a priest of the community of Saint Sulpice, after- 
 wards Bishop of Chalons, the Abbe Madot. 
 
 The latter undertook, without making any noise, to bring the 
 Brothers to an appearance of submission, which, without exacting 
 from them the sacrifice of the points they held to, would save, at 
 least outwardly, the honor of the Archbishop, if, indeed, the hon- 
 or of authority consists in never being in the wrong, or rather in 
 never acknowledging it. The Abbe Madot set off to the novitiate, 
 and took the Brothers apart, one by one, and placed before them 
 the arguments best calculated to make an impression on them. 
 Young and simple and straight-forward, they would have been 
 easily persuaded, had not their mistrust been aroused: as it was, 
 they flatly refused to lend themselves to any compromise. In 
 vain did the Abbe repeat that their resistance was an insult to the 
 Archbishop. They were willing to make the most abject apologies 
 for the insult; but they had no mind to change the Bule, nor to 
 accept a new Superior, and they must have written guarantees. 
 At last they agreed to meet half way. It was settled that they 
 would wait in a body on M. Pirot, acknowledge their misbehaviour, 
 and accept the new Superior, but on the express condition, " in 
 writing," that this new Superior should only have a nominal title, 
 should only come to the community for form's sake, should 
 change nothing, and that Blessed de la Salle should retain all his 
 power. 
 
 After fighting a whole morning, the Abbe Madot, seeing that 
 he could get no more, had to content himself with this result. 
 
272 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 He marched ofT the twelve Brothers to the Sorl)onne, where Abbe 
 Pirot was. They presented their petition on their knees, while 
 giving him to understand that their submission was distinctly 
 conditional. He seemed satisfied. 
 
 This scene took place on the 8lh of December. The following 
 Sunday, the Ahln5 Pirot came to the house wilh the Abb6 Bricot; 
 he again held forth to the Brothers, then the whole community 
 went to the chapel, and they sang the Te Deiim. After this for- 
 mality, the new Superior took leave. He came back once more at 
 the end of three months, to put in an appearance, and after that 
 he never was seen again. The Archbishop g;ive him another em- 
 ployment. 
 
 So the conflict was settled to the satisfaction of both parties. 
 Blessed de la Salle, however, anxious to prevent any future repeti- 
 tion of the same complaints, modified the severity of the Bule, and 
 adopted certain suggestions that were made to him by his eccle- 
 siastical superiors. The Rule was much less severe than that of 
 la Trappe, but he had thought it necessary to conquer nature in 
 order that grace might superabound. He humbly submitted his 
 own opinion to the remonstrances of others. 
 
 The master of novices, whose imprudent severity had brouglit 
 about all tin se vexations, bore the penalty of it. His excentric 
 and capricious disposition could not long support the yoke he had 
 imposed upon himself. He asked Blessed de la S;ille to .«end him 
 to another house and give him charge of a school. This was re- 
 fused him. He was irritated, led away another Brother, and the 
 two made their esGipe. They went to la Trappe, and asked to be 
 admitto<l as Religious. 
 
 The abbey was then governed by Jacques de la Cour, one of the 
 successors of M. de Ranc^, who had been dead two years. The 
 Abbot was too prudent to admit two Brothers still clothed in the 
 habit of their order without the permission of their Superior. He 
 wrote to M. de la Salle, thereby giving him news, for the first time, 
 of the missing disciples, about whom he had l>een full of anxiety. 
 Blessed de la Salle wrote to the Abbot, telling him tlie reasons of 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 LIFE OF BLESSED HE LA SALLE. 
 
 273 
 
 their departure, and entreating him not to admit them. The Ab- 
 bot, of course, refused them. The two wanderers came back to 
 their Superior, and the master of novices was sent to Chartres, 
 where he died soon afterwards of a horrible disease which was 
 looked upon by the whole community as the just punishment of 
 his faults. His companion, in a short time, left the Brotherhood. 
 
 18 
 
Door of the convent of the Dominican Nuns of the Cross, Rue de Oharonne, opposite to where Blessed de la Salle 
 went to reside in i:o3 (p. 278). — Drawn by Hubert Clerget ; engraved by Caharteui. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE IN THE FAUBOURG SAINT-ANTOINE. 
 
 T was in 1703 that Blessed de la Salle 
 left the parish of Saint Sulpice to go 
 to the faubourg Saint Antoine. He 
 was only a tenant in the house of 
 the Rue Vaugirard, and he felt all 
 the inconveniences of this preca- 
 rious situation. So much so, that 
 a few days after his installation, he 
 had a procession in the garden to 
 implore of Almighty God to grant 
 him a settled abode, at least for his 
 novices. 
 
 All the Brothers walked in the procession, and he himself fol- 
 lowed, wearing his surplice. They recited the little office of Our 
 Lady, the Litanies, several Psalms and the Memorare. Their per- 
 
276 BLESSED l)E LA SALLE. 
 
 severing prayer seemed for a moment to be granted. The large 
 house was in every way suitable to their purpose; its position wa.s 
 good, and its extensive buildings afforded ample accommodation. 
 The landlord urged them to buy it, and even promised to let them 
 have it for forty five thousand francs, though it was well worth 
 twice that sum. The opportunity was tempting, but how could 
 one who had given all he possessed to the poor, and who was em- 
 ploying his last resources to feed his disciples, bring forward so 
 considei-able a sum? Suddenly Blessed de la Salle was informed 
 that a charitable person had just left him the sum of fifty thousand 
 francs; all difficulties seemed at an end, and it seemed as if he 
 were about at last to carry out his project. 
 
 However, when he attempted to claim the money, new difficul- 
 ties arose; the adverse influences that had so often opposed his 
 projects were again powerful enough to prevent him from receiv- 
 ing the sum that was due to him, or rather God judged that an 
 heroic act of resignation on the part of his servant, would be for the 
 new-born Institute a firmer and more solid beginning than the ac- 
 quisition of any house, however advantageous it might appear. 
 The money bequeathed to him could not be obtained, and he found 
 liimself as poor and as embarrassed as he was before. 
 
 Meantime, tlie house occupied by the Brothers in the Bue de 
 Vaugirard had been sold, and they were now obliged to leave it; 
 but Blessed de la Salle, seeing himself and his numerous commu- 
 nity absolutely without a shelter, without help or resources for tlie 
 future, begged the new landlord to allow him to remain, until he 
 could find another abode. The landlord, who was a good man, 
 gave the required permission, but happily, at the end of six months, 
 the holy founder discovered in the faubourg Saint Antoine, rue 
 de Charonne, in front of the Convent belonging to the Dominican 
 Nuns of the Cross, a house, with some drawbacks, it is true, but 
 sufficiently large to lodge his community. On the 20th of August 
 1703, after having received the permission of the parish-priest ol 
 Saint Paul, in whose parish the house was situated, he took pos- 
 session of his new home, hoping that by leaving the parish of 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 277 
 
 Saint Sulpice, where he had encountered so many difficulties, he 
 might be forgotten by his enemies. 
 
 Not having asked leave to have a chapel in his own house, Bless- 
 ed de la Salle said his daily mass, at which his community assis- 
 ted, in the chapel belonging to the Dominican Nuns. The Nuns, 
 struck by the sanctity of his demeanour and by the fervor with which 
 he offered up the holy sacrifice, inquired his name and history, 
 and soon interested themselves warmly in the welfare of his com- 
 munity. On hearing of the difficulties and the persecutions from 
 which he had suffered, they strove, by their constant charily, to 
 make him forget his past trials. For many years, they laid aside 
 part of what they possessed for the benefit of the Brothers, and 
 even the departure of the latter made no change in their friendship. 
 When Blessed de la Salle went to Rouen, the alms of his bene- 
 factresses followed him; when, in 1709, the famine drove him back 
 to Paris, he found them ever ready to assist him; their house was 
 his constant resource ; in moments of great want and distress, he 
 would say cheerfully to the Brothers : " Let us go to ' la Croix; ' " 
 and he was never known to return thence empty handed. 
 
 On his side, he was able to render some services to the Nuns, 
 several of whom, impressed by his sanctity, wished to place them- 
 selves under his spiritual direction. He resisted for some time, 
 pleading his occupations and also his dislike to hearing the 
 confessions of women, who generally found him a severe director; 
 but at length he yielded, and his benefactresses were thus able to 
 appreciate still more fully his deep knowledge of spiritual life, and 
 the solidity of his piety. 
 
 He remained in the Rue de Cliaronne about a year and a half, 
 during which time the Brothers of the other schools of the order in 
 Paris, used to come, according to their custom, and spend Sundays 
 and holidays with the community. 
 
 In spite of his deep humility, the renown of Blessed de la Salle 
 soon spread afar, beyond the limits of his parish. On one occa- 
 sion the Governor of the Bastille sent to request him to hear the 
 confession of a priest who was imprisoned for a crime against the 
 
278 BLESSED DE LA. SALLE. 
 
 State. He immediately ol)eyed, and found the unhappy captive in a 
 miserahle condition, forgotten hy all and clad in tattered parments, 
 filled with vermin. M(jved to tears of compassion, the sen-anl of 
 God lovingly clasped the prisoner in his arms, heard his confession, 
 and reconciled him with his Redeemer. Then, he made him take 
 off his soile<l and ragged clothes, and put on his own in exchange, 
 while he joyfully wrapped himself in his penitent's miserable rags, 
 which he concealed under his large cloak. When he left the 
 prison, his soul was full of joy at having relieved the representative 
 of Him who has said : " I was naked, and you clothed me; I was 
 a captive, and you visited me. " 
 
 In spite of his change ot abode, the persecutions from which 
 Blessed do la Salle had previously suffered, were, by God's 
 permission, to follow him to the faubourg Saint Antoine. All the 
 good works that had been founded in Hue de Vaugirard had been 
 removed to the Rue de Charonne. There the novitiate was install- 
 ed; there new schools w^ere opened; there also a new Sunday- 
 school was established. Again it was this school that served as a 
 pretext for fresh attacks on the part of the writing-masters. 
 
 We have already related how, on his arrival in Paris in 1688, 
 Blessed de la Salle had found himself in presence of two powerful 
 communities who, after having for many years been at variance 
 with each other, had at last come to divide the monopoly of public 
 teaching— the school- masters and the writing-masters. At first 
 the new foundation escaped observation; but as it grew and 
 developed, it excited the jealousy of the school -masters, who, in 
 1688 and in 1699, obliged the servant of God to appear before the 
 precentor, in order to justify himself. However their accusations 
 fell to the ground as he proved successfully that the schools he 
 had founded were simply and solely poor schools; moreover he 
 was supported by the pastor of Saint Sulpice, whose powerful 
 influence succeeded in defeating the efforts of his persecutors. 
 
 In 1703, when Bles.sed de la Salle removed to the faubourg 
 Saint Antoine, the situation changed, and the proceedings against 
 him were conducted with more policy and on a different system. 
 
I500K II. — LIFE Ob' BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 279 
 
 The school -masters on the one hand and the writing-masters on 
 the other, forgetting their past differences, made common cause 
 against the new Institute, and while the first summoned the 
 servant of God to appear before the precentor, the second denoun- 
 ced him to the Lieutenant of police; thus he, who had a horror of 
 litigation, found himself summoned before two tribunals, each of 
 which possessed sufficient authority to destroy his work. 
 
 On the 7th of February 1704, while the Brothers were employed 
 in teaching, two commissaries, accompanied by a sergeant, presented 
 themselves at the house, and exhibited a written order of the 
 Lieutenant of police, authorizing them to seize all the writing 
 materials of the schools. In consequence, pens, paper, inkstands, 
 the children's copy-books and even the sign placed over the en- 
 trance, were seized and left under the care of the Brothers them- 
 selves, to whom the sergeant gave strict orders not to touch any ot 
 the confiscated articles, and to whom he left a written paper order- 
 ing them to appear before the police court, in order to hear the 
 sentence that condemned them to the confiscation of their furniture 
 and also to a fine. 
 
 The Brothers were alarmed at these violent measures, but their 
 founder continued his daily occupations as though nothing had 
 occurred; the schools remained open, the children continued to 
 receive instruction, and he would not even reply to the accusations 
 brought forward against him. 
 
 The Lieutenant of police condemned him by default ' to a fine 
 of fifty francs and to the costs, and he was forbidden to receive 
 any children whose parents were not of the poorest, or to give 
 them any instruction above their condition. 
 
 He was condemned at the same time by the precentor to close 
 his schools and pay fifty francs fine, and all the furniture was 
 seized. The sentence of the precentor was only eight day anterior 
 to that of the writing-masters. The two were evidently the result 
 of a concerted attack. The servant of God was to be hunted down, 
 
 ' Archives nationales, Y. 9413. 
 
280 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 condemned by all the tribunals, driven from every shelter, de- 
 clared incapable of teaching altogether, and fi»rced to give up his 
 undertaking. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was not more disturbed by the condemna- 
 tion than he had been by the action against him. It is not on 
 record whether or not he paid the fine; but the school was kept 
 open. This, however, was only the beginning of his trials. 
 
 Other law-suits were at once instituted against him, and his 
 enemies did not lay down their arms. But the servant of God 
 was well equipped for fighting the good fight, and he fought on. 
 His will was of iron, and his heart was of gold. As yet, the 
 attacks had only been directed against the schools of the Rue 
 de Charonne; but those of the faul)ourg Saint Marcel and Saint 
 Sulpice were simultaneously threatened. 
 
 The entire life of Blessed de la Salle is, in truth, worthy of the 
 deepest admiration. During the first centuries of the Church, we 
 see the martyrs go down into the arena, and bare their breasts to 
 the wild beasts, while they uttered that glorious death-cry that 
 has resounded through the ages — " I am a Christian! " Perhaps, 
 in the eyes of God who sees the secret of hearts, M. de la Salle's 
 virtues shone with as bright a lustre, though they were less dra- 
 matically manifested in the sight of men. To open schools in 
 order to secure the salvation of thousands of Christian children, to 
 be compelled to close them, and finally to triumph after the hardest 
 and most prosaic trials — such was the life of the servant of C>od. 
 May we not dare to say that it was in one sense as glorious as 
 that of the martyrs? 
 
 In vain did the Brothers appeal against the last sentence given 
 against their schools in the faubourg Saint Marcel and Saint 
 Sulpice. The whole community was attacked, and Blessed de la 
 Salle with it was condemned without appeal. The sentence was 
 placarded in the public places throughout Paris; bailitTs, with 
 hammers and ladders, arrived at the Hue ilo Charonne, the in- 
 .scription over the door — " Brother.-^ ok the Christian schools " — 
 was taken down; the benches, fables and books were seized; and 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 281 
 
 after six years of existence, even the Sunday-school was destroyed 
 by the animosity of the writing-masters. Secular education had 
 inaugurated its exploits. The servant of God at first took refuge 
 in the parish of Saint Roch, where he assembled his novices, and 
 tried to open a new school. He wandered from parish to parish, 
 
 
 Plan of the faabonrg Saint Antoine, where the convent of the Dominican Nuns, or Daughters of the Crosa, stood ; 
 
 from Jouvln de Rochefort. 
 
 seeking some spot where he might place his work under shelter 
 from the storm, but all in vain. The Saint Roch school did not 
 last. It answered, however, as a temporary refuge where he was 
 enabled to gather round him the remnants of his dispersed com- 
 munity, while he was looking out for a more stal)le asylum. 
 But the hardest trial, the sharpest grief was yet in store for him. 
 
282 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 And it was to come from flie Parliament, the Parliament to which 
 the servant of God looked as to his last hope ! On the r»ih of Feh- 
 ruary 1706, the terrible decree went forth : he was forbidden, he 
 or any of the Brothers, to keep a single primary school in Paris or 
 the Faubourgs, without the formal permission of tin precentor. 
 All seemed lost. 
 
 The holy man was pursued wherever he turned. The precen- 
 tor condemned him, the Lieutenant of police condemned him, and 
 Parliament confirmed the sentence; men who had till now been 
 implacable enemies, grew reconciled in order to attack him, as 
 formerly Herod and Pilate joined hands against Our Lord. He 
 looked round him in vain for a friend, a protector, a powerful and 
 upright judge. Paris, to whose education he had devoted himself, 
 Paris coalesced to persecute him for the good he had been doing 
 there. After fifteen years of futile efforts, he was forced to re- 
 move the centre of his Institute elsewhere. 
 
 But, in truth, it was already done. Pro\idence was taking good 
 care of a work that was to do such good service. The novitiate 
 was no longer in Paris; it had been moved to Rouen six months 
 before. But if the novitiate and the mother-house were gone, the 
 schools remained, and they were to bear the brunt of the onset of 
 all these triumphant adversaries. Their rage was directed above 
 all against the schools of Saint Sulpice. It is true, these only 
 existed as charily schools, and as such the parish-priest had a 
 right to keep them and defend them, but his favourable senti- 
 ments towards Blessed de la Salle had undergone a change, and, 
 taking advantage of this, the writing-masters continued to pursue 
 the Brothers with endless vexations and threats of new fines and 
 law-suits. 
 
 On hearing of these continual persecutions, the Holy Founder, 
 who had removed to Rouen, returned to Paris to his former abode 
 in the parish of Saint Roch. In addition to his mental trials and 
 anxieties, he was just then suffering from a frightful tumour on 
 one of his knees. An operation had been unsuccessfully per- 
 formed in Rouen, and a fresh one became necessarv on his return 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 283 
 
 to Paris. In the midst of the most severe suffering, his courage 
 never failed, and he continued to recite his office with perfect 
 calmness throughout the whole of the operation; suffering had 
 become so familiar to him that the most agonizing pain had 
 not the power to bring from him a word of complaint. 
 
 Meantime, the persecution against his Institute continued. The 
 parish -priest of Saint Sulpice, far from defending the charity 
 schools, which were placed as such under his authority, had, on 
 the contrary, closed that situated in the Rue des Fosses-Monsieur- 
 le-Prince, hoping thereby to disarm the animosity of the writing- 
 masters. This concession only rendered them bolder and more 
 over-bearing in their demands. 
 
 At last, the persecution became so fierce that Blessed do la Salle 
 was obliged to allow the Brothers to leave the schools. One morn- 
 ing, therefore, the pupils, arriving at their usual hour, found the 
 doors closed; at first they fancied this meant a holiday, but as 
 time went on, and the Brothers did not reappear, the parents be- 
 came anxious and went to seek the parish-priest to whom they 
 represented that they were not rich enough to send their children 
 to the paying schools, and that if the charity schools remained 
 closed, their children must be deprived of any kind of instruction. 
 M. de la Chetardie fully entered into their views, but he dared not 
 oblige the Brothers to reopen their schools in the midst of the 
 intrigues and persecutions directed against them by the writing- 
 masters. He, therefore, sent for the latter and after having ex- 
 plained to them that it was he who had invited the Brothers to 
 his parish and who had entrusted his schools to their direction, 
 he added that he was resolved to maintain them at their post, as 
 he had a right to do. Two notaries, who were present at the in- 
 terview, drew up an official document, in which this declaration 
 was embodied, and gave it to Blessed de la Salle that he might 
 use it if further attacks were made against his Institute. 
 
 After three weeks' interruption, the schools were reopened, but 
 their holy founder was destined to suffer fresh anxieties on their 
 behalf. The times happened to be unusually hard; the Brothers 
 
284 lii.ESSED DE I.A SALI.E. 
 
 had no personal resources, and the parish-priest of Saint Sulpice 
 paid them their allowance in notes upon the Slate, which just then 
 were at a very low value, and could not he changed without con- 
 siderahle loss. Ver^• soon Blessed de la Salle came to an end of 
 the small sum thus allowed him, and in his distress he went to 
 the parish -priest, who received him harshly, and declined to give 
 him anything. This la.st trial seemed almost more than he could 
 bear, and, in his discouragement and sjidness, he reproached him- 
 self bitterly with having brought these sufferings upon his Broth- 
 ers, who were personally loved and esteemed, and whose work 
 was popular. It was his presence, he thought, that drew down 
 these humiliations and trials on his disciples. 
 
 He turned to God as his only refuge, and went to make a retreat 
 in the convent of the Carmelite Monks. He spent fifteen days there 
 in prayer and solitude, and seeking in the Divine presence the 
 strength he needed to carry on the fight, and to maintain his cour- 
 age under the sufferings he had to undergo. Meantime, one of the 
 Brothers, who was a favorite with M. de la Ch^tardie, went to see 
 him, and described to him in such moving terms the true condi- 
 tion of the community that the pastor's heart was melted, and im- 
 mediately he gave abundantly what was needed for the wants of 
 the school; thus were the prayers of the holy founder heard, and 
 the trial of famine spared him. But other ti'ials now arose. No 
 sooner had he come out of his retreat than persecution began 
 afresh. We can hardly be surprised if the Bn>thers began to lose 
 heart. They were not heroic enough to keep on battling ag-ainst 
 adversity as their saintly founder did. He did what he thought 
 best for them; he called them from all the schools in the parish, 
 and disseminated them throughout the different houses of the 
 Institute. 
 
 The schools were thus closed, the Director of each house alone 
 remained to explain to all enquirers the cause of this break up. 
 The parish-priest of Saint Sulpice, wishing to save the schools 
 from destruction, tried to find other ma.sters, and having failed, 
 implored the Brothers to return. Their founder was too gentle 
 
liOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 285 
 
 and forgiving to refuse his consent; they therefore returned to 
 Saint Sulpice; ten were appointed to teach in the schools, one was 
 to take charge of the temporal administration of the house, and 
 another of its general government. Early in October, after the 
 schools had reopened, M. de la Ghetardie sent his curate, M. Lan- 
 guet de Gergy, with directions to take down the names, ages and 
 abode of each pupil, and the condition of their parents. It was 
 decided, moreover, that the Brothers could not receive a pupil 
 unless he brought a ticket of admission given to him by the pa- 
 rish authorities. The school-masters had no further excuse for 
 interference, and the Brothers resumed their labors in peace. 
 
Old sate at Chartrea. — Drawn by Hubert Clerget ; engraved by MeauUe. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SCHOOLS IN THE PROVINCES (1699-1703) 
 
 KILE Blessed de la Salle was 
 being persecuted by all the 
 powers of this world; while his 
 benefactors were forsaking him, 
 and the school -masters and the 
 writing-masters were coalescing 
 to shut up his schools; while 
 Parliament was condemning 
 him not to teach; while his own 
 sons were rebelling against him, 
 his work was spreading all over 
 France, and schools were being 
 opened in town after town. It 
 seemed as if every blow struck 
 at the heart of the man of God was like the wound made by the 
 plough-share in the bosom of the earth before the seed, which is 
 
28H BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 to be one day its wealth, is dropped into it. The number of his 
 foundations mi^ht be reckoned by the number of his sorrows. 
 
 In 1699, tlie school - masters took an action against liim; the 
 same year, he founded the school of Chartres. The next year he 
 founded one at Calais; and at Hheims, where he gave all his goods 
 to the poor, he bought in a house which would seem to be the 
 first held by the Institute as its own property. 
 
 The years 1702 and 1703 witnessed his long conflict with the 
 Archbishop; they also saw the foundation of the schools at Troyes 
 and Avignon. Wiiilst in Paris he is stripped of his title of Supe- 
 rior, the Archbishop of Avignon calls the Brothers to his diocese, 
 and the spectacle of their virtue, during three and twenty years, 
 draws from the prelate a testimony which is to contribute after- 
 wards to the recognition of the Institute by the Holy See. In this 
 same year, Blessed de la Salle, accused of inclining towards he- 
 resy, sends the safest and oldest of his disciples to Rome, consent- 
 ing to be deprived of his services for the rest of his life in order 
 to have a living link between the Holy See and the Institute, 
 a faithful representative who may at all times testify to his obed- 
 ience and his faith, and place under the eyes of the Sovereign 
 Pontiff the model of those schools that he wished only to open 
 with his blessing. 
 
 The years 1704, 1705 and 1706 saw the persecution of the 
 school -mastere and the writing-masters; the Institute, shaken to 
 its centre, seemed on the point of perishing. Meantime, schools 
 are being founded at Marseilles, and the vexations that the servant 
 of God has to endure in Paris compel him to fly to Rouen, where 
 the mother-house takes a development that it never could have 
 reached in Paris. 
 
 Ill 1706, the law-suits end in a hostile decree of the Parliament. 
 The next year a new efflorescence of foundations bursts out in the 
 southern provinces. Schools are opened at Mende, at Aiais, at 
 Vair^as, at Grenoble. 
 
 What was the mysterious chain (hat linked these triumphs to 
 the.se trials, and in what scales were the tears and heart-aches of 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 289 
 
 the founder weighed to be accounted worth such abundant bles- 
 sings upon his work? 
 
 Mongefgneur Oudet des Marais (p. 2&1). — Engraved by Ousman, from a coutemporary print. 
 
 These are mysteries which the eye of man can recognize, but 
 into which it may not penetrate. 
 
 19 
 
i90 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 The Bishop of Chartres was the first prelate who invited the 
 Brothers to come to his episcopal city. His predecessors had 
 always shown great zeal for education. A synodal constitution of 
 the year 1555 had laid down that " every parish was to have a 
 public school to instruct the children, unless th«'rc was a priest 
 or a cleric there sufficiently well informed to teach them familiarly 
 the first letters, and to explain the Lord's prayer, the Creed and 
 other things contained in the Alphat)et. " The parish-priests were 
 chai^ied to provide all that was necessary to these schools, which 
 were kept up by the parishioners. It was they who namc^l the 
 masters. They were bound to visit the school once or twice a 
 year, question the children and examine the books. 
 
 The clergy of the town of Chartres had taken these duties to 
 heart. There were already school -mistresses for girls in the 
 parishes of the city. The pastors were eager to have a similar 
 establishment for boys, and they petitioned their Bishop to this 
 effect. This document deserves to be reproduced, for it attests 
 eloquently the zeal displayed l>y the clerg)' for the education «»f 
 youth. " After having several times conferred together, " said the 
 parish-priests, " we are agreed that one of the chief causers of the 
 indocility, the immodesty, the ignorance and visibh' immorality of 
 the children of the town is owing to there being no free schools 
 for the poor; or else because the masters and mistresses who have 
 hitherto taught the poor, almost without any leave or knowledge 
 of superiors, only doing it as a means of gaining their bread, 
 have not acquitted themselves as they should for the advantage 
 of the chililren, either from incapacity or want of zeal and appli- 
 cation ; that it becomes needful now to take serious steps to 
 remedy this great evil, so that there may 1k' in the city s<»me few 
 school- masters and mistresses — under your gracious orders — <»f 
 whose capacity, piety and zeal there can be no doubt, and to 
 whom we may entrust the care of youth; and ab<tve all, that thi're 
 may be some free schools for th«' children of the p<M>r, who for 
 want of being able to pay masters, being neither taught n(»r kept 
 at school, but wandering about and idling, become easily corrupted 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 291 
 
 and grow incorrigible. With this idea, and having heard that 
 there is in Paris a priest of great piety who educates and trains 
 for this office young men who have all the qualities necessary for 
 filling it worthily, and that he gives them wherever they are asked 
 for, provided their maintenance be secured, for which a very 
 modest sum is sufficient, we felt it an obligation to have recourse 
 
 Chartres : front of the cmthedral. — Drawn by H. Tonssaint. 
 
 to your lordship to entreat you to use your influence, and even 
 your alms, in order to procure for this town so powerful a help 
 towards the reformation of the ills of the people. " 
 
 The Bishop of Chartres was then Mfl'" Godet des Marais, who 
 had known Blessed de la Salle at the seminary of Saint Sulpice, 
 where he had himself been educated. Since that time, he had 
 followed with interest the rise and growth of the Institute. Greatly 
 preoccupied concerning the Christian education of youth, he had 
 written as early as the year 1694 to beg the servant of God to give 
 
i9i BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 him some Hrothers. But bavintj only a small number th»'n, the 
 latter couKl not comply with his request. The Bishop had repeated 
 it several limes at intervals, and in IGJH), urged by the parish- 
 priests, he wrote ajpiin, and more pressinj^ly. Blessed «le la Salle 
 woultl not come to any decision without consulting the }{rothers. 
 He acquainted them with the desire of M<jr Clodft des Marais, and 
 enlarjred upon his zeal. They were of opinion that it would not Ijc 
 right to reject such an opportunity of doing goml, and all volun- 
 teered to accept the mission. Blessed de la Salle s<.'lected from 
 their number six of the most intelligent and zealous; he added a 
 seventh Brother for the material service of the house, and the little 
 colony went forth, as a swarm of l>ees takes flight from an over- 
 crowded hive to build a new hive somewhere else. 
 
 The Bishop of Chartres took charge of all the expenses. But it 
 was not enough to have masters, and to open sch(X)ls, it was 
 necessary to fdl them and for this end to induce the parents to 
 send their children there. The prelate, accordingly, on the 4lh of 
 October, issued a Pastoral letter instructing the parents on their 
 duties, and announcing the opening of the schools for the 12th of 
 the month. They were opened, and the children arrived in great 
 numbci-s. 
 
 As long as Ms"" Godet des Marais lived, he felt the most tender 
 solicitude for the Brothers of the Christian schools; he visited them 
 frequently, made himself acquainted with their want.s, provided 
 for them, and was careful, above all, to moderate their artlor and 
 austerity. " If you will not fatten the victim tlu' l)etter to immolate 
 it, you ought at lea.st to feed it and not overburden it with w»>rk 
 and with an excessive load of austerities. " In order to put this 
 precept in practice, the worthy Bishop used to search for the 
 instruments of penance made use of by the Brothei-s. and conliscate 
 them. 
 
 He had no less est«>em and alTection for Ble.^seil de la S;dle, and 
 when the latter came tt) Chartres to see the iJrothn-s, he ivceiveil 
 him with all honor, and gave him pressing invitations to his labl«>. 
 Blessed de la Sidle declined them with sucli persistent humility, 
 
nOOK II. — LIFE OK BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 293 
 
 that one day, determined to overcome him, the Bishop had tiie 
 doors of the palace locked, and so kept him a prisoner. The holy 
 man, finding he could not get out, submitted with a good grace, 
 and went in to dinner. Amongst the guests were M. d'Auhigne, 
 Vicar general, afterwards Bishop of Noyon, and finally Archbishop 
 of Bouen. After dinner, the Bishop and his Vicar attacked Blessed 
 de la Salle about the severity of his Bute and the extreme poverty 
 of his clothes. They criticized his thick shoes, his broad hat and 
 his patched cloak. He defended himself with his wonted simpli- 
 city, and gave the reasons which had led him to frame the Bule 
 as it stood. The shabbiness of his clothes was such, however, 
 that the Bishop made him a present of a cloak, and to leave him 
 no pretext for not accepting it, he had it made of the coarsest and 
 commonest stuff. M. de la Salle took the gift humbly as an 
 alms, and wore it; but not long after, as he was coming home one 
 winter's night, he was accosted by robbers who took a fancy to 
 the cloak, and he let them have it. 
 
 The schools of Chartres had prospered rapidly. The aspect 
 and example of the Brothers, their gentleness, their devoted- 
 ness, impressed the children, and disposed them to receive their 
 lessons. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle heeded, nevertheless, great perseverance and 
 strength of soul to preserve the Bule intact amidst all the con- 
 tradictions that assailed it. Wherever he presented it, he was 
 met by particular views and traditions and prejudices. Thus the 
 Bishop of Chartres did not at all approve of his teaching the 
 children to read French before Latin. Latin was no longer the 
 general language, as formerly, but it was still the language of 
 educated people, and those who were entering on their studies, 
 began by learning to read it. French came afterwards, as if it 
 had been a dialect without a literature that was not worth while 
 making a study of. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle held to his opinion. He showed that times 
 were changed, that French was now the language universally 
 spoken, necessary, and easy to learn. It was very easy to go on 
 
294 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 from French to Latin, whereas it was (lirficult to liegin with the 
 latter, whose hard words were so much more iininteiiigihU* to 
 children. If, as it often happened, the school studies were cut 
 short hefore the time, those who had learned French at least 
 carried away with them a little stock of knowledge, whereas, if 
 they had only learned to read I^tin without understanding it, and 
 without having learned to read French, they had w.isted their time. 
 Mo"" Godet des Mai-ais yielded to these arguments. 
 
 Poor, dear house of Chartres! God tried it severely. Tlie Broth- 
 ers suffered want and hunger there more than onc«. In 1705, 
 an epidemic carried olT a great many of them. They stayed at 
 their post and fell, making no display, modestly heroic. And at 
 Chartres, as in Paris, they had the plague of law-suits, that other 
 epidemic. But, through God's grace, Blessed de la Salle and his 
 Brothers came triumphantly out of them, and, in the long run, 
 the Chartres foundation prosperetl. 
 
 The establishment of Calais was only a few months Ijehind that 
 of Chartres. Towards the end of 1699, a young ecclesiastic who 
 was studying theology at the seminary of Bons-Enfants, M. Pon- 
 thon, nephew of the former Dean of Calais, saw one day the 
 children of the Christian schools assisting at mass in the church 
 of Saint Sulpice. He was struck by their recollection and their 
 discipline, and enquired at once who were the masters that 
 brought them up so well. As soon as he came to know the Broth- 
 ers, he conceived a lively desire to endow his native town with 
 one of their schools. He was about to sua'<?ed to the position of 
 parish-priest of Calais on the resignation of his uncle, and he 
 already held his future parish in affection. He wrote to, his uncle 
 about the school, and the latter Iwide him go and .see Hli^ssed de la 
 Salle, and ask him for Brothers, promising to do all in his power 
 to assist them in organizing the establishment. 
 
nOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 29o 
 
 The aldermen of the city, rehgioiis men, eager for the Christian 
 education of youth, approved of the scheme. They wrote to M. de 
 Bethune, governor of Calais, to obtain his consent. The latter, 
 sincerely pious, and already well informed on the subject from 
 an interview he had with Blessed de la Salle, not only consent- 
 ed to the foundation, but gave the Brothers a letter signed 
 by himself and sealed with his arms, recommending them to 
 the town in the warmest terms. M. Bignon, vice-governor of 
 Picardy and Artois, declared himself their protector. Finally, the 
 Bishop of Boulogne, Mo'" Pierre de I'Angle, granted the necessary 
 authorization. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, yielding to all these advances, sent two 
 Brothers, whose first act was to throw themselves at the feet of 
 the Bishop, and ask his permission to teach Christian doctrine. 
 The prelate granted the permission, and wrote a Pastoral, inviting 
 the inhabitants of Calais to send their children to the schools. 
 
 The school opened, therefore, under the most favorable con- 
 ditions. Priests and laymen vied with one another in supporting 
 it. Thanks to M. Ponthon, it was even favored by gifts from the 
 King, in 1701 and 1702. 
 
 The success of this foundation inspired several persons with the 
 desire of making another one. There was a quarter at Calais 
 called Court-Gain, quite isolated, and inhabited only by sailors — 
 an honest population with a strong sense of religion at heart, 
 but steeped in ignorance. The children from their tcnderest age 
 went out to sea, and fished, and no one troubled to teach them 
 anything. 
 
 A zealous ecclesiastic, M. Leprince, who was chaplain of the 
 district, wished very much tp have a school there; but for this 
 there wanted the ground, a house. Brothers, and funds to support 
 Ihem. Charity compassed all these WMuts. 
 
 The aldermen of the city, together with the parish -priest, wrote 
 to M. de Pontchartrain for the concession of a square situated in 
 Court-Gain, where there was a guard-house. They obtained it. 
 The chancellor himself wrote to the Dean on the 4th of May 1703 — 
 
296 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 " I explained to M. Bi(^non the intentions of His Majesty re^rd- 
 ing the Brotliers of the Ciiristian scliools for the instruction of the 
 children of the sailors at Court-Gain. You iiave only to apply to 
 him; he will provide all they want" Blessed de la Salle ha-stened 
 to despatch two Brothei-s. The King granted them an annual 
 pension of one huiulriHl and fifty francs, afterwards increased to 
 three hundred, and which was paid until his death. 
 
 The success of the sailors' school was no less complete than 
 that of the children of the town. Blessed de la Salle's name was 
 in veneration there. He went to this school for the first time 
 in 1716, and was received with great honor by a pious layman, 
 M. Gence, who took advantage of having him at table to get his 
 portrait taken unknown to him, the painter Ixnng hidden behind 
 the tapestry. On discovering the trick, the holy man's humility 
 was deeply wounded. 
 
 M. (Jence had a large fortune. He had never married, and 
 placed all his means at the service of religion. He labored, above 
 all, at the conversion of Protestants; but he had a great zeal also 
 for the work of the Brothers. " You are husbandmen in the 
 field of the father of the family, " he would say to them, ' and if 
 you were not called in at first to work there, you ai'e at last called 
 to clear away the most neglected part. You are gleaners who 
 follow in the track of the reapers, to pick up here and there the 
 ears that were strewn about, forgotten and trampled under foot. 
 If you do not go up to the altar, or a.scen<l into the pulpit, if you 
 do not enter the confessional or the baptistry; if your functions 
 do not put the thurible into your hand to offer incense to the Most 
 High in His temple, you have at least the honor of preparing for 
 him living temples, and of laboring for the sanctification of 
 neglected and forsaken youth. You fill the office of the Apostles, 
 who gladly laid aside every other employment of their ministry to 
 give themselves up individually to prayer and the preaching of 
 the doctrine of Jesus Christ. " 
 
 Noble words, and well worthy of being quoted alongside of so 
 many others in praise of the pious laymen of the seventeenth 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 297 
 
 and eighteenth centuries. M. Charles de Ribbc found nothing 
 finer in his " books of reason. " This is saying a great deal in a 
 few words. 
 
 The Troyes school dates from 1703. Nuns had long been en- 
 trusted in this town with the education of girls, and the clergy 
 took charge of that of the boys. Before d703 there were free 
 schools for both sexes in all the parishes; but here, as elsewhere, 
 the great difficulty was to find proper masters. 
 
 In 1702, a pious lady bequeathed to the parish -priest of 
 Saint Nizier, M. le Bey, an annuity of two hundred francs to 
 establish a charity school. The latter at once bethought him of 
 the Brothers, and begged Blessed de la Salle to send him some. 
 An annuity of two hundred francs was not enough for two, if 
 their board and lodging was to be paid for out of it. The holy 
 man entreated the parish -priest, who resided at the little semi- 
 nary, of which he was superior, to give them up his presby- 
 tery. The parish-priest consented, and the contract was at once 
 drawn up. The Brothers arrived in 1703, and immediately open- 
 ed the school. For seven years they remained at the presby- 
 tery, and subsisted on two hundred francs a year, as their sole 
 income. 
 
 In 1710, the successor of M. le Bey could not let them keep on 
 in the presbytery, and they had to look out for another house. 
 Their small allowance now became quite insufficient; but they 
 were loved, and many persons came to their assistance. The 
 Bishop, M. Bouthillier de Chavigny, had taken them under his 
 wing, and was full of zeal for the schools; he could not fail to love 
 the disciples of Blessed de la Salle. 
 
298 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 In 17011, the Institute tiKjk root in L;tn(;uei|(M- and Provence. It 
 was the moment when the p«^rsecutii>n again.><t the holy founder 
 was at its lieijihl in Paris. Providence, while ."Striking him with 
 one hand, ronsoled him with the other, and trials were the in- 
 struments that fasliioned his future prosperity. For him, as for- 
 merly for the apostles, perserution, while saitlering his floek and 
 compelling him to fly, led him at the siime time to ciury the seo<l 
 of his Institute with him wherever he went, and, in wandering 
 from town to town, he planted schools. 
 
 In the year 1702, M. Jean Pierre de Madon, lord of Chdteau- Blanc, 
 treasurer of the Pope at Avignon, wished \.o found a charity school 
 in that town. His wife in dying Itequeathed to him six thousand 
 francs for this purpose, hut he knew not how to carry out her 
 pious intention. Here, as everywhere, masters were wanting. He 
 was searching for some on all sides, when a gentleman from 
 Lyons told him of Blessed de la Salle's Institute. M. ile ChAteau- 
 Blanc wrote at once to ask him for two Brother.^. 
 
 The holy man hesit;itetl. He feared that his children, removed 
 far from him into a country surrounded by heretics, might lose 
 the love of their Rule, and be influenced by the seductive atmo- 
 sphere of error. While he was hesitating, one of the Brothers 
 whom he had sent to Rome returned, and was passing by Avi- 
 gnon. M. de ChAteau-Blanc heard of this, and intercepted him, 
 and was so charmed with him that he wrote again to Blessed de 
 la Salle, and with such earnestness that there was no resisting the 
 appeal any longer. 
 
 M. de la Salle sent two Brothers. M. de ChAteau - Blanc 
 lodged them while their own house was being prepared, and 
 added to the sum already given to them, so that they might 
 be in want of nothing. The fii-st thing the Brothei-s did on 
 arriving was, as usual, to throw themselves at the fi'«'t of the 
 Archbishop, Mn"" Maurice de Gontery, to ask his aulhoriziition 
 and his blessing. The Archbishop received them with the great- 
 est kindness, granted them all they desired, and the scho<.)l was 
 opened in 1703. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 299 
 
 It was soon so flourishing that the two Brothers were not enough. 
 M. de Chateau-Blanc wrote to Blessed de la Salle in 1705 to ask 
 him for another. The town, he said, was greatly edified by his 
 disciples, and the vice-legate was so pleased with them that 
 he showed it at every opportunity. But their number must be 
 augmented. God would provide for their wants : " I have no 
 doubt but that He will, for this work of charity is the most 
 needed of any in our town. I hope, sir, that you will come 
 and judge for yourself, and that we shall have the happiness of 
 seeing you. " 
 
 The new Brothers were sent. The vice- legate, by order of 
 Pope Clement XL, and the Archbishop, undertook to support 
 them. The latter prelate took the liveliest interest in the schools; 
 he went frequently to visit them, passed whole hours there assist- 
 ing at the classes and questioning the children, stimulating their 
 emulation, sending for them to his palace, and hearing them recite 
 their catechism. 
 
 The Avignon Brothers kept two schools : " one for the larger 
 and more advanced boys, where they learned to read, write and 
 cypher, and one for the smaller and more backward children, 
 who only learned to read. Every day they went to mass, and 
 the Brothers explained Christian doctrine to them; on Sundays 
 and jholidays they took them to high mass and vespers in the 
 parish, and gave them further lessons in catechism. 
 
 The schools were established in a house bought by M. de Cha- 
 teau-Blanc, in the parish of Saint Pierre, in the quarter of Puits- 
 de-Ia-Reine. They were very far from the Rhone, near which a 
 great many artisans lived. Another school was, therefore, founded 
 by and by in this hew quarter, with the assistance of the town 
 and the Sovereign Pontiff. 
 
 The Holy See, kept informed by the Archbishop, was in sympa- 
 thy with the Brothers. The Archbishop gave them, in 1720, 
 a certificate stating that " since they had been settled in the 
 town, they had always filled their office with great zeal and 
 assiduity; that the public were greatly benefitted by their efforts 
 
300 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 to bring up the childron in a Christian way, and that their 
 modesty and the purity of their lives had always l)een a source of 
 edification. " 
 
 This testimony contributed powerfully to the recognition of the 
 Institute by the Holy See. 
 
 We cannot speak of the schools in the provinces without com- 
 ing back to Rheims, which had been their cradle. After the 
 departure of Bles.sed dc la Salle, the. seminary for the country 
 school -masters had been dispersed, and tin- little sf'minar>- had 
 been brought back to Paris; but the schools remain<Hl, and the ill- 
 will manifested towards them at lirst had given way lo more just 
 sentiments. The relatives, thf form»'r brcthern, the friends of M. de 
 la Salle became interested in his work, and lent their assistance to 
 esUd)lish it on a solid basis. 
 
 On the nth of August 170(), Blessed de la Salle, conjointly 
 with his brother Louis, M. Chuidc Pepin, cjuion of the cathedral, 
 and another priest, M. de la Val, purchased a house where the 
 Brothers kept a school and which is situated at the entrance of 
 Rue Neuve, opposite the convent of Saint Claire. This purcha.se 
 cost them nine hundred and fifty francs. The following year 
 they bouglit two more houses next to this one, and drew up a 
 deed to explain their intentions. It was agrwd that these hous(>s 
 should be purchased to lodge the Brothel's and keep their .schools, 
 without their heirs being able to make any claim on them. In the 
 event of the death of one of them, the surviv<n's were to choose a 
 partner who would become co-proprietor with them. Even the 
 event of the Brothers giving up their work was foreseen, and in 
 that case the property was to pass to the country school-mistresses 
 of the fr«'e schools. 
 
 This arrangement lasted for long years, even after the death of 
 Blessed de la Salle. The co-proprietoi"s died off one after another, 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 301 
 
 but the survivors always provided successors to tliem, and in 1725 
 one of his nephews and heirs, Pierre de la Salle, named two other 
 canons to be co- proprietors with him of the houses that belonged 
 to the schools. 
 
 Such a success was in a measure the result of Christian prudence, 
 but far more and above all of God's blessing. 
 
Rome : Saint Peter'e. — Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by MeaoIIe. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SCHOOL IN ROME. 
 
 LESSED de la Salle wished to have 
 a school near the Holy See, in order 
 that the Sovereign Ponti^T might 
 judge of his work, bless it if he 
 found it good, and grant him right 
 of citizenship in the Church. Mod- 
 est as were his resources, few as 
 were his disciples, he nevertheless 
 decided on sending two of them to 
 Rome, and he chose for the carrying 
 out of this mission Gabriel Drolin, 
 one of the two who took the vow 
 
 of stability with him in 1691. To Gabriel he joined his brother 
 
 Gerard Drolin. 
 
 The two new missionaries set out in 1700. Brother Gerard fell 
 
304 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ill, and was oldipt'd to return to France the following year; Brother 
 Gabriel Drolin continued to pursue his mission in Home. He 
 remained there more than a quarter of a century, far from his 
 spiritual father, from his community, exposed to all s«jrts of 
 temptations, but pursuing faithfully the mission he had received 
 which was to obtain the papal approbation for his Institute. 
 
 Things did not go smoothly, and Brother Drolin encountered 
 many difficulties, some coming from persons, some from the cus- 
 toms of the country, others, finally, from want of means. Months 
 went by before it was possible to est^iblish anything, and Blessed 
 de la Sidle kept writing him letter after letter to stir up his zeal 
 and support his courage: — " Pray constantly that God may do 
 with you as He plea.ses. You must be wholly abandoned to His 
 guidance and to His holy will, and you nmst do nothing without 
 His counsel. " Brother Drolin and the Institute were both so poor 
 that he was informed one day as a piece of good news that a pious 
 lady had promised to buy him a habit. 
 
 In spite of the expedients to which he was driven. Brother 
 Drolin did not lose sight of the foundation of a school, and M. de 
 la Salle never ceased urging him alnjut it. He succeeded at 
 last. A Christian family gave him his meals out of charity; but 
 he did not live in their house, and he spent his days teaching. 
 Blessed de la Sjille congratulates him, and offers to send him books; 
 but one sees in his letters that the spirit of prudence keeps con- 
 stantly restraining him:— " I don't wish to go forward in any- 
 thing; and I will not go forward in Home more than anywhere 
 else; Providence must take the first step, and I shall be content 
 when I see that I am acting under His dictates. I shall then have 
 nothing to reproach myself with, whereas, when I undertake a 
 thing, it is always I, and I never expect much good to come of 
 that, unless God gives it a large blessing. " 
 
 However, the Roman school was founded, and Brother Drolin 
 had infoimed Blessed de la Salle of the event. It held on for 
 several years, poor, but still nourishing. In 170(5, it was approval, 
 and on the 12th of May of that year, Blessetl de la Sidle l)egged 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 303 
 
 Brother Drolin to let him know the exact date of the patents. It 
 had taken four years of efforts and entreaties to obtain them. Mean- 
 time, the school prospered. The children were numerous, and 
 Blessed de la Salle was happy about it. 
 
 Brother Drolin was overladen with work. He was alone to keep 
 this large school, to represent the Brothers in Bome, and to make 
 known the Institute to high ecclesiastical personages. Under this 
 burden his health broke down, and he fell very ill. It was to be 
 feared also that his love for the interior life might grow cold from 
 lack of time to devote himself to prayer. M. de la Salle reminds 
 him of this ' : "It is about eight days since I received your letter, 
 my very dear Brother; I was greatly distressed about your illness, 
 and I rejoice that God has restored you to health. I also have 
 been very ill this last week, not being able to walk; but I am now 
 much better. I was much surprised not to have news of you, and 
 this troubled me. What I mean to do is to send you a Brother 
 by the end of this summer, for I want badly to let you have more 
 rest, and more time to apply yourself to meditation. Yet I don't 
 know what there is to prevent your doing this. Pray Our Lord 
 to bless His work. " 
 
 The intention of sending another Brother to Rome was not 
 carried out, either for* want of the money, or for want of the Bro- 
 ther. M. de la Salle did all he could, meantime, to cheer and 
 sustain Brother Drolin : he kept him informed of all that passed in 
 the community; he asked him for his prayers, and assured him of 
 his, and did his best to prevent loneliness and distance making the 
 absent one feel that he was outside the family circle. 
 
 Brother Drolin's trials were manifold. Money above all was 
 wanting, and it seems that, in order not to starve. Brother Drolin 
 had to go into a private house, probably the one where he had 
 first received hospitality. Blessed de la Salle was uneasy at this, 
 and in 1708 he writes to him : " Tell me if you are in the same 
 place, and if you are not on the look-out for something else. 
 
 ' Leilcr, April 1st 1705. 
 
 20 
 
306 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 I pray Our Lord to till you full of His spirit, and to do with you 
 as it pleases Him. " 
 
 Such persevering prayer could not remain sterile. Brother 
 Drolin ended by obtaining a school from the Pope, and, in order 
 to manage it, he left M. de la Bussidre's house, on which Blessed 
 de la Salle joyfully congratulates him : '' This is what I sighed 
 for. I know there is work to be done where you are now, and 
 I rejoice that you have a good number of scholars. " And the 
 holy man blesses God. 
 
 Brother Drolin, sustained by the advice of his absent father, was 
 enabled to stand firm in his duty, and faithful to his Rule, and to 
 live for eight and twenty years away from his community without 
 faltering in his vocation. A great number of the letters written to 
 him by Blessed de la Salle are lost; but those that remain are 
 sufficient to enable us to appreciate the spirit that breathed 
 from all. 
 
 Those written towards the end bear especially the stamp of an 
 unbounded confidence : " It was not my will that has kept me 
 .so long without writing to you, " he writes in 171G; •' I a.s.sure 
 you I have a very tender afl'ection for you, and 1 often pray to God 
 for you. " 
 
 Brother Drolin never again saw Blessed de la Sidle in this life. 
 He remained in Rome till 1728, and only returned to France 
 seven years after his holy protector had gone to his rest in the 
 Lord. He remained for a quarter of a century the representative 
 of his community in Home; the Sovereign Pontiff judged of the 
 master by the disciple, and of the entire work by that little school 
 which excited the admiration of the Romans themselves, accus- 
 tomed as they are to the marvellous achievements of sanctity and 
 genius. 
 
 Brother Drolin died in il'X^. in the coinnmnity of Auxonne. in 
 the diocese of Besangon. 
 
J^. 6'>\BA-RTEVX_rfC. 
 
 Rouen. — House called " The Rampart, " attached to the old Hospital where the Brothers taught the children 
 of ihe said Hospital (p. 316). — Drawn by fidouard Gamier; engraved by Cabarteui. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 WORK IN ROUEN (1705) 
 
 N 1705, Blessed de la Salle was called 
 to Rouen. The education of children 
 had not been so neglected in this 
 town as in many others. Norman- 
 dy was one of the most advanced 
 provinces of France, and the town 
 of Rouen, in particular, contained a 
 number of charitable persons who 
 were striving actively to procure 
 for the poor the benefits of Christian 
 instruction. 
 There was in Rouen a very an- 
 JL f cient charitable administration called 
 
 Office of the poor who were not sick, " les pauvres valides. " 
 It was a committee composed of members of the magistracy, the 
 
308 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 clergy and the municipality, who met every week to consult about 
 the wants of the poor, like our Offices of relief. Their funds were 
 collected from voluntary contributions of the town's people, fines, 
 collections in the churches, gifts and legacies. They distributed 
 alms to the poor on certain days, put children out to nurse, and 
 performed miracles of energy- in fijrhting against misery and allev- 
 iating it. Towards the middle of the seventeenth century, this 
 committee changed its character, and turned into something like 
 our hospital committees of the present day. Men of good will, 
 belonging to the best families in the town, gave up every other 
 occupation, and took up their abode in the general hospital, in 
 the midst of the poor, in order to minister to them. Such were 
 at this period the two brothers Bimorel, one of whom was the 
 treasurer of PYance, and the other canon of the Metropolitan 
 Church and councillor of Parliament. 
 
 The Office had not overlooked the education of poor children. 
 As early as 1555, it had purchased, in different quarters of the 
 towns, four houses where four priests were to teach poor children 
 " to fear and praise God, the Creed and the G>mmandments of the 
 law, their little book, reading, writing, and above all good be- 
 haviour. " The four masters charged with this mission were 
 lodged, and received each fifty francs salary. Charit;ible persons 
 had provided funds for the maintenance of these schools. They 
 held on more or less satisfactorily for a century. Their number 
 diminisheil, however, and towards the year 1655 there was only one 
 left. Just at this date the Office turned the schools into a s<jrt of 
 refuge where poor children, boys and girls, from the age of eight, 
 were taken in and formed to piety, and taught to read and write, 
 and were employed in divers kind of works and trades, A school 
 similar to that of the general hospital was founded at the same 
 time. Two priests were charged with the Christian instruction, 
 and a writing-master came, at a salary of fifty-four francs, to teach 
 reading and arithmetic. 
 
 The number of children taken in and taught in this way was 
 necessarily restricted, and varied according to the means of the 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 309 
 
 Office. But outside these houses, a great number of children 
 were deprived of every kind of instruction. Struck by this state 
 
 Rouen : the.Catliedral. — Drawn by Selller. 
 
 of things, M. Laurent de Bimorel undertook to restore the district 
 schools. 
 
310 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Then it was that M. Nyel appeared on the scene. In 1657, he 
 was employed, at a salary of a hundred francs, to instruct the 
 little Ixtys of the Office in the rudiments of Christian doctrine, 
 to teach them to read and write. A little later, he interests 
 himself in the children when they are put out to serve their 
 time as apprentices, or get placed as .servants. M. de Bimorel 
 found M. Nyel a precious auxiliary for the re-opening of the dis- 
 trict schools. From 1661 to 1669 they were opened in divers 
 parts of the town, first in the parish and the cemetery of the 
 church of Saint Maclou, then in the church and c^meter^* of 
 Saint Vivien, then in the Gobelin tower for the Beauvoisin district, 
 then at Darnetal, Saint Sever and elsewhere. From the time of 
 their first establishment until their restoration towards the middle 
 of the seventeenth century, the popular charitable schools of Rouen 
 were in the hands of ecclesiastics. But it was impossible to find 
 amongst the clergy a succession of men willing to devote themselves 
 to these lowly functions, and to renounce for the rest of their lives 
 positions much more in keeping with their habits and education. 
 The school died out for want of masters. 
 
 Then came the Brothers instituted by M. Nyel, but this institu- 
 tion lacked foundations, and so declined rapidly after the death of 
 its founder. The Brothers grew tired and fell away from the work, 
 and subjects could not be found to fill up the vacancies made by 
 death or change in their ranks. Various expedients were resorted 
 to, but without success; every effort failed, and the schools of 
 Rouen were falling to pieces. 
 
 Then it was that Blessed de la Salle was appealed to. A school 
 had been founded by M. Laurent de Bimorel in 1670 at Darnetal, 
 a manufacturing village at the gates of Rouen, and was kept up 
 by the members of the Congregation of Our Ljidy, established at 
 the Jesuits'. One of these latter, Abb4 Deshayes, who later be- 
 came parish - priest of Saint Sauveur at Rouen, had been with 
 M. de la Salle at Saint Sulpice, and was acquainted with his work. 
 The Darnetal school-master being dead, Abb6 Deshayes gave such 
 an account of Blessed de la Salle's communitv. that the members 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 311 
 
 all agreed to ask for Brothers to carry on the school. M. Deshayes 
 wrote to Abbe Chardon de Lagny, of the community of Saint Sul- 
 pice, and begged him to negociate the matter. The holy founder 
 did not reject the proposal. 
 
 They offered the Brothers the modest sum of one hundred and fifty 
 francs a year — this was not enough to live upon. Nevertheless, 
 Blessed de la Salle accepted, Darnetal was the first seat of Mme de 
 Maillefer's and M. Nyel's schools; and he held to founding his 
 there. He sent a Brother to examine the house that was offered 
 to him; it was suitable and near the Church, so he consented to 
 give two Brothers. He stipulated, however, that they were not to 
 be taken from the work of the schools. The village school-masters 
 were often employed by the pastor in the inferior offices of the 
 church; they wore the surplice, chaunted at the choristers' desk, 
 and did duty as sacristans. These occupations were calculated to 
 interfere with the Bule of the Brothers, and their founder could 
 not tolerate such an abuse. The Darnetal school was opened 
 in 1705. In a short time, it was so flourishing and so largely 
 attended, that its fame reached the ears- of the Archbishop, who 
 set his heart on having one like it in the episcopal town. 
 
 At Bheims, Blessed de la Salle had had to struggle against the 
 opposition of his family. In Paris, he had had to overcome the 
 jealousy of a fraction of the clergy. At Rouen, he was destined to 
 come into collision with the inveterate routine and the parsimo- 
 niousness of a charitable body who, after systematically repulsing 
 the Brothers, now sought to get as much work out of them with 
 as little pay as possible, never stopping to consider whether the 
 willing laborers would not break down under the burden. Thus, 
 on every side, was his work to be strengthened by contradiction. 
 But as God never fails to put the means close to the obstacles. 
 Blessed de la Salle met at Rouen two powerful protectors by whose 
 aid he succeeded in triumphing over all difficulties. One was the 
 Archbishop; the other, M. Camus de Pont -Carre, First President 
 of Parliament. 
 
 The Archbishop of Rouen at the time was Mor de Colbert, son 
 
312 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 of the minister, Doctor of the Sorbonne, member of the French 
 Academy, and one of the founders of the Academy of Inscriptions 
 
 Jtajin-Hlcolu Cbllwrl , Oo^nlor, th«a AnkMikiv d Bomb, flma ■ prtel of tlw ftrKA 
 — Drawl bj tdonart flanlw i —nn * tf Clf>ni, 
 
 and Letters. Heir to the immense libnuy of his faiiier, he had also 
 inherited his taste for study, and was a patron of learning. As 
 regarded Jansenism, he had not always been as firm as he ought. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 313 
 
 and at the clerical Assembly of 1706, had gone so far as to declare 
 that the constitutions of the Popes were not binding on the Church 
 until after they had been accepted by the body of the clergy. Fe- 
 nelon, however, whose Mnxims of the Saints Mgr de Colbert had 
 
 M. Camus fie Pont-Carre, First President of the Parliament of Rouen, friend of Blessed de la Salle, 
 from a print of tho period. — Engraved bj Muaulle. 
 
 condemned some years before, pleaded so earnestly in Rome on 
 behalf of the prelate's good intentions, that the Pope refrained from 
 condemning him. In his diocese, Mgr de Colbert was extremely 
 charitable, and devoted himself to the education of the people until 
 his death, which occurred in 1707. 
 
 He had been very zealous about the primary schools, and had 
 founded a community of Mistresses at Ernemont. Hearing of the 
 
314 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 pood the Brothers were doing at Darnetal, he foil inclined to 
 hand over to them the free schools of the town, and begged 
 Blessed de la Siille to come and talk over this grave question with 
 him. M. de la Sidle saw the Archbishop, accepted with alacrity 
 his overtures, and at once set out to Paris, in order to arrange 
 the affair. 
 
 The free schools of Rouen, founded by M. Nyel, were then 
 administered by the " Office of the Hospital " which found the 
 funds and appointed the masters. Although the Archbishop was 
 President of the Assembly, he had some trouble in bringing the 
 members round to his views. He knocked against a number of 
 prejudices; but, fortunately, he was ably supported by M. de Pont- 
 Carr<5, whose eloquence overcame all resistance. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was invited to come with the Brothers to 
 take possession of the schools confided to his charity. This good 
 news was brought to him by Mgr de Colbert in person, he having 
 returned to Paris. 
 
 The servant of God was ready. He set out, travelling on foot 
 with his disciples, like the Apostles, sleeping at the inns, and 
 everywhere following the Rule. The pious wayfarers excited 
 admiration and astonishment wherever they passed. People 
 wondered who these men were who walked in silence, grave and 
 recollected, wearing such a strange costume, and whose first care 
 at nightfall, on reaching the inn, was to find a quiet room where 
 they could say their prayers and remain undisturbed in the pre- 
 sence of God. 
 
 But by the time they reached Rouon, the sentiments of the 
 administrators o^ the Hospititl had changed. They would have 
 nothing to do with the Brothers. Fortunately, the Archbishop 
 soon returned, and came to the rescue. He called a meeting of 
 the administrators, and everything was made right. 
 
 One Brother was to l)e charged with the school of Saint Godard, 
 and the other with the little school of Saint Maclou. On the 2t»th 
 of May, the first Brother was put at the head of the large school 
 in the latter plac^, in order that the progress of the children, who 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 31.t 
 
 passed successively from one school to the other, might enable all 
 to form an opinion as to the value of a method which differed from 
 any that had been hitherto employed. The experiment was, appa- 
 rently, considered to have answered ; for, two months later, a de- 
 mand was made for a third Brother to manage the school of Saint 
 Vivien, and then a fourth for that of Saint Eloi. 
 
 The success was, in fact, so marked that the writing-masters 
 took fright. Following the lead of their Paris colleagues, they re- 
 solved to check the growth of this new community, whose com 
 petition was so dangerous. The Brothers had arrived in the month 
 of May. Three or four months later, the writing-masters ad- 
 dressed a complaint to the administration, setting forth that these 
 Brothers received scholars of all conditions, without inquiring 
 whether they were poor or not, thus doing a great injury to the 
 writing-masters, and condemning two hundred men to starvation. 
 The administrators did not pay much attention to these com- 
 plaints. They contented themselves with sending on the address 
 to the Commissaries of the districts, and telling them to take care 
 that the children who went to the Brothers should first be pro- 
 vided with a certificate of poverty, delivered by the parish -priest. 
 The matter dropped for some time, and the Brothers continued to 
 work on unmolested. 
 
 They lived at the Hospital, and took their meals there. They 
 overlooked the meals of the poor, and served them before sitting 
 down to table themselves. They instructed the children of the 
 Hospital, and went out to teach in the four large district free 
 schools. However great their zeal and untiring their energy, four 
 or five men were not equal to this amount of sustained work, and 
 they were doomed to break down under it, unless they were re- 
 lieved. 
 
 For some time past, Blessed de la Salle had been thinking of 
 removing his Novitiate from Paris, where it was the object of 
 incessant persecution. Seeing how favorably the Institute was re- 
 garded by the ecclesiastical authorities of Rouen, he thought he 
 might find rest there, and consulted the Archbishop, whose advice 
 
316 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 he valued. The prelate, who had come to appreciate fully the 
 worth of the Institute, was delighted at the idea of having its 
 cradle estahlished in his diocese, and gave a ready assent to 
 M. de la Salle's proposal. This was one of the happiest days in 
 the holy founder's life. 
 
 A little way out of the town, at the end of the faul)Ourg Saint 
 Sever, was an old house huilt in the monumental style, with vast 
 out-houses, and gardens walled in and planted with trees. On 
 crossing the threshold of the place, you felt yourself transported 
 into another world. The noise of the town expired at the entrance 
 of this solitude, and nothing disturbed its peace. Here man was 
 alone with God, and could give himself up to meditation and prayer 
 uninterruptedly. One of the last owners of this vast properly had 
 built a chapel there, and dedicated it to St Yon, the di.sciple of 
 St Denis, and a martyr. It had finally fallen to the inheritance 
 of Mmc de Louvois, sister-in-law of the Archbishop of Rheims, who, 
 not wishing to inhabit it, wanted to let it. A community of Bene- 
 dictine Nuns from the monastery of Saint Amand, at Rouen, took 
 it in 1601, and enlarged the chapel. Blessed de la Salle, having 
 visited it, found it admirably adopted to his purpose. The Nuns 
 consented to cede it to him. In order not to give the alarm to 
 his adversaries, he went privately to M""* de Louvois, and informeti 
 her of his intention. This lady, who was well acquainted with the 
 virtues of the holy man, felt herself honored in being able to help 
 on his designs, and gave him a lease of six years at a nominal 
 rent of four hundred francs. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle took possession of the house without delay. 
 He sent down his furniture, the novices went after it, accompanied 
 by a few priests who had thrown in their lot with his, Jind by 
 the end of August 170.') the Novitiate was installed. 
 
 Mar de Colbert had given M. de la Salle the most extensive fa- 
 culties, and the servant of God had appointed as mastei's of no- 
 vices Brother Bartholomew, one of the most pious and competent 
 members of the community. 
 
 The holy man took advantage of this quiet home to renew the 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 317 
 
 spirit of his much tried disciples by a retreat. During the school- 
 holidays, he sent for them from their various abodes, and for eight 
 days, assisted by the priests who had accompanied him, he in- 
 flamed their fervor by his exhortations, and by the example of his 
 fidelity in the observance of the Rule. 
 
 Whatever be the humility of the Saints, the good they do cannot 
 long remain hidden. The fame of the virtues of Blessed de la Salle 
 and his disciples was noised abroad, and it began to be said that 
 such men ought not to confine their influence to the charity 
 schools, that their care of childhood should have a wider scope, 
 and that they ought to take in boarders at Saint Yon. 
 
 The holy founder never refused to do good when the opportunity 
 was presented to him. He took in the children whose families 
 had great difficulty in keeping them at home, he put them under 
 the direction of an experienced Brother, with rules suited to their 
 age and condition, and soon obtained results that amazed the 
 parents. 
 
 This skill which he displayed in the education of youth inspired 
 some persons with the desire of confiding to him children that 
 were hard to manage, and who could not be made amenable to 
 ordinary treatment. He accepted these too. They were submitted 
 to a stricter discipline, and as, at that age, defects have seldom 
 struck deep roots, but generally result from dissipation and too 
 much liberty, the example of other children, well-behaved and 
 happy, the pure country air and the salutary influence of religion 
 soon got the better of their hitherto insubordinate natures. 
 
 There were, besides these young rebels, others of a different 
 stamp, vicious boys, bad in grain, and for whom it was necessary 
 to call in the severity of the law. Blessed de la Salle did not recoil 
 even before this ungrateful task. He consented to receive the 
 lads, and set apart a certain portion of the house for them; here, 
 if they did not become converted, at least they were prevented 
 from growing still more corrupt by contact with hardened crimi- 
 nals. These children were only shut up on an order from the 
 First President, and at the request of their parents. Later on, 
 
318 BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 it l)ecame necessan* to obtain lettres de cachet (a sealed order), 
 and these were only delivered in case of moral depravity, or 
 insanity. 
 
 Hani to manage as those new inmates were, they soon began to 
 feel the effects of the salutary discipline under which they lived, 
 and the results were marvellous. Several young fellows who had 
 been considered incorrigible were touched by grace. Some went 
 kick home, and led exemplary lives which caused their early 
 scandals to be forgotten. Olhei*s asked to receive the habit, or 
 left the house of detention to enter monasteries, and expiate the 
 disordei"s of their youth by prayer and penance. 
 
 There were, therefore, at Saint Yon, without counting the 
 Novitiate and the Brothers, three distinct establishments — the 
 boarders who were being taught reading, writing and arithmetic, 
 or higher sciences, such as drawing, geometry and architecture; 
 the unmanageable children who needed particular treatment for 
 their temper and behaviour; and lastly the *' enclosed ones, " who 
 were submitted to a penitential treatment. These communities 
 all lived side by side without coming in contact with each other. 
 They occupied separate parts of the vast building, and so great was 
 the order which reigned throughout, that even silence was not 
 disturbed, ami the Brothers could give themselves up in perfect 
 quiet to prayer and retirement. M. de Pont-Carrt^, the friend and 
 protector of M. de la Salle, loved to come there and rest from the 
 duties of his ofGce, and stole many an hour from the world to 
 spend in this house whose pure and holy atmosphere drew him 
 nearer to God. 
 
 The Saint Yon house depended on the parish of Saint Sever, 
 and as it had a chapi'l, the parish-priest had been careful to re- 
 serve his parochial rights. The cha[)el was to be closed to the pu- 
 blic during mass and the clnnvh services. The Brothers and their 
 boys were to assist at the parochial mass on Sundays, and make 
 their Flaster Conmiunion in the parish. On Easter Sunday, they 
 were not to have mass in the chapel. The children were to make 
 their First Communion in the parish, after having b^jn exantined 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 319 
 
 by the parish-priest, and, lastly, the chaplain must be approved 
 by him. 
 
 This agreement was made on March 22nd 1706, between the 
 parish-priest and M. de la Salle, and received the approbation of 
 the Archbishop. 
 
 It did not last long. As soon as the holy founder had boarders 
 who were " confined by order of Parliament, " he could not possibly 
 take them out to mass and the services, and was compelled there- 
 fore to procure these benefits for them in the house itself. The 
 parish-priest took offence, and there arose a conflict on the point 
 which caused endless trouble to Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Brothers who were in the town were done to 
 death with work. They were on foot at five o'clock, and then got 
 up their poor, and made them say their prayers. At eight o'clock, 
 four of them went off to the schools. They came back at mid-day, 
 served the poor at their dinner, and when these had eaten, they 
 sat down to table themselves. Then, they went back to their 
 schools, returned home at six, and conducted the poor to the re- 
 fectory, ate after them, said night prayers, and went to bed, to 
 begin again on the morrow. The two Brothers at Saint Maclou 
 had each of them over one hundred children to teach; the Brother 
 at Saint Eloi had the same number, and the one at Saint Godard 
 had over a hundred and fifty. The fifth, who stayed at the 
 Office to instruct the poor, had still more. The most robust health 
 could not have stood out against the strain of such a load; the task 
 would have required three times as many workmen. But the 
 Brothers never flagged; they went on unmurmuringly, wearing 
 themselves out, from May 1705 to June 1707. When one of them 
 dropped from exhaustion, M. de la Salle put another in his place. 
 Seeing, however, that no health could stand it, and that the com- 
 munity was being drained by this constant demand, he addressed 
 a petition to the administrators to beg that the engagement might 
 be modified. 
 
 On the 2nd of August 1707, it was decided at an assembly pre- 
 sided over bv the First President, that the Brothers should be put 
 
320 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 in possession of all tl>e charily schools of the town, relieved of the 
 obligation of coming back to the Hospital to serve the poor, and 
 
 nonea : cbnrcti oX teUt Omb. -~ Dnwa i>r iKuur, 
 
 allowed to live in a liouse of their own. They were to he ten in 
 number — two for the Saint Godard school, two for that of Saint 
 Eloi, two for that of Saint Maclou, and two for that of Siunt Vivien; 
 
BOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 321 
 
 the remaining two were to keep the school at the hospital, and to 
 reside there. The classes were open from eight to eleven in the 
 morning, and from two to five in the afternoon. The adminis- 
 trators provided tables and benches, and paid a salary of six 
 hundred francs. As the house alone cost the Brothers three 
 hundred francs a year, this sum was evidently not enough for 
 their wants, so the deficit was filled up by private charity. 
 
 llouen : Palace or Justice. — Drawn l>y H. Tuussamt. 
 
 The Brothers had a hard life of it. While they toiled faithfully 
 at their daily task, the rich forgot them, and left them to suffer 
 cold and hunger and sickness. The poor, whose children they 
 were teaching and bringing up, often repaid them by ingratitude. 
 More than once they were pelted and insulted in the streets; but 
 their patience never failed. 
 
 They were still pursued by the ill-will of the writing-masters. 
 The latter, finding that their complaints had produced no effect, 
 had recourse to calumny. They accused M. de la Salle of feeding 
 his boarders badly, of confiding their instruction to ignorant mas- 
 
 21 
 
322 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ters, and of thus robbing the money of their parents and of the 
 administration. 
 
 These reports grew so loud that the City Intendant, whose ears 
 they reached, became alarmed, and resolved to see for himself 
 whether they were founded or not. He consulted M. de Pont- 
 Carr6, who was himself devoted to the Brothers. This gentleman 
 advised him to visit the house at once, and see with his own 
 eyes what was going on; he volunteered even to go with him, and 
 the two presented themselves at Saint Yon together. This was 
 towards 1708. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was ill, and conGned to his room, a miserable 
 little cell, low and dark, close to the stables, which he had chosen 
 for his lodging. He received the distinguished visitors in this 
 humble place. M. de Pont- Carre informed him of the motive of 
 their visit. 
 
 " I venture to assure you, " sjiid the holy man, " that the house 
 is not as badly ordered as you have heard. We give to each the 
 offlce that is suited to him. The novices are occupied with exer- 
 cises of i)iety, imbibing the spirit of their vocation, and entering 
 on the practice of those virtues which are proper to their state; 
 others are lay Brothers, occupied solely with the temporal cares of 
 the house. As they are only obliged to do manual work, it is not 
 necessjiry that they should know how to read and write. The 
 third are young men that are being trained in the lower classes, 
 and we are waiting till they are competent before we give them 
 any flxed employment. They are under the care of a wise and pru- 
 dent director who sees that all acquit themselves becomingly of 
 their duty, and reports of them to us. As regards the boanlers, 
 their food is regulateil according to what they pay. Some pay a 
 hundred francs, others fifty, others pay as much as two, three and 
 four hundred francs. It is only just that these diiferent prices 
 should supply different fare. But, as far as that goes, all aiv in 
 good health. " 
 
 To prove the truth of this statement, Bles.sed de la Salle s<>nt for 
 the iMiarders, one after the other, so that his visitors might judge 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 323 
 
 of their perfect health by their cheerful and healthy countenances. 
 The Intendant was thoroughly convinced of the utter falsehood of 
 the reports he had heard, and promised to treat them as they 
 deserved. He went away delighted with the house, and full of 
 respect and admiration for Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 " Well, sir, " said M. de Pont -Carre, as they went away to- 
 gether, " did I not tell you that you would be satisfied with all 
 you were going to see? " 
 
MarBcilles. — Drawn by Hubert Clerget ; engraved by M6aulle. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE bCICOOLS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 T the beginning of the eighteenth 
 
 century, the want of schools for the 
 children of the people was being felt 
 all over France, and masters to teach 
 in them were being clamored for. 
 The town of Marseilles, so noted for 
 its intelligence and its faith, was not 
 behind hand in this movement. The 
 parish-priest of Saint Laurent, a dis- 
 trict inhabited chiefly by sailors, was 
 full of zeal for the instruction of youth. 
 He had special sermons preached by 
 his curates, he taught the catechism hiftiself on Sundays and Feasts, 
 and neglected nothing to spread the knowledge of Christian doc- 
 trine. But this was not enough. Large schools were wanted, and 
 
3i6 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 tlie only way of founding them was to form a charitable committee 
 whose membei-s would pledge themselves to provide a certain 
 sum annually, and find a preceptor who would keep the school. 
 A meeting was called to discuss the plan. It was approved, and 
 the first general assembly of founders took place a month later, 
 on the iOth of June 1704. No time had been lost. Thirty-four 
 persons had subscribed for a hundred francs a year; amongst 
 them were the Bishop, the governor of the town , the mayor and 
 the aldermen. The two church - wardens on duly then set to 
 look for a preceptor, and a house wherein to hold the classes. 
 Abb^ Baron was elected master of the school, with a salary of one 
 hundred and eigthty francs a year. The house was also found, 
 but it was a very small on<>, and soon proved inadequate. 
 
 The following year, another general as.sembly was held. The 
 founders, well satisfied with abbe Baron, raised his salary to two 
 hundred and twenty francs, and on account of the increased 
 number of children, they resolved to buy a new house. In i70G, on 
 the 21st of January, at the fourth general assembly, a letter was read 
 from the Bishop of Marseilles to Father Croizet, the Jesuit, about 
 the schools. The prelate had heard of M. de la Salle's schools. He 
 had visited them, had conversed with the pious founder, and had 
 been struck by the way the Brothers instructed the children. 
 He, therefore, expressed a desire that they should be asked to take 
 charge of a school; and he added that the best ma.sters were to be 
 had at Avignon. This desire of the Bishop's was an order for 
 the assembly. They had, indeed, already heard two wealthy 
 merchants of Marseilles, M. Morelet and M. Jourdain, speak 
 in high pniise of the schools at Avignon, of the discipline of the 
 scholars, the piety of the masters, and the novelty of the method. 
 These two merchants contributed lai-gely to the foundation of the 
 new school. 
 
 One of the church -wardens, M. Jos<'ph Treuillard, deputed by 
 the assembly, went to Avignon, and brought back two Brothers, 
 one of whom was Brother Albert of the Child Jesus. They were 
 presented to the assembly, publicly congnitulated, and it wa.<? 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 327 
 
 agreed that they should have each a salary of one hundred and 
 fifty pounds. The school was opened on the 6th of March 1706; 
 but soon it grew so large, that they had to look out for a house for 
 a second school. Meantime, in order te satisfy the demands of 
 the school-masters, those implacable adversaries of the Brothers' 
 work, all the children whose parents were at all able to pay for 
 schooling were forbidden the schools; they were not to take up 
 the places of the poor. 
 
 On the 17th of July, the same year, a touching ceremony took 
 place. M. Andre Porry, the donor of the new house, died, and 
 the children were taken to his funeral by the Brothers. They 
 walked through the town in good order several hundred of them, 
 their eyes cast down, their rosary in their hands, praying for 
 their benefactor, who was buried in the chapel of the hospital of 
 charity. This unwonted spectacle edified the whole city, and the 
 Brothers became very popular. 
 
 The school went on well till 1720, when the plague broke out. 
 One of the Brothers fell a victim to it, and the others devoted 
 themselves to the care of the sick. The epidemic ceased, the 
 town was, as it were, renewed, faith was quickened, and all felt 
 the need of giving a Christian education to the young. The 
 Bishop — the grand and admirable Belzunce — wished to found 
 Christian schools in the five parishes of the town, and, with the 
 help of several good men, he succeeded in doing so. Even at the 
 hospital they asked for Brothers to bring up the poor children 
 there. The confraternity of Our Lady of Good Help gave them a 
 fine spacious house, and in 1727 — they being then sixteen in com- 
 munity — they were received as one of the constituted bodies, 
 and numbered amongst the Regulars of the town. 
 
328 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 The Dijon schools were founded in 1705, by the assisUincc 
 of M. Claude Rigoley, President o! the Chamber of Accounts, 
 brothtr-in-Iaw of the parish-priest of Saint Sulpice, a pious and 
 charitable man, a daily communicant. His family wished to 
 co-operate in the good work. His uncle, M. de Gergy, offered 
 lo pay four hundred francs a year fgr the support of two Brothers, 
 and, to insure the payment, had sunk a sum of eight thousand 
 francs. M. Rigoley, accordingly, wrote to M. de la Salle Ihat the 
 necessary funds were secured. The holy man accepted the offer, 
 and sent two Brothers who opened their school in June 1705, 
 in the parish of Saint Pierre. The Vicar general and the mayor, 
 and various other notabilities, contributed to this establishment. 
 
 The Brothers were so devoted and displayed so nmch abilily 
 in the management of their school, that poor children were sent to 
 thorn from all the parishes of the town until they were overladen. 
 A charitable person then came fon^ard, and founded a second 
 school for the poor of Saint Philibert. A third Brother was sent. 
 Soon after this, a fourth came, and a third school was opened. They 
 were patronized by the President, and, after his death, by his widow 
 and children; the magistrates looked kindly on them; but their best 
 friends on earth and their most powerful patrons in heaven, were 
 the poor. It would be difficult to find in any family archives a 
 more precious document than the following letter, signed " The 
 poor of Dijon. " Its eloquence, alas! is no longer the language of 
 the poor of the nineteenth century : 
 
 " You know, gentlemen, how full this town is of poor, and how wanting in 
 zealous persons to look after the education of our children— which is, as all 
 agree, the most neccssar)- of good works, for the public iis well as for indivi- 
 duals. This it is that induces us to have recourse with confidence to your 
 charity, humbly entreating it to second the designs of Providence, which 
 presents so favorable an opportunity for bringing up our children as Christians 
 and securing their eternal salvation... 
 
 " You are, gentlemen, our resource in Uio great good that is about to be 
 secured lo us permanently, but which must fiill through if your charitable hands 
 do not uphold it. We expect this favor from your solid religion and your ardent 
 charity; our hope is the more founded in that we have the honour to be united 
 
_r or Til, ^t^ 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 »PA 
 
 CALlFoRt^ 
 
BOOK 11. — I-IFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 329 
 
 to you by a common faith, to be your countrymen, your neighbors, to see our 
 poor homes united to yours. We are all, so to speak, children of the same 
 mother, the holy Church, sheep of the same flock, disciples and servants of the 
 same master, Jesus -Christ, our shepherd; we all partake of the same parish 
 bread, of the same word of God, of the same services, of the same Sacraments 
 at the same Table of the Lord, of the same Passover, and we hope to be all 
 united one day in the inheritance of our common Father, perhaps because of 
 this holy establishment. We are, finally, the sentinels and keepers of your 
 houses, in defence of which we are willing to sacrifice our lives. 
 
 " May all these motives, gentlemen, induce you not to abandon us in so press- 
 ing an opportunity. On our side, we venture to assure you, gentlemen, that we 
 are all going to redouble prayers to beg of God to shower down on you and your 
 families all sorts of spiritual and temporal blessings, and to lengthen your days 
 to which are attached the glory of God, the lessening of ignorance, of idleness 
 and all the vices of youth ; the good employment of time, peace and tranquillity 
 of parents in their homes and of the public in the streets and the churches; 
 the maintenance of those Brothers whose life is so regular, and of such public 
 utility ; the salvation of so many poor families who have not the means of 
 paying the masters by the month, and who would rather use their money in 
 paying their tax, and the other necessaries of their house ; finally the good 
 instruction ot so many poor children, who are, one may say, abandoned, and 
 who are the general edification of the town. Happy are we, if, by these marks 
 of our just gratitude, we can testify to you with what respect and submission 
 we have the honor to be, gentlemen, 
 
 " Your very humble, submissive and very obedient servants, 
 
 " Tke Poor of Dijon. " 
 
 This prayer was heard, and the needful money granted. Wc 
 see, therefore, that in the eighteenth century the problem of free 
 education for the poor existed as in our own day, and that it was 
 solved by the unaided effort of charity. But we also see that sen- 
 timents of devotion on the one side and respect on the other, bound 
 the rich and the poor together, and that the mutual good will that 
 rehgion kept up between them, facilitated the solution of many 
 problems which now divide them in two hostile camps. 
 
330 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 It was the piety of a holy Bishop that called the Brothers to 
 Memle in G^vaudan. Ma"" de Piancourt, former Abbot of the mon- 
 astery of Saint Lieufroid, in the di<x;ese of Evreux, Doctor of 
 Theology of the Faculty of Paris and Bishop of Mende from 1671, 
 was very zealous for the instruction of youth, and had its develop- 
 ment in the diocese greatly at heart. He wrote, therefore, to 
 Blessed de la Salle. The holy man did not care to send two 
 Brothers. He preferred to establish a full community, composed 
 of four Brothers for the schools, and a fifth to manage the house. 
 However, he desired Brother Ponce, who was at Avignon, to go 
 to Mende, and make enquiries. This journey took place towards 
 the end of February 1707. Some time afterwards, at the request of 
 the parish-priest of Mende, an ecclesiastic of that town, M. Boulet, 
 mentioned the affair to the ser>'ant of God, w hom he met in Paris 
 at an audience of the Archbishop's, and went to see him where 
 he was staying, near the Porte Saint-Roch. He made him see that 
 the town was too poor to support a large establishment, and that 
 it would be much better to found a school, let it be ever so small, 
 and trust to its spreading in time through the diocese. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, on hearing this, changed his views, and the 
 school was founded in March 1707. The Brothere were to have 
 one hundred and fifty crowns* each, " which were very little," 
 remarks Abb«5 Boulet, " because they never would accept any 
 little present or help from the parents even if they were dying of 
 hunger, and they could not count on making anything them- 
 selves, since they never meddled with any business outside their 
 own calling." 
 
 Brother Ponce, who was alone to do all the work, fell ill. The 
 work was so considerable, that he could not get through it un- 
 assisted, and the Bishop was obliged to ask for a .second Brother. 
 His letter deserves to l)e quoted : '" I cannot, my dear sir, bless 
 God enough for having inspired you with the design of forming 
 school -masters to teach the young, and train them in Christian 
 
 < A crown, Scu, was worth three fk^ncs. 
 
BOOK IT. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 331 
 
 piety. Seminaries form good priests, but school -masters, by 
 giving the first impressions of piety and faith, may contribute 
 towards the sanctiflcation of all Christians. 
 
 " It is impossible to say how pleased I am with the Brothers 
 that you sent me. I shall be greatly obliged if you will send another 
 who can undertake both writing and arithmetic; for this is the way 
 to attract the young and thus impart to them early impressions of 
 Christian piety. I will give them, on my part, all the protection 
 they can expect, so that they will have entire satisfaction in their 
 work here. " 
 
 The excellent Bishop, who had a particular esteem for the holy 
 man, did not long survive the foundation of this school. He died 
 at Mende, on the 13th of December, the same year. By his will, 
 he bequeathed the Brothers a sum which secured the perpetuity of 
 their foundation, and his successor, M. BagUon de la Salle de Sail- 
 lant, continued his patronage to them. Later on an evil wind blew 
 upon the Mende school. The Brothers sent there proved unworthy 
 of the trust that had been reposed in them, and their Superior 
 had to suffer from their conduct. The Saints have always had to 
 bear these trials. 
 
 The Brothers were called to the Cevennes to rescue the young 
 from heresy. The Huguenots had been overcome by arms; but 
 religion was to finish their conquest. Might had overthrown 
 them, but they had yet to be converted. The town of Alais 
 having been raised to an episcopal see, Mgr Frangois Chevalier de 
 Saulx was named Bishop, and selected M. Merrez, Canon of Nimes, 
 for his Vicar general. His first care was to provide good school- 
 masters. M. Merrez had known Blessed de la Salle at Saint Sul- 
 pice, and made haste to write to him. 
 
 The holy founder at once sent him two Brothers, with whom 
 the Bishop was so pleased that he asked for more. The following 
 is his letter to Blessed de la Salle : " We have here, dear sir, 
 your Brothers, the masters with whom every one is satisfied, which 
 makes me wish for many more of them to spread through the towns 
 of the Cevennes. If I had thirty, I should find plenty for them 
 
332 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 to do. I have the honour to thank vou for those that we have, and 
 to ask yoti for some others. I do, and I will continue to do, all I 
 p<issil»ly can for them. They are doing incalculable good. In order 
 to keep alive in them the spirit you have itnparted to them, I will 
 take care to watch over them, and I will {five them my advice 
 whenever it may be necessary, and, moreover, 1 will let you know 
 of it. If we can spread the help of your dear and good Brothers, 
 it will l)e an infallible means of making great progress in the 
 families of our Catholic poor. I confide my sentiments to you, 
 dear sir, in order that you may feel willing that we shoidd act in 
 unison in this lost country which so much needs your charitable 
 zeal. You may count upon it, I shall spare nothing for the 
 assistance of your Brothers, an<l I shall take an affectionate 
 interest in all their little concerns on every occasion. I ask for 
 your good prayers, assuring you that it is with all my heart that 
 I subscribe myself your very huud)le and obedient servant. " 
 
 This truly apostolic letter is dated January 28th 1708, and 
 signed : " F., First Bishop of Alais. " It throws a vivid light 
 upon Episcopal and Christian life in that eighteenth century which 
 was to terminate in revolt and bloodshed. 
 
 At Grenoble, a number of charitable persons formed an asso- 
 ciation for the relief of the poor and the instruction of youth. The 
 initiativ*; was taken by ecclesiastics; but by and by the association 
 opened its doors to laymen, meml)ers of Parliament, and many 
 persons of rank, all of whom were leading a life controlled by the 
 highest Christian standard. No one was admitted as meml)er until 
 he had been a long time on trial. The meml)ers elected a supe- 
 rior, and obeyed him promptly. At the death of an a8s«)ciate, 
 a recjuiem mass was celebrated, all the members being present, 
 and every member who was a priest stiid mass for the rc|K)se oi 
 his soul. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 333 
 
 Mgr Allemand de Montmartin, Bishop of Grenoble, took the 
 direction of the association. The members met at stated times to 
 discuss their common work, and one of the charities that most 
 engaged their attention was the foundation of Christian schools. 
 They resolved to found some in the town; but for this masters 
 and money were necessary. They convened a meeting, and ex- 
 posed their plan, which was approved. All present promised to 
 give a yearly subscription of twenty or fifty louis ' according to 
 their means, and to leave by will a sum of money that would 
 bring in that amount yearly. Abbe de Saleon, then first Canon 
 of Saint Andre and later bishop of Agen, and Abbe Canel, Council- 
 lor clerk of Parliament, were deputed to find masters. The first 
 named had known Blessed de la Salle at Saint Sulpice, and in the 
 beginning of the year 1706 he went to Paris and saw him, and 
 asked him for two Brothers. Abbe Canel, who was also a Sulpi- 
 cian, joined his entreaties to those of his colleague. Blessed de la 
 Salle did not refuse; meantime, the members had to get ready the 
 school at Grenoble. Fifteen months passed. 
 
 When all was ready. Abbe Canel wrote to the holy man on 
 August 30th 1707: — " When I was in Paris, some fifteen months 
 ago, I had the honor of calling on you, my dear sir, to ask if you 
 would give us two Brothers of your community to teach in a charity 
 school at Grenoble, and you were so kind as to lead me to think 
 you would grant our request. I think that Ma'" the Bishop of 
 Gap, who remained in Paris after me, also spoke to you on the 
 subject. Since then, we have made every thing ready for their 
 lodging and maintenance, I, therefore, beg of you to let us have 
 them with as little delay as possible, and to tell us how much 
 we are to provide both for their journey and their support at Gre- 
 noble. We shall take the necessary funds from the alms destined 
 to good works, for we look upon this as one of the best to which 
 the money could be applied. If you will kindly write me word 
 how much is needed for the journey, I will have the amount 
 remitted to you at once. " 
 
 ' A louis was 24 francs. 
 
334 BLESSED I)E LA SALLE. 
 
 Blessed dc la Salle could nut resist so generous an offer. It was 
 not customary to defray the travelling expenses of the Brothers, 
 which were often a heavy tax on the poor community. He sent 
 off two Brothers who opened a school in the parish of Sjiint 
 Laurent. President Bara, M. Gelin, the grand provost, his brother 
 and their mother were amongst its benefactors. Abb^ Didier, 
 Canon of Saint Laurent, had constituted himself the spiritual 
 director of the Brothers, and lilled the place of Blessetl de la Salle 
 towards them. Finally, Ma' de Montmarlin supported them by his 
 influence and his purse, and his successors inherited his sen- 
 timents of affection for them. 
 
 With such patronage supplementing the devotedness of the 
 Brothers, the school soon prospered. In a few years another had 
 to be founded in the parish of Saint Hugues, and later on Mg«" de 
 Caulet, one of the successors of Mflf de Montmartin, confided the 
 children of the general hospital to the Brothers. Grenoble was, 
 in truth, a city blessed of God. 
 
 In 1708, a priest of the town of Vans, khhi Vincent, one of the 
 great Nivernais families, being at Avignon, heard about Blessed de 
 la Salle's schools and went to see them. He came away delight- 
 ed, and resolved to have similar ones in his own town. Vans is 
 situated in the diocese of Uzes, towards the Cevenne.s, six leagues 
 from Alais. Almost the whole population were Huguenots; the 
 children were brought up without principles; the morality of the 
 people was deplorable. 
 
 Before leaving Avignon, Abbe Vincent went to a notary, and 
 in order to carry out his plan, made his will. The will is dated 
 July 20th i708. The testator declares that he will live and die 
 in the faith of the holy Catholic, Homan, and Apostolic Church, and 
 \>c buried with the simplicity lx>coming a poor priest. He con- 
 stitutes the Brothers his heirs, and ••barges them with the instnic- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 335 
 
 tion of the youth of the town of Vans, to form them all to piety, 
 and to imbue them with the principles of Catholicity. 
 
 " I am persuaded, " he says, " that the greater number of the 
 children of this town fall into evil courses from want of education. 
 Born in heresy, they have no sentiment or knowledge of the 
 Catholic religion, and this is the fatal cause of their disorderly 
 lives. " Abbe Vincent implores his family not to take it amiss 
 if he puts the interests of religion and the poor before theirs; and 
 that they may not consider themselves disinherited, and find in this 
 a pretext for attacking his will, he bequeathes them each five 
 pence. He implores, at the same time, the Bishops of Uzes to 
 honor with their patronage and support a foundation so useful 
 to religion generally, and to the town of Vans in particular. 
 
 The priest was not rich, and his legacy was a moderate one; 
 but it was given from the heart, and it was blessed. The testator 
 died on the 19th of September 1710 in the town of Aubenas. 
 After his death, the will was sent to Blessed de la Salle, who 
 accepted it. He was not one to be stopped by the money question 
 when there was work to be done, and in a very short time the 
 school was opened at Vans. It was not however done without 
 difficulty. There was gi'eat opposition in the town. The Huguenot 
 population would not hear of Cathohc school - masters. The 
 Brothers overcame this resistance and then their adversaries had 
 recourse to all sorts of ill-treatment to disgust them with the 
 work. They insulted them in the streets, they set traps for them, 
 they raised barricades before the door so as to prevent their 
 coming out, and several times made an attack on their lives. One 
 day a crowd collected round the house, and said they were going 
 to lay siege to it, and massacre every one in it. They stoned the 
 windows, and tried to break in the doors. The Brothers did not 
 defend themselves; they remained in their oratory on their knees 
 in prayer, offering up their lives to God for His glory. God did 
 not . accept the sacrifice, or rather he wished them to be His 
 otherwise than by martyrdom. The police came to the rescue, 
 dispersed the rioters, and arrested the ring-leaders, who were 
 
336 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 severely punisluHl. The town resumed its wonted tninquillitv, the 
 school soon prospered, an<l Blessed de I.i Salle praisetl God who 
 had deigned to uphold the courajje of the Brothers, and deliver 
 them from another trial. 
 
 In 1740, Abb6 Iluchon, a Lazarist, pastor of Versailles, also 
 asked for Brothers. M. de la Salle sent him two, who tt)ok up 
 their residence in a hired house in the Deer Park. One of th«'m 
 was amongst the most remarkaltle of the community. Well in- 
 formed, distinguisht'd in manner, he excelled in his profession, and 
 his school, by its flourishing condition, attracted great praise. It 
 attracted too much, and vanity ruined him. Versailles was a dan- 
 gerous abode for Religious. The court resided there, and one 
 inhaled in the place a certain atmosphere of worldliness that was 
 faUU to weak characters. This Brother was infected bv it, and 
 lost the love of his Rule. Blessed de la Salle soon perceived thi.s, 
 and, concerned above all for the soul of his disciple, he wantetl 
 to remove him from this pestilential air before it was too late. 
 But the Brother had foreseen this, and msinuated himself into 
 the good graces of the pari.sh-priest, who took his side, and posi- 
 tively refused to let him lie removed, threatening to close the 
 school if he were. In vain did the servant of God urge the reason 
 that guided him; the other would listen to nothing — the alleged 
 fears were all groundless; he promised to watch over the danger 
 himself. M. de la Sfdle had to give way. 
 
 Soon after this, they came one day to inform the parish-priest 
 that the man for whom he had so rashly stood bail, had thrown 
 asi<le his habit and gone off. The parish-priest immediately sent 
 after him an old missionary, skilful in converting souls, who 
 came up with the renegade at the end of one of the avenues. 
 Rut prayers, threats, all were in vain, and the pastor jierceived 
 l(io late how rash it is of sinuigei-s to meddle with the govern- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 337 
 
 ment of communities, and prevent the removal of subjects against 
 the judgment of the superior; for superiors, with the burden of 
 authority, have the grace of discernment. A thousand symp- 
 toms, imperceptible to others, warn them of the coming danger. 
 
 Monseigneur Belzonce, Bishop o( Marseilles ( p. 327 ). — Engraved by H. Joflrojr, from a portrait ol tUo period. 
 
 and like skilful captains they haul in sail before the advancing 
 storm. Moreover, in a community, the general good is always 
 to be considered before individual convenience. 
 
 This accident did not slacken M. Huchon's zeal for the free 
 schools. He soon established a second near his parish, and ended 
 
 22 
 
338 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 by haying a house which served as a little seminary in which he 
 setlletl them. 
 
 Instruction had long been neglected in the town of Moulins. 
 The archives cont<iin ancient documents which enable us to trace 
 the first primary school held in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- 
 turies by one or two masters in the chapel of the Menestreaul.v. 
 But this establishment, where the lessons were frequently in- 
 terrupted, represented both primary and secondary education. 
 The learned look upon it as the cradle of the college, and it could 
 only give a very imperfect eduaUion to the children. 
 
 In the year 1675, Gaspard de Savignac, bachelor of the Sor- 
 boime, a discreet and venerable man, was pastor of the parish 
 of Iseure, which he administered with the help of four curates. 
 One of them, M. Louis Aubery, was a very old priest, very 
 austere, filled with zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of 
 souls. He had all his life lived up to evangelical simplicity, and 
 employed all his means in doing good. The same Divine influence 
 which had swept over the soul of Blessed de la Salle in 108*2, 
 and impelled him to devote himself to the education of poor 
 children, had also passed over that of Abbe Aulw^ry. That same 
 year, when Blessed de la Salle was opening his house to the 
 school-masters, Abbr Auberv, who had not vet heard of the holv 
 man's undertaking at Hheims, was receiving children into his 
 house, and teaching them. In 1G86, Abbe Aubery gave his goods 
 to the poor, and his house to the pastor of Saint Iseure, that he 
 mijjht use it for the primary school. I'recis<'ly in this same year. 
 Blessed de la Salle was making a similar siicrilice. The analogy 
 between the two is strikingly significant. Distant from each 
 other some fifty or a hundred leagues, the instruction of the 
 poor was occupying both these generous souls, and both were 
 creating and developing works of the same nature. 
 
 Abbe Aubery, after having brgim the work, never let it drop. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 339 
 
 He taught in the school himself for years. He instructed children 
 in Christian doctrine and the catechism, in reading Latin and 
 French, in writing, arithmetic and decyphering manuscripts. His 
 zeal was so great, his school so flourishing, that the Bishop of 
 Autun, in 1698, named him Rector of the charity schools of the 
 town. 
 
 He could not carry on this work alone; but he sought in vain 
 for auxiliaries. Everywhere masters were wanting. He took in 
 two young priests who«e zeal soon grew tired of the work, and 
 in 1699, the school, that it cost him so much to open, had to be 
 closed for lack of teachers. 
 
 Abbe Aubery was not disheartened. He took advantage of this 
 interruption to repair and enlarge the house, and, in 1701, he 
 opened the school again, and taught in it himself. One hundred 
 and fifty children answered at once to his invitation, and he went 
 on teaching them for several years. In 1709, he went to Paris to 
 try and get Letters patent in favor of his schooj. He stayed at 
 Saint Sulpice, and, hearing about Bles-ed de la Salle, he at once 
 made acquaintance with him. God had now brought him face to 
 face with the man and the work he had been seeking for seven 
 and twenty years. On his return to Moulins, he took fidl infor- 
 mation concerning the schools kept there by the Brothers. He 
 received, moreover, from Marseilles, a wonderful account of the 
 results of their leaching. He then wrote to Blessed de la Salle, 
 asking him for two Brothers, who were immediately sent to him. 
 
 They opened their classes in 1710, and here, as elsewhere, their 
 success surpassed all expectation. They had over three hundred 
 children, and Abbe Languet de Gergy, Vicar general of Autun, and 
 since Archbishop of Sens, was so charmed with their manner of 
 teaching, that he entreated them to come to the parish once a 
 week, to teach catechism to the children in presence of the young 
 clerics who were invited on purpose that they might benefit by 
 their method. 
 
 In spite of the arrival of the Brothers, Abbe Aubery remained 
 Rector of the school. He it was who continued to support and 
 
340 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 * — — ■ — -- 
 
 manage it; lie it was who directed the studies. In 47H, he drew 
 up a litllo set of rules whirh it is interesting to compare witli the 
 Mayiagement of Christian schools of HIcssed de la Salle, on which it 
 is in a measure modelled, hut from which it differs in some points. 
 " The charity-schools of Moulins are placed under the direction 
 of a committer of five persons : the two parish -priests, who are 
 life members, two laymen named for six years and re-eligihle, 
 and a Rector who is always an ecclesiastic first named by tiic 
 Bishop, and then by Ihe IJoard. The masters are taken fnun the 
 C(mimunity of Brothers. If this Community should not be avail- 
 able, then priests shall be chosen, and if these cannot be had, then 
 wise and virtuous laymen who are not married, and who never 
 must marry, or have been married. The children begin by 
 learning Latin, they go on to French, and then to manuscripis 
 which they must bring with them. " 
 
 These rules were approved by the Bishop. He con.sccrated 
 the method of the Brothers, modified in a few points by the 
 personal views of Abbe Aubery. 
 
 In 1717, Abbe Aubery, feeling himself growing old, wished to 
 insure the perpetuity of his foundation, and wrote to the Bishop, 
 who sent him a new approbation with leave to apply for Letters 
 patent. 
 
 Thanks to the intervention of the Abbot of Seplfonts, thanks also 
 to the warm support of all the Royal functionaries an<l all the 
 notabilities of the town of Moulins, the Letters patent were gnmted. 
 They are dated Jimo 1717; but it was necessary to have them 
 registered by the Parliament of Paris, and here it was that difli- 
 culties stiirted up. Parliament ordered an encpiiry dc commodo et 
 incommodo. Some pei-sons came forward to say that " the schools 
 were useless, prejudicial to the poor, to artisans, and good for 
 nothing but to form forgers, cheats and rascals. " The genend 
 hospital of Moulins, which had at first con.sented to the founda- 
 tion, drew back; it wanted to absorb Abl)e Aubery's work, an<l 
 had recourse to every sort of tri<k to succeed in this. It carrietl 
 the town with it. and persuaded the municipality that the Abbe 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF IlLESSED DE LA SALLE. 341 
 
 had no right to keep a school. The law-suit lasted ten years, and 
 cost over a thousand francs. Finally, Abbe Aubery won the day. 
 The Letters patent were registered in 1728. More fortunate than 
 Blessed de la Salle, Abbe Aubery was allowed to see the triumph 
 of his efforts, and survived the legal recognition of his school 
 three years. 
 
 There lived at Boulogne-sur-Mer a pious layman, M. de la 
 Gocherie, who spent all his time and all his money in doing 
 good. He heard of the free schools, and wished to found some. 
 He had no difficulty in winning the consent of the Bishop of Bou- 
 logne, who had founded them at Calais some years previously, and 
 so could judge of their value. As M. do la Cocherie's liberalities 
 had left him with only enough for the bare necessaries of life, he 
 was obliged to have recourse to the purses of his friends. The 
 funds were found, and four Brothers sent by M. de la Salle were 
 received with all honor by the Bishop, who insisted on lodging 
 them in his seminary until a house was found for them. 
 
 Later on, a second school was founded in the upper town. 
 
 This house at Boulogne was the last foundation Blessed de la 
 Salle made in the provinces before he died. But, before contin- 
 uing the history of the persecutions which formed the web of his 
 life, we mus-t stop a while to consider this series of foundations, 
 and the facilities which our ancient laws afforded for doing good 
 and securing the instruction of the people. 
 
 The schools arc founded everywhere after very much the same 
 fashion. Charitable pei'sons hear about them, and become eager 
 to endow their native place with them; these benefactors are priests, 
 bishops, magistrates, pious persons of all conditions. Funds arc 
 collected, a house is bought, a sum is sunk to insure an income 
 to the establishment, and it is thus protected against possible vi- 
 cissitudes. If the founder himself is not rich enough, he appeals 
 
342 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 to others, he forms a group of charitable persons who club to- 
 gether and provide the money, and watch over the use made of it. 
 Faith was ardent in those days, and made charity fruitful. 
 When we cast a glance on the works of the seventeenth and 
 eighteenth centuries, we are struck with wonder by the multitude 
 of charitable foundations. The spread of the Institute of the 
 Brothers is in itself a most remarkable instance of this. North 
 and South, in the remote provinces as in Paris, the Brothers are 
 in demand, and welcomed with enthusiasm, and their praise and 
 that of their work are in all men's mouths. Everywhere the need 
 for schools is felt, but above all of schools for the poor. Whenever 
 they are to be founded, money is always forthcoming. Parents, 
 priests, magistrates, all alike, are full of good will; but they know 
 not where to turn for masters. The Brothers then appeal- like 
 the artisans of Providence. They arrive at the right moment to do 
 the needful work, and have all the requirements for doing it well. 
 As to M. de la Salle, we have seen with what veneration his name 
 is already surrounded. Bishops feel honored in receiving him as 
 their guest, towns quarrel for the privilege of his presence, and he 
 is already revered as a benefactor of humanity. But, alas! it is 
 not so nearer home, and he is still the object of fresh persecutions, 
 and every day beset by new enemies. That bright halo which 
 encircles his brow in the distance is in reality a crown of thorns. 
 God so willed it for Ilis glory and the sanctiQcation of His ser- 
 vant. The thorny crowns are the only ones that never pass 
 awav. 
 
. -... ■ Ll {■ 
 
 alU 
 
 «w> 
 
UBRA^ 
 
 ^HIVEBSITY 
 
 CAUFO^ 
 
Taris iu Blessed Ue la Salle's time. — Drawn by 6douard Gamier; engraved by aieauUe. 
 
 CHAPTER Xlir. 
 
 FRESH TRIALS. 
 
 LT HOUGH the Brothers had now been 
 eighteen years in the Rue Princesse 
 — in the parish of Saint Sulpice — 
 they had never been able to make any 
 changes in the house, and it remained 
 as inconvenient as ever. It was here 
 that they all collected every night after 
 teaching in their schools in the various 
 districts of the parish; and here also 
 Y /4(^P Jf%Hr»'^^ w '-^^y passed their Sundays and holidays 
 
 since the Novitiate had been removed 
 to Saint Yon. The house was un- 
 healthy ; it had no garden, and the Brothers were obliged to take 
 their recreation in a court overlooked by houses on all sides. The 
 
344 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 sirpf't itself was narrow and dark, and it was impossible to pass 
 in and out of it without excitin^f tht- curiosity of thr neighlioi-s. 
 Bli'ssi'd dr la iinWc. who was then living at the Saint Roch school, 
 was very anxious to lind another place for the Brothers; but as he 
 had not much influence with the parish -priest, he did not dare 
 broach th(! matter to liim. He confided the affair to a Brother whom 
 M. de la Ch^tardie held in great esteem and affection. A house, 
 which looked suitable, was found in the district of the Incurables, 
 near the barrier of Sevres. It was quietly situated, spacious, and 
 had a large garden. The Brother sixike about it to M. de la Cht- 
 tardie. The house was hired for four hundred francs a year, and 
 the Brothei-s moved into it. They remained there until 17'22, when 
 they purchased a house Rue Notre Dame- des- Champs, near the 
 Convent of Saint Thecla. 
 
 A few months after they were installed in the Rue de Sevres, the 
 Saint Roch school passed into other hands; Blessed de la Salle then 
 came to reside with them, and employed the short term of rest in 
 overlooking his writings, and publishing a correct edition of them. 
 
 But peace never lasted long for him; he was destined to suffer 
 and to do battle all his Hfe. Want again seized upon him, and 
 threatened to carry off his whole flock. It was during the year 
 1709, which was so cruel for the poor. The harvest had been 
 bad, the winter was long and severe. Famine desolated France. 
 The rich curtailed their alms, and the poor found no resource in 
 their work or in the charity of othei-s. 
 
 The Brothers of the Rue de Sevres Iw^gjin l)y pinching and 
 restricting thein.selves in every way to the bare necessaries. In 
 spite of the intense cold, they had no fire, and their worn out 
 clothes were not replaced. In the refectory, they ate just what 
 prevented them from dying of hunger. They did not complain, 
 however; for Blessed de la Salle was in their mi»lst, always sen'ne, 
 sharing their want, and sustaining their courag*'. " Don't fear, " 
 he would say to them, " God never fails those who hoi»c in Him. 
 Kverything is granted to lively faith and perfect confidence, even 
 miracles when they are necessary. Jesus Christ has pledged Him- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 345 
 
 self to furnish all that is needful to those who are seeking His 
 justice and His kingdom. He has never denied it to those who 
 serve Him; every page of Scripture testifies to this truth. Nothing 
 happens in this life except what God permits or ordains. Good 
 and painful things, poverty and riches come from His hand, and 
 He distributes them all with wisdom and kindness. If we have 
 received so many benefits from His liberality, why should we re- 
 fuse to accept a few penalties from His hand? He is the Lord — 
 let Him do as He sees fit. " 
 
 Blessed de la Salle suffered more for the Brothers than for him- 
 self. Suffering was familiar to him; it was his nourishment; but 
 he trembled for those whom he had to lead; he was fearful lest 
 their souls should falter under the burden. 
 
 The Brothers who were abroad were his great anxiety; for he 
 was not by their side to cheer them up and sustain them. The 
 scourge was laying waste all France, and all the houses of the 
 Brothers felt its cruel grip; but Rouen had suffered more especially. 
 Blessed de la Salle, as we know, had removed his Novitiate thither. 
 There were about thirty Brothers there; ten were teaching in the 
 schools of the town; of the remaining, some were novices, others 
 were charged with the care of the boarders of Saint Yon, and the 
 service of the house. They had not here, as elsewhere, any en- 
 dowment which put them beyond the reach of want. Their sole 
 resources were the six hundred francs paid them yearly by the 
 Board of the municipality, and the scanty fruits yielded by the 
 garden of Saint Yon, whose sandy soil, despite the patient tilling 
 of the Brothers, yielded but a poor crop. Out of this income, they 
 had to pay the rent of the house which ate up half of it. All told, 
 there remained to the Community, for their food and other ne- 
 cessaries, three hundred francs. They would have been all dead 
 at the end of a month if private charity had not come to their 
 assistance; but during the famine, provisions were at famine price, 
 and people gave much less. To fill up the measure uf Iheir trials, 
 the new Archbishop, Mg<" d'Aubigne, did not like M. de la Salle 
 and his work. He had allowed himself to be circumvented, and 
 
346 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 thought he was doing a great deal in not turning the Brothers out 
 of his diocese. The population, moreover, had not quite forgotten 
 its old prejudices, and many a time the Brothei-s were peltetl and 
 insulted in the stieets hy the men whose children they were hring- 
 ing up. In fact, their destitution was complete, and their holy 
 founder could not help them; in his own house, there were 
 barely the necessaries of life. He resolved to call back a certain 
 numljer of the Brothers. He left the masters to keep the schools 
 going, but he called away the novices. The inmates of the Paris 
 house were thus nearly doubled, and there was not accommoda- 
 tion for so many. Mattresses were put down in the rooms, and 
 here the poor new-comers stretched themselves to seek in a sleep, 
 too often hindered by cold, forgetfulness of the hunger that gnawed 
 their vitals during the day. 
 
 There were forty persons to feed, and no food, and no money. 
 Nothing, in fact, but a miserable pension that was often delayed 
 in the payment. This fearful want did not for one moment relax 
 Blessed de la Salle's charity. Although his own family wanted 
 bread, the doors were never closed against those who knocked for 
 help. Strangers came, asking to be received into the Institute. 
 The holy man admitted them the moment he recognized the fii-st 
 signs of a true vocation. Many of them did not persevere; after a 
 few months, they found the Rule too severe, the life too hard, and 
 went away. Then the Brothers complained that these intrudere 
 had come to eat up their scanty rations for nothing; but Blessinl 
 de la Salle would answer : " They have made a good retreat ; 
 that may help towards their salvation. " 
 
 His constancy never failed, and Providence, while sustaining 
 him, did not preserve him from the common scourge. One day, 
 everything was used up, and there w;is not a crust of bread in the 
 house; no money in the purse, and the baker refused credit. 
 Blessed de la Salle then had recourse to God in prayer. As lie 
 came out to say mass, he met a charitable |H!i-son who asked 
 him where he was going : " I am going to say mass, " he 
 replied, " and pray to God to send us food for the community 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 347 
 
 to-day, for we have nothing to eat, and nothing wherewith to 
 buy food. " 
 
 " Go in peace, " replied the other; " I will provide it all. " And 
 he at once went with ten crowns to the Community, thus relieving 
 them of their distress. 
 
 Such traits abound in the history of all religious houses. God 
 lets them go to the very brink of destitution, and then holds out 
 His hand and prevents them from sinking. Thus do mothers act 
 when teaching their children to walk. A leading string is holding 
 them from behind; they don't see it, and they fancy themselves 
 alone; but if their foot stumbles, the string holds them up, and 
 prevents their falling. And are we not all of us like children 
 whose steps, tottering in the path of duty, need the vigilance of 
 God to teach us to walk straight? If His hand is always holding 
 us up, we grow negligent and cowardly; if He draws it away, we 
 fall. What we lack is confidence. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had attained to this virtue of abandonment, 
 and no trial could now make him waver. Sickness followed in 
 the wake of famine. An epidemic of scurvy broke out in the 
 house; the Brothers caught it. It is a contagious disease, often 
 fatal, and is caused by want and bad food. Blessed de la Salle 
 did not lose his serenity. He arranged an infirmary isolated from 
 the rest of the house, put the patients there and deputed two Bro- 
 thers to nurse them. Meantime, he was busy seeking remedies 
 for them. The disease was raging in Paris, where there was a 
 doctor very skilful in treating it; but he was overrun; moreover, 
 his visits and medicines cost very dear, and the holy man had no 
 means of paying for them. 
 
 He went to see Helvetius, a Dutch doctor, whom he knew 
 well, and who had taken care of him in more than one illness. He 
 asked his advice, and Helvetius induced his colleague to attend 
 the Brothers gratis. Blessed de la Salle put the sick Brothers into 
 a coach, and carried them off to the doctor, who treated them, 
 and cured them. 
 
 All things come to an end in this world, sorrows as well as joys. 
 
348 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 The ppiileinic disjippoared with the winter. Ahiindanco returnwl 
 with th<' fine w«'atlicr, and nothinjr remained to the Brotlicrs of 
 th«' misery thi'V had undrrgonr, Imt llic morit of the patience with 
 whicii they had borne it. But, for the servant of God, the cro?s 
 never pa.ssed away; trials did not cease, they only chang«vl. 
 
 The house was again torn by dissension. There was a faithless 
 Brother in the flock. Was there not a faithless one amongst the 
 chosen twelve? The father of the family sows the gootl seed in 
 his field; hut the enemy comes in the night time, and oversows 
 the cockles. An ambitious Brother wanted to supplant Blessed de 
 la Salle in the government of the Institute. He excited discontent 
 and murmurings amongst his companions, and set to work to de- 
 tach them from their superior and draw them away to a new 
 house that he meant to hire on his own account, promising to 
 provide amply for all their wants. He went so far in malice as to 
 try to envenom them by the remembrance of the winter's suf- 
 ferings and privations. Several amongst them had nmrmured in 
 their hearts because Blessed de la Salle had taken in strangers, and 
 shared with them the meagre resources of the family. " He had 
 no right to squander the alms that were given him for us, argued 
 the unfaithful one, " it was misapplying the pension allowed us 
 by tlie pastor of Saint Sulpice. " 
 
 This little plot was being laid in the dark, unknown to the holy 
 man, while his enemies outside were in the secret, and working 
 against him. The leader confided his plan to another Brother 
 who joined in the intrigue. But, suddenly, the latter changed his 
 mind; he was stricken with remoi-se, and could not keep his 
 secret. He told it out to the whole community, and revealed the 
 infernal scheme that had been concocted against their father. The 
 intlignation of the Brothers could only be appeased by tin* e.xpid- 
 sion of the guilty one. M. de la Salle delayed at fii-st, hoping to win 
 him over to repentance; but he was losing his time; the traitor's 
 hatred only grew more rancorous, and he again endeavoured to 
 gain over the connnunity. The ser>ant of God was compclhHi 
 to send him away, and then peace was restored to the house. 
 
DOOK II. - LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 349 
 
 Scarcely was this trial over, when another and heavier one 
 began. In the month of December 1707, Blessed de la Salle was 
 in a house in the Rue Saint Honore, where he was being treated 
 for a tumour ia the knee, brought on by constant kneeling, when 
 a young Abbe from Saint Calais, named Clement, asked to speak 
 with him. On entering his presence, the young man fell at his 
 knees, and implored his help in a pious undertaking that ho had 
 at heart. He had conceived the idea of educating boys from ten 
 to twenty in order to teach them a trade, and form them to a 
 Christian life. His father was rich, he said, and allowed him a 
 pension of eight hundred francs, and he was waiting for a rich 
 abbey that was to fall to him, and whose revenues he would de- 
 vote to the development of his scheme. But meantime, he needed 
 guidance and help. He had just been visiting the schools of the 
 Rue Princesse, and learned there that M. de la Salle might afford 
 him precisely the help he wanted, so he did not lose an hour in 
 coming to see him. 
 
 We know how prudent Blessed de la Salle was in his decisions. 
 He answered only a few words to his seemingly tempting and 
 briUiant proposal. His own work, he said, had a distinct aim, and 
 he could not deviate from this. If Abbe Clements' design fell in 
 with its scope and purpose, he would not refuse his cooperation; 
 but it was necessary, in the first instance, that the Abbe should 
 make himself fully acquainted with the object of the Institute, and, 
 with this intention, he gave him a prepared outline of its aim and 
 its work to look over. 
 
 A few days later Abbe Clement came back, full of enthusiasm; 
 he was delighted above all with the holy man's scheme for edu- 
 cating school -masters for the country. One and the same house, 
 he said, could perfectly contain them and the young men that he 
 himself purposed educating, and no time should be lost. 
 
 But Blessed de la Salle was in no hurry; he examined the 
 matter, reflected over it, and let a year go by. Abbe Clement came 
 to see him several times a week, sometimes alone, sometimes with 
 his preceptor, Abbe Langoisseur, who approved of all he was doing; 
 
350 RI.ESSED DB I.A SALLE. 
 
 sonH'times with a friend of M. do ia Salle's, M. Rogier, who was 
 delighted with the new project, and announced his intention of 
 helping it on with all his influence. letters followed visits, and 
 in all these, Ahhe Clement appeared loyal, charitable and full of 
 ardor. Blessed de la Salle having expressed a fear lest he should 
 after a while withdraw from the new work, and leave the burden 
 of it on him, Abb^ Clement replied by a letter full of assurances of 
 devoledness and aflection. lilessed de la Salle, iM'fore finally de- 
 ciding, resolved to lay the afl'air before the Archbishop, who ap- 
 proved of it, and advised him concerning the situation of the new 
 house. The prelate wished that the seminary for school -masters 
 for the country should be in the country rather than in Paris. 
 Abbd Clement ended by discovering at Siiint Denis a house thai 
 suited perfectly. It belonged to a miss Poignant, sister of the one 
 who had founded the school, and was at the present time let to 
 the bailiff of Saint Denis. Abbe Clement visited it several times 
 with his preceptor, found it suitable, discussed the terms of the 
 sjile with miss Poignant, and bought it for the sum of thirteen 
 thousiuid francs. The contract was drawn up in October 1708. 
 
 Abbe Clement was the purchaser. It was he who bought the 
 house, settled the price, and promised to pay. As, however, he 
 was a minor of two and twenty, and feared his fathers opposition, 
 he wished the contract to be made out in M. Rogier's name. A 
 portion, at least, of the amount had to be paid down to the pro- 
 prietor. M. Rogier would not give ilw money. Abb6 Clement ha<l 
 none at his disposal, so he begged Blessed de la Salle to advance 
 first a sum of four thousand francs, and then another of twelve 
 hundred francs. The holy man went to fetch some funds that he 
 had given in keeping to a notary for the wants of the comnmnity, 
 and handed the money to M. Rogier, who paid it in on account of 
 the sum due for the house. 
 
 M. Rogier, however, refused to give the holy man a receipt, and 
 Abbe Clement, fearing thai the latter might lose his money, gave 
 him an acknowledgment of live thousand two hundred francs. 
 
 Abbe Clement set about putting the house in order and organ- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 351 
 
 izing his work with a sort of feverish activity. The bailiff of 
 Saint Denis was dismissed, and the seminary for the school- 
 masters was installed by Easter 1709. Three young men who 
 wanted to be school - masters in the country were the first 
 inmates received. The Brothers were to teach them everything 
 necessary, even plain -chaunt. The work seemed to open under 
 excellent auspices. 
 
 But, meantime, the father of Abbe Clement had heard of his 
 son's projects, and was not favorable to them. M. Rogier learned 
 this, and, fearing the consequences, advised the young man to get 
 rid of the house. Miss Poignant offered to take it back and return 
 the money she had received; but Abbe Clement would not consent 
 to this. A little later, M. Rogier found a good opportunity for 
 selling it. Abbe Clement again refused. His father urged him to 
 profit by his position as a minor to get rid of his engagements; 
 but he indignantly rejected the proposal, saying he would never 
 consent to defraud anybody. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, in the interval, had undertaken a journey 
 to Provence to visit the houses he had founded there. It was in 
 February 1711. He was received everywhere by the Brothers with 
 delight, by the Bishop with honor, by the people with enthusiasm, 
 for these latter had come to appreciate the immense services his 
 Institute was rendering to their children. 
 
 Suddenly, letters breathing anxiety began to arrive from Paris. 
 His enemies had taken advantage of his absence to get up a charge 
 against him, which was certain to ruin him and dishonor him at 
 one fell blow. Abbe Clement had been won over to their side. 
 He was not five and twenty when he bought the house, so he 
 shielded himself under his minority in order to get the deed of 
 sale invalidated, and at the same time to bring on M. de la Salle 
 the odium of having suborned a minor. A petition in the name of 
 Abbe Clement and his father was sent up to the civil lieutenant of 
 Ghatelet. The holy man was confounded by this audacity; but 
 he did not complain. He disliked law-suits, and would not defend 
 himself However, as his honor was compromised in the affair, and 
 
352 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 the Brothers wen." liable to suffer on his account, he handed over 
 all the documents, AblxS Clement's letters, his acknowledgment, 
 and a nftte of the affair drawn up in his own hand, to some pei-sons 
 whom he considered trustworthy, and whom he begged to see 
 justice done him. Here again the servant of God was l»etrayed. 
 His defendei-s were talked over, and gave judgment against him. 
 When he relumed to Paris, it was to hear that he was ruined. 
 
 On the 23rd of January 1712, Messrs Clement, father and son, 
 petitioned the civil lieutenant of Ch4telet for permission to 
 summon M. de la Salle, and this was followed the .same day by 
 an order granting the desired permission. 
 
 On the 17th of Februai-y, letters of rescission from ChanceiT de- 
 clared the deeds signed by Abbe Clement ludl and void, seeing that 
 he had not attained his majority when he made the contract, and 
 had not the necessary discernment to appreciate the consequences 
 of his acts. 
 
 These letters w^ere a mci-c formality and were never refused. To 
 take effect, they needed to be confirmed by the judges, who could 
 reject them if they had not a good legal basis. But Bh^sed de la 
 Salle would not wait for the end of the suit. Seeing himself thus 
 abandoned by every body, betrayed by those whom he had wlu)lly 
 trusted, unjustly dishonored, threatened with imprisonment, he 
 saw nothing for it but to fly from persecution. lie felt he had 
 better hide himself from the world, and then perhaps its hatred 
 would be disarmed. The Paris Brothers were already strengthened 
 in their arduous vocation. The schools were flourishing and had 
 won universal approval; when he was gone, there would be nothing 
 to check their development. His humility took plea.sure in this 
 thought, for. while he was the founder and support of the Institute, 
 he fancied himself its great obstacle. So he went away secretly, 
 without saying where he was going, and, breaking off with evcrj' 
 one, resolved not to let the world even hear of him again. 
 
 Before departing, however, he wished to secure the government of 
 the Institute. Several Brothers were worthy to be chai-ged with it; 
 but none seemed to be so worthv as Brother Bsirtholomew. Bv his 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 353 
 
 fidelity, his watchfulness, his gentleness, his firmness, his piety 
 and discretion, he was calculated better than any one else to 
 maintain order and the observance of the Rule. The mission that 
 was confided to him was a very delicate one. Blessed de la Salle 
 meant to hand over to him the substance of authority, but not 
 the appearance of it. He was to be Superior in reality, without 
 bearing the title. If the servant of God had delegated hi'S powers 
 to him, he would have been obliged to tell him the motive of his 
 departure, and the Bi^other, passing for his representative, would 
 have been surrounded by the very same difficulties from which 
 the holy man was flying. 
 
 By disappearing altogether, without leaving a successor, he seem- 
 ed to leave the Institute to govern itself, and follow naturally in 
 the way he had started it. The opposition that his direction of it 
 had raised would fall of itself. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had earnestly prayed for guidance as to what 
 he should do|; he had tried Brother Bartholomew, and found him 
 faithful, and having confided his plan to him, and given him all 
 necessary instructions, he quietly went away. 
 
 A few days afterwards, the Paris Brothers received two sum- 
 monses, one in the name of Clement, the other in the name of 
 Rogier; the first was dated February 20th, and sent by Messrs Cle- 
 ment, father and son. They demanded that the letters of rescission 
 should be confirmed; that the promises and obligations of Abbe 
 Clement should be declared null, and notably the acknowledgment 
 of the five thousand two hundred francs. They claimed, moreover, 
 the restitution of a sum of two thousand four hundred francs, 
 which they pretended had been given by Abbe Clement to M. de 
 la Salle and M. Rogier. 
 
 When M. Rogier saw his friend attacked and on the eve of being 
 condemned, he also abandoned him, and went so far as to accuse 
 him. In his summons of March 14th 1712, he asked to be put 
 in possession of the house of Saint Denis, bought in by M. Rogier 
 in the name of the holy man, who must now pay for it a second 
 time if he wished to become the owner of it. He claimed in- 
 
 23 
 
354 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 demnities also for the verdicts pronounced in favor of the two 
 Clements, jointly with M. de la Salle. As we see, M. Rogicr had 
 gone over to the enemy, and done more than merely aliundon 
 M. <le la Salle. 
 
 The absent are always in the wrong, and nowhere is the truth of 
 this proverb made clearer than in law-suits. On the 4th of May 
 and the i5th of June, judgnn'nt was given against Blessed de la 
 Salle by default. In the verdict in ftnor of Ch-nient, M. de la 
 Salle was " forbidden to exact from infants in law such deeds 
 or money. " With one stroke, the holy man was ruined and 
 disgraced by his friends. 
 
 Justice, it is true, overtook the culprits later. Abb6 Clement 
 suffered the penalty of his cowardice; he was condemne«l to the 
 galleys for fraud against the State. M. Rogier was seized with 
 remorse. When he died, his will contained a legacy of an income 
 of three hundred and sixty francs bequeathed to Blessed de la Salle 
 " from a conscientious motive. " These last words are eloquently 
 significant, and we will let them close the account of an incident 
 in which the virtue of the servant of God was severely tested, and 
 from which it came out beautiful and triumphant. The repara- 
 tion came late; but the Saints know how to wait. As it has been 
 said by an author of our time, " people are apt to say that evil 
 triumphs in this world; but if is only becausti they do not 
 look long enough. " 
 
 It was from the South that consolation came to Blessed de la 
 Salle. He arrived at Avignon towards the end of Lent 1712. 
 Everything smiled on him, at first, and his journey was one long 
 triumph. It seemed as if these people wanted to console him for 
 all he had sulTcred in Paris. The Brothei-s kept him as long as 
 they could. They wished to enjoy his presence lo profit by his 
 conversation, and, moreover, they dreaded the journey fi»r him 
 over the Cevennes, which were just then infested by robbers. 
 
BOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 335 
 
 He left them, however, and reached Alais witliout accident. 
 Providence had sent its angels to guard a life from which it 
 expected to reap such a rich harvest yet. The Bishop of Alais 
 received him with great honor, and spoke in high praise of the 
 Brothers and their school. Since they had been settled in the 
 town, the number of heretic children had sensibly diminished. 
 
 After a few days' stay, the holy man set off for Vans, passing by 
 Gravieres, whose prior was spiritual director of the Brothers of 
 Vans. He was full of veneration for the holy founder whose virtues 
 he saw reflected in the souls of his disciples, and he detained him 
 as long as he could. In order to testify his esteem for him, he 
 served Blessed de la Salle's mass in his surplice; but honors, as 
 we know, were just the things to make his guest run away. 
 
 He arrived unexpectedly at Vans, where his presence caused 
 great joy to the Brothers. In this little town, hid away in the 
 mountains, they never dreamed of receiving a visit from their 
 father, whom they had not seen for years. He uplifted their 
 courage; then, setting out by bad roads in a rigorous season, 
 he reached Mende, where five years ago he had founded a school. 
 
 The Bishop who had received the Brothers then, Mflr de Rian- 
 court, had long been dead; but his successor had inherited his 
 zeal and his devotion to the schools. He bore almost the same 
 name as the holy man, without being any relation to him, and 
 was called Mgr Baglion de la Salle de Saillant. Full of esteem for 
 the servant of God, against whom he had not yet been prejudiced, 
 he wanted to receive him at his table; but Blessed de la Salle 
 declined, alleging that it behoved him to set an example to his 
 disciples of inflexible observance of the Rule. 
 
 After some time spent in this town, he returned to Vans, passing 
 through Uzes, where he had business with the Bishop under whose 
 jurisdiction the Brothers of Vans were. This prelate would not 
 allow the Brothers to be moved about. He maintained that they 
 did more good by remaining in the same place, where the children 
 and the population knew them, than in running from town to 
 town. This Rule was wise, but open to exceptions. Blessed de 
 
35(i BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 la Salle had no notion of moving the Brothei-s without reason; but 
 he was masttr, and various causes might make it necessar)' to 
 call away a Hrother immediately without its l)eing desirable to 
 explain to him why. Without this right, the discipline of the 
 Institute would be seriously compromised. The liishop of Uzrs 
 understood these arguments, and promised Blessed de la Salle that 
 he would extend his patronage to the Brothers of the town of Vans. 
 
 From Uz^s Blessed de la Salle went to Marseilles, where his 
 reputation had preceded him. The scIkxjI opened there in ilOd 
 was in a most prosperous condition. But, so far, it was the only 
 one the Brothers had there, all the (jther schools Ix-ing lay. 
 Many eminent ecclesiastics and distinguished notabilities of the 
 town hastened to pay their respects to Blessed de la Salle on his 
 arrival. They congratulated him on his work, and manifested a 
 most zealous desire to assist him in making new foundations. 
 
 It was suggested first that a second school should be opened 
 in the town. The Bishop was anxious for it, and the matter was 
 taken in hand by a zealous Jesuit Father who was preaching 
 Lent in the parish of Saint Martin; he enlarged on the necessity of 
 providing free education for the children of the people, and the 
 advantage there would be in securing the services of the Brothers, 
 who were so experienced and skilful in that arduous work. The 
 Jesuit's appeal had an immediate effect : money flowed in, and the 
 school was on the point of being founded, when a curious circum- 
 stance checked the general impulse, and put a stop to everytiiing. 
 It was a Jesuit who had the merit of starting this good work, and 
 the success was due to a Jesuit. But it so happened that the 
 majority of the ecclesiastics who had become intimate with the lioly 
 man on his arrival in the town belonged to the Jansenists, and 
 they hoped to draw him into the sect. He, simple and straight- 
 forward as a child, did not see through their scheme, but acc4'pted 
 their friendly overtures as disinterested, and hail profited by them 
 to do all the good he could; but when they s;»w him using the zeal 
 of a Jesuit with the same confidence, they drtiw away in mistrust, 
 and resolved to mar his project. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 337 
 
 On the other hand, the parish-priest of Saint Martin, although 
 he could not but esteem Blessed de la Salle, blamed the severity 
 of his direction. The austerity of his life seemed to him a silent 
 but living reproach to priests living in the world, and he would 
 rather have had the school kept by ecclesiastics who, in their free 
 hours, might , have assisted the clergy of the parish; so he worked 
 secretly in this direction. 
 
 He went to the benefactors, advised them to give their money 
 elsewhere, and, as he was very plausible, he easily persuaded 
 them. 
 
 The Bishop was next circumvented. He held to the Brothers, 
 but he was assured that the charitable persons who wished to 
 establish the school were resolved to take back their money if the 
 school was to be directed by tiie Brothers. The Bishop could 
 not understand the reason of this sudden change; but, fearing to 
 let the foundation fall through, he refrained from interfering. He 
 was, as yet, new to the diocese, and was anxious to keep well with 
 every body. This Bishop of Marseilles was M'j'" ]3elzunce, whose 
 name we have had occasion to mention, and who signalized 
 himself by his devotion and his charity during the plague of 1720. 
 He honored Blessed de la Salle highly, and granted him extensive 
 faculties for his whole diocese, in December 12th 1712. The plot 
 was, however, so skilfully managed, that the school was not given 
 to the Brothers, and those who had set the intrigue on foot then 
 came with doleful faces to inform Blessed de la Salle of the 
 result. 
 
 He answered with his usual serenity : " Blessed be God, since, 
 apparently, He so wished it. " He welcomed those who brought 
 him this bad news, thanked them for the regret they seemed to 
 feel, and went to the chapel to give thanks before the altar and 
 adore the designs of Providence who, doubtless on account of his 
 sins, had not. allowed the school to be founded. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had formed another project of far greater im- 
 portance for the Institute : this was to found at Marseilles a Novi- 
 tiate which would be a sort of nursery to furnish Brothers to the 
 
358 BLESSED DE I.A SALI.E. 
 
 whole of Provence. The latijjuage spoken there was not the sjime 
 as that spoken in Paris; the use of French was not yet universal. 
 Moreover, tlie Novitiate of S;iint Yon was very far away, and barely 
 .sufficed for the schools in the midst of which it was situated. 
 Marseilles was a rich and pious town, and .served as a piLs.s<igc 
 to numbei"s of pilgrims going to Home and coming hack. It 
 ought to be easy, he thought, to find the necessary funds amongst 
 the multitude of persons whose piety led them that way, and also 
 to meet with vocations which were likely to develop in face of a 
 work so calculated to stimulate the zeal and charity of Christians. 
 Blessed de la Salle confided his hopes to Hrother Drolin, and 
 already reckoned on this foundation to send him a companion '. 
 " It will be difficult for me. " he writes to him in July 1712, " to 
 send you a Ifrolher until I have started the Novitiate in this 
 country. I am just about to begin it; they want to have people 
 of the country on account of the language being dilTerent to that 
 of France. " 
 
 Blessed de la Salle also wished this Novitiate to be a place of 
 retirement where the Brothers could come from time to time to 
 renew their fervor, and excite themselves to a more rigorous 
 observance of the Rule. He had seen at Vaugirard the advant4ige 
 of such an institution; but Paris was too far off, and journeys 
 were too expensive to make it possible for the Brothers who lived 
 in the South to come there. Moreover, the holy man had no 
 longer any links with Paris; he looked upon the masters there as 
 lost to him, and although be bad retained the remote direction 
 of Saint Yon, he could not think of sending the Brotbei-s from 
 Provence there. 
 
 There were, consequently, many solid reasons for founding a 
 Novitiate at Marseilles, and when the servant of Clod had thought 
 the matter over, he mentioned it to several persons with whom he 
 was acquainted, and all heartily approved of it; not only did they 
 approve of it, Init they set to work at once to help him to carry 
 
 ' Archires of the Inslitulc. Letter n" 7. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 359 
 
 out the plan. Some gave sums of money, others subscriptions, the 
 parish - priest of the town took it up, the Bishop promised his 
 protection, a house was found, hired, furnished, novices presented 
 themselves, and the Novitiate was installed towards the month 
 of September 1712. It seemed as if the new friends of the holy 
 man had no other care but to further his designs, for they gave up 
 every other work to devote themselves to this one. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was delighted at this extraordinary success, 
 but he was also surprised at it, for he did not recognize in it the 
 ordinary mark of God's blessing on a work. Hitherto, all his 
 undertakings had been realized amidst contradictions and obsta- 
 cles. They were raised on the foundation of the cross. By what 
 prodigy was this law now reversed, and how came it that a Christ- 
 ian work found so many ready to forward it? The holy founder 
 was not obliged to solve this riddle, and while making ready in 
 his heart for a sudden reverse of the wheel of fortune, he applied 
 himself with great activity to profiting by the opportunity of the 
 moment. His first care was the forming of the novices. He took 
 up his abode in their house, lived with them, and initiated them 
 into the secrets of Christian life. He did, in fact, what he had 
 already done so successfully at Vaugirard and at Saint Yon. He 
 wished, moreover, that the Brothers who taught in the schools of 
 Marseilles should come every day during their intervals of leisure 
 to warm themselves at this glowing hearth, and learn there 
 habits of regularity and discipline. 
 
 Meantime, the servant of God had become more and more an 
 object of suspicion to the Jansenists, who were anxious to find 
 out exactly what his views were. They surrounded him with the 
 closest attentions; they tried to elicit his opinions, employing altern- 
 atively caresses and threats to induce him to commit himself. If, 
 they said, he became their ally, they would place all their re- 
 sources at the disposal of his institute; they would found schools 
 everywhere, find friends and protectors for him all over the king- 
 dom, and get him the entire youth of France to educate. They 
 went so far as to promise to get him made Bishop. If, on the 
 
360 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 contrary, he stood against them, they had inQuence enough to 
 crush his work. 
 
 It was thus that Satiin did when he transported Christ to the 
 top of the mountain; he said to Him : " I will give thee all the 
 kingdoms of the earth, if thou wilt fall down and adore me. " 
 Like his master, Blessed de la Salle resisted the tempter, and 
 refused to betray truth, whatever were to be the reward. 
 
 The Jansenists held conferences, and invited him to assist at 
 them. Before he had found out their intrigues, he had promised 
 to go; but he was astounded at what he heard. 
 
 So long as they spoke of God, their language was irreproachable; 
 but when they touched on the Pope, on grace, on relaxed mondity, 
 their tone changed. Pride and anger took the place of faith, and 
 heresy was visible in all its hideousness. Blessed de la Salle had 
 always been ver^- devoted to the Holy See; he had never given 
 into the new opinions, atid had even preferred to lose the favor 
 of the Archbishop in Paris rather than have anything whatever 
 to say to them. He was not going to change his principles at Mar- 
 seilles. He began by observing a stern silence on hearing these 
 discourses. Pressed to say what he thought, he spoke with 
 moderation, but with firmness. He upheld the persons and the 
 t|uths that were attacked, and ended by saying that violent 
 discussions were productive of no good, that the right c^iuse had 
 nothing to gain, and charity everything to lose by them. Several 
 meetings led to the same result. The Jansenists saw that they 
 could not hope to win over the servant of God, so from that 
 moment they resolved to destroy him. 
 
 When people are seeking an opportunity to injure any one, the 
 opportunity is soon found. Blessed de la Salle had arnmged that 
 the teaching Brothers were to come every day to the Novitiate to 
 follow the spiritual exercises. These Beligious after a while grew 
 tired of the regular discipline imposed on them by their Superior. 
 Not venturing openly to dis«jbey him, they betlntught them of 
 having recourse to the benefactors of the foundation to get them- 
 selves dispensed from this daily attendance. They alleged that 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 361 
 
 the schools suffered from it. Moreover, they themselves were 
 masters, and no longer novices. These exercises were, therefore, 
 not necessary for them, while they obliged them to go several 
 times a day from the school to the Novitiate, to the grievous 
 prejudice of the children to whom they wanted to devote their 
 whole time. 
 
 These arguments wore childish. The holy founder of the 
 schools had no notion of harming the children, seeing that their 
 good was his supreme preoccupation; but he knew that it was 
 zeal, not time that the masters lacked. It was not time lost, the 
 hour that was given to uplifting their courage and forming them 
 for their responsible duties. Moreover, the servant of God was 
 always careful to choose the moment when the class was over, 
 and their absence could not interfere with the duties of the day. 
 This hypocritical behaviour of the Brothers made its impression 
 on the patrons of the school, who at once requested that they 
 should he dispensed from the exercises of the Novitiate. Such a 
 request was equivalent to an order, and Blessed de la Salle was 
 compelled to yield, though not without inwardly mourning over 
 this blow dealt at his authority. 
 
 The complaints did not end here. The rebelhous Brothers, in 
 order to justify their grumbling, insinuated that the Novitiate was 
 doing great harm to the school, that Blessed de la Salle was 
 pouring into it all the money destined for the school while he 
 left the latter barely enough to subsist on. The Novitiate itself, 
 moreover, they alleged, was badly directed, M. de la Salle being 
 a harsh and very odd man; he was crushing the novices under 
 the weight of an intolerable Rule, and as he was obstinate and 
 wilful, there was no obtaining from him either concession or dis- 
 pensation. 
 
 These calumnies were spread abroad, and were cordially 
 welcomed and propagated by the enemies of the holy man. His 
 conduct being unassailable, they accused him of being over- 
 virtuous. These ferocious Jansenists, these enemies of relaxed 
 morality, belying their own principle, blamed his austerity. 
 
362 BLESSED DB LA SALLE. 
 
 All that they had hitherto praised now became the subj«'ct of 
 their ridicule and censure. The modest detneanour of the Brothers 
 was now " a cowed look that reflected the slavery of their souls. " 
 Not satisfied with spreading these reproaches in the town, so as 
 to dry up the source of the alms on which the foundation livetl, 
 the enemies of the man of God carried them into the heart of the 
 Novitiate it.self, in order to sow rebellion and discontent there. 
 
 In all religious houses, there are to be found men of weak 
 character, quick to murmur, and eager to accept the seeming pity 
 which some people extend to them on account of the life they have 
 embraced. The novices, finding themselves pitied, thought they 
 must be unhappy. A few of them left, and, to excuse their deser- 
 tion, exaggerated the austerity of the life. The zeal of the bene- 
 factors was not proof against all the.se attacks. Some gave less, 
 others stopped their alms altogether, and want began to make 
 itself felt in the Comminiily. 
 
 The enemies of lilessed de la Salle, seeing his work shaken, 
 thought the moment was come to strike the last blow. They 
 published an infamous libel in which was set forth everything 
 that calumny had invented against him. This production was 
 spread in all directions, and the public, as usual, opened its ears 
 to the evil, and shut them when the accused tried to defend 
 himself. For the holy man, feeling the power of his adversiu-jes 
 and the injustice of their attacks, had published a defence in 
 which, without infringing the lines of perfect charity, he proved 
 clearly the falsehood of the charges brought against him. No one 
 read him, no one believed him, and falsehood went on its way. 
 
 The Novitiate began to lack subjects. The firmest Brothers were 
 shaken in their trust. Everyone was turning against their Supe- 
 rior : he must be guilty, for he alone could not be right and 
 everyone else wrong. The other schools of Provence felt the coun- 
 tershock of Ibis formidable attack. Blessed de la Salle had l)een 
 through them all, and had reformed abuses, and establislK'd perfect 
 discipline in them; but reformed abuses leave behind them a virus 
 of discontent which it is often difficult to get rid of; all those who 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 363 
 
 had been censured or corrected made common cause with the 
 holy man's enemies. They began to murmur against him, and to 
 ask what he meant, this importunate reformer who came to give 
 trouble, and leave disorder in his wake. Before he came, the 
 schools were flourishing and developing admirably; he had only 
 come to destroy and to disedify. The two Brothers of Marseijles 
 were the leaders of this mutiny. They were stirring up animos- 
 'Hy against the servant of God, and striving to compel him to leave 
 the town. 
 
 His first movement was to fly to God to take his part against 
 the injustice of men; he went into retreat, and sought in prayer 
 and penance the consolation he found nowhere else, but even this 
 humility was turned against him. He was accused of abandoning 
 his Institute. At last, he resolved to bow to the storm, and go 
 away to Rome. Brother Drolin had been there for ten years, 
 trying to make a foundation, and to have a school under the direc- 
 tion of the Pope. He had succeeded after endless difficulties; he 
 was alone, and Blessed de la Salle's presence might be of great 
 use to him as well as to the entire Institute; moreover, his piety 
 inclined greatly to the journey. He longed to pray on the tombs 
 of the Apostles, to offer up his sufferings there where the martyrs 
 had suffered, and to seek light for his guidance at that great centre 
 of light whose rays illuminated the whole Christian world. Since 
 he was driven out of Paris, momentarily useless to his Brothers, 
 and had been led by Providence to a town which was only separated 
 from Rome by a few days' journey, the opportunity was favorable, 
 and he felt he ought to take advantage of it. He engaged his place 
 on board a ship, chose a Brother to accompany him, bought the 
 necessary provisions, and waited till a fair wind should enable the 
 ship to set sail. The voyage would rest him after his long spell 
 of trouble. 
 
 In all his plans, Blessed de la Salle kept himself under the 
 hand of God, trying always to maintain his heart in that perfect 
 indifference which accepts with joy all the events that Providence 
 sends. The ship was going to sail, and nearly all the passengers 
 
364 BLESSED DB LA SALLE. 
 
 had gone on board. The servant of God was on his way thither 
 also, when he met the Bishop of Marseilles, who begged liim to 
 give up the voyage; he meant, he said, to give him a school in the 
 parish of Notre Dame-des-A(X)ules. Cheerfully, without a murmur, 
 the holy priest obeyed, went back to the house, and -in answer 
 to the astonished Brothers, exclaimed : " God be praised 1 Here 
 I am back from Rome. It is not His will that I should go. He is 
 going to employ me at other work. " 
 
 He then wrote to Brother Drolin these simple words : 
 " I should have dearly liked, my dear Brother, to go and see you, 
 and I was near going. But a matter has come to my hand here 
 which delays my voyage, for it is urgent; and yet it has not 
 succeeded. " 
 
 And so it fell out; the school of Notre Dame - des - Acoules 
 was not founded then, owing to the ill-will of the holy man's 
 enemies. 
 
 The trials of the SainLs, and the difficulty of doing good are 
 the grand argument of unbelievers. And yet it hardly needs faith 
 to explain it away; reason alone suffices. The current of the 
 world is evil. Everyone is seeking his own interests and pleasures 
 at the cost of his neighbors. God is forgotten by the crowd, and 
 to the Christian this world looks like an immense workshop 
 where men are working away with all their might to invent sin. 
 If one of them breaks off from the general work, and announces 
 that he is going to do the contrary of what they have all l)een doing 
 up to then, is it surprising that he should be cried down and 
 contradicted? His example condemns the others, his presence 
 becomes a hindrance, his work interferes with theirs, and paralyses 
 it. They are at once enemies, and the strife begins; it never ceases, 
 and as the deserter is alone, he is for a long time the weakest, 
 and is at first knocked down. 
 
 Then it is that narrow minds are scumdalized. They ask il, in 
 truth, God interferes in the alTaii-s of this world, since it is so hard 
 to do gi>od here, or if events are not the result of fatality, of luuuan 
 will, cro.ssed now and then by some strang(> coincidences which 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 365 
 
 superstition interprets as a Divine action. These conclusions are, 
 however, only the result of superficial observation, or short- 
 sightedness. The action of Providence is real, universal, unceasing, 
 and always visible to those who look for it. Because, forsooth, we 
 cannot read, does that prove that there are no books? Our vision 
 is too bounded to embrace in their unity the designs of God in the 
 world. They are a half revealed poem of which we can only see 
 
 Saint Maiimin , where Blessed de la Salle halted on his waj- Irom MarseiUes to Mende (p. 367). — Drawn by Thadee. 
 
 fragments. Many dramas are begun in the mystery of conscience 
 where no human eye can penetrate; when they burst on the public 
 gaze, there has already been enacted a long series of invisible facts 
 of which the visible result is but the culmination. Like those 
 stars that come we know not whence, and shine a moment, and 
 disappear, they flash across the visible atmosphere of history, and 
 finish after us, far from us, in depths where our gaze cannot 
 follow. How could we reconstitute a single life, and how much 
 less understand the inextricable tangle of those millions of lives 
 that succeed and cross one another, all serving the glory of God, 
 sometimes in spite of themselves? 
 
366 RLESSED l)E i.A SALLE. 
 
 We see, nevertheless, enough to understand at least the exis- 
 tence of tliat wondrous design whose beauty we shall never be 
 permitted to see in this world. Let us, instead of prying curiously 
 into the world around us, turn our gaze within oui-selves, and 
 recall the series of events that have mad** up our life, and we shall 
 recognize how wise and kind was the Will that directed them! — 
 The past grows clear to us, because, seeing it from a distance, we 
 embrace tlie whole belter. How many things have swmed utterly 
 incomprehensible, things against which our will revolU-d while 
 they were being accomplished, but which we can now see were 
 essential links in our moral pntgress, the sole aim of all our 
 efforts. And yet we do not understand all. At every step, we 
 come upon a mystery. 
 
 Seeing all his undertakings thwarted, Blessed de la Salle felt 
 weariness and sadness invade his soul, and he began to doubt 
 whether his work was acceptable to God, or whetluT he was the 
 instrument designed for its accomplishment. He left Marseilles, 
 having confided the Novitiale to Brother Timothy, a most pious 
 man, who, after Brother Bartholomew, was destined to govern the 
 Institute. The servant of God withdrew to the hermitage of Saint 
 Maximin, a solitude in the bosom of the mountains, some ten 
 leagues from the town. Here, he redoubled his prayers and pe- 
 nances, that God might carry him through his trials, and en- 
 lighten him how to act. But the consolation he sought was denied 
 him. His soul remained cloudeil in darkness, his heart, once so 
 ardent, was cold, and heaven seemed deaf to his cries. The 
 Saints have these hours of anguish, when God and men forsake 
 them, and, alone with their weakness and their sins, wherever 
 they turn, they see themselves abandoned. Our Lord Hims(>lf, 
 their master and model, passed through this trial, and had His 
 night of agony on the mount of Olives. Blessed de la Salle con- 
 tinued to pray, and his prayer, |):n'e from all taint of self, only 
 rose the higher in the eyes of Him who judges men not by wliat 
 they feel, but by what they do. 
 
 And so the days passed. The enennos of the holy man, who, 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 367 
 
 while he was there, accused him of misgoverning the Institute, 
 accused him of abandoning it when he made up his mind to go 
 away. One accusation was as unjust as the other. He did not 
 forsake the Brothers, but believed he could no longer help them 
 except by praying for them. " I am persuaded, " he said, " that 
 my absence may calm my enemies, and inspire them with kind 
 thoughts for my dear children. " 
 
 And with this belief, he resolved to go still farther away, and to 
 retire to Mende, where, on his way, he had met with such an 
 affectionate welcome. He set out, tramping on foot, like a pilgrim, 
 over the forty-six leagues that separate Marseilles from Mende, and 
 only spending during the whole journey seven francs and ten cents. 
 He hoped to be received there as on his former visit. But times 
 were changed. When he knocked at the door, he met with a cold 
 welcome from the Brothers. They gave him to understand that 
 they were poor, that they had barely enough for themselves, and 
 that he brought them a useless mouth to fill. One of them went 
 so far as to accuse him of the persecutions that weighed on the 
 Institute. It was his incapacity for governing, they said, that was 
 the ruin of the houses at Marseilles. Did he intend to go travell- 
 ing about to sow want and misfortune on his way? The blessed 
 pilgrim received without a murmur these cruel taunts, and as he 
 had not wherewith to pay for the bread his children grudged him, 
 he went away to the Capuchin Fathers, and then went out to 
 search for some charitable soul in the town who would consent 
 to help him. 
 
 There happened to be at Mende a pious person named Mi'e de 
 Saint Denis, rich and of good position, who had devoted herself 
 wholly to the education of heretic children. She had drawn round 
 her a number of other ladies, and thoy had formed themselves into 
 a connnunity called " The United Ones. " 
 
 M'le de Saint Denis, having heard of the outrage offered to Bles- 
 sed de la Salle by his own disciples, was deeply moved to pity and 
 indignation. She sought out the holy man, got ready a lodging 
 for him, provided for his necessities, and even offered to take 
 
368 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 chargo of his maintcnanc*', if lie would cona'nt to stay at Mendc 
 for llif rest of Ills lift', and dirt'cl lu-r little comnuinity. The ser- 
 vant of Cod (lid not accept the olTer. He felt hims«'lf called else- 
 where, and bound to finish the work he had la^gun so lalKiriously, 
 
 
 TiM iliriae of Saisi B«>uiii« , wh«ra Blraaril <1< U 8all« haliad on hit ni trum MarMillM to Html* ir. ms\. 
 — lu pcMUt sute. — Ocswa hj Tttilit*. 
 
 and over which he had already shed such ahundaiit teai*s. He 
 only stayed two months at Mende, but he took advantage of his 
 sojourn there to direct M"e de Saint Denis, and give her a Rule 
 for her community. 
 
 While he was at Mende, there arrived to see him that Brother 
 Timothy whom he had left in charge of the Novitiate at Mai-seilles. 
 The persecution had not come to an end with the departure of the 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 369 
 
 holy founder. His enemies were bent upon completing the ruin 
 of his work; they had checked vocations, dried up the fountain 
 of alms, and the house had been closed. Brother Timothy then 
 set out to find his superior. On arriving at Mende, he naturally 
 went straight to the house of the Brothers; but he was received no 
 better than the holy founder had been, and was informed that they 
 
 ES CirflES. Jil 
 
 Mende. — Drawn by ^douard Gamier ; engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 had no room for him. Surprised at this unexpected greeting, he 
 went away to seek for Blessed de la Salle, whom, after much dif- 
 ficulty he succeeded in finding. He fell at his feet, and with many 
 tears told him all that had happened at Marseilles since his de- 
 parture, and implored him to return and resume the government 
 of the Institute. The servant of God was amazed to find that he 
 was still remembered and wanted. " Why have you come to 
 trouble my joy? " he said. " I am so happy in my retreat, that 
 I am resolved to condemn myself to an eternal silence. " Brother 
 
 24 
 
370 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Timothy replied that he was necessary* to his children. " How 
 can you say that? " retorted the man of God; " do you not know 
 how incompetent I am to govern others? Do you not know that 
 there aif many amongst you who will not have me for their 
 Superior? And they are quite right; I am unGt for the position. " 
 Brother Timothy pleaded in vain, Blessed de la Salle was 
 inexorable. 
 
The Grande -Chartreuse. — First view ( p. S72 ). — Drawn lij Hubert Clergct ; engraved by Brabant. 
 
 CHiPTEK XIV. 
 
 GRENOBLE AND THE GRANDE-CHARTREUSE (4713-1714). 
 
 FTER spending two months at Mende, 
 Blessed de la Salle went to Grenoble, 
 where he arrived in October 1713. 
 There the Brothers, who were firmly 
 attached to their Rule and full of ve- 
 neration for him, received him with 
 open arms. He enjoyed great peace 
 amongst them, forgetting men and 
 forgotten of them, and commending 
 his work to God in prayer. 
 
 His life was divided between medi- 
 tation and the practice of the Rule. 
 
 Retired within a narrow cell at the top of the house, he spent 
 
 his days and part of his nights in prayer. 
 In the heart of the mountains, about a day's journey from Grc- 
 
372 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 noble, there lies hid away a famous monastery where men bury 
 themselves alive in eternal silence. At that time, e.specially, they 
 were sepaaated from the woild by dense and impenetrable forests 
 accessible only to wild beasts. During three-fourths of the year 
 the snow lies like a pall over their abode. The severity of the 
 climate keeps every one away from the place, so they are left there 
 unmolested. How do they spend their time in this solitude? They 
 pray and they do penance. Their ardent prayer is rising day 
 and night to heaven like purest incense, and spreads a veil before 
 the eyes of Divine mercy, hiding the sinfulness that never prays, 
 and drawing down upon earth the benedictions of heaven. Their 
 penance, borne by the hands of Angels, weighs down the scales 
 of Divine justice against the iniquities of princes and of peoples, 
 and disarms the anger of the Most High. They are the lightening- 
 conductors of our moral life, and their souls, always lifted up to 
 heaven, prevent the thunder-bolt from falling on us. And yet the 
 world forgets them, or remembers them only to mock at them; 
 but this very ingratitude forms part of their merit. They love 
 nothing of the world, and care nought for the things it honors. 
 On a certain day, a ray of Divine light revealed to them the 
 nothingness of the good of this world, and they straightway left 
 parents, friends, h(jnors, fortune, all, to serve Jesus Christ, and 
 practice Evangelical perfection. 
 
 St Bruno was their, founder. Like our holy -man, he was a 
 Canon of Rheims, and, like him, he left the canonry to embrace a 
 life of prayer and penance; but, happier than Blessed de la Salle, 
 he had been permitted to follow his attraction for silence and sol- 
 itude. M. de la Salle coultl not pass through Grenoble without 
 going to venerate the places sanctified by the pres<'nce of this 
 illustrious penitent. He went there in January 1714, and, at the 
 end of nearly a century, the recollection of his extraordinary piety 
 was still preserved there. 
 
 He did not let it Ik; known who he was; he feared the honors 
 that might he paid to him because of his former title, and forbade 
 the Brothers who accompanied him to pronounce his name. All 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 373 
 
 he wanted was to seek food for his devotion, in venerating the 
 place made illustrious by the virtue of St Bruno, and above all 
 the desert where he had dwelt remote from men and so close to 
 God. He envied the lot of St Bruno, and went from place to 
 place shedding tears, and edifying even those heroic souls so ac- 
 customed to the perfection of the Saints. The prior of the mon- 
 astery, seeing his great love for the hermit's life, invited him to 
 stay and abide there. Without knowing his name, they detected 
 in him a great servant of God. But the holy founder was called else- 
 where, and was destined to find rest only in God. He, therefore, 
 tore himself away in spite of the longing he felt towards this 
 silent life, and, after three days passed in this heavenly spot, he 
 returned to Grenoble, and endeavoured to create for himself in 
 the busy town such a solitude as he had envied the disciples of 
 St Bruno. He passed his days and nights in his humble cell, 
 almost always in prayer, and giving to the affairs of this world 
 barely the time that necessity demanded. 
 
 The Saints have always done this. Those whose life seems 
 wholly given up to active woi'k, find long hours to devote to 
 prayer. Their existence is a continual communion with God, and 
 prayer is, so to speak, the breath of their soul. At every moment 
 they withdraw into God, finding in Him the light they need for 
 every difficulty, the strength to resist all their enemies, the con- 
 solation which lifts them above trial, the constancy they need to 
 persevere in all their undertakings. It is to this the Saints owe 
 that peculiar clear-sightedness which enables them to see all that 
 is required for their work, and that firmness with which they go 
 on straight to their aim. These qualities are not of man, who is 
 wavering and weak; but a man of prayer is no longer a man; God 
 is in him and fills the frail vessel with virtues that seem to be 
 already of eternity. This is how humble priests, poor Religious, 
 who but for prayer would have gone through the world without 
 leaving a trace in it, have, thanks to prayer, carried out under- 
 takings far beyond their strength. It was not their doing, but 
 that of Jesus Christ dwelling in them. 
 
374 RLESSEn DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was a man of prayer. At Rheims, in Paris, 
 at Marseilles, at Grenoble, at Saint Yon, he gave tlie greater part 
 of his days and nights to prayer. His enemies accused him of 
 neglecting his Institute, but he was never better occupied in ser\'- 
 ing it than in these hours of communion with God. He drew 
 from prayer that marvellous wisdom which enabled him to found 
 a difficult work which so many men had attempted in vain before 
 him. Prayer, moreover, does not diminish a man's time; it rather 
 increases it. On coming from prayer, he sees clearer, and decides 
 more rapidly; difficulties that he would have struggled against 
 unsuccessfully, disappear of themselves; he accomplishes more in 
 less time. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle did not neglect his Institute. Order had 
 resumed its reign in the houses of Provence, and Brother Timothy 
 had been named visitor to them. lie sent one of the Brothers of 
 the Saint Laurent school, of Grenoble, to earn- his instructions to 
 other houses, and in the meantime he took his plac<:' humbly in 
 the school, going assiduously to his class, like the lowliest of the 
 Brothers, teaching a, b, c, to the tiny children, reading and writing 
 to the older ones, and the rudiments of Christian doctrine to 
 all. Nothing could tire out his patience; his gentleness overcame 
 the most unmanageable tempers, and his perseverance forced the 
 dullest to take in his lessons. He was, in fact, what he wanted his 
 disciples to be, and he presented to them the most perfect model of 
 the master of a Christian school. He would not have himself dis- 
 pensed from any of the duties. Every morning, he conducted the 
 children, walking two and two, to church, and made them take 
 their places; then he went up to the altai", and celebrated mass 
 with such piety and recollection, that he came to be known in the 
 town as " the holy priest. " 
 
 From the moment of his arrival, he look care ttt remain un- 
 known. He neither paid nor received any visits. He had come 
 to seek retirement and rest, and nothing but the necessity of teach- 
 .ing in the school would have drawn him out of his cell. As soon 
 as the Brother whom he was replacing had returned from his 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 375 
 
 mission, the servant of God crept back into his cell, and plunged 
 again into prayer and meditation. He devoted his leisure to re- 
 vising his works, and brought out a third and corrected edition of 
 his book " Duties of the Christian. " 
 
 Just as he had completed this task, he fell seriously ill. The 
 rhumatism which he had suffered so severely from twenty years 
 before, again attacked him. He treated it with contempt, would 
 relax nothing of his customary austerities, and the result was that 
 the malady became violent. He was obliged to lie down, and every 
 limb was nailed to his bed by intolerable sufferings. Fever set 
 in, and his life was feared for. The pious persons who had come 
 to know him trembled lest he was going to be taken from them, 
 and the Brothers in despair gathered round him, lavishing the 
 tenderest care on so dear a life. He alone remained undisturb- 
 ed. He consoled every one, bearing his pains with patience, and 
 repeating those words of holy Job : " May God be blessed, and 
 may His holy will be done, not ours! If we receive health at His 
 hands, it is reasonable that we should also accept sickness from 
 Him. May His holy name be eternally blessed ! " 
 
 But the remedies applied took no effect, and the malady held 
 on. It became necessary to have recourse to a treatment that 
 was more painful than the disease itself, and which had formerly 
 given him relief in Paris. The holy patient overcame the shrinkings 
 of nature. His disease prevented him from being of any use to the 
 Brothers, and from fulfilling his religious exercises, and, therefore, 
 he held to recovering the use of his limbs. So he allowed himself 
 to be again stretched out naked on a sort of grid-iron under which 
 was lighted an ardent fire that seemed to burn his flesh through. 
 Not a murmur escaped him. After some days of this heroic 
 treatment, he was again relieved. He was at first too weak to go 
 up to the altar, and celebrate his daily mass, so he compensated 
 himself by saying his beads several times a day, and in keeping 
 his soul constantly united to God. His strength returned by 
 degrees, and as soon as he was able to walk, he went to the little 
 chapel close by in the hospital of the Cistei'cian Monks of Gre- 
 
37« BLESSED DK LA SALLE. 
 
 noble. The moment he was well, he determined to make a long 
 retreat to repair wiiat he called his losses, that is to say the forced 
 omission of his religious practices during his illness. The Abbot 
 of Sal^c»n invited him to make this retreat at Permeigne. 
 
 Parmenie, in the country dialect Permeigne, is the name of a 
 hill some seven leagues to the north-west of Grenoble, on the 
 right bank of the Isdre. This hill, steep as a wall on every side, 
 is crowned by a wooded plain of five himdrcd feet long and forty 
 wide. From this table, you see the whole of the rich valley of 
 Grt'sivaudan. At its base are numerous towns and villages — 
 Izeaux to the west, Beaucroissant to the north, Renage to the 
 east, Tullins to the south; but the roads are very rough, and when 
 the snow is on the ground, the solitude of Permeigne is almost 
 inaccessible. 
 
 The history of this spot is very ancient. In the seventh 
 century, the Archbishops of Vienne had a fortified castle there^ 
 Towards G50, Ramnold, Bishop of Grenoble, flying from the Sar- 
 racens, wlio were laying waste Dauphiny, took refuge there, and 
 the Bisliops of Grenoble, when driven from their see, were long 
 compelled to seek shelter there from the hordes of barbarians 
 who were over-running the Rhone and its tributaries. Close to 
 their castle, they built a chapel that was served by twelve Canons 
 regular inider the title of the Holy Cross; such was the origin of 
 Permeigne. The inhabitants of the neighborhood used to come 
 to pray at thf shrine which had often served them as a place of 
 refuge. In 1259, Faucon, Bishop of Grenoble, who had a great devo- 
 tion to the Blessed Virgin, removed the Canons of Permeigne, and 
 replaced them by some Cistercian Nuns from the convent of 
 Prdmol, who founded a monastery of their order there. One of 
 them, Beatrice d'Omacieux, died soon after in odour of sanctity, 
 and her relics remained at Permeigne. 
 
 In 1400, the soldiery of Louis de ChAlon overran the country, 
 sowing death and ruin on their path. The Nuns were terrified, 
 and fled, and their monastery was burned down. Worship ceased 
 to be oflered up there, and for several centuries the sanctuary, so 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 377 
 
 long held in veneration, was abandoned. Ruined alike by the 
 hand of time and of man, it now only was frequented at long 
 intervals by a few pilgrims who kept alive in their hearts reverence 
 for the tradition of their ancestors' pilgrimage to the old shrine. 
 
 In 1646, in a little neighboring parish, a child was born who was 
 destined to rebuild the deserted sanctuary. Louise Hours was 
 
 The Grande -Chartreuse. — Second view (from a print of a different eiKjcli from that of the preceding one). 
 — Drawn by Cbapuis; engraved by H. Joflroy. 
 
 the daughter of poor peasants who were in the service of the comte 
 de Ferri^re; her father was game-keeper, and her mother house- 
 keeper at the castle. She was born almost dead ; but her mother 
 consecrated her to the Blessed Virgin, asking as her solitary peti- 
 tion that the child might receive baptism. Our Lady accepted the 
 vow, granted the poor mother more even than she asked, for the 
 child lived. 
 
 The little creature was brought up as most children of the 
 people were brought up in those days, especially in the countries 
 
378 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 where war had made havoc ot everything. She got no teaching of 
 any sort, did not learn even the first rudiments of Christian doc- 
 trine, and spent her childhood keeping flocks in the meadows 
 and woods, and on the mountain of Permeignc, at the foot of 
 which her parents lived. But God was whispering to her soul, 
 and inspiring her with a great desire to know and serve Him. 
 At the age of fourteen, being very anxious to learn, she entered 
 the service of a well-to-do family of Rives, where she made 
 acquaintance with a venerable priest who taught her the cate- 
 chism. She stayed there two years, and tlien came home to her 
 mother, now a widow, and to her young sister, and taught them 
 all she had learned. She resumed her humble occupation of a 
 shepherdess, refusing many offers of marriage, and seeking only 
 solitude, that she might l)e nearer to God. She meditated on the 
 infancy and the passion of Our Saviour, practised raeditatitm 
 and penance, and made great strides in the way of perfection. 
 Although she was quite alone, she made vows of poverty, chastity 
 and obedience; she cut off her hair, and dressed herself in black 
 with a white cap, which she never afterwards left off. One day, 
 when in prayer, the inspiration came to her to rebuild the sanctuary 
 of Perraeigne. She confided the idea to several pious persons who 
 all encouraged it, especially an Ursuline Nun of Saint Marcellin, 
 mother Bon, a soul of great holiness, who sustained and directed 
 her. It was a difficult undertaking. A great deal of money would 
 be required, and Louise had nothing. The consent of the Bishop 
 of Grenoble was also necessary, and he, considering the magnitude 
 of the work ajid the weakness of the person about to undertake 
 it, was inclined to treat her as a visionary. At last, liowever, 
 he yielded, and Louise began to beg. A coin of two farthings that 
 she found in the rubbish of Permeigne constituted her first funds. 
 She went begging from door to door, and getting a great deal 
 more abuse and bad treatment than alms. In the town of Tullins, 
 which contained from four to five thou5and communicants, she 
 was only able to collect a hundred a-nts, and this meagre aipital 
 was dearly earned. One day it was the lord of the manor who 
 
DOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 379 
 
 called her a thief and vagabond, and had her hunted off the 
 premises by his dogs. Another day, she was put in prison. Even 
 calumny attacked her, and the purity of her life was suspected. 
 But she did not lose heart ; she begged at Grenoble, at Saint Mar- 
 celUn, at Valence, even at Lyons, and got together a little money. 
 Her zieal had rekindled the piety of the people towards their 
 ancient shrine. Peasants and workmen came to offer their ser- 
 vices. Some gave wood for the beams; others lent oxen and 
 carts to transport it. So the work began, and heaven seemed to be 
 favoring it in many signal ways. Louise toiled at it with her own 
 hands. A little chapel was raised, and blessed by Abbe Ganel 
 in 1674, and soon after " Sister Louise " built herself a little 
 hut of wood and boughs, where, in company with another young 
 peasant girl, she lived, practising all the austerities of the monas- 
 tic life. Without fire, feeding on broken fragments of black 
 bread that shepherds or travellers gave her in charity, she came 
 down from the mountain every morning to hear mass, and passed 
 the rest of the day in prayer. The chapel was built, but it was 
 too small, so Sister Louise went forth and begged again, and got 
 more money, and it was enlarged. A chaplain was now wanted, 
 and God enabled her to find one who consented to devote himself 
 to the painful and humble mission. 
 
 But, meantime, the fame of Sister Louise's holiness had spread 
 abroad, and people came from all directions to ask for her prayers 
 and her counsel. She had extraordinary gifts; amongst others 
 that of discerning spirits; she had great hghts for guiding souls, 
 and even the secrets of the future were revealed to her. These 
 wonderful faculties drew to the once deserted mountain crowds 
 of people of all ages, and as the village was very far off, the 
 pilgrims were exposed to all the inclemencies of the rigorous 
 climate. Sister Louise, in order to shelter them, resolved to raise 
 two buildings, one for the men, one for the women, with a little 
 chapel. She went out anew and begged. But the Saints are not 
 permitted to realize their holiest plans without many trials. 
 Louise was arrested by order of the Archbishop of Lyons, and put 
 
380 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 in prison. She was not the least disturbed. She had foreseen 
 her arrest, and she foretold her deliverance. And so it came to 
 pass. The Archbishop soon after recognized her innocence, and had 
 her set free, and to atone for the wrong he had done her, he gave 
 her a large sum of money which sufQced amply to build the two 
 houses she desired. 
 
 Sister Louise came back to her hermitage, and resumed her 
 austerities and her prayers. The crowd continued to l)esiege the 
 door of her lowly cell, and even priests did not think it beneath 
 them to seek her advice, and place themselves under her direc- 
 tion. The Abbot of S:U^on, with whom Blessed de la Salle was 
 intimate, had a property on the mountain. Not far from the 
 hermitage he had a house and grounds, and had invited the ser\'ant 
 of God to go there after his illness, for change and rest. Blessed 
 de la Salle went, and stayed there part of February 171-4, and took 
 advantage of the opportunity to make .icquaintance with Louise. 
 These two souls at once understood each other, and a bond of 
 strong spiritual friendship was quickly formed between them. 
 Sister Louise's divinely illuminated eyes at once discovered the 
 high perfection of the priest that God had sent her, and she opened 
 her soul to him with entire confidence, told him the story of her 
 life, and sought his counsel. She had not led the extraordinary 
 life we know of without struggles of every kind. Demons came to 
 assault her in her solitude, and, above all since the erection of the 
 two houses of refuge, they attacked her with increased violence. 
 Blessed de la Salle consoled her, supported her, and gave her 
 advice the wisdom of which she recognized. He even condescended 
 to tell her of the trials he had had to undergo, the battle he had 
 been obliged to light, and the doubts that had assailed his soul 
 concerning his great undertaking. He longed to end his days in 
 retirement, to consecrate to God alone the remains of a life that 
 men no longer CJired for, and which in the woi'ld seemed perfectly 
 barren; but Louise deterred him from this project. She foretold 
 to him that he had still a great deal to do and to suffer, but that, 
 in reward for his patience, he would receive a brilliant and ever- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 381 
 
 lasting crown. As to his love for solitude, he was not to give in- 
 to it. " It is not God's will, " she declared, " and you must not 
 forsake the family He has given you; you are its father, and your 
 lot is labor; you must persevere in that to the end of your days, 
 uniting, as you have done from the first, the life of Martha with 
 that of Mary. " 
 
 While he was at Permeigne, Blessed de la Salle met M. Dulac 
 de Montisambert, then four-and-twenty years of age, and who was 
 to be known afterwards as Brother Ireneus, assistant to the Supe- 
 rior general of the Institute. Belonging to a noble family, and 
 brought up strictly and in the love of God, the young man entered 
 the army when a mere lad. At fourteen, he was lieutenant of 
 the regiment of Saint Menehould. In the army, he fell under the 
 influence of evil companionship, contracted a passion for gambling, 
 and was led into all sorts of dissipation. He was severely 
 wounded at the battle of Malplaquet, a bullet going right through 
 him. The near presence of death converted him. He remained 
 some time longer in the regiment, edifying his companions and his 
 chiefs whom he had formerly scandalized, and leading an irre- 
 proachable life. Finally, at two and twenty, he resolved to devote 
 himself wholly to the service of God, but without any idea so far 
 of what direction he should take. He left the regiment secretly, 
 sold his horse, and came to Grenoble, where he spent ten months 
 nursing the sick in the hospitals, praying in the churches, and 
 serving his apprenticeship to the perfect life. At the end of that 
 time, he presented himself at the convent of the Capuchins, and 
 begged to be admitted as a lay Brother. The Monks asked for 
 his baptismal certificate and the written consent of his parents, 
 and, as he could not produce either, they refused to receive him. 
 
 He then went to the Grande - Chartreuse. The Monks here 
 were equally afraid of receiving him without the authorization of 
 his family; they gave as an excuse for not admitting him that he 
 did not know Latin, and so could not say the breviary. 
 
 Disheartened by these refusals, he thought ot realizing a project 
 he had long had at heart, which was to make a pilgrimage to 
 
382 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Rome and Luretto. He put on coarse garments, gave all his 
 money to the poor, and with a stafT in his hand set out on foot 
 for Italy, asking alms, and leading the austere life of a real 
 pilgrim. He visited all the places sanctifie<i hy the saints and 
 martyrs, and returned to Grenoble more fervent than ever. But 
 the long and painful journey had broken down his health; he fell 
 ill; when he had recovered, he went to the Ahljey of Sopt-Fonls. 
 of the order of Clteaux, in the diocese of Autun, and asked for 
 admittance; but the Father Abbot refused him, saying that God 
 was calling him elsewhere. 
 
 He came back to Grenoble, and made another pilgrimage. This 
 time it was to Permeigne, where he made a retreat. The Abl>ot 
 of Saleon was there at the time with Blessed de la Salle. The 
 Chaplain of Permeigne, who confessed young Dulao, and was 
 aware of his diflicullies, presented him to the Abbot, who, edified 
 by his fervor and his virtues, recommended him to the servant 
 of God as a subject who might suit his Institute. 
 
 The holy founder first hesitated. Hi; was afraid that his 
 wandering life might indicate an inconstant disposition, and that 
 the young man would not have the stability he exacted from the 
 Brothers. He, therefore, put him to the test, and shut him up 
 in a room, forbidding him to leave it. Young Dulac obeyed 
 without a word, gave himself up to prayer, and remained shut up 
 until the holy man came to let him out. Then, he fell at his feet, 
 confided to him the longing he had to serve God in a Community, 
 and implored him to admit him into the Institute. Blessed de 
 la Salle, seeing his sincerity and the firmness of his resolution, 
 consented without further hesitation. 
 
 The director of the Brothei-s of Grenoble, who happened to be at 
 Permeigne, acquainted him in a few days with the Rule; he cut 
 olT his hair, gave him the name of Brother Ireneus, tot»k him 
 back to the town he had edilied so long by his piety, and put 
 him through the exercises of the Novitiate. Fifteen days afler- 
 wanls, he sent him to direct a school at Avignon, thence to Paris, ' 
 and linallv to Saint Yon. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 383 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had accepted as coming from God the 
 advice of Louise, and acted upon it. He resolved to accept 
 whatever new work was offered him. He stayed only fifteen 
 days on the mountain, but he kept the remembrance of those 
 days all his life, and continued to correspond with sister Louise 
 by letters. She could not read them herself, but she had them 
 read to her, and answered them as God inspired her. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle returned to Grenoble, and celebrated with his 
 Brothers the feast of St Joseph, 1714. The trials prophesied 
 to him by Louise were not long in overtaking him. The consti- 
 tution Unigenitus, which condemned the hundred and one pro- 
 positions of Quesnel, had just been promulgated. At Grenoble, 
 as in nearly all the dioceses of France, it was issued by the 
 Bishop, who later on repented of his submission, and retracted. 
 
 As soon as the pontifical document was published. Blessed de 
 la Salle wished to communicate it to his disciples. He read to them 
 the Bull with the pastoral letter that accompanied it, explained 
 the meaning of the condemned propositions, and recommended 
 them to bow to the papal decision with absolute submission. 
 He did not even stop here. He was a priest and a Doctor of 
 Divinity, and a decree of the Church being attacked, he felt bound 
 to defend it, and proclaim publicly his entire allegiance. He did 
 this, and showed himself in season and out of season the inflexi- 
 ble adversary of the innovators. In private and in public, he 
 attacked them without quarter. A pious lady of Grenoble having 
 begged of him to examine her library, he perceived the " Moral 
 Reflexions " of Quesnel on the shelves : — " What! " he cried, " you 
 keep a book that the Church has forbidden and condemned! The 
 anathema hurled at those who retain it does not frighten you? 
 Has that book and the example of its author taught you to laugh 
 at the thunders of the Church, and set you free from fear of them 
 as from a childish fear? " The lady, full of confusion, excused 
 herself on the ground of her ignorance, and handed the book to 
 the holy man, who burned it. 
 
 The advice he gave to others he practised himself. In Paris, 
 
384 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 as soon as the Archbishop had condemned Quesnel's book, before 
 even judj;ment had been pronounced by the Holy See, Blessed 
 de la Salle took it down from his library, and sent it to the 
 parish- priest of Saint Sulpioe, although, as a Doctor of Divinity, 
 he might lawfully have kept it. 
 
 This zeal, which had exposed him to persecution at Marseilles, 
 drew down new vexations upon him at Grenoble. The Jansenist 
 party was powerful everywhere and was furious on seeing itself 
 attacked with so much science and ability. It defended itself 
 with its customary arms, abuse and calumny, and spread the 
 most outrageous reports concerning the holy man. Happily, his 
 character at Grenoble was established beyond the reach of their 
 poisonous shafts. 
 
 It was not the first time the servant of God testified his attach- 
 ment to the Holy See. At Rouen, when his Novitiate was in dire 
 distress, he refused a large sum of money offered him by an 
 ecclesiastic on condition that he would join the party opposed to 
 the Constitution. At Marseilles, again, as we know, he spurned 
 the offer of the episcopal purple rather than betray his faith, and 
 preferred to leave his Institute at the mercy of his powerful 
 enemies. He acted in the same way at Grenoble, and continued 
 to do so to the end. 
 
Boiicn : Chaiiel of Sainl Von. — Drawn lij- Hulicit c'lorget ; eunravea My Meaulle. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 FRESH TROUBLES IN PARIS AND AT ROUEN (4714-1717). 
 
 T was about two years since Blessed 
 de la Salle had left Paris; but, while 
 at a distance, he had kept himself 
 informed of the affairs of the Institute, 
 and, in certain exceptional cases, had 
 interfered by his advice. He had 
 kept up communication with Brother 
 Bartholomew; with Brother Thomas, 
 who resided at Saint Yon, and also 
 wilh Brother Joseph, while he kept 
 watch through Brother Timothy over 
 the houses in the South. But his 
 T direction was naturally intermittent, 
 and almost invisible. Very often the letters of the Brothers did 
 not reach him, and when he received them, he did not always 
 
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386 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 answer. Considering himself incapable of overcoming the oppo- 
 sition which had triumphed over him, he thought he could serve 
 the Brothers better by prayer and penance, and he wanted to 
 accustom them to do without him. 
 
 His enemies had taken advantage of his absence to sow discour- 
 agement in the Institute. They had spread the report that he 
 had not been able to bear the Rule he had imposed on others, and 
 that this Rule was to be modified. A certain inevitable disorder 
 had arisen during this prolonged absence of the Superior, and a 
 sad experience has too often proved to all what becomes of a 
 Religious Community when the Father is taken away. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle had gone without announcing his departure 
 to any one but Brother Bartholomew. He had not named his 
 successor, and the Brothers, knowing that he was alive, did not 
 dare appoint one. Brother Bartholomew, master of novices in 
 Paris, had a certain practical authority which was tumed to 
 account. He was regular, conciliating, beloved by all, and it was 
 to him that every one had recourse when difficulties arose. But, 
 not having any deOnite and constituted authority, ho was often 
 paralysed in his best intentions. 
 
 This was the moment chosen by the enemies of the ser\ant of 
 God to introduce into the Institute a change which they had been 
 working at for ten years, and which he had always resisted. 
 They represented to the Brothers that the government was really too 
 heavy for one person, (fiat M. de la Salle himself had not been 
 able to retain it. that no single Brother was capable of taking up 
 the succession, and that, consequently, the whole organization 
 should be altered. In order to understand the disputed point, it 
 became necessary to explain somewhat the spirit of the rules 
 which the man of God had laid down. 
 / His idea was that all the Brothers who wore sent to teach in 
 schools throughout France, and even all over the Christian world, 
 were to form one family, who should have but one father, namely, 
 the Superior; one paternal home, the Novitiate; one law, the Rule. 
 All the Brothers, being called to the siime functions, were to be 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 387 
 
 trained by the same method; they were to receive the same 
 teaching, practise the same virtues, imbibe the same spirit, and 
 reproduce, as far as possible, the same type which was that of the 
 founder. In order to reahze this unity, they were not only to 
 spend at least one year in the Novitiate, and be there, as it were, 
 cast in the mould of the Institute, but they were to return from 
 time to time and go back into this mould, so that the lines which 
 had been rubbed off by contact with the world might be renew- 
 ed, and resume their primitive accuracy. Thus the direction, 
 begun during the first year's training, was continued through life. 
 The Brothers wrote once a month to the Superior general; he 
 answered them, and by this means, as well as through the visitors 
 and his own visitations, he remained in contact with them, and 
 was able to follow all the changes in their soul, to encourage and 
 direct their progress, to prevent or arrest abuses. But for this he 
 was armed with a supreme authority. Every Brother who strayed 
 from the Rule could be called back to the mother house, or sent 
 elsewhere. Every budding evil could consequently be nipped 
 the moment it was perceived. This constitution was simple, wise 
 and strong. The best proof of its excellence is its duration. It 
 has lasted for two centuries, with merely a few changes, which 
 are in reality developments rather than changes, and every-> 
 where the results have been admirable. "^ 
 
 The Brothers were under the ecclesiastical authority. They 
 were full of deference for the Bishops of the dioceses, and would 
 never have opened a school in one without their permission; they 
 were full of respect for the pastors, and sought their advice, their 
 protection and support. But they were obliged to apply their 
 Rule everywhere, whether for the keeping of their schools, or for 
 their own government; and were forced to resist every influence 
 that was set in motion to alter it. Their system had been 
 carefully considered beforehand by men who had a genius for 
 education and a particular grace for the direction of childhood 
 and who were enlightened, moreover, by long experience, and 
 the system they created certainly was superior to any that could 
 
388 BLESSED l)E LA SALLE. 
 
 be imagined as a substitute. Would it have been so if, in every 
 town, the BrotherhofKl liad adopted different customs? What 
 one pastor did, his successor would have undone; traditions would 
 have been lost, and endless abuses would have crept in which it 
 would have been impossible to arrest. The Brothers, sent alK»ut 
 from one diocese to anotlier, would have carried their different 
 ways with them, and this would have resulted in disorder and 
 conflict. It would have been necessary to break the bond that 
 united the houses one to another, to attach the Brothers perpet- 
 ually to their separate schools, and emancipate them from the 
 central authority in ordei- to place them under the immediate 
 direction of the diocesan and parochial authorities. 
 
 But, in that case, how were these houses to recruit subjects? 
 Some dioceses yielded numerous vociUions, others none, and the 
 advantage of a single Novitiate was to supplement the unpro- 
 ductiveness of one district by the abundance of another. The 
 greater number of the bishops intended to found schools in all 
 their parishes. The council of Trent had ordered them to do 
 so, and they felt the necessity of it. The obstacle came from the 
 lack of mastere. They had none, and they could not And men to 
 train as mastei-s. This was precisely what had caused the rapid 
 development of the Institute founded by Blessed de la Stdle. 
 * Moreover, at this period, the clergy of France were divided. 
 One set of dioceses was in revolt against the Holy See and carried 
 away by the Jansenlst party. If these dangerous heretics had 
 succeeded in getting hold of the education of the people, they 
 would have used their power by contaminating the popular classes, 
 and inspiring them with hatred of the Sovereign Pontiff and 
 contempt for the decisions of the Church. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, who had all his life professed the most per- 
 fect allegiance to Bome, could not expose his children to this |)eril; 
 knowing as he did by experience what it cost to withstand the 
 intrigues of such adversaries, he did not choose that the Brothei-s 
 should have the same warfare to c<trry on throughout all the schools 
 in the kingdom. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 389 
 
 And what was this constitution that certain persons, well- 
 intentioned probably, wanted to substitute for his? " The Brothers 
 in the various towns should have for superior a priest foreign to 
 their Institute. Each house should be independent, and the 
 Brothers should in each be stationary, without being able to be 
 moved. To repair the losses made by death amongst them, two 
 or three novices should be trained as they were wanted. The cen- 
 tral Novitiate should be suppressed. The Paris Brothers should 
 form a distinct society under the authority of an ecclesiastical 
 superior chosen outside the society. " 
 
 Such was the programme of the enemies of Blessed de la Salle, 
 and it may be said with truth that one more diametrically opposed 
 to his views could not have been devised. 
 
 This programme was concocted in Paris, apparently by M. de la 
 Ghetardie, parish- priest of Saint Sulpice, and by Abbe de Brou. 
 The historians of the time do not name them, but circumstantial 
 testimony does, and almost all the difficulties which the holy 
 man encountered in Paris arose from his not being willing to 
 bow to M. de la Chetardie's ideas. Many parish -priests were of 
 M. de la Chdtardie's opinion. They had hitherto had entire 
 charge of the charity-schools, and had had a great battle to fight 
 against the precentor for their liberty. It seemed hard on them, 
 after this strife of half a century, to lose what they had fought for, 
 and succumb to a new order of things, composed of obscure, 
 ignorant laymen, governed by a strange Canon. The Novitiate 
 was in the parish of Saint Sulpice, and was consequently a charge 
 upon it, without any apparent gain to the parish, whose alms 
 had helped to train Brothers for all the schools of France. 
 
 These were specious reasons, and, without being sound, they 
 were of a nature to influence minds not acquainted, as Blessed 
 de la Salle was, with the real needs of education. The parish- 
 priest of Saint Sulpice was convinced of their solidity, and defend- 
 ed them energetically. But whatever may have been the good 
 qualities of M. de la Chetardie, as regards the direction of good 
 works, we feel bound to accept the judgment given by the Abbot 
 
390 KLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 of ia Trappe to the Abbot of Montigny, concerning the foundations 
 of Father Barre — " I am (tf opinion that, regarding those works 
 that are of God, we cannot do better than follow the intentions 
 of the founders. It is they who have received the spirit and the 
 mission, and we must believe that it is by their ministry that 
 God means to declare His will. So long as the first Rules were 
 observed, tilings prospered, and received a particular blessing; 
 Go<l protected the works, He supported them, He increased them. 
 But experience lias taught us that as soon as they abandoned the 
 views of the founders, and adopted other maxims, and struck 
 out roads which had been unknown to these holy men, the holiest 
 establishments degenerated and fell away. Human wisdom only 
 spoiled what had been done, and what was only to subsist by His 
 Divine Providence '. " 
 
 So long as Blessed de la Salle was in Paris, they had not been 
 able to substitute new ideas for his Rule; but when he was at a 
 distance, people resolved to take advantage of his absence to force 
 them on Brother Bartholomew, and so introduce them into the 
 Institute. This was no easy matter, however. Brother Bartholomew 
 was strongly attached to the Rule; he knew, moreover, that 
 he had but a transitory authority, and he wished to return intact 
 to his superior the deposit he liad received from him. Nothing 
 could be obtained by force from so firm a character, so they tried 
 cunning. They began by attacking the authority of Brother Btir- 
 tholomew in all the Paris houses. The Brothers had no endow- 
 ments and lived chiefly on the alms given them by the parish of 
 Saint Sulpice. The Abbe de Brou, a virtuous priest, but who was 
 imbued with the ideas of the pastor, was named by the Archbishop 
 inspector of the schools. He went often to the house of the Broth- 
 ers, meddled in evenlhing, and, taking advantage of the power 
 which the fact of his having control of the parish funds gave him, 
 he exercised more authority than even Brother Bartholomew him- 
 self. He prevented him from receiving postulants, sent them 
 
 ' Marimes spiritueUet of Falher Barr6. — Paris, 1684, in-8». 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 391 
 
 away when he thought fit, and managed so well, that when the 
 servant of God came back from the provinces, he only found three 
 or four young men in the Novitiate. 
 
 In seeing M. de Brou invested with this authority, the Brothers 
 grew accustomed to look on him as their Superior, and even ad- 
 dressed him as such, which he seemed to like. But a day came 
 when this was not enough, and he demanded the title : — " You 
 call me your Superior, " he said; " that is all very well; but you 
 nrust draw up a deed, and have it signed by the Brothers. " The 
 Brothers, however, had no right to do this. Their founder had 
 not given in his resignation, and they knew that he was not dead. 
 The Rule, besides, forbade their naming as Superior any one out- 
 side the Institute. They ought not to have yielded to this new de- 
 mand; but they feared that all provision would be taken from them, 
 and this made them weak. The name of the new Superior was 
 accordingly inscribed on the register of the house, and remained 
 there until, on the return of Blessed de la Salle, it was torn out. 
 
 Once in possession of his title, the new Superior grew bolder. 
 He determined to make all the other houses follow the example 
 of his own, and to break off all bond between it and them. He 
 tried to persuade Brother Bartholomew that he was burdened with 
 too heavy an office, that he was not capable of conducting so many 
 scattered houses, that even M. de la Salle had broken down under 
 the load. " How then could Brother Bartholomew, who had 
 neither the age nor the authority of the founder, be so presump- 
 tuous as to fancy he could do what his Superior had found it im- 
 possible to do? Brother Bartholomew's humility would not permit 
 him to answer these arguments, and probably in the bottom of his 
 heart he did find the load too heavy. He replied, however, that 
 he could not on his own authority change the constitution of the 
 Institute, that the Rule had been accepted by all the Brothers, and 
 that all should be consulted before any change could be introduced. 
 Those who were endeavouring to draw him into their nets advised 
 him to write to the Brothers Directors of the various houses in 
 the provinces, to beg of them to elect, all in their own place, an 
 
392 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ecclesinsticnl Superior who would govprn them in the ahsenc-e of 
 Blessed de la S;ille, tliaf, for his part, " he was not e«pial to it. " 
 Brother Bartholomew wrote in this sense, and some t»f the Din^:- 
 tors did as he desired them. At Bouen, Abbe Blain, the future 
 historian of the society, was named by the Archbishop Superior of 
 the community. 
 
 But this step had not tlie result that was expected tmra it. The 
 majority of the Brothers |)erceived the danjcer of the new reform, 
 and pointed it out to Brother Bartholomew. The ecclesiastical 
 Superiore who had been chosen also perceived it. They were in- 
 terested in the Brothers, and far from abusing the power that had 
 been confided to them to dismember the Institute, they contented 
 themselves with protecting it, leaving the Directors all the author- 
 ity they had hitherto enjoyed. Even the Archbishctp of Paris 
 refused to modify the Rule. M. de la Chetardie and M. de Brou 
 went to him, and presented him with a note they had dniwn up 
 of the changes they wanted made. The prelate had it looked into 
 by his Vicar general, M. Vivant, kept it seven or eight months, and 
 on the 4th of April 1714, sent word to Abb^ de Brou that nothing 
 was to be touched. At the same time, he expressed publicly his 
 high regard for Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 Thanks to this wisdom, no disorders occurred. It is true that 
 a few Brothers took advantjjge of the circumstance to leave the 
 Institute. But most of them had long been wishing to do this, and 
 were only waiting for an opportunity. Others were old, and attach- 
 ed to their Rule, and thought it was going to be changed; but 
 for all it was a trial which they ought to have withstood. God, 
 however, sometimes, permits the wind to shake a tree that is too 
 heavily laden with fruit; those that are too ripe, or those that 
 hardly hold on the branches, fall to the ground; tliose that remain, 
 drinking up all the sap, grow flner and more succulent. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was aware of all that had been going on. 
 People had been writing to him from all sides, repix>jiching him 
 with his absence, and pointing out the disorder it was giving rise 
 to. A few of these letters reached him; but he was not moved by 
 
T^ 
 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 393 
 
 them. His soul remained unshaken. He had adored in silence 
 the unfathomable designs of God, and contented himself with 
 saying: — " God be praised! If it be His work, He will take care 
 of it. " And, indeed, he soon received more favorable tidings. 
 The disturbance was only on the surface, and the Institute was 
 rather more firmly consolidated; nevertheless his return was more 
 necessary than ever. The organization of the Institute, though 
 it had withstood so many shocks, must eventually be weakened if 
 his great influence and consummate experience did not come to 
 the rescue. 
 
 Failing to conquer his resistance by their prayers, the Broth- 
 ers of Paris, Versailles and Saint Denis hit upon a singular 
 device; they resolved to send him a command to return, and ac- 
 cordingly wrote him the following letter: — " Our dear Father, 
 we, the principal Brothers of the Christian schools, having at heart 
 the glory of God, the good of the Church and of our Institute, 
 consider that it is of the utmost importance that you should re- 
 sume the care and general guidance of the holy work of God, 
 which is also your work, since it has pleased God to make use of 
 you to establish and manage it so long. Every one is convinced 
 that God has given you the grace and the ability necessary for 
 governing the new Institute which is so useful in the Church, and 
 it is only justice that we should testify that you have always 
 governed it with great success and edification. This is why we 
 humbly pray you, and further command you in the name and on 
 behalf of the community to which you promised obedience, to 
 immediately resume the general government of our society. We 
 remain, with profound respect, our dear Father, your very humble 
 and very obedient inferiors. In faith of which we sign. Given at 
 Paris, 1st of April 1714. " 
 
 The moment had now come for Blessed de la Salle to return to 
 his Brothers; and he no longer hesitated. He took leave of his 
 friends, left Grenoble, stopped a few days at Lyons, studied there 
 the work of M. Demia, went to Annecy to venerate the relics of 
 St Francis de Sales, made a round of visitations to a certain 
 
394 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 numl)tM- of houses, and then set his face towards Paris. Grave 
 events had come to pass during his absence. The parish-priest of 
 Saint Sulpice, M. de la Chdtardie, had died on tlie 29th of June. 
 He had been so unfortunate as not to understand the work of 
 Blessed de la Salle, and to remain hostile to it to the end of his 
 life. But he was none the less a venerable priest, and his will is 
 so admirable that it deserves to be quoted as a model of humility 
 and faith : — 
 
 " I commend myself to the prayers of llie tioly clergy and the men and 
 women of ttie parish, entreating them to remember me before Uie Ix)rd, and to 
 forgive me if in any way I have olTended against my duty to them... I declare 
 that I have nu gold or silver of my own... Whatever may be found in my 
 house is a deposit confided to me, and which must be given to the charitable 
 confraternities... As to my furniture, it is of very little value... Such are my 
 last wishes in leaving this world, and 1 leave all without regret, except the 
 Church of Jesus Christ, founded on the merits and mercies of God. I am 
 going away, but I will return; 1 am going to sleep, but I will awake; 1 am 
 dying, but 1 will rise again : 1 bear with me this sweet hope, and go down into 
 the grave awaiting the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to 
 come. Amen. " 
 
 Two days before his death, M. de la Ch^tardie resigned his 
 presbytery into the hands of Cardinal d'Estrees, Abbot of Saint 
 Germain, in favor of M. Languet de Gergy, his vicar, who took 
 possession of it on June 21st. M. de Gergy knew Blessed de la 
 Salle, and loved the charity-schools, where he had often taught 
 the catechism. He had been for ten years vicar of M. de la Ch^ 
 tardie, and acquitted himself of his office with great zeal. He had 
 even wanted to sell his patrimony to help the poor. The Brothers 
 hoped therefore to find in him a protector as devoted as his pre- 
 deces.sor. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle arrived in Paris on the 40th of August 1714. 
 His first words on meeting the Brothers were: — " Here I am; 
 what do you want with me? " 
 
 They entreated him to Uikc the sole direction of the Institute. 
 This he Hatly refu.sed to do. His great desire was that, during his 
 life, the Brothers should establish a government according to their 
 
HOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 393 
 
 Rule, lest after his death one should be forced upon them which 
 would change the basis of the Institute. Moreover, his great hu- 
 mility inclined him to fly from honors and power, and he sincerely 
 believed that some one could easily be found who would govern 
 the society better than he did. Then again he felt that he was 
 growing old, and he wanted, like all holy souls, to break with the 
 world in order to unite himself more closely to God. 
 
 These reasons were not likely to weigh with his disciples. They 
 had suffered too much from his absence to give up his direction 
 now that he had returned to them. They fell at his feet, and im- 
 plored him to keep the title of Superior. As to the details of the 
 administration, Brother Bartholomew was accustomed to them, 
 and would continue to attend to them. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle could not resist the desire so earnestly pre- 
 sented to him, and was fain to accept the offered burden. He 
 would not consent, however, to manage the house, nor to preside 
 at the exercises. He confined himself to saying mass, confessing 
 the Brothers, making a spiritual discourse to them on Sundays, 
 and spent the remainder of his time in prayer, and in finishing 
 the works he had composed both for the direction of the schools, 
 and the edification of his disciples. 
 
 The position of the servant of God in Paris was an embarrassing 
 one. Abbe de Brou had taken advantage of his absence to upset 
 the entire constitution of the Institute. He now wanted to have 
 those changes approved by the founder himself, and to be con- 
 firmed by him in his title of Superior; for, without this, he felt 
 that his powers were unstable, and his authority more nominal 
 than real. He therefore drew up a long list of questions which 
 he handed to the holy man, desiring him to give him prompt and 
 full answers to each. He asked amongst other things : — " Who 
 would be the future Superiors of the Institute? — What were the 
 vows to be? — What were to be the rules of the society ? " 
 
 Blessed de la Salle was not obliged to answer these questions, 
 put to him by a person who had no right whatever to interrogate 
 him. He might have refused, and carried the matter before the 
 
396 BLESSED DE LA SALLR 
 
 Archbishop, who most pn»hal)ly would have taken his part. Rut 
 he did not clioose to do this. He answered simply eacli |x»int, 
 except tlie lirst, on which he kept silence; for he did not wish 
 either to recoj^nize what had bei'ii done in his absence or to cf)m- 
 menc«! hostilities. This attitude irritated his adversary very much, 
 and he contrived to have the payment of the Brothers' stipend 
 suspended, and declared they should not touch a fraction of it 
 until they gave him the satisfaction he desired. Hut, after all. 
 Abbe de Brou had to surrender. He came at last to understand 
 that Blessed de la Salle was the founder of the Institute, and should 
 alone have the direction of it. Some time later, the parish -priest 
 (jf Mende having written to Abbe de Brou for news of the Brothers, 
 he replied : — " I laid before M. de la Salle what you did me tlie 
 honor to write to me; he intonds to see to it. He seems rather 
 embarrassed to lind good subjects for your town in place of those 
 you have lost; but he has a real affection for that school, and 
 means to attend to the matter at once. This is all I can tell you 
 about it, for since he has been in Paris, I have thought it better to 
 hand over to him the government of the society, which I only 
 took charge of during his absence '. " The divergence was there- 
 fore now at an end, and Blessed de la Salle had resumed the direc- 
 tion of the Institute. 
 
 Some time after his return to Paris, a young Lutheran convert, 
 the clievalier d'Armestat, entered the Novitiate. He was a German 
 of illustrious birth, who had served in the armies of the Empire 
 under Prince Eugene; he had been several times grievously 
 wounded, and cured by those mysterious signs known as " the 
 secret. " 
 
 After the battle of Denain, he left the service, and came to 
 France. One day, he was passing through Lyons, and heard that 
 a possessed person was being exorcised in a church. The religion 
 of his childhood, and his sojourn in c<'imps had made him scepti- 
 (x»l; he did not believe in the existence of demons, and was curious 
 
 ■ The Idler is in the Archives of Mendo. and is datod, " Paris, 5th of October 1714 ". 
 
BOOK 11. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 397 
 
 to assist at this odd ceremony which he looked upon as a trick. 
 So he went to the church, and got as near as he could to the pos- 
 sessed woman. She suddenly turned round, and looking at him 
 with terrible eyes, cried out, in a voice that shook with rage : — 
 " Ah! thou dost not beheve in demons! Wait. The day will come 
 when thou shalt feel their fury! " 
 
 This address made a profound impression on the young man 
 He was a stranger, absolutely unknown, and no one could have 
 revealed to this woman the sentiments hidden in the bottom of 
 his heart. He withdrew greatly disturbed. His mind, hitherto 
 turned away from religion by the excitement of war, now reverted 
 to it; he wanted to be instructed, to study this Catholic doctrine 
 which he had always despised, so he went to the Archbishop of 
 Lyons, who gave him masters and guides. In a few months, he 
 was thoroughly converted, and abjured Lutheranism. 
 
 From Lyons he came to Paris, and addressed himself for direc- 
 tion to a priest of Saint Sulpice who advised him to enter the 
 Novitiate of the Brothers. He was received there on the 8th of 
 October 1714, and began the next day to follow the exercises of 
 the novices. It was here that the demons were waiting for him. 
 All his wounds re-opened, and he was seized in his whole body 
 with horrible pains. The Brothers, hearing him groan and cry 
 out, thought at first that he was bewailing his sins; but the next 
 morning, not seeing him at the exercises, they went to look for 
 him, and found him in his bed, motionless, covered with blood, 
 and unconscious.' Bemedies and restoratives were applied, but 
 his case seemed so hopeless, that Extreme Unction was adminis- 
 tered to him. Scarcely had he received the sacrament than his 
 wounds closed, he regained consciousness, and was soon well and 
 able to follow the Rule of the house. This malady struck all who 
 saw it as extraordinary. Fresh attacks recurred. The chevalier 
 d'Armestat again lost consciousness, vomited blood, and rolled his 
 eyes horribly, gazing fixedly at a cross that was in the room, and 
 gesticulating with his arms as if to ward off some invisible person 
 who was aiming blows at him. He seemed to be looking at some 
 
398 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 frightful vision. The wliole night passed in this way, then he fell 
 into a sort of letharg>' which lasted f(»ur hours. In this state 
 he saw the demons threatening him with all kinds of torments if he 
 persevered in his vocation. Then the Blessed Virgin, for whom 
 he had a great devotion, appeared to him, and, scattering the in- 
 fernal troop, consoled him. When he regained his senses, he 
 earnestly asked for the habit. It was given him, and once more 
 he became a prey to torturing pains. An invisible hand seized 
 him by the throjjt as if to strangle him; his tongue grew thick, 
 and he fell into such a sUite that viaticum had again to be admin- 
 istered to him, and they began to recite the prayers for the ago- 
 nizing. He rallied once more and was cured, but stion again to 
 fall a victim to a fresh attack. He seemed to see HIessed de la 
 Salle, Brother Bartholomew and the priest who was directing him, 
 all beating him cruelly. 
 
 The servant of God took careful notice of this extraordinary 
 condition. Ho had nursed the poor sufferer with the tenderest 
 charity; he had prayed for him; but nothing availed; the disease 
 seemed to be assuming all the signs of a veritable possession, and 
 in this case it could only be cured by the rites prescribed by the 
 Church. Blessed de la Salle went to the sick man's room and 
 shut himself in with him, and went through all the ceremonies of 
 exorcism, whereupon the novice was delivered, and never felt the 
 least return of his terrible malady. 
 
 After the holidays of 171.'», the holy founder, seeing that life was 
 too expensive in Paris, sent back the Novitiate to Saint Yon. 
 Perhaps he wished at the same time to set it free from interference 
 that was troublesome and unjustified; so Brother Bartholomew set 
 out with three or four novices in the month of October. 
 
 The pious foumler remained a month longer in Paris. He 
 wanted to go, but he was embarrassed as to how he shouM demean 
 himself towards the Archbishop of Paris. The latter was resisting 
 the bull Unigenitus, which wasboginninglomove tlu* whole country. 
 Blessed de la Salle withdrew for two days into his c«'ll, praying 
 God constantly to know whether or not he ought to go to take 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DB LA SALLE. 399 
 
 leave of the Archbishop. Finally, he decided not to go. The day 
 of his departure, he got up very early, said mass at Saint Sulpice, 
 and went to Abbe de Brou to announce his departure. The Abbe 
 was greatly surprised. He was afraid, too, that, deprived of its 
 Superior, the school would again fall upon his hands, so he set 
 himself against the holy man's departure. He had no right to do 
 this; but Blessed de la Salle submitted to everybody. He obeyed 
 humbly, and went back to the house without saying a word. 
 
 Meantime, his presence at Saint Yon was needed ; the Novitiate 
 wanted to be organized. The Brothers felt this, and so they went 
 to Abbe de Brou and represented to him the disadvantages that 
 arose to the Institute from his opposing Blessed de la Salle's 
 departure. Amazed at the extraordinary obedience of a man so 
 far above him in age, virtue and position, M. de Brou at once set 
 him free to go. The holy man left immediately, and arrived at 
 Saint Yon in the first days of December 1715. 
 
 Here he gave himself up completely to the direction of the 
 novices, and applied to the work which he considered the basis 
 of the Institute all the experience he had gathered during his long 
 government. 
 
 "Whilst he was absorbed in these holy occupations, he received 
 the visit of two pious laymen, M. Gense, of Calais, and M. de la 
 Gocherie, of Boulogne, who had come on purpose from Rouen to 
 make his acquaintance. He received them, as was his wont, with 
 great cordiality, and took them to a sort of little hermitage he had 
 reserved to himself at the end of the garden. They broke bread 
 together, and passed the day discoursing on the great duties of 
 Christian life. 
 
 The two strangers made particular enquiries concerning the 
 new society the holy priest had founded, and the difficulties that 
 had beset him in the task. When they congratulated him on his 
 courage, the holy man replied that it had been all God's doing. 
 ' " For my part," he said with his charming simphcity, "I own 
 to you that if God had shown me the labors and crosses that were 
 to accompany the good I was to do in founding the Institute, 
 
too BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 my courage would have failed, and, far from undertaking il, 
 I would not have dared put my finger to the work. A prey to 
 contradiction, I have been pei-secuted by sevend prelates, even by 
 those from whom I had a right to expect help. My own children, 
 those whom I begot in Jesus Christ, and rherishe<i with the 
 utmost tenderness, whom I tniined with the greatest cjue, and 
 from whom I looked for great services, rose up against me and 
 added to external trials thos«' interior ones which are so much 
 more acute. In a word, if God had not held out His hand and 
 visibly sustained the edifice, it would long ago have been buried 
 under its own ruins. The magistnites joined with our enemies, 
 and lent them the weight of their authority to overthrow us. As our 
 office offends the school -masters, we have in every one of these 
 a declared and inveterate enemy, and all in a body they have often 
 armed the powers of the world to destroy us. Yet, notwithstand- 
 ing all, the edifice is standing, although it was so often trembling 
 on the brink of ruin. This is what leads me to hope that it 
 will endure, and render to the Church the services she has a right 
 to expect from it. " 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, in these few words, summed up the history 
 of the foundation of his Institute and foretold its future destinies. 
 He had sown in tears, and his children, despite those trials insep- 
 arable from all Christian undertjikings, were to reap in joy. But 
 what a homage he paid at the same time to the omnipotence of 
 grace, which bad led him unawares from first to last to the success 
 of a vast enterprise, tbrougli obstacles the mere contemplation 
 of which would have frightened him from attempting it! How 
 kind God is to bide the future from us, to employ us like day- 
 laborers, without revealing to us the secret of His designs, thus 
 sparing our pride, which would be puffed up by their magnif- 
 icence, and our cowardice which would quail before theii* 
 difficulties. 
 
 M. Gense carried away with him a profoun*! admiration for the 
 holy man, with whom his acquaintance did not end here. They 
 exchanged letters, and M. dense having fought against those who 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 401 
 
 opposed the Bull Unigenitus, Blessed de la Salle wrote to congrat- 
 ulate him. They thought alike; both were animated with the 
 same faith, the same loyal submission to the Church, the same 
 love of the poor, and each at his post was working at the same 
 task, the Christian education of youth. 
 
 M. Gense had pressed the holy man to come and see him at 
 Calais; but M. de la Salle excused himself on the grounds of his 
 occupations, his age and his infirmities. There were, however, 
 several of his schools already in the North, and a journey there 
 might be of some use, so Brother Bartholomew begged him to 
 undertake it, and he at once consented. He set out at the begin- 
 ning of August 1716. He was received with great honor by the 
 magistrates and the inhabitants of Calais, and M. Gense greeted 
 him as his master. He invited him to dine, and wished even to 
 take advantage of this opportunity to have his portrait taken. 
 A painter was hidden behind a piece of tapestry, so placed that he 
 had a view of the servant of God without being seen. He had 
 drawn a part of the face, when he was obliged to lift up his head 
 to catch the whole, and in doing so Blessed de la Salle caught sight 
 of him. He at once assumed a severe countenance, rose and left 
 the table, coldly thanking his host. He went home exceedingly 
 annoyed at this outrage against his modesty. He could not 
 understand what anybody could want with his portrait, and pre- 
 tended that they had been turning him into ridicule. M. Gense 
 never could persuade him to go back. 
 
 His sojourn at Calais gave him an opportunity of showing his 
 tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin. The parish dean of tlie 
 town had invited him to sing high mass on the feast of the Assump- 
 tion, and the servant of God bad accepted. In the middle of the 
 service, the dean got into the pulpit, to preach as usual on the 
 gospel of the day, but he made no allusion to the feast. He was 
 imbued with the new heresy, and secretly opposed to the honor 
 paid to the Mother of God. Blessed de la Salle was scandalized by 
 this silence, and on coming out from mass, he could not refrain 
 from expressing his displeasure. He went to the parish -priest, 
 
 2G 
 
402 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 upbraided liim with his omission, and hin-st out into such eloquent 
 praise of the Motlier of God, that the culprit felt all his objections 
 melting away, and promised to repair his fault the following 
 Sunday. And he kept his word. Ho again ascended the pulpit, 
 and discoursed on the mystery with such orthodoxy and fervor, 
 that his audience were astonished, never having heard such a trib- 
 ute to Our Lady from his lips. 
 
 From Calais, M. de la Salle went to Saint Omei-, where his 
 presence had long been desired. While he was in Provence, the 
 Hishop of Saint Omer, My Francois de Valbelle de Tourves, who 
 had formed the plan of opening a free school, had gone to Paris 
 in hope of obtaining Brothers, liul we know tin- opinicms that 
 reigned at that time concerning the government of the Institute. 
 The Novitiate was nearly empty, and answer was made to the 
 prelate that they had not any available Hrothei-s, nor any hope 
 of being able to form now .schools. My de Valbelle was not 
 disheartened, however. He waited. 
 
 When the pious founder returned, Iho Brothers told him about 
 this demand, and advised him to re-open negotiations with the 
 Bishop. 
 
 At first, he refused; but, yielding to their entreaties, he wrote to the 
 Bishop. He had a most satisfactory reply. My de Valbelle begged 
 him to come to Saint Omer as soon as possible, and to enable him 
 to do so, he even postponed the visitation he was about to make 
 in the diocese. But Blessed de la Salle was delayed, and when 
 he got to Saint Omer, the Bishop was gone. The Vicar general, 
 M. Tissot, received him with gi'cat honor; he showed him the site 
 on which ho meant to build a house for the Brothers, and pre- 
 sented to him the persons who were to provide the necessary 
 funds for founding the establishment. According to his custom, 
 tlio holy man withdrew at once to the church, where he remained 
 long in prayer, commending the work to (Jod. Next day, he cele- 
 brated ma.ss in honor of St Omer, patron of the town. The 
 matter was not concluded at once, liowever, and the schuol was 
 not opened until 1719. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 403 
 
 From Saint Omer, Blessed de la Salle came back to Rouen, 
 passing by Boulogne, where a school had been founded in 1710 
 by M. de la Cocherie. It was situated in the lower town, and 
 the house, inhabited by six Brothers, was small and inconvenient. 
 Three years later, the Bishop had opened another one in the upper 
 town, and had asked for two more Brothers to direct it. They 
 then undertook to rebuild the first house. The King had given 
 the ground, the first founders had furnished funds, and everybody 
 had helped. The Marquis of Cortembert, governor of the town, 
 had himself drawn the plan, given the materials, and sent carters 
 who did all the transporting gratis. 
 
 At this juncture. Blessed de la Salle arrived, and was received 
 with extraordinary honors. The most important persons of the 
 town wanted to see him, to receive him, to get his advice, to 
 admire this man so sublime by his virtues, so humble in his 
 appearance, so holy in his actions, and who was about to educate 
 the people of France. The servant of God, despite his humility, 
 could not escape the homage that was forced upon him; but he 
 took it all with his accustomed simplicity; he went about so 
 miserably clad, that his friends carried off by main force his tattered 
 old soutane, and compelled him to put on another that was made 
 up in a hurry. 
 
 M. de la Cocherie was above all others happy to have the holy 
 man in his house, for he looked upon him as a saint. But all 
 these honors distressed the object of them exceedingly; they dis- 
 pleased him far more than persecutions and insult. He, therefore, 
 departed as quickly as he could, and continued his visitation, 
 leaving the Brothers to reap the fruit of the admiration that he 
 inspired. 
 
 No sooner did he get back to Rouen than he made haste to 
 cari7 out a project that had long been in his mind; this was to 
 resign, and have another Superior general elected in his place. 
 He was only sixty-five years of age; but fatigue and austerities 
 had weakened his constitution, and he looked upon his death as 
 being near at hand. The storms that during his absence had 
 
AOA BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 shaken tlie Institute and threatened to destroy its spirit, the 
 strife which had arisen about the government of the Brothers, 
 had led him to fear mucli greater evils if he were Ut die without 
 arranging al)Out his successor. He longed, moreover, to devote to 
 prayer the days that yet remained to him. After having worked 
 so hard for othei-s, it was only just that he should work a little 
 for himself, and spend some years in silence and retirement, pre- 
 paring himself for the last and supreme act of a Christian's life. 
 
 The Brothers could no longer have any reasonable objection to 
 his carrying out this design. Since his return from the South, 
 he had slipped the direction of the community into the hands 
 of Brother Bartholomew, and kept the title of Superior himself, 
 without exercizing the authority of his office. It was, therefore, 
 only a question of transmitting to another a purely nominal dignity. 
 But this transmission must needs be regularly conducted, so as to 
 put a barrier against all possible future contestations; and on the 
 other hand, it was necessary that it should 1m> done .secretly, so as 
 to prevent the (banco of strangers interfering. 
 
 On the 4th of December 171G, M. de la Salle called together the 
 six leading Brothers of Rouen, and told them of his plan. At 
 first, he met with vehement resistance. They loved him tenderly, 
 and were fearful of loosening the ties that l)ound him to them. 
 He ended, however, by convincing them of the wisdom of his 
 motives, and feeling gave way to reason. It was agreed that one 
 of them should set out secretly on a round of visits to all the 
 houses, and acquaint them all with the motives which made it 
 desirable to have a general assembly, and proceed to the election 
 of a new Superior. Nobo<ly was better fitted for this mission 
 than Brother Bartholomew. He was known and loved l)y all, and 
 Providence, who destined him to continue the work of Blessinl de 
 la Salle, was preparing him for it by this general visit to all the 
 houses of the Institute. He set out in December 17IG, going first 
 to Chartres, then to Moulins, then on to the Cevennes, Mende, 
 Vans, Alais, and finally to Avignon, where he arrived at the 
 beginning of January 1717. From here, he went to Marseilles, 
 

BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 403 
 
 returning by Dijon, passing by Grenoble, and visiting the schools 
 of Champagne, Troves, Rethel, Rheims, Laon and Guise, where 
 he arrived at the beginning of March. He turned his steps towards 
 the North, and visited the schools of Calais and Boulogne, lie 
 made the purpose of his journey clear to all the Brothers, and 
 persuaded them all of the wisdom of their venerable founder's 
 intentions. He had brought with him a model of the deed that 
 all would have to sign, giving their consent to the decisions to be 
 formulated at the general Assembly. 
 
 Brother Bartholomew was received everywhere with great 
 demonstrations of joy and respect. The renown of his wisdom 
 and his virtues was widely dilTused through the Institute, and all 
 were anxious to see the man who, during the absence of Blessed 
 de la Salle, had borne the weight of government. He returned to 
 Saint Yon at the end of March 1717, gave an account of his 
 journey; then after a few days' rest, he set out again to visit the 
 houses of Paris, Versailles, and Saint Denis. His mission here 
 succeeded beyond what could have been expected. One day, he fell 
 from his horse, and his foot caught in the stirrup; he was dragged 
 a long way over the ground, and ought humanly speaking to have 
 been killed; he was not even hurt. 
 
 Another day, two robbers accosted him at the entrance of a 
 town, with the evident intention of robbing him; but, arrested by 
 some mysterious power, they could not utter a word, and after 
 following him for some distance, they turned back without laying 
 a finger on him. 
 
 A no less signal mark of God's blessing was the fact that he 
 carried away from every house the consent of all the Brothers to 
 the decisions of the approaching Assembly. In order that this 
 consent might be unanimous. Blessed de la Salle had written to 
 Rome to Brother Gabriel, as early as December 1716, to ask for 
 his acquiescence. 
 
 The traditions of the Institute seemed to point to the Feast of 
 Pentecost as the date assigned for the general Assembly. At the 
 beginning of the Society, and later at Vaugirard in 1694, the 
 
406 BLRSSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 assomhlies were lield tit this {x^'iod ctf the liturgical year. This 
 time, the Diro«-tors were all invited in Saint Yon. Sixteen an- 
 swered to the fall. The houses represented at the Ass«'nil»ly were 
 Alai.s, Boulogne, Calais, Chartres, Grenohle, (Juise, I^on, Avignon, 
 Paris, Rheitns, Rouen, Darnetal, Relhel, Versailles and Saint 
 Denis. As to the Hirectors of Moulins, Dijon, Troves, Mende, Vans 
 and Mai-si'illes, they were not able to come. In spite of these 
 absences, Blessed de la Salle saw his Institute spread out liefore 
 him like the tree sprung from the grain of mustard seed. It was 
 now a great order. 
 
 As soon as the Dii'ectors were assembled, he told them tlie 
 motive for which they had been convoked. They were to prepare 
 for the great act before them by a retreat which was to begin on 
 the KUh of May. 
 
 The Servant of God had composed a special prayer to invoke 
 the light of the Holy Spirit, and he gave them the rules according 
 to which they were to proceed for tlie election, rules chiefly 
 borrowed from the Constitutions of St Ignatius. Then he spoke 
 a word of final advice to them : — " Purify your intentions and 
 desires, " he said, " if you want to be the oi^ns of the Holy 
 Ghost to name him who is destined to govern you. Set aside 
 all human considerations, do not listen to the voice of nature, 
 reject false lights, and the prejudices of the human spirit " 
 " Act without any interested feeling, without sympathy or antip- 
 athy, without passion or inclination, without natural attniction 
 or repulsion. Keep your hearts in a state of complete indiffei-enco, 
 and incline them only towards him who will be set before you by 
 the majority of votes. As it is not you who are to elect, but God 
 in you, and by you, lift up your hearts to him, and weary not in 
 addressing to Him that prayer of the Apostles : — ' Show us him 
 whom you have chosen. ' If you wish to know that chosen one, 
 give your vole to whomsoever your conscience namt«, to him who 
 is pointed out by merit, to him whom at the hour of death you will 
 wish to have chosen, lo him who is best fitted to govern the 
 Institute, who most possesses its spirit, who is l>est capable of 
 
BOOK II. - LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 407 
 
 maintaining order, of keeping alive fervor, and sanctifying you all.' 
 Name him who is known to you as the most enlightened, the 
 wisest, the most virtuous, the firmest. Give your vote to him 
 who possesses those six qualities so necessary for governing the 
 family of God— prudence, gentleness, vigilance, firmness, piety, 
 zeal and charity; to him who presents in the highest degree that 
 rare combination of virtues— zeal with prudence, light with 
 charity, firmness with gentleness, kindness with severity; to him 
 who possesses gentleness without softness, vigilance without over 
 anxiety, firmness without inflexibility, zeal without bitterness, 
 goodness without weakness, prudence without cunning. Give 
 your vote to him who is the holiest, or who wishes to become it, 
 who is worthy of being your model in all things; to him who will 
 be the humblest in the first pfece, who will have the heart of a 
 father towards you, and make his authority loveable. Look neither 
 to talents nor birth in making this choice, nor to age, nor length 
 of years in the Institute, nor to face, nor to figure. Look not at 
 the man, but see God in him. You will choose him whom God 
 Himself has chosen if you seek a man according to His heart, and 
 not according to your own, a man of grace in whom grace acts, 
 and not a man according to your taste, and natural inclina- 
 tion. " 
 
 The holy man then withdrew to his cell to join his prayers 
 with those of his children, leaving them free to proceed to their 
 election, and invoking on them the blessing of heaven. Brother 
 Bartholomew was charged to preside over the Assembly and to 
 conduct the exercises. Then, after two days' deliberation all the 
 votes fell upon him, and, on May 18th 1717, he was elected Supe- 
 rior general of the Institute. 
 
 This choice did not surprise Blessed de la Salle; on hearing 
 of it, he said simply : " He has been for a long time the acting 
 Superior. " The election had, therefore, ratified the choice which 
 he had himself made from the first. The only one who objected 
 to it was the Religious on whose shoulders the burden of authority 
 had fallen. He entreated the Brothers to spare his weakness, and 
 
108 
 
 BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 was confused at seein^j them come one after another to kneel at 
 his feet and acknowledge him as their Superior, He had, however, 
 to submit, and accept the nomination as the expression of the will 
 of God. He begged for two Brothers to second him in his task, 
 and two Assistants were given him : Brother John, Director of 
 
 Lonii XIV., froB * ooppwrpteu priat at 8, TbomujtB i l«7S). — Ka(nT«4 hj M^mU*. 
 
 the Paris house, and Brother Joseph, Director of that of Rheims. 
 The retreat was prolonged to Trinity Simday, which is the great 
 feast of the Institute, and then all the Brothers, with Blessed de la 
 Salle and Brother Bartholomew at their head, renewed their 
 vows. 
 
 Acting on M. do la Salle's advice, the Assembly mot to examine 
 the Bales with the new Superior, and consider what ought to be 
 
BOOK 11. 
 
 LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 409 
 
 added to them, and what retrenched. Each one gave his opinion 
 with perfect freedom, and it was agt-eed by common consent that 
 they would refer the matter to their holy founder, and abide by 
 his decisions concerning all necessary modifications. He consented 
 to this, and took the thing in hand. He added some chapters 
 borrowed in part from St Ignatius, and the Rule thus revised 
 was sent to all the houses, with Brother Bartholomew's signature. 
 While the things related in the last chapters were coming to 
 pass, a great event, whose effect made itself felt all over France, 
 occurred. After a reign of seventy-two years, Louis the Fourteenth 
 died on September the 1st 1715, passing away in that sumptuous 
 palace of Versailles, which he had made one of Ihe wonders of 
 the age. It would be ungrateful towards his memory not to recall 
 here the benefits which the budding Institute of the Brothers 
 enjoyed so amply under the government of that monarch, " whose 
 name had become identified with greatness. " Say what we will, 
 Louis XIV. will always be " Louis the Great, " and posterity 
 will never forget what he did for France, whose frontiers he 
 extended; for art, to which he gave so many master-pieces; and 
 for the lowly schools where the children of the poor were taught, 
 thanks to him, respect for authority and love for God. 
 
Rouen, where Blessed de la Sallo died. — Second general view. (Cf. r. 129.) — Drawn by Hubert Olerget , 
 
 engraved by M6aulle. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LAST TOARS AND DEATH OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE (1717-1719). 
 
 sooner was the servant of God 
 set free from the cares of govern- 
 ment, than he had but one thought, 
 which was to bring to perfection the 
 virtues of humihty and obedience 
 that lie had practised ah his hfe. 
 Lie not only refused to give an 
 order of any sort, but he would not 
 do the least thing without asking 
 permission. He left unanswered the 
 greater number of letters addressed 
 to him, and to those who came 
 to him for direction, he repeated : 
 " I am no longer anything; go to the Brother Superior; " or 
 else : " Take care not to look to me for anything; I can 
 
Hi BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 meddle with notliing now; I must think of my sins, and prepare 
 for dealh. " 
 
 lie considered himself as a sinner, unGt to mix with other men. 
 In tlie refectory, he insisted on having the last place, after the 
 lay Brothers. At recreation, he stayed iiumbly with the youngest. 
 He would not leave his cell without a distinct permission. In tlie 
 midst of all his duties, so faithfully performed, he could not, to 
 use the expression of one of his contemporaries, " disoccupy 
 himself with (lod. " 
 
 The only privileges he retained were those of saying mass, con- 
 fessing the Brothers and the novices, and directing their consciences, 
 but without meddling in the government of the Institute. Even 
 this humility had its trials, so true is it that here below good is 
 never done without suffering. Mg"" d'Auhigne had revoked gene- 
 rally the faculties of priests in his diocese, and ordered all 
 those who wished to hear confession to come to him for fresh 
 powers. Blessed de la Salle, who now considered himself simply 
 as the chaplain of the Brothers, did not wish to make this appli- 
 cation himself. He thought it was for Brother Bartholomew to 
 do it, lie being now his Superior. Brother Bartholomew, accord- 
 ingly, presented himself at the Archbishop's; but he was badly 
 received. He was told that it was not his business to come and 
 ask faculties for a priest, and that M. de la Salle's humility 
 was out of place : — " If he wants faculties, let him come and 
 fetch them, " was the message Brother Bartholomew brought back. 
 The holy man went for them, and received them at once. 
 
 The servant of God, throughout his heroic life, had been favored 
 with supernatural gifts that he kept c;irefully concealed lest any 
 glory should accrue therefrom to him. One of the founders of 
 the Hospital in Canada came to Paris, and wanted to carry back 
 some Brothers with him, and Brother Bartholomew, yielding to his 
 entreaties, promised to give him some. Blessed de la Salle, on 
 hearing this, merely exclaimed : — " Oh, my goodness! What are 
 you going to do? You are going to undertake a thing that will 
 bring you into endless trouble, and have very unpleasant consc- 
 
ZW, GA^XISA Utli 
 
 TAlPJiOM*AS-tc 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 413 
 
 quences. " He repeated this on two separate occasions. The 
 Brothers had such confidence in him that tliis sufficed to make 
 them give up their design. And they had reason to be thankful 
 for it, for they learned afterwards that the Brothers would have 
 been exposed to very great dangers. 
 
 M. Rogier, that friend who had done so much mischief in the 
 Abbe Clement's affair, had left Blessed de la Salle a considerable 
 sum in his will, by way of reparation, and the holy man was 
 obliged to go to Paris for certain necessary formalities, lie at 
 first refused; but the Institute was poor, and in great need of the 
 money, so Brother Bartholomew desired him to go, and he 
 went at once. He reached Paris on the 4th of October 1717. He 
 refused to stay at the Brothers' house, fearing the honors that 
 awaited him there, and went and begged for hospitality at the 
 Seminary of Saint Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, where he hoped to be 
 quiet and unknown, and where he edified all by his piety. The 
 business was a long time getting settled. The holy man refused 
 to accept the legacy with the title of Superior, and the notary had 
 to yield to his inflexible will. 
 
 While their founder was in Paris, the Brothers were again 
 threatened with being turned out of the house they had chosen. 
 The Marquise of Louvois, who owned the house they occupied at 
 Saint Yon, died, and the heirs were going to sell it in order 
 to make a division of the property, so they sent word to the Broth- 
 ers that they must leave. This was a great blow to the Com- 
 munity. They were admirably situated, in fine air, and the house 
 and garden were spacious. Moreover, they had been living there 
 for fourteen years, and the idea of leaving it and hunting for an- 
 other was painful to them. It occurred to them to buy it. They had 
 not the money, it is true; but Blessed de la Salle had taught Ihem 
 to reckon on Providence. He would not, however, this time take 
 the responsibility of advising them; his humility forbade it. " It is 
 not fitting, " he wrote to Brother Bartholomew, " that I should have 
 any share in this business, I who am nothing, while you, as Superior, 
 are master. " The Brothers made up their minds to buy the house. 
 
414 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Then the holy man went off to Al)l«5 de Louvois, who had been 
 the executor of Iiis mother's will, and had a {^reat regard for him 
 for sake <»f the Archliishop of Hheims, M'J<" Letellier, his uncle. 
 Ahhe de Louvois promised to put the house at a reascmahle price, 
 and to give the Hrothers the preference. The negociation was 
 very troublesome, and was twice on the point of being broken olT. 
 Finally, it was adjuged in favor of brother Bartholomew. Ulessed 
 de la Salle refused to figure in it. " I am too old, " he said. " I 
 am working to get free from all ties with the affairs of this 
 world. " 
 
 Providence, on whom the Brothers reckoned, did not, as we see, 
 fail them. 
 
 Meantime, the servant of (Jod was the admiration of the holy 
 priests at Saint Nicolas, who after his death bore testimony to his 
 sanctity. Despite his age, he rose at the same hour as the others, 
 and he was always amongst the first at the exercises, at the 
 morning meditation, at the spiritual conferences, and at di\1ne 
 office. In spite of his infirmities, he would not be dispensed from 
 a single point of the Bule, and denied himself everything that 
 approached an alleviation. During this winter that he passed in 
 Paris, he never had a fire in his room. Instead of warming himself 
 at recreation with the others, he used to walk in the garden with 
 some young seminarians whom he was trying to inflame with the 
 love of God and detachment from this world. In all things, he 
 was poor and humble. His clothes were of the coai'sest serge. 
 In conversation, he never spoke of himself or of what lie had 
 done. He deferred meekly to ofhors, and was always ready to yield 
 to their opinion, seeming to forget all that he had been, and all 
 that he had done. He look«'d upon himself truly as the lowest in 
 the hou.se. 
 
 Jansenism continued to troid)le the Church of France, and was 
 the general topic of conversation. Blessed de la Salle lo<tk no part 
 in these discussions, which had always appeared to him dangerous 
 to charity and useless to faith. When, however, he was obliged 
 to give his f>pinion, he manifested a great horror of the new heresy, 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 415 
 
 and proclaimed his perfect submission to the teaching of the 
 Church and the decisions of the Holy See. He lived above all by 
 prayer, humility and penance. He gave from two to three hours 
 daily to meditation, saying that, as he was a mere novice in per- 
 fection, he ought to take advantage of being at leisure in a semi- 
 nary to learn over again the lessons he had been taught at Saint 
 Sulpice fifty years ago, and which he had forgotten. 
 
 He found it hard to leave this quiet retreat. The r3rothers wore 
 impatiently caUing him back to them, but he lingered on at Saint 
 Nicolas. " I am a good-for-nothing, " he wrote to l^rother Bar- 
 tholomew, " and the Institute ought to look upon it as a special 
 mercy of Divine Providence to be rid of me. " I want to be led, 
 not to lead. It is time I should look after my own sanctification ; 
 I have been looking after other people's long enough; since God has 
 given me such a good opportunity, I must profit by it, and if I were 
 to let it escape, I should have to regret it for the rest of my life. 
 I have been commanding long enough. The day has come for me 
 to obey, and I ought to try and teach you all by my example to 
 prefer the state of dependence to that of authority. All things 
 considered, I have a mind to end my days where I am. " But this 
 great humility only made the Brothers more ardently desirous of 
 having in their midst the Father from whom they had still so 
 much to learn. They feared that death might overtake him in 
 the house of strangers, and they wished to be near him to close 
 his eyes. 
 
 His hosts at the seminary, despite the joy they had in possessing 
 him, and the temptation it was to them to keep him, were compelled 
 to acknowledge that his place was in the midst of his children. 
 Brother Bartholomew at last came to fetch him, and exercised his 
 authority to desire him to return. Blessed de la Salle, docile as 
 usual, submitted without further resistance. Before leaving Paris, 
 he wished to visit for the last time the Brothers there, whom he 
 did not expect to see again. All gathered round him, asking for 
 his blessing. He refused to give it, saying that he was unworthy; 
 but he yielded at last, and then took leave of them, and returned 
 
4IG BLESSED DK LA SALLE. 
 
 to Saint Yon with Brother liarlholoniow. Tliis was on the 7lh 
 of March 1718. 
 
 Arrivctl at Saint Yon, he set to work to put everything in order, 
 for lie foresaw his approaching death, and had foretold it. On 
 the 11th of August, he transferred several de<xls and titles which 
 were in his name. To his brother, Louis de la Salle, by a deed 
 of December the 18th, he made over five houses that he founded 
 at Rethel, that they might be used for the schools of Bethel and 
 Rheims. But above all, he made re;idy for death by a more faithful 
 practice of every virtue. 
 
 His life was more retired than it had ever been before. He 
 had cho.sen the meanest room in the house, a dark nx)m on the 
 ground floor, opening into the stables. It had been impossible to 
 make him accept any other. At table he would be served last, after 
 the lay Brothers, and it was with great difficulty he had consented 
 to say the Benedicite, only yielding because there was no other 
 priest pre.sent. All his time went in prayer, in confessing the Broth- 
 ers, in foiming the novices, in teaching the young Iwarders, and am- 
 vorting tiie boys who were in confinement. There was no getting 
 him away from these functions. During his free moments, he 
 worked at some writings he was finishing for the sanctification of 
 the Brothers, amongst others a " Method of mental prayer. " But 
 even now his trials were not over. They only end for the Saints 
 after death. 
 
 The Bishop of Boulogne, who, in 1716, had shown such intense 
 sympathy for IMessed de la Salle, was an ardent Jansenist, defend- 
 ing Quesnel's book, and appealing against the Bull Unigenitus 
 Part of his clerg\' had gone over with him to the sect, and they 
 hoped to entice the Brothers to jom them. In order to influence 
 them, they said that Blessed de la Salle himself inclined to the 
 new doctrines, and that he appealed against the Bull I'tiigenitus. 
 The Brothers wrote to him, which gave him the opportunity of 
 answering them in an admirable letter full of faith and submission 
 to the Church : " I don't think, " he said, " that I g-ave the Dean 
 reason t(» say I was of the number of those who were appealing. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 417 
 
 my dear Brother. I never dreamed of appealing any more than 
 of embracing the new doctrine of the appelants to the future 
 
 Chapel of Saint Yon. — Drawn hy fedouard Gamier ; engraved liy Caliarteiix. 
 U'f. aiiollier view of Saint Yon, p. 385.) 
 
 council. I have too much respect for our Holy Father the Pope, 
 and too nnich submission for the decision of the Holy See, not to 
 
 27 
 
418 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 acquiesce. I wish in this to do like St Jerome, who, in a difTiculty 
 created in the Cliurch by the Arians, who wanted him to admit 
 that there were in God three liypostases, thought (it to consult 
 tlie chair of St Peter on wliich he knew the Church was built. 
 
 OM chBreh ot Mat Mtw. - Dnn Iv rkkot Jaalsr. 
 
 Addressing himself to Pope Damasus, he said that if His Holiness 
 ordered him to recognize the three hypostast^s in God, in spite of 
 his own misgiving he would declare there were thrtH' hypostases. 
 The Saint concluded his letter by imploring the Pope in the name 
 of Jesus crucified, Saviour of the world, and of the Hle.ssed Trinity 
 of three Divine Persons in one nature, to authorize him to confess 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED Db, LA SALLE. 
 
 419 
 
 or to deny that there were three hypostases in God. Tlie Dean 
 and others must not, therefore, be surprised if, following the 
 example of this great Saint so enlightened in matters of religion, 
 I find it that he who sits in the cliair of Peter has spoken by a 
 Bull which has been accepted by almost all the Bishops of the 
 world, and has condemned the hundred and one propositions 
 
 Interior uf Saint Sever. 
 
 Brawn by Fichut Juuiur; engravtd hy MeauUe. 
 
 taken from Father Quesnel's book, and if, after so authentic a 
 decision of the Church, J say with St Augustine that the case is 
 closed. This is my feeling and opinion on the subject, and they 
 have always been the same, and will never change ". 
 
 This letter is dated from Rouen, January 28th 1719, three months 
 before the death of the servant of God, and consequently may be 
 considered the testament of the faith in which he had hved, and 
 in which he wished to die. 
 
 The servant of God had also some difficulties with the parish- 
 
420 BLESSED UE I.A SALLE. 
 
 priest of Saint Sever, whose parishioner he was, and whose indis- 
 creet zeal had wanted to compel the lirothers, for the edification 
 of his Ciiurih, to pi-actices incompatihle with their Rule and the 
 {rood order of the house. An agreement was made between them, 
 l)ut some points of it having been found impracticable, the pastor 
 held lilessed de la Salle responsible, and complained of the matter 
 to his ecclesiastical Superiors, the Archbishop of Rouen and his 
 Vicar general. The Archbishop allowed himself to be influenced, 
 and even went so far as to withdraw from the servant of God the 
 faculties that he had given him for the house of Saint Yon. This 
 aflair was a fresh source of anxiety for the holy man; but he bore 
 the trial with his habitual serenity, and nothing could force him 
 to utter an angry word, or show the slightest sign of impatience. 
 
 Blessed de la Salic had the presentiment of his death. He was 
 not yet very old, and his indrmities, although painful, were not of 
 that kind which shorten life. He had long been suffering from 
 rhumatism that he had caught in the little house of Vaugirard, 
 where he had spent winters without fire in a cell open to all the 
 winds of heaven, and with damp linen. He had inherited from 
 all this misery pains that had often nailed him to his lied, in- 
 capable of moving, every limb tortured as if he were on the rack. 
 An asthma was added to this, and he suffered unceasingly, day 
 and nigl% but these sufferings, however painful they may be, gene- 
 rally c<jme with age, and are no sign of the nearness of death. The 
 forebodings of the holy man were from another cjiuse, and it was 
 from above that he was warned of his approaching end. Since 
 his return to Saint Yon, he was more and niore detached from 
 the world, and thought only of appearing before (iod. " 1 l»eg of 
 you for the love of (Jod ", he writes at this period to one of the 
 Rrothers who consulted him, " don't atldress yourself to me, my 
 dear Hndher. You have Superiors to whom you should commu- 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 421 
 
 nicate your affairs, spiritual and temporal. I wish henceforth to 
 think only of death, which is soon going to separate me from all 
 creatures. " 
 
 The same idea recurs in all his conversations. The only care 
 he took was to hide the acute pains that he was suffering, to 
 wear a calm and cheerful countenance, and not to relax any of his 
 exercises or austerities. His ahstinence was as rigorous as ever, 
 and his prayers were not abridged. The Lent of 1719 began. 
 Despite the entreaties of those around him, he insisted on observ- 
 ing all its prescriptions. " The victim is going to be immolated, " 
 he would reply, " we must work at its purification. " But his 
 strength was rapidly diminishing. His asthma became so oppres- 
 sive, that he could hardly breathe. His confessor considered that 
 he was no longer fit to abstain, and forbade him. He obeyed 
 humbly. 
 
 Soon after this, an accident occurred and brought on a serious 
 complication, which hastened the final crisis — a door fell on his 
 head, and caused him violent pain. The Doctor considered the 
 case fatal, and did not conceal the truth from him. The servant of 
 God learned the tidings with joy, like a man who at last sees the 
 goal to which he has been journeying. He accepted, nevertheless, 
 all the remedies that were ordered, and which were often more 
 painful than the disease itself. The only thing he refused to do 
 was to stay in bed; he wished death to find him up, like a brave 
 athlete. He dragged himself to all the exercises, until, at last, his 
 strength betrayed his courage, and he could no longer move. His 
 joy was not diminished; it increased with his suffering. '• I trust, " 
 he said, " that I shall be soon led out of Egypt, and brought into 
 the true land of promise. " 
 
 The feast of St Joseph was drawing near. Blessed de la Salle 
 had always had a great veneration for the glorious Saint under 
 whose protection he had placed the Institute, and who is the 
 patron of those who watch over youth. He had an ardent desire 
 to say mass once more in his honor. This favor, contrary to all 
 expectation, was granted to him. On the 18th of March, towards 
 
122 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 evening, his pains grew much less, and his strengtij returneil. 
 The night was Ciihn, and next morning he was able to rise, and 
 go up to the altar, and offer the holy sacrifice in tlie midst of his 
 Brothers who couhl liardly beheve the evidence of their eyes. All 
 day, he conversed witii tliem, heard their last confidences, gave 
 them parting advice, and then lay down again. He was now 
 evidently much wor^e. 
 
 The parish-priest of Saint Sever was warned of the danger, an«l 
 hastened Uj visit him. Seeing, as all did, that there was no hope, 
 and fearing from the great serenity of the dying man that he was 
 under a delusion as to his state, he thought it necessjiry to tell 
 him the truth without circumlocution. " Know, " he said, " that 
 you are going to die. and that you will then appear before God. " 
 Blessed de la Salle replied : '' I know it, and I am quite resigned 
 to His orders. My fate is in His hands. May His will be done! " 
 
 And, in truth, his soul was constantly united to God, and lie 
 was waiting with holy impatience for the last links that bound 
 him to this world to be broken. Some days passed thus. 
 
 He grew worse, and asked for the Viaticum. They promised to 
 bring it to him the next day, which was Wednesday in Holy Week, 
 and he spent the whole night in preparing himself for this great 
 act. His poor cell was adorned as well as the poverty of the 
 house permitted. He insisted on being lifted out of his bed, clothed 
 in his surplice and stole, and placed sitting upright in a chair. 
 At the .sountl of the bell that announced the approach of the priest, 
 he fell upon his knees, and received Communion, his face all aglow 
 with that extraordinary devotion that he so often displayed in the 
 celebration of the Divine mysteries. All the spectators were deeply 
 impressed. It was the last rays of a life that was fading away. 
 Next day. Holy Thursday, he received Extreme Unction. His mind 
 was not the least dimmed; on the contrary, it had that peculiar 
 lucidity which God reserves for His Saints at the last hour. He 
 saw into souls, and gave some supreme warnings and advice? to the 
 Brothers who were kneeling round his bed. A man of the world, 
 flrawing near to consult him .ibout something, received this answer : 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 423 
 
 " It only depends on yourself to be saved. God is loading you 
 with His graces, but you don't correspond to them. You don't 
 go to Him as you ought, and you bury the talents that He has 
 entrusted to you ". 
 
 The voice of the holy man was growing weaker and weaker. 
 All his children fell upon their knees, and Brother Bartholomew 
 begged him to give his blessing to all the Brothers of the Institute. 
 He hesitated at first from humility; but then raising his eyes to 
 heaven, and extending his hands, he said : " May the Lord bless 
 you all! " 
 
 Towards evening, he became unconscious. They said the prayers 
 of the agonizing. When they were ended, he came to himself, 
 and, addressing the Brothers, said : " If you wish to persevere 
 and die in your vocation, have no intercourse with people in the 
 world. Little by little, you will get a taste for their habits, and get 
 so drawn into conversation with them, that you will no longer be 
 able, out of politeness, to refrain from applauding their discourse, 
 however pernicious it may be, which will lead you to fall away 
 into unfaithfulness. Being no longer faithful in observing your 
 Rule, you will grow disgusted with your vocation, and will 
 abandon it ". 
 
 A cold sweat interrupted him here, and the agony began. It 
 lasted from midnight till two in the morning. It being the night of 
 Good Friday, Blessed de la Salle was associated with the sufferings 
 . of the Passion. Towards morning, consciousness partly returned. 
 They told him to invoke the assistance of the Blessed Virgin, his 
 constant protectress, and he recited the prayer he was in the habit 
 of saying every night — Maria, Mater gratiae. The Brother Su- 
 perior asked him if he accepted his sufferings ^\\\h joy. " Yes, " 
 he replied, " I adore in all things the designs of God upon me. " 
 
 These were his last words. 
 
 At three o'clock in the morning, the agony began again, and 
 lasted an hour. The body was agitated, but the face was tranquil. 
 Towards four o'clock, he joined his hands, raised his eyes to 
 heaven, made an effort to raise himself as if to go to meet some 
 
424 
 
 RLESSEI) DE LA SALI.E. 
 
 one, and expired. He had gone to celebrate the Paschal feast in 
 heaven. It was the 7lh of April 1719. Blessed de la Sjille was 
 sixty-eight yeai"s of age. 
 
 rortnit of Bteutd il« I* iWtoua hU d«Ui I«<1, from • drawtac of Dn Pbljr CM* |k. Of). 
 -~ B*ffT*T«d h)r Jottnr* 
 
 When the news of his death was spread through the town of 
 Rouen, a great concourse of people (locked to the house to see him 
 for the last time. Every one looked upon him as a Saint, and 
 wanted to gaze once more upon his roiuitenance, and CJirry away 
 some souvenir of him. A crucifix, a New Testament, an Imitation 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 425 
 
 of Christ, made up the sum of his wealth, so his clothes had to be 
 cut up to content the pious avidity of the people. 
 
 The venerable body remained exposed in the chapel of Saint Yon, 
 clothed in his sacerdotal vestments, from Friday evening to Satur- 
 day afternoon. The face had lost none of its beauty and serenity. 
 Death had only thrown over his features a thhi veil through which 
 shone the splendors of eternal life. On Holy Saturday, he was 
 
 Portrait of Blessed do la Salle, from a most valuaMe miniature belonging to M. ^douard Pelay, of Rouen. 
 — Drawn by ^douard Garnier ; engraved by Chapon. 
 
 buried, very quietly because of the Paschal feast. The body was 
 borne by six Brothers, and followed by all the others chaunting 
 psalms; tears were streaming from their eyes, and sobs mingling 
 with their prayers. They had lost their father and benefactor, and 
 were truly orphans. Ecclesiastics, Religious of all orders came to 
 attend the funeral. 
 
 The service was celebrated on Quasimodo Monday by the priests 
 of the little seminary of Saint Nicaise, and a great number of 
 notabilities came to pay the last honors to a man who had fled 
 from honors all his life. 
 
 The body was laid to rest in the chapel of- Saint Susanne in 
 
Ma BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 the church of Saint Sever. On his tomb was engraved an in- 
 .srription now effaced and replaced by the following one in Latin : — 
 *' Here await.s the resurrection venerable John Baptist de la Salle, 
 of Hhciins, Priest, Doctor in theology. Canon of the Metropolitan 
 (Ihurch of Rheims, Founder of the Brothers of the Christian 
 schools. He died on Good Friday, in the sixty-eighth year of his 
 age, the 7th of April 1719, in the house of the Brothers of Saint 
 Yon, in this parish. May God grant that he find rest! " 
 
 Several parish -priests celebrated solemn masses, and Brother 
 Bartholomew received a great number of letters expressing the 
 deep affliction which this death had auised throughout France. 
 
 * Blessed de la Salle was rather above the middle height, and well 
 proportioned. His constitution, delicate in childhood, had grown 
 strong from exercise and work, until penances and excessive fa- 
 tigue weakened his health. His forehead was broad, his nose 
 straight, his eyes large and of a blueish grey, his skin was tanned 
 by exposure and travelling, his hair, which curled, and which had 
 been chestnut in his youth, was grey and white in his declining 
 years. His countenance bore the stamp of great sweetness and 
 majesty. His air was modest and serene; his manners simple and 
 gracious. An atmosphere of holiness breathed from his whole per- 
 son. We are here only reproducing the incomparable portrait of 
 his body traced by his firet historian, than which nothing could be 
 more truthful and accurate in every line. Let us now reproduce 
 that of his soul, drawn by the same master- hand : — " Nobody ", 
 says Canon Blain, " had more the air of a Sjiint. Grace, enthroned, 
 as it were, on his countenance, seemed to show forth to men what 
 he was before God, and depict there the beauties of his soul. You 
 were drawn towards God in looking at him. Everything in him 
 breathed the perfume of the virtues of humility, modesty, sweet- 
 ness, charity, tranquillity, equality of mind, mortification and 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 427 
 
 deep piety. Always the same under all circumstances of sorrow 
 and trouble, in so many painful and vexatious events, and when 
 suffering from such anxiety and inward care, he was like unto a 
 man, whose heart, fixed on heaven, takes no interest in what is 
 passing here below; he was like a man who strove to regulate all 
 his thoughts and desires according to God's glory, and solely in 
 view of the Divine pleasure. 
 
 His life is the Gospel put in practice. To do penance, to deny 
 oneself, to mortify and crucify the flesh, to pray, to converse with 
 God, to appear amongst men only to labor for their salvation or to 
 
 Fac-fimile of Blessed de la Salle's writing, from a document preserved in the Archives of the Institute. 
 — Cf. the flrst formula of vows, p. 240. 
 
 receive their contempt, to devote oneself wholly to the poorest and 
 most abandoned, to sufier everything, to give way to everyone, 
 never to complain, never to feel offended, always to see oneself in 
 the wrong, to bless God, to take His will in all things for the rule 
 of our own will, to love our friends in Him and our enemies for 
 Him, only to see and desire God in all things, to be interested only 
 in His glory, to forget everything else, to have no aversion towards 
 anything but the world, to hate nothing but sin, to fear nothing 
 but to displease the sovereign majesty, to desire only to imitate 
 Jesus Christ, to be attracted only by the cross, and to love God 
 alone, is not this the epitome of the Gospel and of Blessed de la 
 Salle's life? 
 
428 
 
 BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 What examples of self-forgetfulness, of severily for the ho«ly, of 
 contempt for the world, of thirst for justice, of purity of heart, of a 
 holy passion for humiliation and sulTering, of detachment from 
 
 M' 
 
 } ) 
 
 ii 
 
 L'c^ G del 
 rracMat at tiM iaMripUoa i4*ced 
 
 <!• UM nooaa tuBi) at Dlimt «• l» B«ll*i — IMwa lir ttnur* Omim. 
 
 all earthly things, of love of prayer, of union with God and sacri- 
 fice of self, does not th»' history of this saintly priest offer to us? 
 What graces are hidden in his interior life, and what merits 
 accumulated in that life of crucified sulTering, will he manifested 
 on that dav when the secrets of hearts shall Ik; revealed. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED ;DE LA SALLE. 
 
 429 
 
 The servant of God was like a man dead to everything; a man 
 in whom nature no more dared to show itself, nor put forward 
 the least claim; a man whose life was wholly supernatural, celes- 
 tial, divine; who thought, spoke and acted as if he had been of a 
 higher nature; a man whose natural element had become virtue, 
 whose life was God, whose soul and centre were Jesus Christ. 
 
 Present torab of Blossed de la Salle at the boarding -scliool of the Brothers, at Rouen.— Drawn hy £douard Gamier. 
 
 In prayer, he looked like an angel; at the altar, like a seraph; in 
 his conduct he was truly an apostolic man; in tribulation, he was 
 another Job; in poverty, a Tobias; in abandonment to Providence, 
 a Francis of Assisi; in the rigors of penance, a second Abbe de 
 Ranee; in the practice of obedience, a new Dositheus; in the 
 exercises of every virtue, a perfect disciple of Jesus Christ. This 
 is Venerable de la Salle as he really was; this is his true portrait. " 
 
430 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Until 1734 the body of Rlessed de la Salle ' remained in the 
 church of Saint Sever, where it had been laid the day after his 
 death. The Brothers, having added a church to their house at 
 Saint Yon, asked to have the remains of their founder restored to 
 I hem. The Archbishop consented, and the body was exhumed on 
 llie IGth of Julv 1734. 
 
 C'hslicc asd rrueu of Bl«M*d da U b«ij« , Kearrved la Ui« treuare of the Cktbcdrml uf SUieimi. 
 
 The tomb was opened, and the bones were found intact in their 
 natural position. They were covered with a white clotli, placed 
 in a leaden coffin, and then in a wooden chest that was sealed. 
 An immense crowd assisted at this touching ceremony. The 
 coffin was placed in a vault behind the altar of the choir. 
 
 In 17U3, the revolutionary mob broke open the tomb and stole 
 the lead; but they left the body almost intact. 
 
 ' The Brothers in Paris poiiscsg precious relics of Blessed dc la Salle : his cloak , his 
 *\.oW, a chasuble, a cloak Tor »(ate orranions, a soulane, two square raps, two rollar*, 
 .1 cross to be worn on the breast, l)olls or iron and ro|i|>cT, disri|)linc8 of cord, part of hit 
 h.-iir xliitt, the ensigns of his dignity and his in!<lrunicnts of |M>nance; all these thing* 
 te:>lif> to that sarclily which the Church has proclaimed. 
 
BOOK II. — LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 431 
 
 When the cause of the canonization was begun, the remains of 
 Blessed de la Salle were exhumed in the presence of a secretary of 
 the Archbishopric, a physician, a representative of the civil author- 
 ity, several ecclesiastical and lay witnesses, and some Brothers, 
 amongst whom were Brother Calixtus, Director of the Normal 
 school, and Brother Peloguin, Director of the schools at Rouen. 
 These two were, later on, assistants of the Superior general. 
 
 All the witnesses signed the account of the exhumation certifying 
 that the bones were almost all there, and that no doubt could exist 
 as to their identity. They were consigned to a vault made behind 
 the altar in the chapel of the Brothers' house, in the interior 
 of Rouen, on the site of the old church of Saint L6. Finally, 
 they were removed in 1881 to the chapel of the boarding-school 
 established in the town, where they will remain until the Church 
 permits worship to be paid to them, and thus glorifies in this 
 world so many exalted virtues. 
 
 We have endeavored to show forth the fecundity and the splendor 
 of those virtues, and we venture to hope that we have succeeded ; 
 for the merits of the Saints are the most precious inheritance of 
 nations, and Blessed de la Salle is at once an honor to the Church, 
 and one of the purest glories of France. 
 
BOOK THE THIRD 
 
 AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE 
 
 •2H 
 
Rome : the Piazza di Spagna and the TrinitA-ilei-Mouti, near wliith is establiahed csince i;02j 
 the bouse ot tlio t'Uristiaa Brotlitrs. — Drawn by Hubert Clcrget ; engraved !>}• MeauUe. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE FIRST SUCCESSORS OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 — BROTHER BARTHOLOMEW (1717-1720), 
 
 AND BROTHER TIMOTHY (1720-1751). 
 
 s the work of the Saints is sketched 
 out for them by precursors whose 
 action Providence has guided through 
 the ages, so is that same work con- 
 tinued after them by successors who 
 are also guided by God. The Saints 
 survive their own lives. 
 
 Every Saint's life might be divided 
 into three parts : the Saint before 
 his birth; the Saint during his life; 
 the Saint after his death. 
 
 Here again, Jesus Christ is the 
 supreme type, imitable and imitated. 
 The Incarnate Word was prepared during forty centuries; His 
 work and its influence will be continued to the end of time. 
 
436 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 These truths seem to apply with special evidence to Blessed de 
 la Salle. We have seen what glorious predecessors he had in this 
 undertaking of the Christian schools, which he canied providen- 
 tially to such successful issues; we have assisted at the sti'uggles 
 which filled, while they glorified, his life; but it still remains for 
 us to study his posthumous influence on the work that he created, 
 its earthly radiation since his death, and, so to speak, its prolon- 
 gation in history. 
 
 This will be the subject of this third and last part of a book 
 written in all sincerity, to the glory of God and to the praise of 
 that holy founder, who, like Jesus, loved to " let little childien 
 come unto him. " 
 
 It was no slight responsibility to take charge of the Institute as 
 successor to Blessed de la Salle; but we have seen that during his 
 life time, from motives of huinijity as well as of prudence, he had 
 confided to one of his disciples the government of the congrega- 
 tion. This measure was a wi.se one in every respect; it enabled 
 him to judge of the organization of his foundation and of the 
 working of its different branches. Let us add that the new Supe- 
 rior, chosen from among the Hi'others, was worthy of the respon- 
 sibility laid upon him; Brother Bartholomew was the living 
 counterpart of the blessed founder, who, on learning his election, 
 exclaimed — " God be blessed I nothing will be changed. " 
 
 It may truly be said that, with the e.xception of its founder, no 
 one was more thoroughly acquainted with the Institute than BiX)th- 
 er Bartholomew, who, when appointed to fill the post he would 
 gladly have declined, had just visited the twenty houses belonging 
 to the newly founded congregation. He possessed, in addition to 
 a rare knowledge of men — that gift of all others — gix-at pei-sonal 
 holiness. When the Brothei-s were about to elect their new Su- 
 perior, Blessed de la Salle, wishing to point out to them in one 
 word the wisest course to follow, said to them : " Elect the one 
 among you who is the ludiest or who wishes most to become so, " 
 and he doubtless then had Brother Bartholomew in his thoughts. 
 The beautiful life of the new Superior gcnend has hitherto 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 437 
 
 remained comparatively unnoticed , thrown into the shade by the 
 greater renown of his founder; he nevertheless deserves the careful 
 attention of historians. The characteristic feature of his singularly 
 attractive nature was an inexhaustible fund of kindness and 
 gentleness. If some of his successors had more striking qualities, 
 none possessed a more loving heart. The weight of government 
 oppressed him greatly, and the thought of the responsibilities and 
 charges that were laid upon his shoulders gave to his character 
 a tinge of sadness — " I am at once sad and joyous, but I am 
 comforted by the fragrance that breathes forth from the life of 
 our Blessed Father. " The holy founder was ever present to 
 his thoughts, and his one endeavour was to imitate him in all his 
 actions; it was he who, as a surprise to his Brethren, caused the 
 portrait of the servant of God to be painted as he lay on his 
 death bed ', and who, foreseeing that he would be raised to the 
 altars of the Church, ordered the members of the congregation 
 who had known him to collect all the documents that might 
 help to complete a life which would one day be held up to the 
 admiration of the Christian world. 
 
 It often happens that souls in whom great gentleness appears 
 to be the chief virtue are wanting in firmness; but such was not 
 the case with Brother Bartholomew, who to the meekness of 
 a lamb could, when required, unite the courage of a lion. The 
 Jansenists spared no pains to surround him and to gain him to 
 their party, at the time when the struggle was at its height, be- 
 tween truth and error; but their efforts were vain; with unswerv- 
 ing fidehty he maintained that his Institute was and should ever 
 be strictly " Roman, " and neither the reproofs of certain bishops 
 and priests, unfortunately misled by error, nor the open attacks 
 directed by others against his Communities, could shake his loyalty 
 to the Holy See. " I bless God, " he used to say, " that He has 
 given me such strong aversion for novelties. " These last words 
 exasperated the Jansenists, but they soon became convinced that 
 
 ' See this portrait by Du Phly, p. 424. 
 
t38 
 
 BLESSEU UE LA SALLE. 
 
 their eflforts were vain, and Brother Bartholomew will ever, in 
 the liistory of his Institute, have the glory of having preserved 
 it from the most insidious and dangerous of all heresies '. 
 
 " I so love peace! I so love union! " Blessed de la Salle's 
 successor frequently repeated these words, and sought on all 
 
 ^§r«'^'i!^W 
 
 nmthcr Btrtholomev, Snt flaprrior (eaeral, barn al Itelna, tioeaaa of Cmabni, P«br»nr Iltk Itn , 
 
 •nurcd lb« lutiluM Febmarr lotli iroa, eUcl«l Soinlior oiifral Mar »r^ I'l', <!•< at islat Toa Im •Ih ins. 
 
 — RBirraTad br Xtenlle, from a drawliv by MouiUenw. 
 
 occasions to put them into practice in his government of the 
 congregation. it was under his rule that a new house was 
 founded at Saint Omer, adding, as it were, another flower to a 
 crown already so richly adorned. He continually recalled to the 
 minds of his sons the teaching of their founder, striving altove 
 all to penetrate them with his spirit; this was his only system of 
 
 ' Rrothcr Fiartholomew was a good and sound theologian, and he conapoMd for hw 
 Firclhren a treatise on the matters that were then so ardently discussed. 
 
BOOK HI. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 439 
 
 government. His zeal for teaching Christian doctrine, the object 
 of the Institute, was so great that he would often stop the passers- 
 by on the high roads and by-ways, and speak to them familiarly 
 of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. 
 
 His humility was no less striking than his modesty. Not only 
 did he scrupulously ask the advice of the two Assistants, appointed 
 to help him in the cares of government, but he treated the very 
 novices with deference, and would gladly have obeyed them. 
 Towards the end of his life, his deep humility became still more 
 apparent; he often knelt down before his Brothers and kissed 
 their feet; his mind and heart seemed more and more fixed 
 on the beloved memory of his holy Father — " Let us imitate our 
 Father, " he often repeated; and on his death bed, he exclaimed 
 with a radiant look of happiness : " I see our Lady and our 
 venerable Father who are coming to meet me. " Thus passed 
 away the most humble, kindly, gentle Brother Bartholomew, 
 first successor of Blessed de la Salle, on the 8th of June 1720. 
 
 The spirit of the founder of the Institute had so far been 
 maintained in all its purity, and his first successor, to whom this 
 important result was due, had worthily fulfilled his task. A more 
 arduous mission was that of Brother Timothy, elected as Superior 
 general, the 7th of August 1720, and to whom Providence 
 entrusted the task of obtaining for his congregation its official 
 recognition by the Pope and the King. 
 
 It would be too long and wearisome to relate in their minutest 
 details the various negociations undertaken by the Brothers to 
 attain so important an object; it is sufficient to say that on 
 July the 2nd 1725, a day memorable in the history of the new 
 Congregation, the Chamber of Finance ordered that the letters 
 patent of Louis XV., issued the previous month of September, 
 in favor of the Institute, should be officially registered. By these 
 
410 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 letters, Ihe King authorized tlje Brothers to live in the house 
 of Saint Yon ; he further gave them full liberty — " to train 
 subjects to teach in their charity-schools in the different towns 
 of the kingdom ; moreover, to open schools, where they should 
 teach the principles of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman faith 
 
 Loato XV., who alcMd ia iri4 the am uiuri la (aror at lb* laatliai*. 
 — Bacnred b; Utaallt, fram a portrait of tb* tlma. 
 
 to the poor clnldren of the said town, and of the suburbs and 
 neighborhood of Rouen. They shall also teach reading, writing 
 and arithmetic, the wholo gratuitously '. " Nothing can be 
 clearer than these words, so fruitful in precious results. But 
 the Pope's Bull is a still more glorious testimony *. Kings, 
 
 ' The King, moreover. permiUed Ihc nrolhcrs to accept legacies and donnlioni', and lo 
 receive in tiicir houses hoarderp willing lo come lo Ihcm. = • Sec portrait of itcncdict .VIII . 
 p. 453. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 441 
 
 however powerful they may be, address but one nation; the 
 Sovereign Pontiff is universal and addresses the whole world. 
 
 We can hardly picture to ourselves in these degenerate days 
 the effect produced by the voice of the Vicar of Christ, when, 
 borne on the winds of heaven, it reverberated throughout Christen- 
 dom, uttering these words : " We approve and confirm, by our 
 Apostolic authority, the Institute and the Rule of the Brothers of 
 the Christian schools'. " 
 
 Placed under the direction of a Superior general elected for life, 
 the Brothers " make vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, of 
 stability in the Institute, and to teach the poor gratuitously. " 
 General Chapters held at least every ten years, treat of the con- 
 cerns of the congregation, while visitors, chosen by the Superior 
 general, inspect the different houses every year. The Brothers 
 may not aspire to holy Orders, and their costume consists in a 
 common garment of strict simplicity. The whole life of the 
 Institute is summed up in these few lines. 
 
 * Here is the text of the Bull, of which we 
 
 Nos igitur, qui ?piritualem animarum 
 profectum ac Christifidelium quorumlibet 
 utilitates et commoda sinceris desideramus 
 affectibus, Superiorem generalem el Fra- 
 tres prsefalos et queralibet eorum specia- 
 libus favoribus et gratiis prosequi volentes, 
 et a quibusvis excoramunicatioiiis, suspen- 
 sionis et interdicti, aliisque ecclesiasticis 
 sententiis, censuris et pcenis, si quibus 
 quomodolibet innodati existunt, ad effeclum 
 praesentium tantum consequenduin, harum 
 serie absolventes et absolutos fore censen- 
 tes, hujusmodi supplicationibus inclinati , et 
 ex veto Congregalionis venerabilium fra- 
 trum nostrorum sanclae Romanae Ecclcsiae 
 Cardinalium decretorum concilii Tridenlini 
 interpreturn, sine alicujus praejudicio, In- 
 stitutum et regulas hujusmodi, et in eis 
 contenta quaecumque, licita taraen et ho- 
 nesta ac saci is canonibus et constitutionibus 
 apostolicis ac concilii Tridentini praefati 
 decretis non adversantia, apostolica aucto- 
 toritate approbamus et confirmamus, eisquc 
 apostolicae firmitalis robur adjicimus. 
 
 give further on the fac-simile : 
 
 Wc, therefore, desiring with sincere affec- 
 tion the spiritual advancement of souls 
 and whatever is useful and profitable for 
 the Faithful of Christ, and wishing to bestow 
 special graces and favors upon the afore- 
 said Rrothers and their Superior general, 
 collectively and individually, do by these 
 presents absolve them, and wish tiiem to be 
 held absolved, from every sentence of ex- 
 communication, suspension and interdict, 
 and from all other Ecclesiastical judgments, 
 censures and penalties, if at all they labor 
 under any; and looking favorably upon this 
 petition, and having thereto the consent of 
 our Venerable Brethren, the Cardinals of 
 the Holy Roman Church, interpreters of the 
 decrees of the Council of Trent, We, by 
 virtue of Our Apostolical authority, with 
 prejudice to none, do approve and confirm 
 the said Institute and the said Rules, with 
 all their conten ts, thereby imparting to them 
 the force of Our Apostolical stability, provid- 
 ed they be in accord with law and decorum, 
 and not contrary to the holy Canons, the 
 Apostolical Constitutions, and the decrees 
 of the Council of Trent. 
 
442 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 This Bull — [n Apostolicx dignitatis solio, of Januan' 26th 1725, 
 
 is for the iJrothers a patent ot nobility of whicli they may fori 
 justly proiul. Why is it not read by tliose enemies of the 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 443 
 
 Cliurch who accuse us of having always hated the Hght and loved 
 darkness? Why do they not, at least, read that magnificent pro- 
 testation against " the countless disorders engendered by ignorance, 
 source of all evil? " 
 
 But Brother Timothy had only communicated to a chosen fe^\• 
 amongst the Brothers the steps that had been taken in Rome to 
 
 Bull In aposlolicx dignltatU tolio. — Fac-simile of which the text and translation have been given above (p. 441.) 
 From the original preserved in the Archives of the Institute 1. 
 
 obtain the Bull; there was, consequently, a general shout of surprise 
 and thanksgiving when it became known that the Institute was 
 henceforth included amongst the religious Congregations, properly 
 so called. Providence had realized in a manner that seemed to 
 them almost miraculous the ardent desire of their holy founder to 
 
 ' The writing of this document is extremely difficult to read. " It is tlial famous littera 
 sancti Petri, or BuUaticum teutonicum which necessitated a copy, or transcriptum, 
 being sent with the Bull. This habit was set aside by a motu propria of Pope Leo XllL, 
 dated, December 29th 1878. " [History of the sources of canon laiv, by Adolphe 
 Tardif, p. 83.) 
 
44i BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 obtain the approbation of the Holy See for the Institute and the 
 Rule. Well mipht Hrothcr Hartholomew in the joy of his heart 
 exclaim : " M. de la Salle has been taken from us; but he is not 
 lost to us, he can help us greatly in heaven '. " 
 
 The Brothers had an opportunity of manifesting their joy at 
 the close of the general Chapter, when the election of Brother 
 Timothy was confirmed on the feast of the Assumption 1725. The 
 Blessed Sacrament was exposed in the chapel of Saint Yon. The 
 representative of the Archbishop, clothed in the sacerdotal vest- 
 ments, went up to the altar, and, turning to the Brothers, read to 
 them, in a voice trembling with emotion, the Bull of Benedict XIII. 
 All were in tears, and with the Divine Host unconsumed in their 
 breast, they knelt on the steps of the altar, and pronounced the 
 formula of vows as the Pope had prescril)ed it •. 
 
 Supported on one hand by the monarchy, and on the other by 
 the Sovereign Pontiff, the Institute of Blessed de la Salle was hence • 
 forth secure against all future dangers or alarms. But it is not suf- 
 ficient that a religious Order should obtain the right to live, it 
 must moreover prove itself worthy of this right, and such was the 
 case with the sons of M. de la Salle. 
 
 Already, in 1722, during the terrible pestilence of Marseilles, 
 which the heroism of Mgr de Belzunce has made famous, the 
 Brothers valiantly remained at their post, where several among 
 them found a glorious death. 
 
 " The Capuchins had lost forty -two religious; the Recollets, 
 twenty-nine; and the Dominicans, fwenty-one." It was an honour 
 for the Congregation of M. de la Salle that some of his sons were 
 permitted to join these martyrs to patriotism and charity', and 
 their generous sacrifice was likely to draw down a blessing upon 
 the new foundation ♦. 
 
 ' Annalt of the Imtilute, p. 457. = • Ibid., pp. 460, 461. = » Ibid., p. 428. = 
 ' To the Brothers who died victims of charity at Marseilles, we must aild Brother Fleury : 
 " Who, on the iSth of October 1721, then teaching' school at Mende, died while servinfr 
 the sick of that town and was buried in the cemetery of Saint Gervasius and l*rotasius. " 
 On the 28th September of the following year, Brother Nicolas died in the same town, 
 under similar circumstances. (Archives of Mende.) 
 
.^ ^ J.,'''.^^jf .%-■ 
 
 TX/CAra.y. j 
 
_J^ OF T»« " . , 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 445 
 
 As often happens in the case of new religious Orders, the Con- 
 gregation experienced, at the beginning of the government of 
 Brother Timothy, a moment of arrest in its development; tlie 
 number of masters was insufficient and there were few vocations. 
 Soon, however, it seemed to acquire new life, and in 1728, having 
 repaired the forces of his little army, the Superior general resumed 
 
 Brother Timothy, second Superior general, horn in Paris, parish of Saint Severin, on the 14th of January iKt 
 
 entered the Institute the 24th January 1700, elected Superior general the 7th of August 1720, 
 
 resigns Ms post as Superior the 3rd of August 1751 ; died at Saint Ton the 7th January 1752. 
 
 Bngraved by Meaulle, from a drawing hy MouiUeron. 
 
 his struggle against ignorance. In the space of three years, 
 from 1728 to 1731, ten new schools were opened in Picardy, 
 Normandy, le Perche and Daupliiny. The twenty years that 
 followed were no less fruitful, and between 1732 and 1751, sixty- 
 two foundations were made in different parts of France. 
 
 On every side Bishops begged the Superior general to send them 
 Brothers. Mgi" de Bussy, Bishop of Mcanx, was one of the first, 
 
4i6 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 in 1720. to invite the Brothers to his diocese, where their method, 
 " as excellent in itself as it was special to them, " produced such 
 good results that, the following year, the Bishop undertook to 
 defray, at his own expense, the cost of twelve Brothers, instead 
 of the five who had come to him originally. 
 
 Several Bishops followed in his footsteps, and sought to give 
 tlif'ir flock the benefit of a Christian education. At Valence, 
 My Milon, filled with sorrow at the sight of " the misconduct, 
 idleness and ignorance of the poor children of the town," proposed 
 to replace the lay teachers by the Christian lirothers. The mimi- 
 cipal Councillors hesitated at first on account of the increase of 
 expense for the town, but the Bishop clearly showed them that, 
 far from being an extra charge for the inhabitants of the city, 
 the new masters would, on the contrary, not require the sjilary 
 demanded by the lay teachers. He himself undert(X)k all the 
 first expenses of their arrival and lodging; the Inlendant of the 
 province gave his consent, and the school of Valence soon became 
 very flourishing. 
 
 However different they might be in the manner of their founda- 
 tion, the new schools were all the result of a common inspiration 
 of charity. Sometimes it happened, as at M^zieres, that a devout 
 lady gave up her fortune to this pious enterprise, or else, as at 
 Carcassonne, that a Bishop, Mgr dc Bezons, out of his own private 
 means founded a school for " poor boys," only asking in return 
 that they should every day repeat a short prayer for his soul. 
 
 Unfortunately, the new Institute had not only to struggle against 
 financial difficulties, it had moreover to hold its own against the 
 false philosophy of the eighteenth century, which, by the mouth- 
 piece of Volt;iire and La Chalotais had succeeded in rousing 
 popular prejudice against what they termed — " the dangers of 
 popular education. " 
 
 The success of the Brothers at Marseilles and Avignon inspire<l 
 Maurice dc Montfort and Pierre de Batel, two inhabitants (»f 
 Aries, with a great wish to ensure to the children of their native 
 city the advantages of a similar education. Their project met 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 447 
 
 however with violent opposition on the part of a magistrate of 
 Aries, named Lincel. " Tlie proposed foundation, " said he, " might 
 be very profitable if it were simply established to give religious 
 instruction, but if once the Brothers begin to teach reading and 
 writing gratuitously, all the inhabitants will send their children 
 to them; and these children, instead of being accustomed to hard 
 work from their tender years, will grow up unfit for it." His 
 colleagues were happily not convinced by this strange argu- 
 ment, and in 1740 the town accepted the school. The crowd of 
 pupils was so great, that a larger building had to be found, and 
 Mgr de Bellefond established the Brothers in the old Abbey of 
 Saint Clare, that belonged to the See of Aries. 
 
 At Privas, where in 1744 the Vicar general of Viviers had invited 
 the Brothers to open a school, some opposition was made by the 
 first Consul of the town, and it needed the intervention of the 
 Intendant of the province to smooth down all difficulties. 
 
 At Nantes, a different pretext was brought forward to prevent 
 the establishment of the Christian schools. The town council, 
 while recognizing their advantages and the satisfaction " given to 
 the public by the labors of the Brothers, ' complained that their 
 arrival would be the ruin of the school -masters, and for this 
 reason refused to defray the expenses of a new foundation. 
 However, the King interfered in favor of the Congregation, and 
 obliged the town Council to pay three hundred francs a year to 
 the Christian Brothers. 
 
 It was not the first time that Louis the Fifteenth had openly 
 shown his interest in the Institute; he had already exempted it 
 from the payment of certain taxes, but the farmers refused to 
 recognize this privilege, and endeavored to oblige the Brothers 
 to pay and to have soldiers billetted on them, a burden from which 
 they had also been exempted by the King. The scanty revenues 
 of the Institute did not suffice to meet these heavy demands, 
 and Brother Timothy spared no pains to vindicate the privileges 
 of his Congregation. An address, drawn up by a Paris lawyer, 
 Boignet de Chanterenne, was presented, in 1745, to the Assembly 
 
448 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 of the Clergy. Many Hisliops had had the op|X)rtunity of ap- 
 preciating tlie sen'ices rendered hy tlie Brothers to tlie cause 
 of Cliristian education; their petition was therefore favorably 
 received, and the Assembly undertook to put an end t»i the unjust 
 demands of the fanners. 
 
 The J>enelicial influence of the in&titute did not however conGnc 
 itself to the foundation of elementary schools, and it is at this 
 period that we first witness the establishment of those professional 
 schools, so much the fashion in our days, and in which the 
 Brothers have always been so successful. For instance, a supe- 
 rior school, founded for the expi'ess object of teaching all that is 
 connected with trade, was established at Boulogne in 1744. 
 
 In 1750, another work of a toUilly different character, but no 
 less original and fruitful, was started by the Brothers. A popular 
 free library was founded at MonUiuban. 
 
 During this time, elementary schools were being founded 
 beyond the frontier, in the Duchy of Ferrara and in Lorraine, 
 where Stanislas Leckzinski caused four to be established, one of 
 which, at Mareville, was destined to receive youthful convicts and 
 was organized on the model of Saint Yon. The house of Saint 
 Yon, the real cradle of the Institute, absorbed a great portion of 
 the lime and care of the Superior general. He resolved to 
 rebuild the Chapel, the former one being wholly inadequate 
 to the necessities of the Community; the plan was drawn up and 
 executed by the Brothers themselves, assisted by some of their 
 reformatory boys. The two first stones were laid in 1728, by the 
 Archbishop and by the First President of the Parliament of Rouen; 
 but it was not before 1734, that the body of the blessed founder, 
 which till then had rested at Saint Sever, was solemnly transferred 
 to the new chapel. " The memory of the Servant of God seemed 
 suddenly to revive in the hearts of all. The whole jx)pulation of 
 Houen came out to meet the procession, which passi^d I)etween 
 two compact and respectful ranks of spectators. ' A Saint! a S;iinl! ' 
 was the cry that burst foith on every side. The Brolhei-s had 
 taken possession of the pieces of the fii"st coflin, wlicre the Innly 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 U9 
 
 had rested, and these relics were eagerly sought for. Sixteen 
 priests then raised on their shoulders the new coffin, which 
 contained the remains of one who was already honored as a 
 great servant of God. The Brothers, holding lighted tapers, went 
 to meet the precious relics of their father, and had the joy of 
 hearing the priest who had assisted him in his last moments loud- 
 ly exalt his charity, his zeal, his humility, those fruitful sources 
 
 MariTiUe (p. 4-18 ). — Drawn by ^douard Garnier, from a print of the eighteenth century; engraved by Cabarteux. 
 
 of all Christian virtues, which, by raising him above all things 
 visible and fragile, made him live only to adore God, think only 
 to pray to Him, speak only to praise Him, work and suffer only 
 to possess Him'. " 
 
 The happiness of sons who heard praises such as these of their 
 father may easily be imagined ! 
 
 The examples left by the holy founder brought forth rich fruit 
 in the souls of his disciples, but, in order to appreciate fully the 
 
 Annals of the Institute, \o\. II, pp. 56-64. 
 
 29 
 
4S0 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 hidden holiness of their Uves, we should have to raise the veil of 
 their humility, penetrate into their cells, and follow them through 
 the daily routine of a life of toil. 
 
 Among other touching instances, let us quote as an example 
 the histor)' of Brother Ireneus, known in the world as Dulac de 
 Montisambert, a brilliant officer of the regiment of Champagne, 
 who, having been grievously wounded at Malplaquet, was converted 
 by reading the Lives of the Saints and resolved to consecrate him- 
 self to God. He presented himself to M. de la Salle, and was 
 admitted into the Congregation under the name of Brother Ireneus; 
 but, fearing the regrets and reproaches of his parents, and fearful 
 also of his own weakness, he carefully concealed the place of his 
 retreat. His poor mother sought for him far and wide, till one 
 day, remembering that he had neglected to pay certain debts he 
 had made during his worldly career, Ireneus wrote to his father 
 on the subject, and thus betrayed himself. His mother then wrote 
 to him a letter truly worthy of a Saint: — " At last, my dear child, 
 I have found you again, and for this I shall bless God all my life. 
 May God strengthen you in tlie way of salvation. I am waiting 
 for news of you, and I entreat of you, by the love I have always 
 borne you, by all the tears you have made me shed, and that I am 
 still shedding as I write, to give me tidings of yourself. If, however, 
 you absolutely refuse to give us new§ of you, or to receive news 
 of us, I will leave you in peace, though it would be a great con- 
 solation for me to converse with you sometimes." The consol- 
 ation she so well desened was given to this admirable mother, 
 and she had the joy of seeing her son again. 
 
 Brother Ireneus was for many years the Director of the novices, 
 whom he trained with rare wisdom, prudence and gentleness; 
 he used to say that the novice master should be " the instrument 
 of the Father of mercies to imprison those little wild birds and 
 tie their feet with the salutary net of religious vows; " a compar- 
 ison recalling those of St Francis of Sales and worthy of him. 
 In 1747, Brother Ireneus died after a painful illness, during which 
 he edified his Brothers by his patience and courage. An act of 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 431 
 
 heroism is related of tliis holy soul, which strikingly recalls a 
 similar act performed by St Elizabeth of Hungary, and allud- 
 
 Brotlier Ireneus (p. JOO), from a portrait o£ the time ; engraveii by Meaulle. 
 
 ed to by Pere Lacordaire in one of his finest Conferences at 
 Notre Dame. One day, while visiting a hospital, Brother Ireneus 
 met a former officer, whose face was covered with a hideous 
 cancer. He immediately took him in his arms and lovingly pressed 
 
452 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 his lips to the frightful wound! On reading this touching in- 
 cident, does not the exclamation— Brother Ireneus, pray for us, 
 come naturally to the lips? 
 
 Thus, one by one, the Brothers who had |>ersonal!y known 
 Blessed de la Sidle went to reap their reward. Brother Timothy 
 himself, feeling that his strength was failing, begged to l>e relieved 
 of his responsibility as Superior of the Institute. The Chapter 
 assembled in 1751 accepted his resignation, and gave him as 
 successor Brother Claude, formerly novice master at Avignon. 
 A few months later, on the 7th of January 1752, Brother Timo- 
 thy closed his holy and laborious career by a peaceful death. 
 
 We have now come to a point where, stopping in our course, 
 we can look back upon the road along which we have travelled. 
 The time seems far distant when the Institute, possessing only 
 thirty -one houses, had neither the support of the civil power, nor 
 the official approbation of the Church. A few years after the 
 death of Brother Timothy, one of the enemies of the Order might 
 with truth have exclaimed: — " The progress of the Brothers is 
 alarming 1 " This exclamation, we can heartily echo, changing 
 only the epithet — their progress is not alarming; but it is truly 
 wonderful. In less than half a century, the sons of Blessed de la 
 Salle have accomplished two great things, well worthy of praise: — 
 " They have, on the one hand, preserved in its integrity the spirit 
 of their founder, and on the other, they have created all the types 
 of popular education. " The elementary schools, as we have 
 already said, and as we cannot too often repeat, are not their 
 only work, and with that breadth of view, of which their founder 
 left them the example, they have opened boarding-schools as at 
 Mareville, circulating school-libraries as at Montauljan, commercial 
 schools as at Boulogne. They anticipated the progressive ideas 
 of the nineteenth centurv in all that was best and most Christian. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 433 
 
 They were the first to inaugurate that scientific and profe?sional 
 education which, when it is based on religion, may easily yield 
 such good results. This is a portion of what they have done, 
 these incomparable men, toiling incessantly in the service of 
 childhood and of youth, working quietly, unostentatiously, worthy 
 imitators of that father who, for their glory and happiness, the 
 Church now raises to her highest honors, and bids all the world 
 worship amongst the Saints of God. 
 
 The Archbishop of Sens spoke only the simple truth when he 
 said in 1745:— " The Institute founded by M. de la Salle is a holy 
 congregation, which does good wherever it spreads. " We can 
 say no better; this sums up all that can be said. 
 
AvignoD, chief town of the southern province of the Institute in the eighteenth century. — Drawn by £donard Gamier; 
 
 engraved hy Meaulle. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 
 BROTHER CLAUDE (1751-4767), BROTHER FLORENCE (1767-1777) 
 
 HEN the historian wishes to 
 describe an epoch or an in- 
 stitution with the impartiality 
 which is his first and most 
 sacred duty, he must not con- 
 tent himself with relating facts ; 
 he must trace them to their 
 causes, and penetrate their real 
 significance. If we were to 
 relate the annals of the Insti- 
 tute of the Brothers by merely 
 recording facts and details, 
 nothing would be more mon- 
 otonous and less instructive than such a narrative. 
 
 When Brother Claude took up the government of the Institute, 
 
456 BLESSED RE LA SALLE. 
 
 it became necessary for him to consider what enemies he had to 
 struggle against, and wliat was the general spirit of the nation in 
 the midst of which he was generously preparing himself to ser>'e 
 the good cause. 
 
 We are in the year 1751; the second half of that terrible 
 eighteenth century had begun. The poorer classes are still Christ- 
 ian and resigned; the middle classes are already affected, but not 
 deeply; the only classes really tainted are tliose called the govern- 
 ing ones : the nobility, the court, the financiers; but these are 
 seriously contaminated, and it is from them that all the evil 
 is about to come. For short-sighted historians, the Revolution 
 began on the 14th of July 1789; but for those who are clear- 
 sighted, it was already far advanced in 1751; this was the period 
 of what has been aptly termed " the spirit of the Revolution before 
 the Revolution. " 
 
 The Brothers had undoubtedly still against them the Protes- 
 tants and the Jansenists. The Calvinists rose to the attack at 
 Mens, near Grenoble, in 1754, and the Jansenists sent forth a 
 cry of joy at Rouen, when they succeeded, in 1756, in extorting 
 from the monarchy an enquiry into the house of Saint Yon. But 
 how is it possible not to see that these were the expiring efforts 
 of enemies that were already vanquished? 
 
 Jansenism and Protestantism were dead, although they still gave 
 signs of life, and danger in that direction was over. The great 
 peril was the Revolution itself, which was already begun. Broth- 
 er Claude inaugurated his generalship with the triumphant reign 
 of the man who was dubbed " King Voltaire, " and who was at 
 the same time the declared enemy of Jesus Christ and His Church, 
 and the contemptuous enemy of the people. These make-believe 
 democrats were, in the worst sense of the word, aristocrats, and 
 no one dreaded more than they did the education of the lower 
 classes. La Chalotais's words are well known, but they may be 
 fitly quoted here : " Men who are only intended to handle the 
 plane and the file ought not to be tiiught to read and write. The 
 Brothers, by giving them education, ark ruining everything? 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 437 
 
 Another sectarian of the same school, M. de Langouria, at 
 Rennes, cried out in the same spirit of concentrated rage: " We 
 must, as I said to the King, hunt out those Ignorantins, those 
 Brothers with the long sleeves, that Jesus rebukes .in the person 
 of the Pharisees, for the rascals teach people to handle the pen. 
 
 Brother Claude, third Superior general, born at ChfttUloa-Bur-Loing, diocese of Sens, January I8th 1690, 
 
 entered the Institute June 8th 1726, elected Superior general August 3rd 1751, resigned his post as Superior May 18th 1767 
 
 died at Saint Yon October 25th 1775. — Engraved by MeauUe, from a drawing by Mouilleron. 
 
 which is such a dangerous weapon in certain hands. " This 
 epitomizes the whole system: " No education for the lowly ones, 
 in order not to trouble the scepticism and tranquillity of the happy 
 ones of this world. " 
 
 What could the Brothers do in the midst of such a society? 
 They had but to preserve intact the work of their blessed founder, 
 and, as far as possible, continue it. To the partisans of ignorance, 
 they could reply that they gave faith as a counter -balancing 
 
458 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 power for scionce, while the purity and austere simplicity of 
 their lives was the most complete answer they could make to 
 the depraved morals and abounding scandals of the age. The 
 more the age rebelled, the more disciplined and self-denying they 
 became. 
 
 During Brother Claude's government, which Listed sixteen 
 years, the Brothers only opened twelve new schools; they prefer- 
 red to perfect the existing ones. This period seems to have 
 been one of quiet work, during which notliing was changed in 
 the admirable machinery set going by Blessed de la Salle. After 
 Brother Claude, his successor, Brother Florence, was equally 
 cautious of introducing any changes; his two principal admini- 
 strative acts, the transfer of the Institute to Paris in March 1771 ' 
 and its division into three provinces ', were not really innovations 
 so much as useful improvements. 
 
 Paris, however, was not to remain long, this time, the seat of 
 that government which in the Institute is called the Rdgime, 
 though it was evidently intended it should one day become it. 
 An essentially catholic work, the Institute was in its origin prin- 
 cipally French, and if there be a place fitting to be the centre of 
 its action, that place is Paris. 
 
 Meantime, poverty and want were pressing hard on a great 
 number of the schools, and, strange to say, the two most cruelly 
 tried just then were Rouen and Rheims, those two towns so loved 
 by the holy founder, in one of which he was born, the other 
 in which he died. The Institute, however, came safe out of this 
 battle for life and death. God was there, watching over His 
 own work, sending help always at the last moment, now 
 moving some charitable soul to bring alms to the distressed 
 community, now inspiring the municipal authorities to hold out 
 a hand to them. 
 
 To Brother Florence is due the credit of having understood 
 
 ' On account of an attack made upon them by a Vicar general of Rouen, the Brother* 
 rame to Paris and lodged temporarily at the Saint Esprit, rue Neuve-Notre-Dame-de«- 
 Champs. = * Western (Paris); Southern (Arignon); Eastern (Marseilles). 
 
nooK III. 
 
 AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 459 
 
 that the Letters patent of Louis XV., which in 4724 had caused 
 such joy to his predecessors, had become altogether inadequate, 
 seeing that they only empowered the Brothers within the juris- 
 diction of the Parliament of Rouen. Louis XVI., solicited by the 
 sons of Blessed de la Salle, granted them the same privilege in 
 
 Brother Florence, fourth Superior general, born at Paroy, diocese of Metz, January 3l8t 1725, 
 
 entered the Institute April 26th 1743, elected Superior izeneral May I9th 1767, resigned his poat as Superior August lOth 1777 
 
 died at Avignon January l4tU 1800. — Engraved by Mt-auIIe, from a drawing by Mouilleron. 
 
 the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Paris, where the Brothers 
 had no less than thirty - eight schools. It was in March 1777; 
 this favor was not destined to profit to them long; but it gave 
 the entire Order a considerable increase of importance, and 
 remotely prepared its brilliant resurrection at the beginning of 
 our century. 
 
 The Superiors broke down under the burden of their office, 
 
460 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and all, one after another, were obliged to tender their resigna- 
 tion; an offer which the Institute felt compelled to accept. What 
 Brother Claude had done in 1767, Brother Florence did ten yeai"s 
 afterwards, and each had an equal right to claim a rest from 
 crushing and almost superhuman labors. 
 
 But the clouds were gathering, and the sky growing darker, as 
 the storm approached. This is the moment to take cognizance 
 of the work and the men it is about to destroy. 
 
 The eighteenth century was for the Brothers the age of pedagogy'. 
 They struck out then, as we have seen, into innumerable new 
 pathes, which our age with all the unconsciousness of profound 
 ignorance imagines it was the first to tread. It becomes neces- 
 sary for us here to re-establish facts in their true position. 
 
 At a period when the children of the middle classes and the 
 nobility were subjected to the sole and somewhat excessive sever- 
 ity of classical studies, the Brothei's had the boldness to conceive 
 and the hardihood to put into practice what we call to-day 
 special and technical education. At Vannes, under the govern- 
 ment of Brother Claude, classes of mathematics and hydrography 
 are opened, here sailors are taught navigation and pilots are 
 trained for their career. 
 
 At Cahors, a Brother teaches architecture and planimetry. 
 In 1753, one of those drawing-classes, now all the fashion, was 
 opened in Paris : " The Brother will teach drawing gratuitously to 
 the children, and will perfect them in the art as far as is necessary 
 to enable them to embrace successfully these different professions 
 which, for their full exercise, require clever designers. " 
 
 At Gistres, the programme of studies includes practical geometry, 
 surveying and double-entry book-keeping; at Cherbourg, horti- 
 culture and gardening are taught. We may notice here once more 
 that our <ige vain-gloriously claims the discovering of these innova- 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 461 
 
 A complete plan ot the bouse of Saint Ton, at Rouen (p. 448}. — Prom contemporary documents. 
 
462 lil.ESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 tions, all tlie honor of which is due to the Institute of Blessed dc 
 la Sillc. Cuique suum. 
 
 Nor is this all. To the Hrothers is due the honor of having 
 given to the boarding-school a larger, more generous and more 
 intelligent form. If we look for an example of the types they have 
 created, we need only point to that college of Fort-Royal at Marti- 
 nique, concerning which so many valuable testimonies remain. 
 Everywhere it is the same ideal, the same large and lil>eral plan of 
 instruction, of convenience, of watchful care — vast buildings, fine 
 grounds, promenades twice a week, neither the rod nor the ferida, 
 moderate work, so that the minds of the children are not strained 
 by over study. The Brothers, in their programme, foresjiw fntm 
 the first the dangers of that evil of modern education, overworked 
 brains. 
 
 They have from the first also publislied excellent school- 1 Kx>ks, 
 and will no doubt continue always to do so. Already Blessed de 
 la Sidle had invented the system of simultaneous teaching, and 
 secured the adoption of books in the mother-tongue " to teach the 
 children to read. " But under the government of Brother Agathon. 
 there appears a Treatise on Arithmetic fur the une of the Doardi^ig- 
 schools and the Parish-schools, and a Xciv Abridgment of French 
 Grammar. Both of them are unpretending and indisjX'nsable mas- 
 ter-pieces; they may have been surpassed since, but one is still 
 astonished at the good sense that perva<les them from lK>giiining 
 to end. Good sense is the chief weapon and the characteristic 
 trait of the Brothers. At the end of the Treatise on Arithmetic 
 there are models of bills, commercial letters, orders, bills of ex- 
 change, receipts; everything practical, in fact, and this practical 
 side is one of the salient features of the Brothers' teaching. Their 
 Grammar in those days was not, indeed, written according to 
 the strict philological method; but we must rcmend)er that it was 
 intended for children who di<l not know L«itin. and that it will 
 always be found dirfiiull to apply the etymological sysleu) to 
 Works u.sed by cliildn'U and young girls. But the Brothel's have 
 in our days overtaken the last progress of philttlogy, and the iv- 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 463 
 
 cent edition of their Grammar may on this head bear comparison 
 with the best and the most learned treatises'. Every year there 
 was some new pedagogical experiment amongst the Brothers, and 
 many that succeeded marvellously. Such were the public examin- 
 ations before the distribution of prizes, which date from the first 
 years of Brother Florence's superiorship. The children were 
 questioned by priests in catechism and sacred history; laymen 
 questioned them on other subjects, and the effect was excellent. 
 All this is none the worse for having the modern stamp on it. 
 
 Despite so many successful innovations, the Brothers obstinately 
 refused to change the gratuitous character of the schools. They 
 fought many a good and noble fight on this ground. " The 
 establishment of the Brothers, " says one of their most inveterate 
 enemies, " introduced and spread the principle of gratuity all over 
 the kingdom, along with an education in which all classes and 
 conditions may share'. " This enemy fancied he had hit upon 
 a strong argument against the Brothers, whereas, unawares, he 
 pronounces a noble panegyric on them. 
 
 But all these details of method are but secondary, after all; it is 
 education itself that occupies the first place in the minds of all 
 Christian souls. The great heresy of the nineteenth century is 
 to place the instruction it over-estimates, above the education it 
 despises. The Brothers have never fallen into this fatal error, and 
 never tire of reading the Explanation of Twelve Virtues of a Good 
 Master, in which Brother Agathon develops so profoundly the doc- 
 trine of Blessed de la Salle. This explanation is a whole treatise 
 of Christian pedagogy, of which our modern masters would do well 
 to assimilate the substance. They are most desirable, those twelve 
 virtues, and it may be permitted to add that few masters possess 
 them all — " gravity, silence, humility, prudence, wisdom, patience, 
 self-restraint, gentleness, zeal, vigilance, piety and generosity. " 
 The enumeration of the faults to be avoided by the master would 
 
 ' The same may be said of the whole series of their works on mathematics, French, 
 geography, history, drawing, a vast collection, and one held in higli esteem by the best 
 judges. =: ■■* Granet, lieutenant general of the seneschal's jurisdiction at Toulouse. 
 
464 
 
 BLESSED DB LA SALLE. 
 
 not perhaps satisfy ccrt4un tendencies of our day. Bles.sed de la 
 Salle condemns amongst other imperfections " too great activity, 
 eagerness, familiarity, joking, a habit of irony, too much self- 
 concentration, presumption, and love of talking. " As regards 
 corporal punishments, Bies.sed de la Salle, in his Management of 
 Christian Schools, inclines to replace them as much as possible by 
 
 La RoMirwI'rt* u Aa«rs (tb Ml). — Dnva tit idoaud Ouaierj «NmT«4 l>r t m uu im. 
 
 persuasion and gentleness. In the edition of 1720, they are still 
 admitted, but they are regulated with the greatest wisdom, and in 
 their general chapter of 1777 the Brothers end by doing away 
 with them altogether. The whole history of elementary education 
 in the last century is contained substantially in those decisions of 
 their general chapters, where evei^ question is raised and very 
 many are solved. 
 
 Kven the most perfect of human institutions are not yet to be 
 at once understood and valued at their true price. What the eight- 
 
BOOK 111. 
 
 AFTER HLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 4(53 
 
 ecnth century admired most in the Brothers was their virtues and the 
 visible benefits of their mission. On tliis point there were no Hmit- 
 ations, there was no indifTerence; the enthusiasm was unanimous. 
 At Nimes, Bishop de Becdehevre, contemporary of Brother Claude, 
 declared publicly that he was highly satisfied with " the services 
 rendered by the Brothers to religion and to the public in his 
 episcopal town, as also with the exemplary lives they led. " The 
 lieutenant general of the same town confirms in the name of so- 
 
 OW boarding- slIhioI at Marseilles. — Drawn i.y Tjia^i.-c. 
 
 ciety this praise so complete in its measured terms. " This town, " 
 he says, " derives infinite advantages from the establishment of the 
 Brothers. " In his funenU oration of Bishop Herbaut, Abbe Fau- 
 chet is more explicit, and salutes the Brothers as " the wise 
 masters of the indigent, and citizens as useful as certain flashing 
 teachers of arts of luxury and frivolous sciences are hurtful. " 
 
 Where could we study the influence of the Brothers better than 
 at Rouen? It was from Rouen that they came; here was their 
 Novitiate; here was preserved the spirit of their founder. It is 
 at Rouen that their praise resounds loudest, and it is Mg>" de la 
 Rochefoucauld, Archbishop of Rouen, who, on April 'iotli 1707, 
 renders them the following signal tribute of justice : — " It remains 
 
 30 
 
466 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 only to US to pray that God may preserve in the Religious of the 
 Christian schools the spirit of their state, that holy fenor and 
 strict ohservance of their Rule, that love of holy poverty and 
 humiliations, that simplicity and modesty which have won them 
 the esteem and confidence of the puhlic'. " 
 
 We have under our eyes scores of documents of the same value, 
 which we will not copy, for fear of tiring our readers. The 
 Sovereign Pontiff has, however, conden.sed them all into a few 
 words : — " I have the highest possible regard for the Brothers. " 
 This testimony was pronounced in 1772 by Pope Clement XIV. 
 It might be repeated to-day by Leo XIII. 
 
 ■ The holy prelate adds with eloquence : " What is then grander than to presenre 
 a Christian soul in its baptismal innocence up to manhood. There is not a Brother 
 teacher who, if he k>e at all fervent, may not at the hour of death flatter himself with 
 having done this for several souls. A preacher or a Doctor of Divioily, after fifty years 
 labor, cannot, alas! be always sure of having obtained this result. " 
 
Church of tbe Carmelite Friars, where the massacres of September took place, and whcri; Brother Salomon died (p. 475). 
 — Drawn by ^douard Gamier; engraved by MH* Chevalier. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GRKAT STORM : THE BROTHERS DURING THE REVOLUTION. 
 — GOVERNMENT OF BROTHER AGATHON (1777-1797). 
 
 V 
 
 HEN the last echoes of the 
 Te Deum had died away, and 
 Brother Agathon found him- 
 self alone in his little cell on 
 the evening of that memorable 
 day, August the lOtli 1777, 
 and realized that he was now 
 Superior of the Institute, the 
 responsibility of his position 
 must have stood out before 
 him witli terrible force. The 
 perils that beset the Institute 
 were imminent. There are 
 
 signs that lierald the approaching storm, which the sailor is never 
 
 mistaken in; these signs were visible in 1777. 
 
468 ItLESSEU DE LA SALLE. 
 
 The (lliuicli is not afraid of the storm, and does not dread the 
 thunderbolt; hut she takes precautions on the approach of bad 
 weatlier. Brother Agathon thought it was both useless and dan- 
 gerous to tremble; but he made ready. 
 
 Two Assistants seemed to him insufficient to help him in so 
 vast a government; he asked for four'; he gave a d(>nnite form lo 
 the three provinces, whose elements were henceforth clearly de- 
 termined*; he had put into execution the nin«'ty-three decrees of 
 the general chapter of 1777. There was then only one scholas- 
 ticate, that of Saint Yon at Rouen; he created three others, at 
 Marseilles, at Mar^ville and at the Ro.ssignolerie of Angei-s; he 
 considered that it was not prudent t(t leave the administration in 
 Paris, so he ti-ansferrcd it to Melun. Always anxious to obtain 
 publicly the support of the civil authority, he got Louis XVI. to 
 extend the privileges of the Institute to the whole province of the 
 Parliament of Toulouse, and took care to have these letters regis- 
 tered by the said Parliament on March 11th 1778; he went on 
 fi^rhtiiig stonily against the writing-masters, and as.serling the 
 priiiriple (»f gratuitous education. All this was done without 
 undue agitation, as is ever the case with trulv Catholic souls and 
 institutions. While the storm rage.s, they look to the blue sky 
 that will follow after the tempest, and quietly prepare for the 
 coming sunshine. 
 
 There were still many consoling sights to be seen, and amongst 
 these might be reckoned the Novitiate of Saint Yon, where one 
 hundred and twenty-five young Hrolhers edified all Rouen. These 
 fervent novices were not without their radiant day-dreams «'ither, 
 and the possible beatification of their founder held a foremost 
 place in these. Hrother Agathon gave orders to search out all 
 docuujents l)earing on this august cause. Some time had, |>erhaps, 
 been lost, and if so, it was necessary to make up for it. 
 
 As, on the eve of a great battle, the captain in command reviews 
 
 ' Brief of I'ius VI., July lltli 1"77. = ' Sec llu' exact composition of Ummc three 
 provinces in tlie Annah of the InsliluU of the Urotheit, voL II, p. 418. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 469 
 
 his army, and tries also, if lie l)e worthy of his hiph trust, to 
 ascertain the temper and disposition of his troops; so did the Su- 
 peiior of the Brothers review the soldiers of Christ before the 
 
 Melun, and the house of the Brothers, from a coloretl sketch of the eighteenth century. 
 — Drawn by E. Clair-Guyot. 
 
 supreme struggle. He studied closely the various elements of this 
 elect army, and, when it was desirable, modified his plan of battle. 
 The organization of the great elective assemblies of the Institute 
 was what first attracted his attention. With admirable foresight 
 he set about obtaining from the Holy See a decree confirming the 
 
47U BLESSED nK I.A SALLE. 
 
 eiisloms t'stablisliod in llu* C.onprejiation fortlio convocation of the 
 ponpi-al C.liaptt'rs and the election of Su|)eriors. The Chapter of 
 1787 received tliis pontifical deed with joy, and Urother Apathon 
 secured its effect by repistering the letlei-s patent of Louis XVI. 
 From this forth it was decided tliat tiie houses where tliere were 
 seven lirothers should take the name of " principal houses, " 
 and that fifteen directors of these houses, with fifteen " ancient 
 brothers " elected by secret ballot and by a majority of votes 
 of all the professed Brothers, should concur in tlie election of 
 the Superior and the Assistants. The former Superiors and the 
 Brothers who had shared in the administration might be directly 
 convoked. During this same session, mindful of the past as of 
 the future, the general Chapter decided " that each house should 
 possess its own archives wherein should be related, according as 
 they happened, all interesting facts, as well as its labors and 
 developments. " 
 
 This admirable idea, which seems so far ahead of the current 
 notions of the period, although at an earlier period it was a univer- 
 sal custom in religious houses, and formed the basis, sometimes 
 even the substance, of our national chronicles, has not been suf- 
 ficiently noticed. If the prescription of the Chapter of 1787 had 
 been carried out, we should pos.sess at the present day the most 
 valuable documents for writing an exhaustive history of primary- 
 education. If all our parishes had done likewise, we should not 
 be al a loss, as we sometimes are, to fix the exact state of ancient 
 France. We may be, at least, permitted here to admire the rare 
 intelligence which the sons of Blessed de la Salle displayed in 
 recording their works, and thus preparing the annals of the 
 Institute. 
 
 It was at this time that all the treatises of Blessed de la Salle 
 were reprinted. Brother Agathon, considering it a duty to gather 
 up and condense the traditions of the Institute, published the 
 Explanation of the Twelve Virtues of a Good Master, already 
 mentioned, and which appeared in Rome in 17'J7 under the more 
 pretentious title of Manuale di Maestro di Scuola. 
 
BOOK 111. — AFTEU BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 i71 
 
 Strange to say, the French edition of the Twelve Virtues appear- 
 ed on the very eve of tlie taking of the Bastille; we call attention 
 to these dates, which have an eloquence of their own. When the 
 great storm burst, the Brothers were ready. The evolution of 
 their pedagogy was nearly finished. Their class-books were in 
 
 Brother Agatlion , fifth Superior general, born at LongueTal, diocese of Noyon, April 4th 1731 ; 
 
 entered the Institute October 20th 1747 ; elected Superior general August loth 1777 ; died at Tours September 15th 1797. 
 
 — Engraved by Meaulle, from a drawing by Mouilleron. 
 
 everybody's hands. Their primary schools, their professional and 
 special schools were in full vigor and prosperity. According to 
 statistics of 1778, they numbered seven hundred and sixty masters, 
 who were directing one hundred and fourteen houses, four hun- 
 dred and twenty classes, and thirty-one thousand children. Their 
 discipline was incomparable, and everything in the order was 
 wisely foreseen and regulated. They formed a kind of monarchy, 
 Christianly democratic, with free and intelligent elections, wherein 
 
BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 all the grades of the Inslilutc were represented. The general 
 Chaplors were held with extraordinary regularity, like St<ites 
 into which neither pa.^sinn nor party hatred penetrated. AJl was 
 going well, and the Institute might have taken for its motto — 
 Ordo, lucidiis ordo. 
 
 Suddenly the cry resounded — " The Hastille is taken!" It was 
 not a riot that had t>een put down, hut a revolution that had 
 lieen begun. 
 
 Step by step, inch by inch, the Institute resisted. It resisted 
 without violence, without declamation or uproar, but with indom- 
 itable and placid energy, Hrother Agathon followed with intense 
 anxiety the debates of the assemblies, and when, on the i'Mh of 
 February 1790, the Constituant Assembly suppresse<l monastic 
 vows, he took note of the closing sentence of that famous article 2 
 which rules that " for the present nothing is to be changed con- 
 cerning houses charged with public education. " His brow clear- 
 ed, and he exclaimed : " Then, there is nothing changed for us. " 
 He forthwith sent up a solemn address to the Assembly in the 
 name of the Brothers, Addresses were the fashion just then. 
 This one was dignified almost to coldness : — " If you decide to 
 suppress us, " it said, " we will submit to the law; but wc hope 
 with great confidence that you will not add to the pain of our po- 
 litical annihilation that of being reduced to want. " 
 
 Noble words, assuredly, but which could have no effect. 
 ' 89 was advancing rapidly to '93, dragged down a f;ital incline, 
 as 1848 was afterwards dragged to the riots of June, and 1870 
 to the Commune. Such is the law of history, and there is no 
 escape from it. There were moments of reprieve now and then, 
 and the decree of Scpti-mber 2Gih 1790 decided that " Congre- 
 gations and communities whose object was education will for 
 the present continue their functions under the same laws and 
 the former management. These revolutionists had not, in fact, 
 masters ready to their* hand, and were sadly at a loss to extent! 
 education to all classes of citizens; but hatred, at last, carried 
 the day, and we know how they threw off the mask in their Civil 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 473 
 
 Constitution of the clergy. Tlie 22nd of March 1791 there appeared 
 another decree in which the Brothers felt they were aimed at : — 
 " No PROFESSOR can continue any function or fill any place in 
 establishments belonging to public education, unless he have first 
 
 TAKEN THE CIVIL OATH. " 
 
 Institute of the Brothers of Christian echools in 1792. 
 
 There was a word in this clause which demanded explanation — 
 Avhat was to be understood by " public function, " and were the 
 Brothers properly speaking functionaries? From the days of 
 Blessed de la Salle, no more important question had ever been 
 raised. It was a matter of life and death for the Institute. 
 
♦ 71 BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 Wft must say it to the otcrnal plory of the Hrothrrs, they did not 
 hesitate an instant about the takini; of the oath; all answered — 
 " No! " Everyone of them, heroically sincere, repeated with pro- 
 phetic instinct the nohle words of Brother Philip -Joseph : " I^t 
 us sacrifice everythin^t, even our lives if needful, to olwy the laws 
 of our country; hut let us stop where sin In^ins. " These words 
 may be taken as the pure and true Christian formula; it would 
 be impossible to find an expression at the same time more 
 Catholic and more French. 
 
 On the 3rd of June 1791, the doors of the Novitiate of Saint 
 Yon were broken open by the soldiery. Brother Quentin, who 
 was Director then, replied quietly to the invaders : " I will never 
 tiike the oath because my conscience forbids it. " And he added — 
 " I do not fulfil any public function. " But the rioters were past 
 listening to reason; justice had given way to violence. Violence, 
 however, could not overcome souls so valorous and strong. 
 The sixty -two Brothei-s of Saint Yon pronounced each the 
 same emphatic " No, " and declared their inviolable fidelity to 
 the Church of Rome. The tyrants did not venture farther 
 that day. The lawyer Boieldieu wrote a long and able petition 
 on behalf of the Brothers, and the district of Rouen sent up 
 the affair to the Director of the department, which left the Broth- 
 ers of Saint Yon free to continue their work " until the National 
 Assembly should have passed a decree concerning the fate of the 
 Institute. " 
 
 The party in power did not show the same moderation every- 
 where. At Renncs, the Brothers were thrown into prison; at Mar- 
 seilles, the populace rose, and cried out for them to be put to death; 
 at Melun, tlie Attorney general asked the Director of the department 
 if " these amphibious ecclesiastics had conformed to the law; " at 
 Rouen, Luneville, Rheims, ChAteaudim, Nogent-le-Rotnui, Avran- 
 ches, Moulins, Brest, Aries, the direction of the public schools is 
 rudely taken from them. There was. indeed, no one to take their 
 part in the Assembly, and their attitiKie before the Constitutional 
 bishops was not calculated to disarm the Revolution. They did 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 475 
 
 not recognize these renegades, and shut then- doors against them 
 inexorably. 
 
 The Brothers were persecuted in some places, like their founder 
 and like their Saviour, while in others the people venerated them 
 and would not have them molested. " Without the Brothers, 
 what will become of the children of the poor? Who will teach 
 them? " was the popular cry '. 
 
 At Chartres, Saint Malo, Laon, Saint Brieuc, at Castres above 
 all, this popular feeling was very strong; but it was unavailing. 
 The Revolution swamped everything. 
 
 On the 18th of August 1792, the death-blow was dealt at the 
 Institute. " Considering, " says the decree of the National Assem- 
 bly, " that a really free State cannot suffer in its midst any corpo- 
 ration, not even those which, devoted to public instruction, have 
 deserved well of the nation, lay corporations, such as those of 
 the Brothers of the Christian school, are suppressed. " 
 
 This was conclusive, and resistance was henceforth vain. The 
 schools were now everywhere violently broken into, the Brothers 
 flung out into the street, the children let loose, their books torn 
 to shreds or burnt, alphabets destroyed, lights put out, and the 
 reign of ignorance proclaimed. The Superior general quitted 
 Melun in haste and withdrew to Paris. He was forced to take off 
 his religious habit, and try to get bread by giving lessons. Yet 
 what crime had this just man committed? He was, like so many 
 others at that period, " suspected of being a suspect, " and 
 consequently he was proscribed and run to earth. The Revolu- 
 tion had withdrawn the title of French citizens from the illustri- 
 ous Benedictines of Saint Maur, who had done so much for the 
 glory of France; and now the same Revolution hunted these 
 humble Brothers, sprung from the people and of the people still, 
 who were teaching forty thousand little French boys the elements 
 of knowledge ! 
 
 One trial, or rather one supreme consolation was still in store 
 
 ' The exact words of the municipality of Chartres. 
 
476 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 for the Brothers — the trial of hiood, the consecration of martyr- 
 dom. It was not long ilclaycd, and amongst the glorious victims 
 of Carmel, there was a son of HIessed de la Salle. His name was 
 Hr<»tlicr Salomon, and he had \>evn secretary of the Superior 
 general. This was a great glory for the Institute. In every 
 Catholic foundation, thei-e is this baptism of hlood, and, without 
 it, no foundation rises into an ediflce. A miniature of the fifteenth 
 century represents alt the Saints working like ma.sons at the 
 l)uilding up of the Church. The blood of the martyrs was the 
 cement. 
 
 Brother Salomon was not the only witness that God demanded 
 of the Institute. Many Brothers were imprisoned, and the names 
 of these cjiptives are engraved in letters of gold on the wall of the 
 Institute, and in letters of fire on the hearts of their descendants. 
 These are to the Brothers what the diptychs were to the primitive 
 Church. 
 
 The executioners, no doubt, felt they were inconsistent in strik- 
 ing down these popular masters, they who preached so loudly 
 the education of the people; but we must not look for con- 
 sistency in these terrible times. Other Brothers had the signal 
 honor of shedding their blood with that of Brother Salomon. Broth- 
 er Raphael, of Uz(5'S, was seventy-two years of age when he was 
 denounced. Denunciation was the characteristic of the Revolu- 
 tion. The poor old Bi'other was lying infirm on his lK?d; when 
 he beheld his executioners, he exclaimed — " But, how is this? 
 I see some of my old pupils amongst you! " And then he added — 
 " Did I not sacrifice my days and my health for you? Do you 
 forget how I taught you to love and fear God? " 
 
 But these generous words of recrimination only enraged still 
 more the wretched madmen; they beat him to death on the 
 spot'. 
 
 Nor was this the last limit ot their hatred : transportation then 
 was worse than death. Worn out with slaughter, the sjuiguinary 
 
 ■ See AnnaU of the Inttitute of Brother*, p. 632 and rollowing. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 477 
 
 fanatics of the Revolution took it into their lieads to get rid of the 
 Christians who were in their way by transporting them as far off 
 as possible. We shudder still to the very marrow of our bones 
 in reading the accounts of the Brothers thus dealt with. " We 
 suffered almost all that men can be made to suffer. We lay on 
 boards, piled up and huddled together till we could scarcely breathe. 
 
 Massacre in the church of the Carmelite Friars, fac-siTnile uf a rare print. — Drawn by fidouanl Uarnicr; 
 
 eugraved by Rousseau. 
 
 We had each barely two yards of space in length and about half 
 a yard in widtli. The heat was so intense, that we seemed to be 
 in an oven; we were devoured by vermine. We longed for death 
 as for a mercy. To more than two-thirds of us was this deliver- 
 ance granted '. 
 
 Thus speaks Brother Christopher, conQned on board the Bon- 
 homme Richard. In listening to him, one's blood runs cold with 
 horror. They died, these gentle victims; they offered up their lives 
 in those foul hulks. But martyrdom is not the only witness we can 
 
 ' Annals of tlie Institute, voL II, p. 642. Letter of Brotlier Christopher and Abb6 
 Bienaim6. Cf. the narrative of one of the captives of The Washington. 
 
178 BLESSED DE I.A SAI.I.E. 
 
 produce in favur of Truth disuriued ami vanquislied. Tliere is 
 als<» the testimony of words. This testimony is jjiven hy several 
 Itrothei-s who were imprisoned. There was at Rennes a Brother 
 Martien who replied proudly to his judjjes : — " I direct a free 
 school. If your protest;itions of love for the people are sincere, 
 if your principles of fraternity are not a vain and hypocritical 
 formula, my functions justify me, and, far from being imputed 
 to me as a crime, they give me a sacred claim on your gratitude. " 
 In answer to this, he was executed. Perhaps neither ancient nor 
 modern eloquence could produce a nobler speech than this one 
 of Brother Martien's, which he paid for with his life. 
 
 Soon after, they wanted to force a Brother to assist at the Revo- 
 lutionary festivals ; but with unflinching firmness he replied : — 
 " I am a good Catholic, and these ceremonies are an insult to our 
 worship, which is Divine and thrice holy. God forbid that I should 
 ever authorize by my presence ceremonies wliich I believe dishon- 
 orable to religion. I had rallier suffer persecution, prison, death 
 itself, than offend the Lord God, and be a stumbling block for 
 many '." 
 
 If all true Catholics had had the courage to meet the Revolution 
 as Brother Philip - Joseph met it, they might have checked its 
 impious and triumphant course. 
 
 We are now in 179i, and the spectacle presented by the Institute 
 is not a consoling one. The Superior general was in Paris, where 
 under a secular disguise he gained a miserable livelihood by giving 
 lessons in mathematics. All the Brothers are dispersed; there is 
 no government, no centre; some have enlisted; others accepted 
 public situations, the greater number were trying to turn to 
 account their former occupation and to get work as public or 
 private tutors. But the old times are all gone. 
 
 No more regular communities, no more schools on whose walls 
 hang Ihe Crucifix and the image of the Virgin Mother. Where are 
 they all now, the little children who were trained to be strong 
 
 ' Loiter or Brother Philip-Josepti of Elbeur. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 479 
 
 Christians? What has become of the black gown, the broad 
 brimmed hat, the white collar? Above all, what has become of 
 the church where all heard mass on Sunday? All gone; all 
 swallowed up in the night. Is it so ? men of little patience, 
 wait yet a while. Do you not see a white streak on the horizon? 
 It is the dawn of day. 
 
Paris. — House of tlie Drothers at Rue Oudinot. — Drawn t>y Huliert Clert'Ct; engraved I'j- Barbaut. 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 AFTER THE STORM. 
 THE INSTITUTE FROM THE END OF THE REIGN OF TERROR 
 UP TO THE ELECTION OF BROTHER PHILIP IN 1838. 
 
 FTER a great battle, soldiers of the 
 same regiment, separated or wounded 
 on the field, go painfully in search 
 of their flag; this is their first care 
 and their greatest anxiety. They are 
 to be seen, uneasy and hesitating, 
 di'agging their steps across the vast 
 plain, peering at all the uniforms, 
 looking anxiously into all the groups, 
 until at last they come to the longed- 
 for spot where, clustering round the 
 flag riddled with bullets, are their 
 brothers in arms, comrades and officers and commander. " Ah, 
 here is the regiment! " they cry, and at once they fall into rank 
 with it. 
 
 31 
 
482 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 So it came to pass with the Institute of Blessed de la Salle the 
 day after the reign of Terror. But it was a " day after " that 
 lasted for many a year. The Brothel's sought anxiously for their 
 troops dispersed durini; the battle; they too rallied their regiment, 
 and there are few finer sights than that of the scattered Order 
 reconstituting its ranks, and reforming its unity. 
 
 We have seen how the Brothers were forced to abandon their 
 religious habit, and condemned, in order to live, to enroll them- 
 selves in the armies of the Republic, or to accept secular em- 
 ployment. Hunted and pursued everywhere, some ha<l the happy 
 inspiration of going to join the community in Rome; but, in those 
 days, the journey was a long and costly one, and this was an 
 alternative within the reach of only a few. It was as teachers 
 that the Brothers had rendered service to the public, and this 
 resource they still held. The black soutane was wanting, it is 
 true; but in the secular dress they were equally capable of con- 
 tinuing the traditions of Blessed de la Salle. Thus we see them 
 courageously beginning to open day-schools and boarding schools 
 again to the great joy of the populations which had remained 
 Christian. But no one couUI tell what was going to become of 
 the Institute. 
 
 The year 1795 opened, therefore, sadly enough; but here we 
 must consider it under another aspect, one which deserves to be 
 closely studied by historians in search of truth. There was a 
 general revival of Christian feeling, and the inhabitanls of several 
 thousjinds of communes demanded energetically the re-opening of 
 their churches. These petitions, covered with signatures, are still 
 preserved in our archives, and they are very significiuit. With 
 the churches, the schools were opened, and the people wanted 
 them to 1)6 Christian. This was the moment to remember the 
 Brothers and call out for them. Now it was that, supported by 
 the prayers of the martyrs it had given to the Church, and 
 strengthened by the example of their self-sacrifice, the Institute 
 was enabled to gather its scattered membei-s together, resume its 
 mission of charity, and spread itself over the world. 
 
BOOK HI. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 483 
 
 We have said that a certain number of Brothers had become 
 public teachers, and it is tlianks to them that the faith was preserved 
 by the new generation. They had kept the traditions of the Insti- 
 tute, and made it their duty to teach Christian doctrine before 
 
 Pius VI. — Drawn by ^douard Gamier, from a portrait of the time ; engraved by Napier. 
 
 anything else. Sometimes even, they supplemented, as far as wa's 
 possible, the ecclesiastical ministry, which the priests who had 
 not taken the civil oath — the insermentcs, as they were called — 
 could not perform. Thus Brother Bernardin, at Castres, collected 
 the faithful every day in the church, and recited morning and 
 evening prayers; every Sunday, he read the mass aloud to them. 
 
i8i liI.ESSEU ItE LA SAI.I.K. 
 
 and inado tliem sin^ canticles, and addressed a little discourse to 
 them, endeavoring to rekindle the light of faith in their poor 
 Itenighted souls. The Brothers, in a word, helped them to wait 
 for the return of the priests, acting, so to speak, as the precur- 
 sors of the latter. 
 
 But, all this time, they were without tidings of the Superior 
 general ; conseqjiently the Institute, as yet, had no visible head. 
 Under these conditions, unity was impossible. Pius VI. under- 
 stood this, and displayed in the emergency that wonderful clear- 
 sightedness which has always distinguished the government of 
 the Popes. In the place of Brother AgJithon, he delegated pro- 
 visionally, in 17".»3, Brother Frumence, Superior of the house in 
 Rome; hut, mindful <tf established rights, the Sovereign Pontiff only 
 attributed to him the title of Vicar general. Brother Agathon, 
 wherever he was, remained the real Superior. The Institute 
 was saved. 
 
 Brother Agathon had been obliged to take refuge at Tours, and 
 to remain there several years. As soon as he heard of the decision 
 of the Pope, he wrote to Brother Frumence, and begged of him to 
 replace him until circumstances would permit of his returning to 
 his post. This return was a hope destined quickly to perish. The 
 severe hardships which Brother Agathon had undergone had 
 ruined his health, and he died in 47'J7 before witnessing the 
 reconstitution of the Institute. He saw the promised land, but he 
 never reached it. 
 
 Brother Frumence continued, consequently, to direct the Insti- 
 tute, but always with the title of Vicar general. It was not 
 until ISIO that Brother Gerbaud was named Superior general. 
 
 According, however, as tranquillity returned, and the Church 
 re-opened her temples, the Brothers collected here and there, 
 re -organizing their old communities at Lyons, Rheims, Laon, 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 485 
 
 and Paris. This was, in truth, tlie essential thing to do, and the 
 Brothers saw this clearly. To create little centres which could be 
 successively linked on to the general Vicariate, such was the plan 
 wisely conceived, and faithfully carried out. 
 
 This activity was nowhere more necessary than in Paris, and 
 
 Brother Frumcnce, Vicar general, bora at Mesnii-Martinsart, March 30th 1747; 
 
 entered the Institute October 30th 1763; named Vicar general by Pius vr. August 7th 1795; died at Lyons January 27th 1810. 
 
 Engraved by Meaulle from a drawing by Mouilleron. 
 
 the Brothers understood as much. Brother Gerbaud, Director ot 
 the school at Gros-Caillou, succeeded in getting the school approved 
 by the First Consul, and this was an advance of which few real- 
 ized the importance at first. It needed time to manifest the 
 wisdom of it. 
 
 All these efforts were, nevertheless, condemned to remain barren 
 unless the Congregation could be reconciled to the civil power. 
 
486 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Its whole future lay here. Taking advanUige of the influence of 
 Cardinal Fosrh, the uncle of Bonaparte and a particular friend of 
 the Brothers, Brother Gerbaud strove to gel its existence once 
 
 Boufarw, rint Coanl (|i. «1 ), tram m pirtara \-t laahrj. - 
 engraved tgr LcruMvr. 
 
 ilivwa tor itommri uniar : 
 
 more recognized. He wrote to Brother Frumence, who joined in 
 his pfTorts, and in December 180:i, thanks to the intervention of 
 the Cardinal, a decree given on the strength of Portalis's report 
 " re-established in France the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, " 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 487 
 
 and authorized them to fix their head quarters at Lyons. This 
 decree brouo^ht the Institute back to hfe. 
 
 Portalls Cp. 486), from a portrait in the Museum of Versailles. — Drawn l)y Cho\in; engraved by Cabarteux. 
 
 The consular decision of the 11th Frimaire, year XII., was, 
 indeed, of the highest importance to the Brothers; it recognized 
 
488 
 
 ni.ESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Iheni officially as a teaching body; later it permitted them to claim 
 this chiiracter and to defend their traditional method, which thus 
 received a sort of legal consecration. 
 
 The city of Lyons showed itself worthy of the honor which the 
 Fii-st Consul paid it when ho chose it for the seat of the Congre- 
 gation. Appreciating at their just value " these Brothers of the 
 
 Bdwol It arM-OiUian(p. <M). rac-iimlle of* ooanapriit of Ike varM, Iqr ttom»t* Otniu; 
 
 Christian Doctrine so renowned for elementary education, " it 
 immediately took advantage of the good dispositions of tlie govern- 
 ment to oipinize new schctols, anil develop the germs of the little 
 community which Brother Pigmenion had re-organized. 
 
 There was something very touching in these new beginnings of 
 schools at Lyons. lirother Pigmenion was a manly soul whom 
 nothing disheartened. He knew that those works most blessed 
 by heaven are generally marked with the sign of the Cross, and it 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED HE LA SALLE. 
 
 489 
 
 was in this spirit that he courageously opened his school at Lyons, 
 May 3rd 4802. The beginnings were very hard. When the 
 hrave teacher found the work pressing too heavily on his unaided 
 
 M"« de Cbamillart, marquise de VUleneuve-Trans, benefactress of the Institute, and esiiecially 
 
 of tlie scliool of Gros-Caillou (p. 498). 
 
 — Engraved by MeauIIc, from a portrait Ijelonging to the Brothers of Gros-Cailloti. 
 
 strength, he would cheer himself up with the reflection : " God 
 will send me some fellow -workers as soon as He sees they are 
 necessary. " And so it was. The fellow-workers came, and soon 
 after they were allowed to resume their religious costume. 
 
190 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 A m.in named Hernard Charpieiix, mayor of the western district 
 of Lyons, and who was wholly devoted to the Brothers, left nothing 
 undone to obtain this permission for them. He also used his 
 influence with Porlalis to ttet the Little College as a residence for 
 the Brothers. " The austerity of their morals, " he wrote, " their 
 disinterestedness and their virtues commend these admirable 
 men to the kindness of the authorities and the veneration of 
 fathers of families. " 
 
 Not sijtisfied with laboring to procure a lodging for the Brothers, 
 Bernard Charpieux wished the world to know the honor and 
 esteem in which the city of Lyons held them. He arranged for 
 them a prominent place in the solemn festiviiies which the town 
 was making ready in honor of the passing of the Pope l>eneath 
 its walls. He kept Brother Vivien at Lyons up to that date after 
 bringing him from Bheims to consult him about the organisation 
 of the new schools. He also secured the presence of Brother 
 Bernardin, a notable member of the Institute, then at Toulouse. 
 There was something very appropriate in the great Catholic <ity of 
 Lyons thus marshalling before the head of the Church distin- 
 guished members of an Order whose noble mission it was to train 
 the children of France to the duties of men, citizens and Christians. 
 
 Pius Vn. was sitting in the chair of Peter, and the l)eauty of his 
 holiness was a light to all Christendom. His firm and tender 
 soul had to struggle, not alone against the Revolution, but against 
 an almost omnipotent despotism. First, he was flattered in order 
 to lure him to Paris to crown the new Emperor. Pius VII. thought 
 that it was his duty to place the crown on that formidable brow. 
 He quilted Home, and, passing through Lyons, remained a few 
 hours in the old city of Gaul which had been ennobled by the blood 
 shed there by Irenteus and Blandina. Then, after being a«rlaimed 
 by the Lyonese, he pursued his way to Paris, where he was to 
 crown the Sovereign who then seeuierl full of deference for him as 
 head ot the Church. On his return to Italy, Pius Vll. had more 
 time to devote to Lyons, and profited by it to visit and bless the 
 houses of the Brothere, whose Vicar general had gone to France 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 191 
 
 in his suite. But we should read the memoirs and newspapers 
 of the period to form an adequate notion of the enthusiasm pro- 
 voked all over France by the mere sight of the Sovereign Pontiff. 
 The terror and the sacrileges of the Revolution were scarcely over; 
 these Christians, only yesterday pursued and persecuted, were 
 
 CHOV/N. L CHAFO/J 
 
 Pius VII. (p. -190), from a portrait by David. — Drawn by Chovin ; engraved by Cbapon. 
 
 suddenly permitted to see the Holy Father and to receive him 
 with festive joy. For the Brothers, it was a kind of double resur- 
 rection, for the Institute rose up again from the dead with religion. 
 In order to conform to the decree of 3rd Messidor, year XII., 
 which obliged " religious aggregations, " as they said then, to 
 submit their statutes to the Council of State, the Brothers sent 
 the principal articles of their Rule to Paris by abbe Jauffret. 
 
49S BLESSED DE LA SALLB. 
 
 Unfortunately, they forgot that the Council of State was not very 
 favorable to religious associations, and fancied themselves obliged 
 to enumerate all the practices imposed on them by their interior 
 discipline. The Councillors of State were too foreign to the 
 spirit which inspired the congregations not to take fright at this 
 long exposition, and the visa was refused. But this refusal had 
 not any vexatious result, and thanks to the decision of Frimaire 
 year XII., they continued to enjoy the legal existence which had 
 been granted them. 
 
 On the 8th of September 1805, they put on once more their re- 
 ligious habit, and the Institute resumed by degrees its progressive 
 march. 
 
 What they wanted now was subjects which would have en- 
 abled Brother Frumence to respond to the demands that were 
 coming in from different cities. This was now his chief pre-oc- 
 cupation. It was a great problem to be solved, but Providence 
 helped them to the solution. Cardinal Fesch, full of solicitude 
 for an Institute so useful to religion, had the happy inspiration of 
 writing to all the Brothers who had been dispersed by the Revo- 
 lution, and inviting them to return to the bosom of their old relig- 
 ious family. Nothing could have been more simple, or more 
 efficacious than this measure. Many Brothers knew nothing 
 about the re-establishment of the Community, and received the 
 Cardinal's invitation as a joyful surprise. " My children, " said 
 a teacher to his scholars in the hamlet of Chatuzange on receiving 
 the letter, " I was a Brother of the Christian schools, and it was 
 with deep regret I found myself compelled to leave my vocation. 
 I hear that our Institute has been re-established, and therefore 
 I must make haste to Lyons and take back my place there. If 
 amongst you there are any who would like to enter the Institute, 
 I will do all I can to facilitate thfir admission, and to help them 
 to become accustomed to the new life. " We merely qu«»te these 
 words as an example and a specimen. Similar ones were pro- 
 nounced in many places. Numbers replied to the Cardinal's 
 appeal. Not content with bringing to Brother Frumence their 
 
i '. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 493 
 
 own zeal, several inspired young meQ whom they had educated 
 with the desire to embrace the same religious vocation. 
 
 Brother Philip whom neither France nor the Institute can soon 
 forget, was one of the disciples of the master whose words we 
 
 Cardinal Pescb. (p. 488).— BngraTed by M6auUe, from a portrait of tbe period. 
 
 have just quoted. Surely the harvest reaped from the sowing of 
 these words has been rich and abundant. 
 
 Lyons remained still the seat of the Institute. It was here the 
 new recruits crowded; it was from here they were sent forth to 
 all parts of France. The unity of the Institute was reconstructed. 
 In becoming again one, it became again great. 
 
494 BLESSED DE I.A SAI.LE. 
 
 It HOW became possible to satisfy the municipalities who, accord- 
 ing to ;i magistrate of 1806, " were eagerly demanding those 
 teachers who directed the schools before the Revolution. " In the 
 month of December 1805 thirty-six towns had made the same 
 demand. From 1805 to 1807, Chartros, Trevoux, Saint Ktienne, 
 Ajaccio, BesanQon and Saint Omer, together with two parishes in 
 Paris, were able to get Brothers to direct their schools. The hive 
 of Lyons was sending forth swarms of bees in every diirction. 
 
 Meantime, the Imperial government was preparing a scheme of 
 general education which was to modify the position of the Con- 
 gregation. On the 10th of May 1800 a law was voted ordering 
 the formation, under Ihe title of the Imperial University, of a body 
 c'.iarged exclusively with public teaching and education throughout 
 the whole Empire. The promulgation of this law is one of the 
 most important facts of the nineteenth century. The Institute of 
 Ihe Brothers was destined to be seriously affected by it. 
 
 The Council of State proceeded at once to study the decree 
 which was to regulate the character of the new institution, and 
 the discussion raised on the subject brought out proofs of the 
 lively inter<"st which Napoleon took in the Brothers. " Some 
 persons pretend, " he said in a sitting of the Council, ' that the 
 primary schools kept by the Brothers ' Ignorant ns ' might in- 
 troduce a bad spirit into the University, and want to have them 
 left outside its jurisdiction. 1 can't understand the kind of fana- 
 ticism that seems to posse.ss certain persons against these Broth- 
 ers; it is a pure prejudice. From all sides people are calling 
 out to me for their re-establishment, and this general demand 
 proves how useful they are. " The decree was not definitively 
 promulgated till the 17th of March 1808, and article 109 runs as 
 follows: — " The Brothers of the Christian schools are patented 
 and encouraged by the Grand Master, who will sign and approve 
 their internal statutes, admit them to the oath, prescril>e a par- 
 ticular habit for them, and overlook their schools. The Superioi*s 
 of this congregation n)ay be members of the University. " 
 
 Some may have regretted this incorporation of the Brothers 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 495 
 
 with the University, and this apparent blow struck at the principle 
 of their independence; but, in reality, it was rather a subject for 
 congratulation, thanks to the liberal spirit of M. de Fontanes, and 
 the Chancellor, Bishop de Villaret. The Brothers have retained 
 an excellent recollection of M. de Fontanes. Indeed, if the con- 
 gregation had remained isolated, it would have had a very un- 
 equal struggle to keep up against an administration that was often 
 irritating and encroaching, and against a tendency to dangerous 
 centralization; whereas, lost in the ranks of State functionaries, 
 the Brothers were able to profit by the advantages which resulted 
 from this circumstance, while preserving that liberty by which 
 they set so much store. 
 
 That position was not altogether free from dangers and trouble, 
 however. The Minister of the Interior wanted to place the free 
 schools under the direction of the Relieving Offices, and this plan 
 was first mooted at Lyons and at Rheims. This proves how little 
 idea the administration had of respecting the freedom of the 
 schools. The municipaHty of Lyons and Cardinal Fesch, who 
 had both done so much to obtain the cooperation of the Brothers, 
 stoutly resisted this arbitrary attempt; but at Rheims the Minister 
 accomplished his design, and the Relieving Office was charged 
 with the direction of the primary schools. Tlie want of funds 
 having compelled the Office to impose school payment on two 
 thirds of the children, the Brothers found themselves placed in 
 direct contradiction to the statutes of their order, which forbade 
 them to take any payment whatsoever from the scholars. This 
 abnormal situation delayed the reunion of their Community 
 with the Institute several years. 
 
 According to the decree of 1808, the statutes of the Brothers 
 ought to have been signed by the Grand Master of the University; 
 Brother Frumence conformed to this decree by forwarding to 
 M. de Fontanes, on the 1st of July 1809, the fundamental rules 
 which governed, and still govern, tlie congregation. 
 
 On the 7th of January 1840, this holy Religious, who had been 
 charged by Pius VI. with the government of the Institute during 
 
t96 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 the period of Iho Brothers' dispersion, was ciillcd to liis reward. 
 Brother Frnmencc, in reality, never bore any title but that of 
 Vicar general; althoiifrh he was practically Superior of I he Insti- 
 tute during the most diflicult times it ever passed through. Wlien 
 
 U. da roataora (■<.«>). - Iunr«l bjr Mtenll*, froa ■ portnll of Um |wrlo«. 
 
 the Sovereign PontilT instituted him Vicar, it seemed as if all hope 
 was lost, and the Bn.flieis, in 17!>8, were reduced lo the two c»)m- 
 munities of Ferrara and Orvieto. In France, they could only bear 
 the name of Brothei-s at Laon and Valence. So things were in 
 Brother Frumence's early time. 
 
 Twelve years later, when lie cast a glance fnmi his death-bed 
 over his dear Congregation, it was a glance of supreme consola- 
 
BOOK 111. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 497 
 
 tion. The Institute M'as in full vitality, and after his departure a 
 real Superior would be elected. The temporary state of things in- 
 
 Abbu fimery (it. 4U8). — Drawn by ^doiiard Gamier from a portrait of the period, engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 dicated by the title of Vicar which he had borne would now cease. 
 Nothing was wanting to the Order but a distinct and visible head; 
 its schools were flourishing, the observance of the Rule was strict. 
 Brother Frumeuce died happy, offering his present joys and hopes 
 to God, as he had formerly offered Him his anguish and his tears. 
 
 32 
 
498 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Brother Gerbaud, who on the morrow of the Revolution founded 
 tlie Gros-Caillou scliool, and liad been one of the most active pro- 
 moters of the re-establishment of the Brothers in France, was 
 elected Superior general in 1810. This election took place on the 
 8th of September, the day the Church celebrates the Nativity of 
 Our Lady, and sings, before the Magnificat, that glorious an- 
 them : — " Thy Nativity, O Virgin Mother, has announced joy 
 to the whole world. " The Institute of the Brothers, which had 
 just come to life again, responded abundantly to the hymn of joy. 
 
 The Gros-Caillou school, where Brother Gerbaud has left such 
 lasting remembrances, was the first opened in Paris by the Broth- 
 ers after the restoration of Catholic worship. The history of this 
 school alone would make a beautiful book. It was founded by the 
 marquise de Villeneuve-Trans, who, in 1793, was rescued from 
 the scaffold by the good papulation of Gros-Caillou, and desired 
 to give them this public proof of her gratitude. There is a charm- 
 ing portrait of the foundress, which we wished our readers to 
 see. Certain prints of the time have also sent down to us the 
 physiognomy of her school. All these facts were imprinted in the 
 soul of Brother Gerbaud when he was elected Superior, and he 
 never forgot Gros-Caillou. 
 
 Some days before Brother Gerbaud's election, the Congregation 
 received back its statutes with the approval of the University, one 
 slight change being made concerning the dispensation from vows 
 by the Pope. This message was accompanied by a letter from Abb6 
 Emery, assuring the Brothers of the interest he took in them. 
 Abb6 Emery always loved the Brothers, who felt honored by the 
 friendship of so holy a priest, so valiant a confessor of the faith, 
 and never forgot that this manly soul triumphed over those two 
 tremendous forces, the Revolution and despotism. All Catholics 
 should imitate the Brothers in this, and never forget such men. 
 
 And now arose for the first time the great question of military 
 service. It was at this juncture that the Brothers realized the 
 advantage of being placed under the protection of the University. 
 They had hitherto only escaped conscription through the kindness 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 499 
 
 of the Emperor, and this indulgence would undoubtedly have 
 ceased in presence of the terrible demands of the last wars of the 
 Empire, which mowed down the tlower of French youth. But, 
 in 1811, Fontanes obtained an order from the Council of State, 
 according to which " professors, school- masters and Brothers of 
 the Christian schools, who had reached the age for service, might, 
 on the demand of the Grand Master of the University and the 
 presentation of the Minister, enjoy the provisional exemption for 
 the service which was granted to the Normal School. " 
 
 The Empire fell, and peace was re-established. It would be 
 difficult to describe the anguish that oppressed the soul of the 
 new Superior during those awful years 1814 and 1815. It is no 
 business of ours to judge the divers governments that have suc- 
 ceeded each other in France since then; but we are certainly 
 expressing a truism when we assert that in 1815 France had 
 need of peace. Then began those thirty magnificent years from 
 1815 to 1845, during which France gave to Europe the spectacle 
 of a progressive movement in science, literature and art, of which 
 she is justly proud. Master-pieces called out master- pieces. 
 There were poets whose names were Lamartine and Victor Hugo; 
 historians called Chateaubriand and Guizot; painters called G^ri- 
 cault and Ingres; a score of great orators in the tribune, and great 
 writers in every department. The schools felt the effect of this 
 universal movement, and the Restoration was for them an epoch 
 of regeneration and splendor. 
 
 There still remained pending the question of the relations of the 
 Institute with the University, formerly Imperial, now Royal. 
 
 During the first Restoration, the monopoly of the University 
 had seemed excessive, and it was very wisely considered that the 
 " regime of one sole and absolute authority was incompatible 
 with the liberal intentions of the government. " Consequently, 
 on the 15th February 1815, seventeen universities were instituted. 
 However, this attempt at decentralisation did not last long. The 
 Hundred Days brought back the old state of things, and the second 
 Restoration maintained provisionally the Imperial University, me- 
 
500 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 rely substituting, in place of the Grand Master, a Committee of 
 Public Instruction. It was a distinction without a difference. 
 
 The first thing this Committee did was to draw up a set of rules 
 for primary education. The supervision of the schools and the 
 appointment of masters were conQded to Cantonal Committees 
 composed of the parish -priest of the canton, the president, the 
 justice of the peace and a few notables named by the Rector of the 
 Academy. A distinction was made between different categories of 
 these establishments; there were the public or comnmnal schools, 
 the charity-schools, the private or free schools, and the Christian 
 schools, to whom were applied laws of obvious import : — 
 
 Every religious or charitable Association, such as the Christian schools, may 
 be allowed to furnish, on certain conditions, masters to the Communes which 
 may ask for them, provided the said Association be approved by us, and 
 that its rules and method have been approved by our Committee of Public 
 Instruction. 
 
 These Associations, and especially their novitiates, may be supported either 
 by the district where it is found necessary to establish them, or by the budget 
 of Public Instruction. 
 
 The schools provided with masters by this sort of Associations will remain 
 subject, like the others, to the supervision of the authorities constituted by the 
 present decree '. 
 
 We see here how carefully the Committee reserved to itself the 
 approbation of methods of teaching. A rather vehem«^nt opposi- 
 tion had, in fact, just been raised against the system the principles 
 of which Blessed de la Salle had laid down, and whose merits a 
 century's experience had fully pr»»ved. We have seen that the life 
 of the holy founder had been an unbroken chain of trials and 
 efforts; his Institute was, apparently, to share the same destiny. 
 There was to be no rest for it in this world. 
 
 ■ Articlcf 36, 37, 38. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 501 
 
 A system brought from India by Bell and applied in England 
 by Doctor Lancaster had fascinated many minds by its novelty 
 and by the specious features of its programme. 
 
 We all know the prestige that is attached to things that come 
 from afar, and the power of a clever advertisement. It is really 
 
 J^<->Tt •• ^ y yifj^ *c<^^ y^'„e ^ ^ /n^sl^^ ■ <^'^ m^ 
 '^«^e^^ ^-^ -7kj>^ 4 ^C-^c^, ^-yir^^ 7^-^v.^/ O.^yoj/ ^ 
 
 /^^«,V^ ^j^^u^.r^ P^Ty-*^^ ^ .^.^ J^^^^^J^^ 
 
 > ^"^ ino^ 
 
 Letter from abb6 firaery to Brother Gerbaud ( p. 498) '. 
 
 difficult to find any other reason for the favor which the " mutual " 
 or Lancastrian method enjoyed for a time, unless, underlying this 
 
 * Translation : 
 
 " Reverend Brother Superior, 
 
 " I presented your petition, wiiicli was already announced; it is just; and 1 have had 
 no trouble in proving it. You will always find nie under all circumstances disposed to 
 serve you, all the more so because in serving you I serve religion. I am pleased to 
 see that in the Council there is never a mention of the Brothers of the Christian schools 
 without praise of their teaching and their method. I commend myself very sincerely to 
 your prayers. You know the sentiments that I profess for you and your Congregation. 
 
 " Emery. " 
 
502 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 infatuation of tho liberal party, there lurked a secret desire 
 to supplant another method invented by Religious. And this 
 was in truth at the bottom of it. Men of sixty years of age 
 must remember distinctly that the term " mutual schools " 
 bore the same meaning then that the term " secular schools " 
 has to-day. 
 
 To instruct children by children, such was the principle of the 
 new theory. The pupils were not to be divided, according to their 
 knowledge, into classes where they received lessons from the lips 
 of the masters, and instruction intended to develop their mind 
 and to form their character. One master sufficed for several 
 hundreds of pupils, and nothing was demanded of him but a 
 general outlook over this juvenile population — no moral direc- 
 tion, no salutary influence of wisdom and experience; there was 
 an end of all that. 
 
 The new mechanism worked in this way : — At a given hour, 
 little squadrons ranged themselves round monitors chosen from 
 amongst the most advanced of the children, and to these young ped- 
 agogues was handed over the business of imparting such elements 
 of knowledge as they had themselves imbibed. They were to make 
 the children spell out letters written on the black board, and 
 exercise their inexperienced fingers in forming letters on slates. 
 All this went on in one class-room, amidst indescribable hubbub, 
 accompanied by a silly parody of military exercises. 
 
 If we were to believe the admirers of this system, imported into 
 France by Carnot during the Hundred Days, its advantages were 
 manifold. It reduced the number of masters, and thereby made 
 a notable economy for the budget; it suppressed the troublesome 
 side of study for the children, and appealed solely to emulation 
 to encourage work; everything, in fact, spoke in favor of the 
 foreign system. Immediately the authorities made haste to adopt 
 it. The old French method, born of Blessed de la Salle's long 
 experience and the patient observation of his disciples, was thrown 
 aside. They were no longer wanted, these devoted teachers whose 
 competence had been so tried and proved, and who had given 
 
BOOK 111. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 503 
 
 themselves up completely to studying and practising the question 
 of school -teaching for more than a century. The novelty of the 
 hour had dismissed them summarily. And the Institute was on 
 the eve of a crisis that might prove fatal. The Brothers had been 
 accused of being too strongly attached to their traditions, of being 
 obstinate and unmanageable. Now, their system is universally 
 ADOPTED, and pedagogues are all agreed in declaring that they 
 were right in clinging to the principles laid down by their holy 
 founder. But, as we see, it was not without trouble they won 
 this triumph, and it may not be out of place to recall here the 
 battle the Institute had to fight in defence of true doctrine. 
 
 A vital question was at stake in the matter of elementary teach- 
 ing. We do not allude to the external side of the programme. 
 Whether the pupil learns from a board or a book, whether he 
 writes on paper or on a slate, matters very little; as to one of the 
 children teaching his companions, in certain cases it may be very 
 useful, and the system had even been adopted long before by 
 Blessed de la Salle. The essential point, which had been deliber- 
 ately rejected by the mutual school, and which the Brothers have 
 the merit of having stoutly upheld, is the preponderating part 
 played by the teacher towards the pupils; the respectful intimacy 
 in which these two ought to live, and the direct and constant in- 
 tercourse that should be kept up between them. In other words, 
 there ought not to be thrust between the master and the child 
 an inexperienced intermediary who at best can only give forth 
 a feeble echo of the master's voice and the lessons received 
 from him. 
 
 There is no use in asserting the contrary^ — study can never be 
 turned into play, and the child will learn nothing unless he gives 
 himself up to real work, unless he be sustained by the patient and 
 skilful hand of a real master. Moreover, any education worthy of 
 the name should aim at something higher than teaching the first 
 elements of knowledge. It is bound to inform the child of his 
 principal duties, and to teach him to practise them. In order to 
 attain this end, the lessons and the example of a master are ne- 
 
504 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 cessan', a master wlio himself cultivates the rare virtues of gentle- 
 ness, prudence, wisdom, humility, and so many others which 
 Blessed de la Salle considered necessary to masters. It was push- 
 
 **'L*V"^ ^x" 
 
 UnnMtHDeiir it BuulotM, BI«bor ofTroxn (t lau), itoTott* frind sad l>d«(uln)>l« Mtt mt t r.cl Um IbmIWU.. 
 — inrnwa bjr tOanutf Ouator, tron ■ portrait MomIW k> tb* tumOj of Mm Blakop; mtnr»t tf K»iti. 
 
 ing the absurd too far to assign such a mission as this to childi*en 
 of twelve years old. 
 
 The partisans of the Lancastrian schools omitted nothing to 
 secure the triumph of their system. They founded a society for 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 503 
 
 the propagation of their views; they did not shrink from the 
 weapon of caricature, and spread abroad treacherous pictures 
 which represented the children flying enthusiastically to the mu- 
 tual school, and jeering contemptuously at the Brothers'. They 
 appealed above all very practically to the government, which 
 
 Brother Cierbaud, Bixtli Superior general born at Bruheville, diocese of Verdun, December 2Uh I'flo; 
 
 entered the Institute May Ist 1778; elected Superior general, September eth 1810; died In Faris, August 10th 18J2 ; 
 
 Engraved by Meaulle, from a drawing by Mouilleron. 
 
 patronized the Lancastrian system and opened a state credit to it. 
 
 This official pressure was not superfluous, for the mutual meth- 
 od met with small favor from the municipal councils. 
 
 The numerous foundations of schools of the Christian Broth- 
 ers which date from this period ' are an eloquent proof that 
 
 ' In the cities of Cambrai, Beauvais, Auch, Nantes, Metz, Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, 
 Belley, Limoges, Dijon, Montargis, Nimes, Vannes, Albi, Saint-Brieuc, Ciiaion-sur- 
 Sa6ne, Poitiers, le Puy, la Rochelle. 
 
506 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 the populations preferred the masters whose long experience and 
 ilevotedness had secured the confidence of the country', to the 
 adventurers who had only a new fangled theory to commend 
 them. 
 
 The Government did not take into account this movement of 
 public opinion, and continued obstinately to support the new 
 system. Pecuniary help, sites for schools, every sort of favor was 
 showered on the Lancastrians. The King himself " approves of 
 the perfected methods of elementary teaching, and requests the 
 Prefects to protect the new schools. " The mutualists, hereupon, 
 are carried away by an enthusiasm that seems somewhat exag- 
 gerated. " Thanks be rendered, " they exclaim, " to the far-seeing 
 and enlightened minister who, recognizing the right that all the 
 French people have to the benefits of primary education, welcomes, 
 honors and supports the one means of spreading abroad this pre- 
 cious benefit, from the most populous towns to the most remote 
 hamlets in the kingdom 1 " A touching tribute of gratitude un- 
 doubtedly. 
 
 M. Laine, to whom it was addressed, felt that the success of his 
 favorite schools would be compromised if they came into open 
 competition with those of the Brothers. He, therefore, thought it 
 best to gain over the latter to his views, and the Prefect of Lyons 
 was ordered to submit the Practical Manual of the mutual schools 
 to the Superior general, and request liim to have it adopted by his 
 Religious. 
 
 We can imagine what answer Brother Gerbaud made to this. 
 His letter is a testimony to the lofty idea which the Brothers had 
 of their mission as teachers, and the energy they displayed in de- 
 fence of the true interests of the schools : — 
 
 The report wliich we made in your name to the general Assembly, as well as 
 your honorable letter of the 17lh, and the projwsed rules of the school were 
 read and received with respect. 
 
 The said Assembly recognized unanimously that this plan is incompatible 
 with our Rule, for we have the happiness to be Religious under constitutions 
 approved by the Holy See and patented by the King. 
 
BOOK HI. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 307 
 
 Here is an extract from these Rules which are our happiness, our joy, our 
 crown, and our sole consolation in the painful toil of our humble condition. 
 
 If it were only a question of changing (he denomination of letters, or any 
 other accidental part of our teaching, without touching the foundation, we 
 should be willing to accept it for a greater gain. 
 
 You must know that we have embraced this humble and laborious profession 
 solely with a view to God and eternal salvation, for ourselves and that of our 
 neighbour. This is why we are teaching. We are not actuated by interest or 
 by ambition : the glory of God, of religion and morals, this it what we seek. 
 To this tend all our teaching. If we teach reading, writing, arithmetic, it is to 
 draw children to the sacred truths of Religion, this is our chief, our supreme 
 aim. All the rest apart from this counts for nothing. Now, in the plan proposed, 
 not alone we do not see religion predominant, but we perceive a direct opposi- 
 tion to our principles and a total subversion of our Rules, without which we 
 must cease to be an active Religious body. 
 
 Far from wanting to enter into competition, we leave the ground clear for 
 those who would dispute it with us; we carry the influence of our holy profession 
 to those who, like the most Christian King, condescend to receive us. However 
 many schools and establishments there may be besides our own, they do not 
 interfere with us, because we have only one object : that is to sanctify ourselves. 
 And so long as we are allowed to strive after this according to our statutes, in 
 peace and concord with all the world, without envy, rivalry, or any pretention, 
 we shall remain as in the past the humblest, most submissive and most devoted 
 servants of the public good, and the most inoffensive of citizens '. 
 
 It would be difficult to find anything firmer, simpler, loftier 
 than this language. All the Brothers spoke like their Superior. 
 Steps taken individually with the Brothers failed in every case; 
 the loyal resistance of the Institute remained unshaken. The 
 Minister grew irritated at last, and resolved to make them expiate 
 this stiff-necked fidelity to their Rule. Breaking with the immem- 
 orial tradition of the University, he exacted from the Brothers 
 the diplomas which the decree of 1816 prescribed for primary 
 teachers. We will not enlarge upon the history of this conflict 
 which led to the closing of several of the schools. At a crisis 
 when the administration was soliciting the Brothers to give up 
 the method adopted by the rules of the Institute, Brother Gerbaud 
 
 • Letter dated from Lyons, September 30th 1816. 
 
508 BLESSED l)E LA SALLE. 
 
 thought it advisable to put forth tnoiv siiliontly the power of his 
 authority, and the efficaciousness of his direction. It was not the 
 moment to weaken the bounds that united the head of the In.^ti- 
 tutc to its members. An arranjiement approved by the King 
 rescued them at hist and secured the rights of the Superior gene- 
 ral. It was agreed that the Brothers should have diplomas; but 
 that they should be delivered to them on their presenting their 
 letter of obedience. This was in February ISl'.t. 
 
 These were not the only sources of anxiety in reser^'e for 
 Brother (lerbaiid. Sciircely had the Lancastrian crisis come to 
 an end, when a still more vital question was raised. The great 
 debate on the new military law was opened in 1818, and the fii-st 
 point attacked was the fate of the Brothers concerning the conscri|>- 
 tion. One party in the chamber objected to their being exempted 
 from the service; but the assembly eventually adopted the propo- 
 sition of Royer-Collard who assimilated the Brothers to the pupils 
 of the Normal schools, and dispensed them from military duty in 
 their quality of " persons devoted to the public service. " 
 
 Thus, twice in three years. Providence had saved the Institute; 
 first, rescuing it from the nnitual system, and then from the 
 military service which would have interfered with a recruit- 
 ment so useful to the whole country, as well as to the salvation 
 of souls. 
 
 A new task had devolved on lirother Gerbaud — this was to 
 make Paris the centre (if the Institute. It is evident that out 
 of Paris there can be no centre for an Institute like that of the 
 Brothers, which, for one reason or another, requires continually 
 to be in relation with the government. Important business must 
 be transacted pei-snnally; letters cause too much delay. In Paris, 
 also, the bishops of France are to be met, and likewise the bishops 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 509 
 
 of other nations; it is here consequently that the Brothers find 
 faciHties for discussing with the prelates of Christendom the 
 
 grave question of the foundation of Christian schools in their 
 dioceses. Paris, liext to Rome, glories in being the noblest centre 
 of Catholic life. 
 
510 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 In order to establish the principal seat of the Institute in Paris, 
 a vast buildinji was necessary, and Brother Gerbaud cast his eyes 
 on a house f<jrmerly inhabited by Doctor Dubois, in the Faubourg 
 Saint Martin. The municipality adopted this proposal, and the 
 Council general of the Seine supported it before the Minister of 
 the Interior; but just as everything seemed satisfactorily term- 
 inated, it all fell through, owing to the unfortunate question of 
 the mutual system. The minister said that any new concessions 
 to the Brothers could only be granted in reward for tlicir docility 
 in accepting the new methods; and then followed fresh discus- 
 sions between the Minister and Brother Gerbaud rc|i;irding in- 
 dividual diplomas. In fact, the whole affair came to a stand still, 
 and was only resumed when the difDculty was solved by royal 
 interference. Eight days had scarcely elapsed after this, when the 
 Duke Decaze authorized the Prefect of the Seine to place the Dubois 
 house at the disposal of Brother Gerbaud. Unfortunately the latter 
 had not sufficient ready money to defray the expenses of moving 
 to the new abode. The Minister flatly refused to allow any sub- 
 vention', and it was not until 1821 that the Regime was able to be 
 transferred to Paris, never again to leave it. 
 
 At the same time that the Institute was being definitely settled in 
 Paris, it was busy spreading its houses through the cities and 
 towns of France. Five and twenty foundations of schools during 
 the year 1810, and sixteen in 1820 attest its onward march. 
 
 But Brother Gerbaud was not long to survive these constant 
 struggles so valiantly supported. He was taken away from the 
 Brotherhood on the 10th of August 1822. The last days of his 
 old age were cheered by the spectacle of the flourishing condition 
 of his Order: He had powerfully contributed to its prosjx?rily. 
 He had, as we have seen, preserved it from the new methods; he 
 had secured its fertility by rescuing it from the rigors of the 
 
 ' In 1822, tho government dccklctl on coming to the assistance or an establishment 
 that trained masters who rendered such services to the youth of France, and a sum of 
 6,300 Trancs was granted b>- the Minister ot Interior " to help in the repairs to be mad« 
 in the central House of the Brothers. " 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. oil 
 
 conscription; he restored it to Paris, its true and normal centre. 
 Such were the three achievements, the three glories of his general- 
 ship. He was succeeded by Brother William of Jesus. 
 
 Brother William of Jesus had been fifty years a member of the 
 Institute. In 1810 the Superior general said of him : — "No one 
 could be humbler, gentler, wiser, more prudent, more submissive 
 than he, more worthy, in fact, to fill the first place. " He came to 
 fill it on Brother Gerbaud's death. 
 
 His generalship lasted eight years, and they were years of 
 tranquillity and hope. Few Superiors had a calmer period to 
 pass through. And yet the same obstacles and perils were always 
 to be feared and guarded against. The conflict with the mutual 
 system lost nothing of its first bitterness, and the Brothers were 
 called upon to show the same indomitable firmness under Brother 
 William which they had displayed under Brother Gerbaud. 
 
 Two great events mark the new superiorship. One was the 
 creation of a Normal school of Masters by the Brothers. In this 
 school, founded at Rouen, the Brothers undertook to train secular 
 masters, and this service the government imitated later on. But 
 there was something more important even than this. The spiritual 
 sons of Blessed de la Salle resolved to found boarding-schools for 
 professional and commercial studies. This had been one of the 
 ideas of their founder, it was a line that he had marked out for 
 his disciples, and we may remember that in the eighteenth cen- 
 tury they had already carried out the idea very successfully. 
 
 The Brothers anticipated the majority of the so called inventions 
 of modern pedagogy; we have proved this more than once, and 
 the fact must strike the most prejudiced judges. 
 
512 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Thus it was that, thanks to the generosity of Abbe Martin, 
 pastor of Saint Aphrodise, at Bt'ziers, the famous boarding-school 
 was founded in that town. Two Brothers liad oj>cned a school 
 there towards the end of November 18'20; but it was not until 
 1828 that Brother William was able to take the necessary' steps 
 
 Brother WlllUni n( Jmhi, nrulli Superior ireoeral, horn at iii a^- uuc, FehniVT Ttk IIW; 
 mlami the InslUete June luh l;a; elecud Snperinr »eaer>l Korrinl-er IIUi Is»:<lie4 Id Parle J*n inh 1 
 Ko«TmTe4 hf lIMulle, rrom a drairinf hy siouUleroa. 
 
 for founding the board ing-.school. He bcj^an by asking permis- 
 sion to receive the legacy of Abbe Martin, who had died before 
 the realization of his pious purpose. The authorization was not 
 given until August 24th 181'.), when a Boyal decree was gi-anted 
 conformably to the advice of the Council of State. Brother William 
 of Jesus had, therefore, the j(»y of seeing this imi)ortant found- 
 ation receive the official consecraliim he had solicited for it. He 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 513 
 
 died on the 10th of June 1830, a few months after the signing of 
 this authorization; but he had enjoyed the pure and modest glory 
 of its initiative, and had deserved well of the Institute. 
 
 Alitn: MartiD, parish -priest of Saint Aplirodlse at Beziers. — BQgraved by Farlet, 
 from a bust of Darid d'ADgera, 
 
 His successor was Brother Anaclet. The government of the 
 Institute devolved upon the new Superior at a very critical junc- 
 ture. The triumph of the liberal party had roused all the dor- 
 mant revolutionary passions. People do not, in general, form an 
 adequate idea of what these years 1831 and 1832 were : they were 
 a period of anxiety and upheaving. The executive was not strong 
 
 33 
 
5it RLESSED DE LA SAI.I.E. 
 
 enough to suppress these insurrections that were constantly put- 
 ting the country in danger. The pillage of the Archbishop's palace 
 proved this. The Brothers naturally experienced the effect of this 
 movement, which bore everj-where a distinctly anti-religious char- 
 acter. They could not be popular with the people who sang the 
 execrable songs of Beranger. A gi'eat number of their schools 
 were deprived of their grants, and eleven of them had to l>e closed. 
 
 A more serious event still was that in 183i a decree deprived 
 the Institute of a privilege to which it attached, very properly, 
 great importance. Notwithstanding their ofQcial position of mem- 
 bers of a teaching congregation, the Brothers could not henceforth 
 obtain their diploma without passing the examinations exacted 
 from secular teachers. It may be suggested that this decree was 
 rather favorable to the Brolhei*s than otherwise, as they would 
 henceforth owe their success only to themselves, all semblance of 
 prerogative being withdrawn from them. It was perhaps one of 
 these trials which God permits for the advancement of our minds 
 and the salvation of our souls. 
 
 The Brothers revenged themselves for all these harassing vexa- 
 tions by extending their benevolent influence in every direction. 
 At this period they founded a work of unsjieakable value in the 
 cause of popular education— night-schools for adults. These 
 useful foundations soon attracted the attention of M. Guizot, 
 who offered to second the charitable zeal of the Brothers in lliis 
 direction. 
 
 These night-schools were a great success, and there is not a 
 town in France which has not opened some for the young men of 
 the working classes. In Paris, there must be at least two hundred 
 of them. The Philotechnic a.s.sociation, the Polytechnic associa- 
 tion, and a score of others vied with each other in zeal for their 
 propagation, recruiting membei's, creating prizes, and distributing 
 them. This is so far good, but it would be still better if these 
 clas.ses were not too often schools of scepticism, and if wholesome 
 literature were not altogether driven from the lield by a too exclu- 
 sive study of the physical .sciences. But whatever be the imperfec- 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 513 
 
 tions of the work, its usefulness is incontestable, and we must in 
 justice attribute the initiative to the Brothers. They had the first 
 conception of it, and were the first to start it. M. Guizot, in his 
 loyal impartiality, would have publicly acknowledged this. It is 
 said that he one day put questions to the pupils of the Brothers in 
 
 Brother Anaclet, eighth Superior general, born at Sirod, diocese of Saint-Claude, January 8th 1788 ; 
 
 entered the Institute on June 30tli 1805; elected Superior general on September snd 1M30; died in Parii Sepleralter 6th 1838. 
 
 — Engraved by M^auUe, from a drawing of Mouilleron. 
 
 the History of France, and the immortal author of " The History 
 of Civilization " w^as very genuinely astonished by the excellent 
 answers of the children. He congratulated them, as he knew 
 how to do, and no praise was ever more fully appreciated or better 
 deserved. 
 
 The illustrious minister had greatly at heart all that concerned 
 the education of the people. The law of 1833, the first which 
 dealt with the whole system of elementary education, was his 
 
516 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 work. It developed the programmes of that education by instit- 
 uting the superior diploma along with the elementary diploma. 
 It established in every country one of those normal schools of 
 masters which the Brothers had the honor of inaugurating. It 
 created a competition, or rather an emulation, between the Broth- 
 ers and the secular masters, that produced excellent results. 
 The Brothers redoubled their efforts to keep the first rank in the 
 universal war which was declared against ignorance. Brother 
 Anaclet, after consulting the general Chapter called for this pur- 
 pose in 1834, revised the school books of the Institute, and intro- 
 duced those improvements which the Congregation never tires ot 
 following up in theory as in practice. 
 
 The Superior general carried out an idea of Blessed de la Salle's 
 for re-establishing the Preparatory Novitiates of which we have 
 had ocaision to speak at the beginning of the history of the Insti- 
 tute. The pupils admitted into these houses are young men who 
 aspire to the admirable career of the Christian Brothers. Their 
 education is finished here, their vocation is carefully examined, 
 and they are by degrees initiated into the religious life. If they 
 persist in their desire to join the congregation, they make excel- 
 lent recruits; if the trial is not crowned with success, the edu- 
 cation they have received has fitted them for some other more 
 congenial calling. 
 
 The zeal and virtues of Brother Anaclet won universal admir- 
 ation, and M. Guizot, who was a judge of merit, wished to fasten 
 the cross of the Legion of Honor on the breast of that valiant 
 champion of education; but the humility of the Religious shrank 
 from the honor. He aimed at a higher reward, one that God 
 alone could bestow, and a premature death was soon to bring him 
 the crown he coveted. He was only fifty years of age when the 
 Brothers lost hiin. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED I)E LA SALLE. 317 
 
 It may be well to pause a moment in presence of this early 
 grave, and on the threshold of Brother Philip's long reign, and 
 consider what has been done by the various Superiors to whom 
 the direction of the Institute was successively entrusted. Such 
 retrospects are useful, and sometimes have an eloquence of 
 their own. 
 
 Under the Vicariate of Brother Frumencc, the scattered Broth- 
 ers were gradually gathered together, and a centre was created 
 for the Institute at Lyons. 
 
 During this same Vicariate, the revived Brotherhood of the 
 Christian schools was blessed with a special blessing by the 
 Sovereign Pontiff. One step more in advance, and the Brothers, 
 recognized by the State, were permitted to resume their religious 
 costume. They were but few in number, and needed recruits. 
 An appeal to the dispersed Brothers soon refilled their houses. 
 The Brothers were incorporated with the Imperial University, and 
 found in this dependance, which seemed fraught with danger to 
 them, certain guarantees for their present existence, and their 
 approaching prosperity. 
 
 To Brother Frumence, Vicar general, succeeded Brother Ger- 
 baud, a Superior general who continued manfully the tradition of 
 his predecessors before the Bevolution. The struggle against the 
 mutual schools fills a portion of his life — a hard struggle, a 
 struggle for life and death, from which he emerges victorious. 
 Then, with the question of military service come new battles and 
 fresh victories. Finally, he accomplishes the return of the In- 
 stitute to Paris, its ancient centre, and its essential one. Such 
 was the work of Brother Gerbaud, and it is hard to conceive 
 a finer one. 
 
 With his successor. Brother William of Jesus, comes the found- 
 ation of the normal school at Bouen and the creation at Beziers 
 of a boarding-school copied on those of the eighteenth century, 
 and which is to serve as a model for scores of others. 
 
518 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 As to Brother Aiiaclet, wo have assisted at the various phases 
 t»f his government. Loyal and luminous competition with the 
 lay masters, opening of night-schools and Preparatory Novi- 
 
 la'j..- IIKstmo' 
 
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 tiates — three works that crown him with glory before Cnxl 
 and men. 
 
 The Institute never flags in its march onward and upward. 
 Every vear of its existence is marked hv some new creation, 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 319 
 
 some bold and practical pedagogical innovation. And yet, for 
 all its vitality, new dangers threaten it. The Revolution never 
 disarms, and heavy clouds are gathering on the horizon. 
 
 It was under this lowering sky that Brother Philip received 
 the burden of superiorship from the Institute, 
 
The Brothers on the ramparts : Paris, 1870-1871 (p. 536 and following). — Drawn by M. de Belize; engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BROTHER PHILIP. 
 
 ROTHER Philip, the living and 
 complete representative of the 
 Institute in our age, was born on 
 the 1st of November 1792, a few 
 months after the martyrdom of the 
 two first Brothers who fell victims 
 to their fidelity to the Church — 
 Sanguis martyrum, semen Chri- 
 stianorum. He came of a line of 
 mountaineers, and had inherited 
 all the qualities of that austere 
 and vigorous race. His parents 
 were humble laborers of the hamlet of Gachat, in the commune 
 of Apinac, in the province of the Loire. They lived in a poor 
 little house perched on a height of some two thousand yards. 
 
532 BLESSED DR LA SALLE. 
 
 Christians of the old block, they had remained staunchly attached 
 to their faith, and sheltered the priests who had refused to take 
 the civil oath. When any one on the mountain was dying and 
 wanted the last sacraments, the priest knew where to look for 
 a guide, and if needs be a defender; Peter Bransiel was always 
 to the fore. Matliew Bransiet grew up amidst scenes that recall- 
 ed the lives of the early Christians. He could realize what the 
 catacombs were. 
 
 Before he was seventeen, he who was one dav to be Brother 
 Philip felt himself irresistibly drawn to the Institute of Blessed de 
 la Salle. The priesthood alarmed his humility, he only considered 
 himself fit to wear the coarse habit of the Brothers. In 1809, he 
 entered the Novitiate of Lyons, under the direction of Brother 
 Emery, whose sanctity shone out over him. Then God brought 
 him in contact for a time with Brother Gerbaud, who was directing 
 with such energy and wisdom the school at Gros-Caillou. Broth- 
 er Gerbaud was a master mind, and he left his stamp on the 
 young Brother of whom it was already being prophesied : — He 
 will be Superior of the Institute one day. " Brother Philip did 
 not remain long in Paris; his superiors thought fit to employ else- 
 where his fine intellect and ardent zeal. As he was a good mathe- 
 matician, they sent him to profess mathematics at the coasting 
 school of Auray, where he passed many happy days not far from 
 the sanctuar>' of St Anne. He was so precociously ripe for the 
 direction of souls, that they all surnamed him the " young old 
 man. " lie was successively Director at Bethel, at Bheims, in the 
 Community of Saint Nicolas-des-Champs in Paris, evenwhere 
 upholding the traditions of the Institute, fighting against the Lnn- 
 castrian schools, forming excellent pupils, writing his first books, 
 notably his Practical Geometry applied to Linear Drawing, and 
 already appointed to the Inspection of all the " Congregational " 
 schools in Paris. When, after the Revolution of 18.*{0, the gen- 
 eral Chapter elected Brother Anaclet superior. Brother Philip, 
 then eight and thirty years of age, was named one of his four 
 Assistants. 
 
OF C^^ 
 
ROOK ni. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 523 
 
 Finally, on the 20th of November 1838, the votes of the Broth- 
 ers confided to him the supreme government, which he exercised 
 for thirty-six years, a longer reign than any of his predecessors 
 had had since Blessed de la Salle. The only persons who did not 
 rejoice at this election were the young novices, in whom Brother 
 Philip had taken a paternal interest, and to whom he had devoted 
 \vhatever moments he could spare from his manifold duties as 
 Assistant. 
 
 The eminent persons who, in their intercourse with Brother 
 Philip, so often had occasion to appeal to his wisdom and expe- 
 rience, always admired his rare intelligence, his lofty views, and 
 his genius for administration. " There is the making of a minister 
 in that man, " was the judgment of a statesman. And yet these 
 brilliant qualities which dazzled all who approched him were but 
 the external reflection of his beautiful soul. To understand what 
 its interior beauty was, it would be necessary to interrogate the 
 Religious who shared his life, who had every day under their eyes 
 the proofs of his spirit of faith, his charity, his love of the Rule,- 
 his love of work, his humility, his piety; it would be necessary to 
 collect his circulars on fidelity to the Rules of the congregation, on 
 holiness, on union amongst the Brothers, on their mission to the 
 young. Such a direction, exercised throughout a long term of 
 years, was calculated to develop powerfully the progress of the 
 Institute. 
 
 Under Brother Philip, those fertile institutions, the boarding- 
 schools, spread considerably. What, during the last three centu- 
 ries, the Jesuits did for the children of the nobility and the higher 
 middle classes, the Brothers have done for the lower middle classes, 
 and especially for those innumerable children whose families in- 
 tend them to embrace commerce, agriculture and trade. I repeat 
 it, we do not half realize the advantages France owns to the power- 
 ful initiative of Blessed de la Salle and his spiritual sons. The 
 law of 1833, inspired by the example of the Brothers, developed 
 the programmes of primary education, and the Institute took 
 advantage of it to found numerous houses similar to those which 
 
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 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
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BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 32; 
 
 liad been so prosperous before the Revolution. Thanks to Brother 
 
 idCAp^MlLK^ic 
 
 Notre Dame of France. — Statne of Bonnassieux, at Fay-en-Telay. — This statue was cast with cannons 
 
 taken at Sebastopol, and the pedestal was raised by a subscription of five centimes ■ by all the pupils of the Brothers. 
 
 — Drawn by ^douard Garnier ; engraved by Napier. 
 
 Philip's zeal there soon arose the fine boarding-schools of Tou- 
 ' One cent. 
 
526 ilLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 louse, of Lyons, Saint Etienne, Nantes, Dijon, Bayonne, and finally 
 Beauvais, to which latter was added a model farm, an other and 
 very happy innovation. 
 
 The care of prisoners fills a high place amongst the adniirahle 
 acts of charity known as works of mercy, and which have been 
 laid down by Christ Himself. The prisoner's body is often sick 
 and worn out, but it is his mind that suffers most, and it needs a 
 tender hand to dress the wounds of these poor souls, as well as a 
 prudent one to introduce light and life into these darkened con- 
 sciences. It had not seemed to Blessed de la Salle that bringing 
 back wandering souls to virtue was a mission incomp.ilible with 
 the training of innocent children. It was this conviction that led 
 him to accept the incorrigible youths kept in confinement at Saint 
 Yon. Brother Philip made it a point of honor to revive this part 
 of the holy founder's work; and if the apostolate of the Brothers 
 in the prisons did not last long, it was owing to the disturbances 
 which convulsed France at the period of the revolution of 1848. 
 The Brothers had first exercised this mission of mercy in the pri- 
 sons of Nimes in 1841, and their salutary influence was soon 
 manifested there. " I cannot forget, " wrote the Minister of the 
 Interior, '• that, when the Brothers were called to the C(>ntral 
 House at Nimes, that establishment was in the most deplorable 
 state as regarded sanitary conditions, and I am convinced that the 
 marked improvement in the health of the convicts is to be attrib- 
 uted in a great measure to the close supervision of the Brothers, 
 to their spirit of justice and the moral influence they e.xercised on 
 the condemned by the example of their self devotion, their wise 
 advices and pious exhortations. " 
 
 The prisons of Fontevrault, Melun and Amiens were then 
 opened to them, and during seven years they gave themselves up 
 to the care of the prisoners without thinking of the dangers that 
 might overtake Ihem. Tlu'se dangers were, nevertheless, far from 
 being imaginary, as was proved by the assassination of Brother 
 I'ascal in lH4r» at Nimes. The excitement produced in the prisons 
 by the popular agitations of 1848 forced Brother Philip to wilh- 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 527 
 
 draw his Religious from that service of mercy, and devote them 
 wholly to education. Here they were on ground that no one could 
 dispute with them. Ever since the decree of April 18tli 1831, they 
 were obliged to go up for public examinations, just like other 
 aspirants, before the Commissions established in the chief town 
 of the province. They fell under the common laws. 
 
 Brother Philip soon had an opportunity of proving the rare 
 proficiency he had acquired in pedagogical matters. When the 
 law of 1850 was in course of preparation, he was called to form 
 part of the extra-parliamentary commission that was charged with 
 drawing up the plan of the new organization. His colleagues 
 received with respect the lessons of his experience. This law of 
 March 15th 1850 is undoubtedly one of the most important of our 
 age, and it had very happy results. The text voted by the National 
 Assembly bore the stamp of genuine liberalism. While remaining 
 subject to the diploma of capacity, the Brothers had full liberty as 
 to the choice of methods, and were dispensed from the military 
 service on condition of " engaging themselves for ten years in the 
 service of education. " 
 
 Unfortunately, the execution of laws is not always in harmony 
 with the spirit that dictates them, and the Brothers had soon to 
 undergo new and severe trials. First, the authorities wanted to 
 force them to exact payment from their pupils; but this was in 
 direct contradiction with the fundamental principle of gratuity 
 laid down by Blessed de la Salle for the schools he had founded. 
 The Minister of Public Instruction refused, however, to abate one 
 iota of his demands; he shut up several schools, and threatened 
 to extend the same measure to all of them. On the 10th of June 
 1861, he wrote to the Superior general that " if this resistance 
 continued, the government would be obliged to withdraw its pro- 
 tection from the Brothers of the Christian schools. " 
 
 Brother Phihp hesitated a long time. He felt he would not be 
 justified in compromising the fate of the schools in order to pre- 
 serve in its integrity the Rule which had been hitherto followed 
 in the Institute. After having taken the advice of the general 
 
528 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 Chaptor and referred the matter to the Holy See, he yielded, 
 and declared himself willing to submit to the exactions of the 
 government; but only for so long as the circumstances which 
 imposed thorn upon him should last. The system he had accept- 
 ed placed the Congregation altogether outside of all retribution 
 from the schools. The Brothers went on teaching the child- 
 ren without accepting anything from them, and let the muni- 
 cipal councils levy what they thought fit as payment from the 
 families. 
 
 After having opposed the gratuitous teaching of the Brothers, 
 the government endeavored to limit its extension. The Director 
 of the boarding-school at Dijon was first attacked in iSG'i because 
 the programme of the studies included certain branches " which 
 had not figured in the law of 4850. " But here the Minister of 
 Public Instruction showed more wisdom, and gave up a system of 
 petty vexations which was unworthy both of the government and 
 of the Institute. M. Duruy saw that the best thing he could do 
 would be to follow the lead of the Brothers, and borrow from 
 them what was best in their views, their progress and their 
 models. The system of studies established at the boarding-school 
 of Passy was the model on which the law of June 21st i8G5 
 framed the special secondary education. But a few months after 
 he had paid this tribute to the Brothers, the same Minister drew 
 up a circular which seriously compromised their recruitment by 
 subjecting to military service the Religious who taught in the free 
 parochial schools. 
 
 The law of 1850 had exempted from the service those members 
 of religious associations who conti'acted an engagement of devot- 
 ing themselves for ten yeai-s to public education. This law, which 
 was a law of liberty, could not make a distinction here between 
 private schools and communal schools. The first interpretations 
 of the law proved it amply. M. Houland, who was not to be sus- 
 pected of partiality towards the Brothers, had recognized that the 
 " Brother charged with the direction of a free sch(K»l belonging 
 to the Association <loes not lose his right to the exemption. " 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 529 
 
 M. Duruy changed all this, and in his circular of the 14th of 
 February 1866, declared that, in order to profit by the dispensation 
 from military service, it was necessary to devote oneself to public 
 education in an establishment of public education. 
 
 Gregory xvr., from .a contemporary portrait. — Drawu by ^douard Gamier ; eDgraved f.y Huyot. 
 
 This new theory was warmly attacked, and the question was 
 carried up to the Senate. The speech made by Mgr de Bonnechose, 
 Archbishop of Rouen, showed up the illegality of the ministerial 
 circular, which pretended to modify the terms of the engagement 
 regulated by the law; but his eloquence failed to alter a foregone 
 conclusion, and the Senate confirmed the ministerial decree. Next 
 
 34 
 
530 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 year, the law regarding the National Guard gave Brother Philip 
 fresh cause for anxiety. He worked energetically for the threat- 
 ened Institute, and succeeded in getting a clause inserted in the 
 law of February 1868 which saved the interests of the Brothers. 
 
 In works that are blessed by God, trials are only an encourage- 
 ment from above to the workmen. Their zeal does not flag under 
 the difficulties of the task. Not satisfied with sending forth Broth- 
 ers to every point in France, Brother Philip was spreading them 
 broadcast over Europe. In London, the Brothers have won for 
 themselves recognition as educators. In Vienna, they have the 
 direction of the grand Imperial and Royal Orphanage. At Turin, 
 over three thousand five hundred children crowd to their schools. 
 They are to be met in Switzerland, England, Prussia and Austria. 
 Belgium, which received them in 1814, continues to draw upon 
 their self devotion, and confides to them primary schools, and 
 schools for adults, boarding-schools and normal schools. The 
 ancient castle of the Dukes of Bouillon, at Carlsbourg, is in 1844 
 placed at their disposal, and they establish there a normal school 
 and a boarding-school destined to train pupils for the govern- 
 ment schools. 
 
 In Ireland, a teaching congregation, founded by M. Edmund 
 Rice in 1804 under the name of Christian Brothers, has been 
 governed by statutes borrowed from the Rule of Blessed de la 
 Salle. Before adopting these statutes three of their membere 
 passed some time at the Mother House, then in Rue Fauboui^ 
 Saint-Martin, in order to familiarize themselves with the mode 
 of life and the methods of teaching practiced by the older Congre- 
 gation, and ever since the two families entertain for each other 
 mutual affection and respect. 
 
 The Brothers cross the seas, and carry the method of the 
 humble Canon of Rheims to all parLs of the universe. These 
 pioneers of civilization, as a traveller has called them, are work- 
 ing for the regeneration of the East, teaching the lessons of the 
 Gospel to the children of those ancient Christendoms of Africa and 
 Asia Minor, our elders in tlie faitli. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 531 
 
 In Algiers, they are one of the most efficacious elements of civili- 
 zation. The Brothers landed there in December 1853, and soon 
 spread from Algiers to Oran, to Blidah, to TIemcen, to Constan- 
 tine, to Milianah, to Mostaganem and Stora. In Tunis, they are 
 encouraged by the Bey, and many hundreds of children knock 
 every morning at the door of the Christian schools. In Alexandria 
 and Cairo they have free schools for catholic children, and board- 
 ing-schools open to Mussulmans and schismatics. In Constanti- 
 nople, right in the heart of Islamism, they have one of their largest 
 boarding-schools, that of Kadi-Keui, and three groups of schools 
 at Pera, Galata, and Saint Esprit. Nor does their march eastward 
 stop here; at the conquest of Gochinchina, they were called to 
 the new colony, and settled at Saigon and at Mytho in 186G, at 
 Vinh-Longh in 1869. 
 
 This was not the first time that they carried Christian education 
 to such distant shores. In 1816 they had already gained a footing 
 in the island of Reunion. But it was above all under the general- 
 ship of Brother Philip that their influence developed in that 
 island, where eighty-four Brothers are at this present day working 
 for the regeneration of the blacks by means of primary schools 
 and classes for adults. 
 
 Their mission was no less fruitful at Madagascar where they 
 served as useful auxiliaries to the Jesuits of Tananarive, and were 
 extremely popular with the natives. The sad events which of late 
 years have disturbed the unfortunate country have dispersed the 
 little Christian settlement; but Brother Raphael, a native of Mada- 
 gascar, was able to remain in his country, and continue as far as 
 he could the admirable work of our missionaries. 
 
 But it is chiefly on the vast American cont'nent that the Insti- 
 tute, transplanted from France, has developed most prosperously. 
 The first soil which received this Christian seed was in fact a 
 second France, for as such is Canada known. On the 22nd of 
 January 1838, a school was opened at Montreal, where it soon 
 won general favor. In two years, it -counted five and twenty Broth- 
 ers, and eighteen hundred pupils. Other centres of education 
 
532 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 were founded at Quebec and Throe-Rivers, and then the Broth- 
 ers, spreading their ramifiG»tions beyond Canada, invaded, so 
 to speak, the United States, where their growth was rapid and 
 extensive. They soon estabUshed tliemselves in Baltimore and 
 New York, and covered the free soil of America with Catholic 
 schools. In a word, their houses in North America were so nu- 
 merous in 1863 that Brother Philip was obliged to divide these 
 new conque.sts into two provinces, one in Canada and one in the 
 United States. Each of these two had henceforth its own Novi- 
 tiate, and the future seemed secured. 
 
 This conquest was achieved by a man having in him the stulT 
 that makes great heroes and great Saints. Born to rule, large of 
 heart and broad of mind, a man inspired by the zeal of the 
 Apostles, indefatigable in his exertions, traversing the New World 
 from the Saint Lawrence to the gulf of Mexico, wherever he went 
 he won respect and esteem for the Brothers' habit. He e.slablished 
 a numerous family which was his glory and his consolation to the 
 day of his death — a family that loved him as a father and that 
 still cherishes his memory with filial affection and veneration. That 
 man was Brother Facile. His bones now rest in honor among the 
 children of his heart. He left behind him in Canada and the 
 United States in 1861, sixty-eight schools, two-hundred and 
 fifty-nine classes, twenty-four thousand five hundred pupils, 
 three hundred and sixty-eight Brothers and seventy-four novices. 
 Brother Facile has assuredly deserved well of the Church. 
 
 The needs of souls vary with countries, and an institution which 
 extends over the whole world must necessarily have a certain 
 elasticity in its mechanism and organization. In America priests 
 were few and greatly wanted; it was essential, therefore, that the 
 programme of education given by the Christian schools should 
 bend it.self to the cultivation of ecclesiastical vocations, and the 
 Brothers had to make certain modifications in their method. 
 Hence it is that the Brothers in the United States conduct a 
 certain number of schools imparting a secondary and higher edu- 
 cation. There was another class of children in America who 
 
♦•^ or TSK '^ 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 533 
 
 required altogether different training. Beside the primary schools, 
 the Brothers had to open work - shops for a multitude of poor 
 little outcasts who were brought up by sectarians in hatred of 
 the Catholic religion, and whom the Archbishop of New York 
 resolved to save by appealing to the charity of the Brothers. 
 In this way began the famous Protectory of New York, an im- 
 mense refuge for forsaken Catholic children, and which, like 
 Saint Nicolas of Paris, includes both school and work- shop. 
 In less than ten years, from 1863 to 1872, six thousand child- 
 ren were taken in here and nearly a million and a half dollars 
 expended. 
 
 It is impossible to pass over unmentioned that little republic 
 of Equador that is so proud of possessing Christian schools, and 
 that city of Quito where Brother Albanus died, a martyr to his zeal. 
 When it was announced to him that he was going to die, he ex- 
 claimed, " Since I have been in Equador, I have always received 
 Communion as in Viaticum in order to prepare myself to die. " 
 Death has no terrors for such a man. 
 
 This rapid glance at Brother Philip's work can give no adequate 
 idea of his wonderful activity. We may say of this elect soul that 
 he considered it his duty to continue all the undertakings of Bles- 
 sed de la Salle in the spirit of their founder. And there is per- 
 haps nothing more difficult than to preserve the primitive spirit 
 of an institution while accommodating it to the requirements of 
 another age. 
 
 Brother Philip possessed this rare power. The primary schools, 
 the schools for adults, the boarding schools, the professional 
 schools, the preparatory novitiates, he contrived to preserve 
 them in all their original spirit and original features, and there 
 are few orders in the Church which have undergone so few 
 changes as the Institute of the Brotherhood. All these works are, 
 nevertheless, essentially modern; they are of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury; but we have given but a cursory sketch of them; to realize 
 their extent and value, we should quote nearly all Poujoulat's 
 admirable book on this great soul. We have borrowed traits 
 
534 RLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 from it; but the whole should be read by those who wish to 
 know Brother PhiHp'. 
 
 The history of these foundations has brought us down to that 
 fatal year, 1870, and we have now to relate what befell the Institute 
 during the Franco -German war. 
 
 A few words of preface may not be out of place. 
 
 The Brothers believe that during these evil days they did their 
 duty; their duty, and nothing more. If you venture to compli- 
 ment them on their manly and courageous conduct, they reply 
 with sincerity and modesty : " Every body in France behaved well, 
 and we did like everv bodv. " Thev will add, if you trv to draw 
 them out on the subject, that they are above all the instructors of 
 the children of the poor, that this is their first duty, and that their 
 devotedness in 4870 was happily an exceptional fact in their lives, 
 as in that of the Institute. We will let them return to their labor 
 of love in the schools, and continue our narrative. 
 
 When the thunderbolt fell upon France in 1870, she sent forth 
 a supreme appeal to the self-devotion of all her sons. The Broth- 
 ers of the Christian schools were not deaf to this cry. After 
 having taught thousands of children how to live worthily, they 
 were now going out to the field of battle and the ambulances 
 to teach them how to die nobly. At the beginning of the war. 
 Brother Philip offered all his houses to receive the wounded, and 
 answered for the zeal of his Brothers. This was a new mission 
 for them; but they did not hesitate, and during long months they 
 remained faithful to duties for which they had volunteered without 
 preparation. Wherever the scourge of war passes, they are to be 
 seen at the side of the wounded, and, after spending their days 
 hard at work in the schools, they pass their nights in helping 
 the dying. 
 
 * Vie du Frire Philippe, par M. Poiijoulal. Tours, Manic, 1880. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 535 
 
 It was in the East of France that the devotion of the Brothers 
 found its first theatre. The houses of the Institute at Mezieres, 
 Etain, Rheims, Chalons, Retliel, and Donchery, were from the 
 month of August filled with the wounded. Then, according as 
 the rising tide advances, they multiply asylums where their char- 
 ity finds abundant work. The school of Mer, in the county of 
 Loir-et-Cher, receives the wounded who fell before Orleans, and 
 Brother Abercien-Joseph, stricken with disease, dies the victim of 
 his self-imposed devotion. The ambulances of Chartres were, 
 from the 10th of December to the 27th of February, served by the 
 Brothers. At Bapaume, they were to be seen bending over the 
 wounded soldiers of Faidherbe's army. At Coulmiers, at Alen- 
 Qon, at Dreux, at Dijon, at Pontarlier, they went about the battle 
 fields in search of the poor soldiers that were riddled by Prus- 
 sian bullets. Obeying only the inspiration of charity, they braved 
 the perils of the battle without being sustained by the fever that 
 burns in the combatants. This was their reply to the cowardly 
 charges brought against them by certain penny-a-line pamphleteers. 
 
 Nor was it only on the theatre of war that the patriotic devotion 
 of the Brothers manifested itself. All the cities were eager to help 
 those poor sons of France who were suffering for her, and they 
 found in the Brothers ready and valuable auxiliaries. At Lyons, 
 Toulouse, Marseilles, Nantes, Nimes, Cherbourg, Saint Malo, Cam- 
 brai, MontluQon, Marlioz, they are to be found in hastily mounted 
 but well organized ambulances, receiving the wounded, dressing 
 loathesome wounds, and consoling the agonies of the dying. At 
 BesanQon and at Clamecy, they nursed the sick stricken with 
 small-pox and typhoid fever, and braved this new danger to 
 which Brother Benonien fell a victim at Bethel, and Brother 
 Honorius a martyr at Clamecy. 
 
 Who can tell how many wounded men owed their lives to the 
 intelligent care of the Brothers, and to that affectionate watchful- 
 ness by which so many poor sufferers were surrounded? Who 
 can tell, above all, how many of the dying had their last moments 
 soothed by the words of hope and charity murmured in their ears, 
 
536 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 and by the faith which forced them, as it were, into the arms of a 
 (led too h>ng forgotten? 
 
 A few passjiges from the letter of a Brother of one of the ambul- 
 ances brings before us the memory of scenes that were enacted 
 daily in every hospital ward : — " Several of the wounded have died 
 in the ambulance after thirty or forty hours' horrible suffering; 
 they nearly all had bullets in their breast. It was necessary to 
 speak to them of God, and from motives of delicacy the chaplains 
 scarcely ever made the first advance. In spite of my unworth- 
 iness God sometimes made use of me to open the way to reconcil- 
 iation. I approached the patients with resen'e and charity, and 
 I easily g-ained their affection. When the moment seemed to me 
 propitious, I would say gently : — ' Since our good God did not let 
 you be killed on the field of battle, don't you think it would be a 
 good thing if you were to prove your gratitude to Him by scouring 
 the pot? ' 1 used this expression with the soldiers, as I knew 
 they liked that kind of rough and ready way of talking. Some 
 would answer ' yes ' at once; othei's would hesitate and wait. 
 Then I used to pray to God, and return to the assiiult. Nearly 
 all of them went to confession and Holy Communion. " 
 
 This letter is dated from Paris. It was, indeed, in Paris more 
 than anywhere else that the abnegation of the Brothers was dis- 
 played. The community of Rue Oudinot formed a little army in 
 itself, and, with Brother Philip as its general, it won the purest 
 glory in the battles of charity. We can fancy the ambulance with 
 all the picturesque details of its heroic scenes — the wounded 
 brought in on litters, the moving to and fro of a well-kept hos- 
 pital, the little iron beds with their white sheets, the young 
 Brothers with their Geneva badges, administering medecine to the 
 sick and the wounded; the elders directing, and the crucifix look- 
 ing down on it all, and giving to the scene its profoundly Christian 
 character. It was truly beautiful. 
 
 On the eve of the supreme struggles that were to honor the resis- 
 tance of the capital, the ambulances of the Press had the happy idea 
 of proposing to the Brothers to serve as Brancard icrs, litter-bearers. 
 
'^ or mm '^ 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 n£Lcalifo?»^ 
 
BOOK in. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 537 
 
 The word brancardier was almost unknown, but, thank to the 
 Brothers, it has become genuinely French, The Superior informed 
 
 IJiother Netheime, wounded mortaly at Bourget ; died December 24th 1870 at Saint- Denis in France. 
 — Drawn by Sellier; engraved by Barbant. 
 
 his children of this proposal of the Paris ambulance, leaving them 
 full liberty as to the answer they should make. 
 The Brothers did not hesitate an instant. 
 
538 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 On the morning of the 29th of Noveniher, the day fixed for the 
 attack on Champifrny, one hundred and fifty of them were col- 
 lected before day-break on the Quai de Billy, near the Champ- 
 de-Mars, drawn up in line, like soldiers waiting for the order to 
 march. The attack, as we know, was put olT, and it was only on 
 the morrow that the Brothers were enabled to inaugurate their 
 new mission. But the delay did not cool their ardor. They were 
 taken in vehicles to the edge of the battle-field, and they set to 
 work at once. The hour was a solemn one. 
 
 Neither the whizzing of the bullets, nor the crash of the shells 
 frightened these humble Religious, fresh from the quiet of their 
 communities. Accustomed to do all things with order, and to 
 obey without discussion, they acquitted themselves of their new 
 duties as if they had been used to them all their lives. They 
 went in amongst the soldiers, and rushed to the spot where the 
 firing was hottest. The moment a man fell, they were at his side, 
 raising him tenderly, laying him on a stretcher, and carrying him 
 gently to the ambulance. Then they came back quietly to their 
 post of charity to wait under the fire of the enemy for fresh 
 wounded. 
 
 A Brother was shot in the arm while carrying away a soldier, 
 but he did not drop his burden; he went on with it to the am- 
 bulance, and then went back to fetch another. This time a shell 
 burst and hit him in the leg; he pulled out his handkerchief, 
 tied up the wound, and went on with his holy task as if nothing 
 had happened. 
 
 The Brothers went forward so recklessly under fire that the 
 officers were obliged to check them. " Stand back. Brothers, " 
 cried general Ducrot; " you are too near, there is certain danger 
 in standing there. " They drew back reluctantly. When night 
 interrupted the fighting, the Brothers were rallied to Ite taken 
 back to Paris; but all had not been warned of this, and some 
 of them slept in the bivouac with the soldiers, or c(»ntinued 
 to search in the dark for the poor suflferers who might have 
 been overlooked. F'ancy the horror of a night spent in scour- 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 539 
 
 ing the frozen country, and feeling the corpses to see if any Hfe 
 still remained ! An ocular witness of the mournful scene alone 
 could describe it : — 
 
 " The man who was driving my carriage was afraid (it is the 
 Brother Director of Montrouge who writes), and his horses would 
 not advance. I left them on the road, and with a lanthorn in my 
 hand, I hurried along through the woods, the fields; but I met 
 nothing but corpses. I called, I listened; but the silence of death 
 reigned everywhere. At last I went to the crackling fire where our 
 soldiers were bivouacking, and there I heard that, towards the end 
 of the day, several wounded had been carried up to a house -left 
 standing on the heights. Men found in the ditches behind some 
 slope, at the foot of a wall where they had dragged themselves to 
 die, were waiting there, calm and resigned, until help should come. 
 Amongst them was an honest Vendean whom I recognized. He 
 had been wounded the day before, at nine in the morning, and it 
 w^as I who had picked him up, and placed him in the ambulance 
 cart. A movement of the troops and the overcrowding had caused 
 him to be forgotten. What must the poor lad have suffered on 
 the edge of that ditch where he had been lying all day I There 
 were twenty one of these unfortunate fellows. Happily Provid- 
 ence had not sent me to their rescue alone ; two other ambu- 
 lance carts had preceded mine. We placed them in these as 
 gently and comfortably as we could, and then set off. Our vehicles 
 went one after the other. On the top of Joinville a Prussian shell 
 burst close to us, and put out our lamps, but luckily did not hurt 
 us. At half past four in the morning, we were in Paris in the 
 Rue Saint Antoine, hunting for quarters for our twenty- one 
 wounded; but all the ambulances had been filled the night before. 
 We found a place for them, however, and then I set off again to 
 Champigny. But what had become of the unfortunate wounded 
 whose cries for help had gone through me, and whom I had not 
 been able to find. I went on to the plain of Noisy, and there more 
 than eighty frozen corpses proclaimed against the cruelty of our 
 enemies. Some had died in horrible contorsions, tearing the 
 
540 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 earlh and pulling up the grass around them; others were awful 
 to see with their eyes open and their hands clenched, as if 
 threatening; some, with their hands raised to heaven and their 
 features quite calm, announced that they had passed away resigned 
 and peaceful. ' 
 
 Two days after this, the battle began again, and the Brothers 
 were there, courageous, indefatigable. There was but one voice in 
 their praise :— " One of the great subjects of conversjition amongst 
 the soldiers is the conduct of the Brothers. These men in black 
 who, calm and stoical, come and go amidst the bullets, and save 
 our wounded, are the admiration of our soldiers. These two 
 hundred Brothers have, indeed, set a great example of courage. 
 iVfore than ten times our generals have had to force them to wait 
 till the firing ceased before they went to pick up the wounded. " 
 Such was the language of the whole press the day after Champigny. 
 We have only quoted one journal. 
 
 When the flght was over, and our poor soldiers, heroically 
 vanquished, were compelled to see that they could not cut through 
 the iron wall that barred their way, it was time to think of burying 
 the dead, and it was to the Brothei*s that this task fell. For two 
 long days, they never ceased taking up the bodies on which the 
 snow had thrown a white pall. They lifted them piously, placed 
 them in carts, and then laid them reverently in the deep trenches 
 that were destined to receive the remains of these brave men who 
 had fallen in defence of France. The ghastly labor was still un- 
 finished when the evening of the second day closed in; they were 
 obliged to continue it by the light of the torches that flickered 
 over the field of death. It was far on in the ni^jht when the 
 Brothers, spent with fatigue, were able to finish the vast funeral. 
 When the plain was at last cleared of the dead that had been 
 scattered over its surface, when the frozen and mutilated ImhUcs 
 had been laid to rest, the Brothers knelt down, and their voice, 
 broken with tears, murmured a farewell prayer for the de- 
 parted ones. 
 
 S<^arccly had a fortnight elapsed when the battle of Bourget gave 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 ^^ 
 
 califow' 
 
 ,t*v> 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 341 
 
 the Brothers a fresh opportunity of proving their patriotism. On 
 the 21st of December, they were to be seen at the most advanced 
 points of the French lines, waiting to carry off the wounded, ready 
 to succor the dying. But at Bourget they were destined to l)e more 
 severely tried than at Champigny, or, to use more Christian lan- 
 guage, better rewarded. 
 
 As soon as the firing ceased in the direction of Courneuve, a 
 detachment of Brothers was sent on the ground where the furious 
 fight had lasted for several minutes. The flag of the Convention 
 of Geneva was being carried before the ambulance men, when 
 suddenly a volley was fired from the Prussian ranks. One of the 
 litter-bearers fell with a bullet in his breast. His name was 
 John Baptist Baffle, in religion Brother Nethelme. He was car- 
 ried at once to Saint Denis; but the surgeons declared the wound 
 was mortal. 
 
 Far from frightening the Brothers, this glorious event excites 
 them. The most perilous posts are the ones they try for, and the 
 medical men are in admiration of the zeal, skill and courage of 
 their new auxiliaries. Doctor Ricord, who did so much for the 
 ambulances, is never tired of expressing his admiration for the 
 Brothers. On the evening of the battle of Bourget, he met Brother 
 Assistant : — " My dear Brother, " he said, " how is our dear pa- 
 tient? " — " Badly, Doctor, very badly; we have very little hope. " 
 — " Brother, " said the Doctor with emotion, and holding out his 
 hand, " is one ever allowed to embrace you? " — " There is 
 nothing in the Rule against it. " — " Then, permit me to have the 
 honor of embracing you. You are admirable, you and yours. 
 Take this kiss from me to Brother Philip and all your Brothers, 
 and tell them that we all thank you, in our name, and in the 
 name of France. " 
 
 On the 22nd of December, a new battle saw the brave litter- 
 bearers and ambulance men at their post, intrepid, silent and 
 simple. Whilst they were braving the fire, their Brother Nethelme 
 was consummating his sacrifice in the most atrocious sufferings. 
 He expired holily on the 24th of December. An immense crowd 
 
S42 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 attended his funeral, wishing to pay a last tribute to the martyr, 
 and to do honor to the Institute which inspired its members with 
 such modest and noble self-devotion. 
 
 A few days later, the same crowd followed with sentiments of 
 still deeper piety the biers of five poor children of Saint Nicolas 
 who had been killed by the bursting of a Prussian shell in their 
 dormitory. 
 
 We will not enumerate the services rendered by the Brothers 
 during the combat of Buzenval, that supreme but fruitless effort 
 of Paris besieged; but we cannot pass over in silence the inexhaus- 
 tible charity which they practised in those ambulances of Paris 
 into which the wounded were carried. After having, at the ven- 
 beginning of the war, sent infirmarians to the ambulances of the 
 Eastern and Northern Railway stations, Brother Philip offered the 
 mother-house of Rue Oudinot to organize a vast military hospital 
 where, as we have seen, the wounded were most tenderly cared 
 for by tlic Brothers. The Doctors who directed this blessed asy- 
 lum again and again expressed their gratitude to these intelligent 
 assistants : — " It is impossible, " said Doctor Horteloup, " to find 
 more zeal and more abnegation than they display. " 
 
 The infirmarians of the ambulances had their martyr as well 
 as those of the battle-field; Brother Berrier, aged nineteen, 
 fell a victim to typhoid fever contracted in nursing the sick. 
 God alone knows which of the two martyrdoms was the most 
 glorious. 
 
 The service of the pavilions built at Longchamp for the ambul- 
 ances of the Press was confided to the Brothel's. Here, after the 
 armistice, they continued to take care of many unfortunate victims 
 of the last battles who were nailed for a long time on a bed of 
 suffering, and they would have carried on their charitable ministry* 
 to the end if the leaders of the comnmne had not brutally driven 
 them away. The sick and wounded wept bitterly when their kind 
 nurses were torn from them. 
 
 After bravely taking their part in the war, the Brothers were 
 to undergo new trials under the reign of those madmen whom 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 543 
 
 God for two months allowed to be masters of Paris. The Broth- 
 ers of Menilmontant, seized when teaching in their school, were 
 kept in prison, and subjected to all manner of insults and threats. 
 These holy Religious were pursued on all sides in order to be 
 enrolled in the ranks of the insurgents; six and twenty were taken 
 and shut up at Mazas with the hostages. It was by chance that 
 they were not included in the massacres that stained the last days 
 of May and terrified the world. 
 
 Brother Calixtus, Assistant, remained at the mother-house dur- 
 ing those terrible months of April and May, which perhaps have 
 not their parallel in the history of any people. As early as the 
 41th of April, " a commissary and a delegate of the Commune, 
 accompanied by some forty national guards, surround the house 
 of Rue Oudinot, and declare that, in default of the Superior, they 
 have orders to arrest whoever represents him. Brother Calixtus 
 presents himself; all the Brothers want to go with him. The 
 crowd gathers in the street, giving signs of grief and indignation; 
 the national guards themselves are moved to tears, and at last 
 Brother Calixtus is set at liberty'. " 
 
 When order was re-established, France wished to show her 
 gratitude to an Institute which has served her so well. The 
 French Academy had to discern a prize offered by the city of 
 Boston " to the finest example of patriotism which had been 
 given during the war. " The choice of the Academy fell upon 
 the Institute of Blessed de la Salle. No one in France was more 
 surprised at this than the Brothers. 
 
 Doctor Ricord, who had seen the Brothers at work during the 
 dark days, wished also to pay his tribute to them now that peace 
 had returned, and, as a new year's gift for 1872, he wrote a frank 
 and charming letter to Brother Philip : — " Go on; continue your 
 beautiful mission. You will not always fall upon ingrates. Many 
 will remember that you taught them their first letters, the first 
 correct and proper word of their language, and the first prayer 
 
 ' Circular of Brother Philip. 
 
S44 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 they addressed to God. " Tliis passage, which we extract from 
 the surgeon's letter, is better tlian many diplomas '. 
 
 Doctor Kieord. - Draini If TludM ; eB«nir«I bgr HMulto. 
 
 ' Translation of the fac-gimile of Doctor Ricord's letter— 
 
 Paris, January Itl 1872. 
 To the very honored Brother Philip, Superior of the Comniuiiities of the Brothen of the 
 Christian schools. 
 
 Very honored Brother, 
 Here you are, henceforth quiet, after so much fatigue, and after having run so many danger*. 
 You and tlie good Brothers of your c«>mmunity are at last restored to your quiet life so ftill of 
 charity; you have got back your children, the children of the people lliat you so patiently 
 instruct. 
 
 Go on, continue your beautiful mission. You will not always make ingrates. Many will 
 remember that you taught them their first lettero, the flrsi correct and proper word of their 
 language, and the Drst prayer (hey addrensed lo God. 
 
 Your* ever, 
 
 Ricom. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 343 
 
 pee^ t^^Ti*^ C^,^^ ^vv'c^ C^^,,-U^ ^ 
 
 Fnc-simile of the letter written by C Ricord to Brother Philip, January Ist 1872. 
 
 35 
 
546 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 It was now, too, that Brothor Philip was forced to accept the 
 cross of the Legion of Honor. It was ver\' hard to conquer liis 
 modesty; but at last an argument was found which overcame his 
 noble resistance : — " It is the Institute of the Christian Broth- 
 ers that is being honored in you, " they pleaded. And Brother 
 Philip yielded. 
 
 These unanimous testimonies of admiration for the Brothers 
 went deep into the heart of the Superior general; but another and 
 more precious consolation was reserved to his old age : he had 
 the joy of seeing the progress which the cause of the holy founder 
 of the Institute was making in Rome. This cause had been begun 
 in 1835 ; on the 8th of May 1840, Gregory XVI. declared the founder 
 of the Christian schools venerable. Three and thirty years later, 
 on the 1st of November 1873, appeared the decree which declared 
 that " John Baptist de la Salle had practised the great Christian 
 virtues in a heroic degree. " Things are not done hurriedly in 
 Rome. Those three and thirty years were as a minute there. 
 
 Brother Philip was called to Rome to assist at the solemn glo- 
 rification of his predecessor, and Pius IX. received him with that 
 smile which illuminated all Christendom during the longest and 
 most glorious of pontificates. They had together some of those 
 interviews which are not revealed; but we may guess what passed 
 between the great Pope, accustomed to govern men, and the aged 
 Religious accustomed to govern children who were one day to 
 be men. 
 
 After having assisted at the fii-st triumph of John Baptist de la 
 Salle, and discussed the great business of liLs Institute with the 
 Sovereign Pontiff, Brother Philip had to tear himself away from 
 Rome to return and end amidst his children his life of sacrifice 
 and love. No one ever left Pius IX. without a pang, and Brother 
 Philip felt this pang. " The Holy Father, " he wrote home, " per- 
 mitted us to kiss his hand, and having given us his blessing for 
 ourselves and the whole Institute, we again prostrated ourselves 
 
r^t'*' or TBI 
 
 XJNIVEBSITY 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ,47 
 
 three times before him. The moment was full of deep emotion, 
 
 Brother Philip in the last years of his life, from a portrait preserved at liie luother-housc of tUo iustituie. 
 — Drawn by SeUier ; engraved hy Barbant. 
 
 above all for me, who said to myself : ' Alas ! is it not for the last 
 time? ' When one has been received with such kindness by so 
 
548 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 great, so magnanimous, so illustrious a Pontiff, by the Vicar of 
 Jesus Christ, ono cannot leave him without bedewing tlie ground 
 with tears. " 
 
 This presentiment of the holy Religious was but too true. He 
 had but few remaining days to occupy himself with his communi- 
 ties, his dear novices and his .schools. 
 
 On December 31st 1873, although very poorly, he received the 
 deputation of the pupils of Saint Nicolas for New Year's Day, and 
 said a few words to them which may be taken as the last will and 
 testament of a man whose entire life had been so nobly devoted 
 to popular education : — " My dear children, " he said, " I thank 
 you for putting yourselves to the inconvenience of coming out so 
 early to wish me a happy New Year. Perhaps I shall not see the 
 end of it. — I am touched by the sentiments you express, and 
 I form only one wish for you, that is that you may advance in 
 virtue. Continue to serve God well; this will be the way to be 
 happy in this world and in the next. — Love your parents, who 
 make such sacrifices for you. Love the dear Brothers, who devote 
 themselves to your interests and your future, and remember their 
 good advice all your lives. Adieu, my dear children! " 
 
 On the 1st of January, he wished to assist once more at mass 
 and go to Holy Communion in the midst of his Brothers. It was 
 the last time he appeared amongst them, the last time he occupied 
 his stall and knelt in his accustomed place to receive the bread of 
 the strong. When mass was over, he went back to his cell at the 
 request of the Brother Infirmarian, and lay down, never to rise 
 again. On the 6th of January, his condition grew alarming. He 
 received his God with fervent piety, and the Vicar of Christ sent 
 a blessing to the dying man whom he remembered having clasped 
 so lovingly to his heart. Brother Philip died on the 7th of'Januar\\ 
 
 In the Institute of the Christian schools' tiiere is one wortl 
 which the Christian Brother, even in his agony, responds to witli 
 alacrity : " May Jesus live in our hearts! " — He answers : •' For- 
 
 ' Poujoulal, pp. 369, 360. 
 
BOOK HI. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SAI,LE. 549 
 
 ever!" And this may be considered his pass-word on the thresh- 
 old of eternity. Towards eight o'clock in the morning, Brother 
 Irlide, Assistant, bent over the Very Honored, and pronounced 
 these words of Jesus on the Cross: " My God, I commend my 
 soul into thy hands ! " Then he added : " May Jesus live in 
 our hearts! " Brother Philip, like a soldier who answers faith- 
 fully to the roll-call, tried to reply : " Forever! " but, in making 
 the effort, he expired. 
 
 The Community, assembled in the chapel, where they were 
 saying the Rosary, ended their prayer by the De Profundis. The 
 Institute was orphaned of its beloved father. 
 
 As soon as the sad news was known in Paris, it was followed 
 by an outburst of grief and sympathy which proved eloquently 
 how deeply the holy Religious was loved. During the two days 
 that preceded the funeral, the chapel where the mortal remains 
 of Brother Philip lay, was besieged by a pious crowd who wanted 
 to look once more upon " the Saint. " 
 
 On the lOlh of January, the lowly hearse which bore him to his 
 last resting place was accompanied by a vast concourse of people. 
 Men of all classes and conditions held to assisting at the funeral 
 of the illustrious old man who had labored so long in the service 
 of the Church and of France. It was one of these manifestations 
 which reveal the secret of a whole nation's heart; it was a noble 
 concert where each one, obeying the dictates of his heart, came 
 spontaneously to join in the song of praise and gratitude. 
 
 The generalship of Brother Philip may be taken as the most 
 august type of the whole order. It includes every form of self- 
 devotion, and the complete realization of all the views of its holy 
 founder, even those which he had never been permitted to carry 
 out to their perfection himself. Such a life is a monument which, 
 despite the evil days we are passing through, will endure as a 
 long and glorious testimony. 
 
 May this record contribute to the fruitful triumph of Bles.sed 
 John Baptist de la Salle! 
 
New York, where the Brothers direct the ProlecUiry and several schools (p. 533). — Drawn hy Bran ; engraved l)j McauIIe. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE PRESENT HOUR. 
 
 ROT HER John Olympe, who 
 succeeded Brother Philip, only 
 governed the Institute one year. 
 But a great joy illuminated this 
 too short generalship : a beau- 
 tiful monument was erected at 
 Rouen to the memory of the holy 
 founder of the Institute. Too 
 many statues are raised now- 
 a-days, encumbering the pub- 
 lic squares and seldom cither 
 beautifying or dignifying them. 
 Amongst these stone trophies some are put up in honor of un- 
 known men, mediocrities, corruptors of the people. It is one of 
 the abuses of the age. But it is a genuine consolation for noble 
 
552 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 licarts to see, placed upon a pedestal, the figure of a man who 
 deserves universal esteem. Such is the feeling experienced by 
 every honest soul on beholding that bronze statue of Blessed de 
 
 SioDDm«iit nlM4, at lUraan, to Bl«ned Jiibn BftiKlit de U flalle. i Sm frontltpleoe. ) — Dnwa bgr Kutnr. 
 
 lu Salle, which is not one of the least ornaments of the line 
 old city of Houcn. 
 
 In 1872, the idea of paying this solemn tribute to his memory 
 was started, and the approbation of the municipality and the gov- 
 ernment having been obtained, a committee was formed under 
 
BOOK III.— AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 553 
 
 the patronage of Cardinal de Bonnechose. From every country 
 where the disciples of the holy man have carried his blessed in- 
 
 •^.^. 
 
 Monument raised, at Rouen, to Blessed John Baptist de la Salle. Details of the fountain. 
 
 • The four parts of the world, tj-pifjed by boys learning, under the direction of Blessed de la Salle, 
 
 the rudiment of Divine and human sciences. — Drawn by Sellier. 
 
 fluence, subscriptions flowed in. The poor gave their mite with 
 the rich man's generous offering, all testifying to the immense 
 
554 ni.ESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 popularity which the Brothers and their work deser>edly enjoyed. 
 The result was a lai^c sum whose moral elTect was excellent 
 
 A competition was then opened, and a numlier of designs were 
 sent in to the Committee. The choice fell unanimously on the 
 one presented hy M. Falguirre, the pedestal of which was designed 
 hy M. de l*erlhes. This choice could not fail to meet with gen- 
 eral approval. M. Falgui^re's Christian and classical statue of 
 St Tharcissus had already revealed him as a great sculptor. As to 
 M. de Perthes, the proof of his talent is visihle to all on the exte- 
 rior of the H6tel de Ville in Paris, and of the basilica of Saint 
 Anne d'Auray. Blessed de la Salle is represented in the act of 
 teaching the elements of Christian doctrine and the principles of 
 human science to two children : one, of seven, who has just come 
 to the school; the other, a lad of fifteen, who is about to leave it, 
 and make his entry into the world, where he will have to take his 
 place in the struggle between good and evil. What the artist 
 aimed at representing in the statue, a work of great power, was 
 the supernatural devotedness of Blessed de la Salle to the mind 
 and soul of so many millions of poor children. No one ever Inved 
 the people more than he did; no one ever exemplified more i>er- 
 fectly these words of the Master : — Sinite parvulos venire ad me. 
 
 The square of Saint Sever, which the Blessed de la Salle had 
 so often crossed in his daily rounds, was chosen as the spot best 
 suited to be the site of this monument to his memory. 
 
 The ceremony of the unveiling of llie statue was performed in 
 the midst of an indescribable manifestation of popular enthusiasm 
 on the 2nd of June 1875'. The Archbishop of Bheims and seven 
 other Bishops had assembled with Cardinal de Bonnechose to 
 glorify the memory of this humble priest who had so loved the 
 
 ' Ry a strange coincidence, it wag on the 2ntl or June that Armand Ravclct, author of 
 that part or this book which treats or Itlesscd dc la Salle, died, lie had one of the 
 brightest, the most productive and tlic noblest minds that wc hare ever known. Chier 
 editor of the Monde, he was placed in the foremost ranks of the ('.atholir army, and ncTer 
 failed in any of the duties imposed upon him by this arduous post, lie was '* a great 
 ( Christian " in the full sense of the worti, and woi thy of understanding Blessed dc la S«llc. 
 No one has spoken of the holy founder more becomingly than he. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 555 
 
 people. Deputations were sent from all points, while the presence 
 of all the magistrates of the city, and an enormous affluence of the 
 population, made of the event a solemn tribute to the memory of 
 Blessed de la Salle and his disciples. 
 
 Brother John-Olympe, tenth Superior general, born at la Chapelle-des-Bois, diocese of Besani^on, July 4th 1813; 
 
 entered the Institute June 17th 1837 ; elected Superlor^general April 9th 1874 ; died In Paris April 17th 1875. 
 
 — Engraved by Meaulle from a photograph of P. A. 
 
 The new Superior had not the consolation of assisting at this 
 festival; he only witnessed it from on high. Brother John Olympe, 
 ripe for heaven, died almost suddenly in the month of April 1875. 
 
 Brother Irlide, former Director of the boarding-schools of Tou- 
 louse and Bayonne, then visitor of the district whose chief town 
 is Bayonne, was named Assistant in 1873. His experience of 
 
556 
 
 ni.ESSED DE LA SALI.E. 
 
 business, his wide information and his judicial knowledge m.idc 
 him a vahiable chief for the congregation. In 1875, he succeeded 
 to Brother John Olympe. 
 
 Faithful to the traditions of Brother Philip, he held to carmng 
 on all the undertakings of his illustrious predecessor. But these 
 
 ,'kJc. lUraath Siipcrlvr ttpmU, tnm • portfslt vbick lialaao to Uw iHtiuW. 
 — B«tnr«d Iv Hvjrot. 
 
 works were manifold, and amongst them were some that the new 
 Superior naturally preferred to othei-s. It was to the preparatory 
 novitiates that he chiefly devoted his zeal. He gave a new de- 
 velopment to this institution, which is so essential for the recruit- 
 ing of the Institute. He drew up a special rule for it, taking his 
 inspiration from the book written by Blessed de la Sj»lle. Brother 
 
BOOK HI. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 537 
 
 Irlide reaped the reward of his solicitude. The number of little 
 novices, which was one hundred and fifty when he took the reins 
 of the Institute, had increased to thirteen hundred when he died. 
 Another diadem in his crown, and a measure which has greatly 
 aided in giving a new religious impulse to the Congregation, was 
 the introduction of the Exercices of St Ignatius during thirty 
 days for all the professed Brothers of the Institute, and for those 
 on the eve of making their profession. Brother Irlide continued at 
 the same time to scatter the seed of Christian doctrine in distant 
 lands. By his care were founded the house of Jerusalem, the 
 Novitiate of Bamleh, the schools of Jaffa, Ca'iffa, Trebizond and 
 Erzeroum. The Institute was progressing steadily. 
 
 For many years, the Superior general's dream was to introduce 
 the Brothers into Spain, and during his sojourn at Bayonne, he 
 had cleared the way for the advance of the Institute into that most 
 Catholic country. In 1876 the desire of his heart was realized, 
 lie opened a house in Madrid, and thence the schools of the Broth- 
 ers continued to spread through the Catholic kingdom. Those 
 remote interests did not abate his watchful care of the schools of 
 France, nor the improvement of the methods. 
 
 The extraordinary success of the Institute at the Exhibition of 
 1878 was the occasion of a new appeal from him to his Religious, 
 stimulating them to go on and improve, advancing from better to 
 better. It was, indeed, well that the excellence of the teaching in 
 the Christian schools should strike all observers, for a fierce and 
 implacable warfare was about to be declared against them. 
 
 Brother Irlide bore up against the attack with indefatigable 
 ardor. The times were evil, and the Revolution had thrown off 
 its mask. Under the perfidious name of secularization, it was 
 about to make a new and powerful attempt to snatch youth and 
 childhood from Christ. Such an attempt, if it proved successful, 
 was certain to be, humanly speaking, more fatal to the Church 
 than all the persecutions and bloodshed of 1793. The Superior 
 of the Institute saw this very clearly. He saw also that the Cathol- 
 ics of our day were called upon to carry the war into the enemy's 
 
558 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 country, and that in pedagogy, as in everytliing else, it behoved 
 them to stand higiier than their adversaries. In science, in letters, 
 
 Ptu IX., wko (mr* to but pnofi of i»rf u<t unhillM affx-tloa M Um IuUmw ( Pk MO '. 
 — Dnvo hj TtaMt ; eB(rari4 hj rtrlel. 
 
 in higher education, secondary or primar\*, everywhere and in all 
 things they should be the first. 
 
nOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 559 
 
 Brother Irlide had a long experience of scholastic affairs, and 
 treated the principal questions raised by secularization in a series 
 of articles whose conclusions received the sanction of the Council 
 of State several times. He appealed with scientific strictness to 
 
 Leo XIII., happily reigning, under whose pontificate Venerable de la Salle was proclaimed " Blessed, 
 — Drawn by Thadee ; engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 the text of the laws and decrees, and pleaded in the interests of 
 the schools, as well as in the name of common sense and equity. 
 He drew up several notes on the legal existence and civil person- 
 ality of the Brothers, and his arguments were so cogent, that the 
 Council of State unanimously recognized the legitimate rights of 
 the Institute to its prerogatives. 
 
560 
 
 RI.ESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Hardly had it wun tliis triumph, tlian anotlicr grave question was 
 raised by the municipaUty of F'aris. The Council wanted to turn 
 the Hrothers out of their house in Hue Oudinot. Hrother IHide 
 returned to the cliarjje, and exj)osed tlie obligations which the city 
 
 M«SMl«a*<>r OouiMl, Canliul ArchbUtiop o( lu.<..i:.>, u^i 
 — Kafimrd bjr Uufoi. 
 
 .ioc <j( Uk luttMt*. 
 
 had incurred by its contract with the Institute. The Council of 
 State, convinced by the solidity of his arguments, decided that the 
 settling of the conflict belonged to the civil tribunals. 
 
 Providence, amidst these hard trials, raised up powerful pro- 
 tectors for the Brothers. I'ope Leo XIII. continued towards them 
 the benign alTection of Pius IX., and was carrying on the cause 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 561 
 
 of Blessed de la Salle's beatification. The learned Cardinal Pitra, 
 who had been named protector of the Congregation near the 
 Holy See, considered this patronage one of his first and dearest 
 duties. The Bishops of France were no less earnestly preoccupied 
 
 Uis Eminence Cardiual LaDgenicux, Arclibishoi? of Uhciiu^ u>- ^6U- — EoKraved by Huyot. 
 
 concerning the destinies of the Institute, both in defending it 
 against fresh persecutions, and in hastening the honors that Borne 
 was about to render to its holy founder. Cardinal Langenieux 
 continued at Bheims the generous traditions of Cardinal Gousset, 
 and Mgr Thomas, at Bouon, those of Cardinal de Bonnechose. The 
 
 36 
 
562 
 
 RI.ESSEI) DE LA SALLE. 
 
 excellent Viscount de Melun was a noble representiitive of the 
 secular clement in this ^loup of patrons and friends, whilst the 
 wise and holy Cardinal Guihert pave ti) all the prelates of France 
 
 UU Kulnvlic* r«r41iiftl de BimDMboM, Arekt4sbop o( BonMI <pb Ml X 
 — I»rmwn !•) Knit ; envrmrnl Itjr Mteilla. 
 
 an example of devotedness that never faltered. Fn the Chaml>er, 
 too, eloquent and courageous voices were raised on behalf of Ihe 
 Brothers, and it would be unjust not to point out here to the grat- 
 itude of all Catholics that indefatigable orator who for twenty 
 years has been every day and all «lay on tlie breach, heroically 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 363 
 
 defending Catholic interest. A just posterity will place him by 
 the side of Montalembert. It is not necessary to name M. Chesne- 
 
 HODseigneur Thomas, Archbiahop of Ronen Ci>. S61 ). — Engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 long; but wc held to paying him this tribute of respect, though 
 it be so far beneath his worth, his talent and his faith. 
 
564 BLESSED DB LA SALLE. 
 
 AiKtlher consolation for Brother Irlide was the second centenary 
 of the foundation of tlie Institute of the Brothers which was kept 
 with an entlmsiasm and spontaneity as gratifyng as they were un- 
 looked for. The Superior general had intended to celehrate the 
 event as a family festival; but in every country where the Broth- 
 ers are established, Catholics seized with avidity the opportunity 
 of manifesting their gratitude to Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 This tribute of esteem was universal. In every counti-y where 
 the black robe of the Brothers is familiar, the outburst of sym- 
 pathy was sincere and fervent. The concert of praise had arisen 
 at Rouen in 1875, but it was echoed now all over the Christian 
 world. In Paris, the seat of the Institute, in Rheims, the birth- 
 place of Blessed do la Salle, in every diocese of Fnince, the same 
 joy was manifested. It was an oecumenicid feast. 
 
 The difficult circumstances in which the Institute was placed 
 added a heavy extra weight to Brother Irlide's burden. He ended 
 by breaking down under it. Calmly and with a steady hand, he 
 addressed a circular to the Brothei-s, arranging for a meeting of 
 the general Chapter to elect his successor. Having finished this 
 letter, his strength rapidly declined, and he died on the 25lh of 
 July 1884. 
 
 Brother Joseph was elected to succeed to lilm. It will be un- 
 derstood why we are silent on the threshold of this generalship. 
 The only homage which the new superior consents to accept 
 from us is a faithful account of the slate of the Institute at the 
 present time. We shall endeavor to give an accurate and anim- 
 ated description of its situation. 
 
 " You will judge of the tree by its fruits. " Those words of 
 Christ are eternally true, and may be used as an epigraph for the 
 last chapter of every book which gives the history of a political 
 institution, or a religious order. What aro the fruits of the 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BI.ESSED DE LA SALF<E. 565 
 
 tree planted by Blessed de la Salle? This is the question we 
 are about to answer, and that answer shall be the conclusion 
 of this work. 
 
 The Institute extends at the present day over the five parts of 
 the world, and it would take a very long time indeed to render an 
 exact account of its existing condition and results. 
 
 Let us start from the mother-house of Paris. This house is a 
 little world in itself, a calm, well regulated world, which makes us 
 think of God. In the first court, we sec Oliva's statue of Blessed 
 de la Salle. Our thoughts are attracted to the holy founder by it 
 at once, and its air of majesty is not unbecoming a Saint. In 
 the vast and lofty parlor, we see that master- piece of Horace Ver- 
 net, the portrait of Brother Philip. Opposite, is the more recent 
 work of Charles Muller, which reproduces the gentle countenance 
 of the servant of God, and, between these two works of art, Kriig's 
 fine painting, " Blessed de la Salle teaching in the schools. " How 
 many Bishops in quest of Brothers for their distant dioceses have 
 passed through that pailor of Bue Oudinot; how many holy con- 
 versations and noble ideas might not its white walls echo! 
 
 This fiist court is almost deserted; but the rest of the house, 
 without being noisy, is full of life. You meet Brothers and young 
 novices at every step. Yonder is the garden, favorable to medita- 
 tion; at the end of it is a reproduction of Falguiere's group. You 
 might fancy yourself a hundred miles from Paris. The bell is 
 ringing for Vespers and Benediction, so we will go into the chapel. 
 The present writer has seen the Catholic services performed in 
 the grand cathedrals of France, England and Borne; but he was 
 never more edified anywhere than in this chapel of Bue Oudinot. 
 The monastic quiet of the place is enlivened by the bright and 
 stirring element of youth contributed by the novices. It is very 
 diff'erent from Solesmes. and yet all is strict, liturgical and most 
 touching. 
 
 That stair-case leads to the study of the Very Honored Brother 
 Joseph, the present Superior general, and further on to the hall of 
 the Regime, or Direction. If ever you enter there, let it be with 
 
56A 
 
 RLHSSED HE I.A SALLE. 
 
 respect. It is from hero that some fifteen thousand souls' are 
 directed in the path traced for them hy Blessed de la Salle, and it 
 is here that, in the name of Jesus Christ, they arc guided with 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■ •■ ■ \ 'mi\v. 
 
 
 ■It Eralnrac* Ov41aal Oallart, ArchbUkop of furU (v. Ml). — Onn br TtaM*; aacnn4 lir ClMpoa. 
 
 paternal tenderness, and supported by the encouragements of ex- 
 perience, the most practical lessons and the wisest advice. Tiiere 
 
 ■ The iDbtilule reckoned in December 3l»l I88«l, II 712 Kcligious, 1007 NoricM, 
 2 120 Ijllle Novices : a lolal of 14 819 (tersons enrolled under divers titles under tlie flag 
 of Blessed dc la Salle. 
 
HOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 567 
 
 it is that every day and at all hours they receive tidings from every 
 part of the globe, and converse, so to speak, with the directors of 
 all the houses of Europe, Asia, Africa and America. 
 
 The Viscount de Melun (p. 562). — Drawn by Tbad^e ; engraved hy M^aulle. 
 
 Here the destinies of three and thirty preparatory novitiates', 
 six and thirty novitiates *, twenty -eight scholasticates of the Insti- 
 tute', and ninety- seven houses of " religious training ', " where the 
 
 ' Boys of from thirteen to sixteen wiio have shown a decided inclination for the 
 religious life, are received here, and their education is carried on while their vocation is 
 being tried. = '^ For religious training, properly so called. After further trial, the 
 young men are clothed in the religious habit. = '■' The young Religious receive here 
 their finishing education, professional and pedagogical. =: * In December 31st 1886, 
 these ninety -seven houses contained no less than 3840 subjects. 
 
568 
 
 RLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 very sap and future strength of the Institute is prepared, are all 
 carefully watched over, studied and provided for. 
 
 M. ChMaMloaft *«T0M4 Mmd ud cbuiploii at lb* luUMt* (K Wi MiV 
 
 Here everything is planned ouJ which is likely to he of any 
 henefit to the fourteen hundmi .imi ninelv schools direct«><l hv the 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 569 
 
 Brothers, and to the hundred and eighty boarding-schools. Here 
 
 is the centre of their progress; progress in the religious and peda- 
 
570 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 gogical order, progress for the soul and the body, of over three 
 hundred thousand children'. 
 
 Under the guidance of these figures, let us begin our tour 
 through France, and let us not forget that the Institute, which is 
 French in ils origin, has developed chiefly on French soil. France 
 alone reckons nearly nine thousand Brothers dispersed over nine 
 hundred and seventy houses'. These statistics, like those of the 
 Sisters of Charity, justify us in feeling a certain legitimate pride, 
 as well as hope in the future. In presence of such a testimony, 
 we ought not to despair. 
 
 Before leaving Paris', we must visit in detail one of the schools, 
 study its mechanism, and question the humble masters who 
 possess such profound knowledge of child nature in general, and 
 Parisian children in particular. We will also take note, according 
 to the rules of M. Le Play, of those social types called a profes- 
 sional boarding-school, a club for the young, and an orphanage. 
 
 For all who consider dispassionately the state of public educa- 
 tion in the two worlds, it is evident that the old world is passing 
 through a grave crisis. For several centuries, the children of the 
 nobility and the higher middle classes of France have received a 
 secondary education wholly classical and literary — a great deal of 
 Latin, some Greek, and a little French. For a long time, the 
 sciences only came in the second place, and nowhere were they 
 as much attended to as letters. But now, all this is changed; let- 
 ters are beginning to be undesenedly despised, while the first 
 place is assigned to sciences, because, forsooth, they are more prac- 
 tical. The influence of America is making itself felt, and soon the 
 time will come when we shall have nothing but engineers, whilst 
 
 ■ The exact number in December 31 si 1886, was 308 337 children or lads, 6 663 classes. 
 The Inlcrnals include 128 boarding-schools, properly so railed, and 52 Orphanages, 
 Prolecloiies, and so forth. The 1 VM schools icccive 284 2!i() day-scholars, and the 
 180 Intermttn, 2i 131 boarders. :=' The precise number of Brothers, in France, is 8850. 
 The 970 houses include 1 036 schools, public and private 106 Boartling-schools (InlernaU), 
 and 39 Orphanages, and following. The Institute has in France 22 small and 21 great 
 novitiatvti, with 22 scholastirales for the religious and (K-dagoj^iral training of its 
 members ; making a total of 72 establishments ralleii " tiaining houses. " = ' In Paris, 
 1 099 Brothers are dispersed through 96 schools luul 502 classes. The figures contained 
 in the foregoing notes all date from December 31st 1886. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 571 
 
 in its turn America shall cultivate the higher studies in literature 
 and philosophy. Till then, we will content ourselves with tacking 
 between the classical and the University system. The Brothers 
 
 Saint Nicholas in Paris. - The work-shop of the cari«nter8 ( p. 572).- Fac-simile ol a sketch of Ferdinandus. 
 
 were the first to seize the true point of the situation, and their 
 house at Passy, for the education of young men who are not des- 
 tined to enter the liberal professions may be given as the type of 
 special and technical education. The future is here, provided 
 there be no exaggeration, and that the claims of letters be fairly 
 
572 
 
 BI.RSSRn DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Iwlanced with those of science. RcUgious instruction suffices in 
 itself to compensate whatever is too material in scientific educa- 
 tion. The Brothers have understood this. At Saint Nicholas, the 
 
 work shop stands dose to the scln)ol, and this is, if 1 may say so, 
 a forela-sto of the future. The Christian work -shop side by side 
 with the Christian school : alt is suiunied up in this. Social n*- 
 conciliution, the concord so much dosireil, the nuitual love of all 
 (•las.ses, peace, everything uuist grow up from this union. Enter 
 Saint Nicholas with me. Pause a moment in the gymnastic hall, 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 573 
 
 and in the carpenters' work- shop; pass further, and admire the 
 skill with which this piece of carving is done; note the delicacy of 
 this engraving; see how intelligently those hoys use the lathe; listen 
 
 Saint Nicholas, in Paris. — Tlie l>anU (i\ ^"i^)- ~ Fac-Biniile of a skctcli by Ferdinand us. 
 
 to that capital hand which has already hung gold medals on its 
 victorious banner. Then, wait with us until the recreation bell 
 rings, and see those hundreds of children, shouting at the top 
 of their voices, climbing up those stilts and pushing the big 
 bounding yellow ball. The fun is contagious. But it is time 
 to leave Paris. 
 
574 
 
 nLESSED I)E LA SALLE. 
 
 Wc have just now seen where Ihe Brothers work; hut where 
 do they rest? 
 
 Aililt - MortwiT ckapti ( ^ H«). - Dnwi l.)r taUltr i Ufrand t* 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 575 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, it may be remembered, had studied all his 
 life this question of the rest and recreation so essential to those 
 engaged in education. Children fatigue, they wear out their 
 teachers, sometimes they kill them. It is necessary to relax the 
 soul and the body, and renew one's strength. One holiday a 
 
 Atbis, — Lawn and statue of the Sacred Heart Ci>. 575.1. Driiwu by Seilier ; engraved by Sargeut. 
 
 week, six weeks holidays after the scholastic year : this was what 
 he considered sufficient for these just demands. The holidays may 
 be spent anywhere, but it is at Athis that the Brothers find peace of 
 soul in retreats wisely conducted and frequently renewed. At Athis, 
 they revive their courage for fresh labors and combats, and they 
 do not forget to pray for the soul of Brother Irlide, who procured 
 for them this perfect resting place. But there comes, sooner or 
 
576 
 
 KI.RSSEU DB I.A SALLE. 
 
 later, a day when tlje springs are quite worn out, and youth can 
 no longer he renewed. After thirty or forty yeare of teaching, 
 a Brother is broken down. Me has a right to rest, to peace. 
 
 rUarj. — BouM of ntnx for Ui* BrotberL — Vww •( ibe rmritM u4 Uw ClwHl (1^ >)*)• 
 
 On the height-s of Meutlon, at FIcury, there is ju.st now iK-ing 
 built a vast and commodious abode for these invalids of Christian 
 education. The generosity of an illustrious benefactress had this 
 happy inspiration, and nothing will be Gncr than the convent 
 
nOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 577 
 
 awaiting- there sons of Blessed de la Salle who, during their lives, 
 
 Fieury. — The avenue near the chapel. — Drawn by Sellier; engrayed by Mt-aiiUe, 
 
 have taught perhaps ten thousand poor children, and have opened 
 
 37 
 
S78 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ten thousand minds to the notion of God and of righteousness. 
 This refuge of apostolic old age could not have been better placed 
 than close to that splendid Orphanage, to which it forms a kind 
 of annex where the merry games of the children will serve 
 constantly to recall to the veterans of the schools the purest joys 
 of their life. 
 
 There will be verdure there to soothe wearied eyes, and flowers 
 that old people are so fond of, and broad avenues where the 
 Brothers will talk about their old pupils; there will be above 
 all a chapel where they will converse with God and His holy 
 Mother; there will be God Himself, with all His graces. His light 
 and His peace. 
 
 We will cast a last glance at those stately trees, and in a few 
 hours we shall have crossed the distance which separates us from 
 that dear city where Blessed de la Salle died, and which so faith- 
 fully honors his memory. Here we are at Rouen 1 Memories of 
 the great servant of God crowd upon us, but our first pilgrimage 
 is to Saint Yon, then to his tomb, in the chapel of the boarding- 
 school of the Brothers, and lastly to Falguiere's fine monument. 
 Rouen was, in truth, predestined to be the city of Blessed de la 
 Salle, for here has been raised tlie first chapel consecrated to him 
 after his beatification. With what joy will not the Brothers come 
 from every land to pray before that humble altar in the church of 
 Blessed John Baptist de la Salle 1 There will assuredly be alwa^'s 
 some black robe mounting guard in this little sanctuary; the tomb 
 will seldom be without a watcher. On we pass to other scenes. 
 
 This chapel, at Beauvais, is charming and serves as the centre of 
 the Archcon fraternity of Saint Joseph. This house of the Brothers 
 in Blessed de la Salle's native city bears certain resemblance to 
 those " new cities " of the middle ages; it is a little city in the 
 large city of Rheims. Superb also, is the Rrothers' house at 
 Lyons, perched half way up the hill of Fourvi«>res, and giving 
 itself the airs of a palace; yet one breathes there the perfume 
 of that neighboring sanctuary which is one of the most {rapular 
 of Mary's shrines. This dear land of France is so crowded with 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 379 
 
 the works of Blessed de la Salle that, to give an accurate de- 
 scription of all, it would be necessary to go all over the country 
 
 Beauvais : Boarding-school of Saint Joseph (p. 5"h j. — tMiapel which is the centre of the Archconfraternity 
 of Saint Joseph. — Engraved hy H. Joffroy. 
 
 with an album, and fill it with sketches ot the various notable 
 institutions. 
 
580 
 
 BI.ESSEU DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 Spain is but a recent conquest of the Brothers; but they have 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 i. 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 already struck root there, and the future olTei-s a fair field to their 
 labors in that Catholic land. The noble Spanish nation possesses 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 381 
 
 resources which have lain dormant, and elements of strength which 
 recent events have brought to Ught. It will soon become apparent 
 
 Lyons : House of the Brothers, on the hill of Fourvidres (p. 578 ). 
 — Drawn by Sellier. 
 
 that the Christian Brothers are the 
 masters wanted by Spanish children, 
 and the teachers to whom the pro- 
 foundly Catholic families of Spain will 
 confide their greatest treasure. Let us, 
 meantime, tarry a moment ' on the threshold 
 
 ^ ' Spain contains to-day 21 establishments served by 
 107 Brothers, who are giving a solid Christian education 
 to over 4000 pupils : Madrid has S houses; Barcelona, Las Corts, and Cadiz, 2; Bilbao, 
 Valladolid, Anaz, Casa.de la Selva, Cobrcces, Isla, Lorca, Castro - Urdiales, Teran, 
 Arenys-do-Mar, Manlleu and Jerez de la Frontera. [See the map, p. 584.) 
 
582 
 
 BLESSED nE LA SALLE. 
 
 of that Orphan Asylum of the Sacred Heart, where one still 
 hreathcs the spirit of its saintly foundress, Ernestine Manuel de 
 
 Nadrttf. - On>i>u Aorluia at ihc 8aciM Main u( Jnu. — Dcbwb Iv ItlUar. 
 
 Villena, and which comes very near heinjj a master piece of hai'- 
 nionious and delicate architecture. It raises in all who see it a 
 desire that the Brothers may have the opportunity of carrying 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 S83 
 
 to many a distant land a taste for the severe traditions of art. It is 
 permitted to believe that this is one of their missions. As they 
 teach drawing to their pupils in the five parts of the world, they 
 
 Dona Ernestine Manuel de Villena, foundress ol the Orphan Asylum of the Sacred Heart, died January 27tU 1886 (r. 682). 
 
 — Engraved by M^auUe. 
 
 may also teach them taste, and guard them against the frivolities 
 and vulgarities of modern art. 
 
 In London, we see Saint Joseph's College, at Tooting, vast and 
 imposing, into which that of Clapham has grown. There is also 
 
SRI 
 
 RI.E8SED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 the more modest establishment of Kcnnington Road, which has 
 given a goodly number of zealous priests to England. It was not 
 in vain that professional schools were founded in the last century 
 by the first sons of Blessed dc la Salle. As we have seen, they 
 now flourish in New York as well as in Paris', and Manchester 
 has also its industrial school. 
 
 M^ 
 
 >Jr^i=if</U'r 
 
 THE INSTITUTE 
 
 of tk* 
 
 imhen of Ctrt«lM ickMlf 
 
 IX gPAIX. 
 
 ( • ■■■MiiiMiiJiiiidhTM ins 
 
 lellM 
 
 <A T d( U MIe 
 t7lk IM1. 
 
 I* ii B. irtUt II) iKn - inu 
 
 & - jMnklJilKM ~ IWt 
 
 T*«al ; M MtaWtcbMWU. 
 
 t1 Il>~«. im HrwWo. 
 
 4M0Pwlbla \Wi. 
 
 •'inU. I -• IW Bip •! UlllllM. 
 
 IniUluU • r the Drolhen of the Clulttiw KbooU in Slain i ^ tia\ 
 
 ll was at the dawn of the eighteenth century that there arose on 
 one of the hills of Rome, close to the Triniti dei Monti, a house of 
 the Brothers under the direction of that admirable Brother Drolin, 
 so deservedly honored in the Institute. It must not be forgotten 
 that, far from Blessed de la Salle, far from his Brothers, poor and 
 without support, this friend and disciple of the holy founder 
 remained for more than a quarter of a century like the advance 
 
 ' Eng'and and Ireland only occupied (in 1887) 76 Brothers, diKlribii(edovcr7c!>labliBh- 
 mcnts, and teaching 1 166 children. To IhoKc quoted above must be adde<i the school 
 or Hnint Holier, in the isle or Jereey, and, in Ireland, the four houses of Castletown, 
 Sunimcr-llill, Kildare and Waterford. We have already shown that there existed in 
 Inland a Congregation of Brothers formed on the model of Blessixi de la Salle's Inslitute. 
 ( See map, p. 586. ) 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 S85 
 
 guard of the Congregation. To him is due the merit of having 
 first brought under the notice of the Sovereign Pontiff, and caused 
 him to accept, a specimen of Blessed de la Salle's type of the 
 Christian school. His memory will, therefore, be uppermost in 
 our mind when we visit that French College, first established 
 in the Poll palace, and then transferred to the vast and beautiful 
 Piazza di Spagua^ 
 
 General view of Saint Jusepb'fi college at Tooting, near London ( p. 583). 
 
 Belgium is too near France not to feel its influence. Forty-eight 
 houses, five hundred and sixty -four Brothers, neai-ly eighteen 
 thousand pupils ! A most Catholic country truly, and which still 
 contains admirable treasures of faith. In order to form a genuine 
 idea of the expansion of the Institute of Blessed de la Salle, we had 
 
 ' Italy has 24 houses served by 318 Brothers, who teach 5932 pupils; Rome, the 
 French college, schools of the Trinita dei Monti, Saint John of Lateran, Transtevere, Saint 
 Saviour, Santa Maria dei Monti, and tiiat Saint Joseph of Artigianelli, which is the Saint 
 Nicholas of Rome. Outside Rome, there are houses in Albano, Bcnevenlo, Bolseno, 
 Castel-Gondolfo, Guarcino, Nettuno and Porto d'Anzio ; in Upper Italy, Turin (21, 
 Genoa, Parma, Piaccnza, Susa, Biella(2), Grugliasco and Vercelli. (See map, p. 589.) 
 
 ~ OF THlt r 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 ^^CALIFOR!:^ 
 
586 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 better halt a while at Malonne'. The old pupils of the Brothers 
 assemble there every year for an annual retreat under the direc- 
 tion of their old masters. Malonne, moreover, is the oldest normal 
 school in the kingdom. Then we will recreate ourselves by spend- 
 ing a few days at Carlsbourg, in that fine Agronomical Institute 
 which has anticipated every improvement, and where agricultural 
 
 iDftltaM uf th< Brotheri of the Chrlitiu Khooli la Um BrlUth Iilu ( p. tM). 
 
 hydraulics and zootechny are taught. There arc immense kitchen 
 and botanical gardens, copses, ponds, a hive, all of which serve for 
 the education of the pupils. Carlsbourg is a school of Grignon*, 
 progressive and Christian, where the Brothers lead the way 
 back to the woods and fields, a way which our age has almost 
 forgotten. 
 
 ' The other Communities of the Brothers arc at Courtrai, Ghent, Alosl, Basel, Boom, 
 Saint Trond, Bruzetles, Nivelles, Louvain, Schacrbeck, Toumai, Lessines, Enghien, 
 Ath, Soignies, Gosseliee, Charleroy, Chatulct, Binchc, Mons, Ghlin, Jemmapcs, Fra- 
 meric8, Pdturagcg, Dour, Pcruwelz, Tamines, Gcmbloux, Namur, Florcnncs, ChaumonI, ' 
 Dinant, Ciney, Rochefort, Li6ge, Tilleur, Vcrviers, llerve, nenri-Cha(>cllo, AuUi, Laroche, 
 Bcrtriz. (See map, p. 502.) = * Grignon is the great National Agricultural Mrhod 
 of France. It was established in 1826, by M. Bella. In 1848 it became a National 
 Agricultural school. 
 
BOOK 111. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 587 
 
 In Switzerland, the scone changes : Catholics are not free here 
 as in Belgium. The odious and stupid persecution going on in 
 
 that country could not fail to reach the Brothers and their schools. 
 On the 8th of February 1872 the grand Council voted the iniqui- 
 tous law against religious congregations, and, on the following 
 
5RR 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 11th of August, the Brothers in Geneva were compelled to take 
 leave of their pupils. Bishop Mormillod was there, and addressed 
 these eloquent and avenging words to the persecutors : " Fear 
 nothing from the Cjitholics; they forgive. When they are in 
 the majority, they will return you good for evil; they will repair 
 
 rrencb call«iT« In Bonil, nrar the TrtniU d<i Mogll ( p. >M ). — Ibmt cotirl. — KacimTcd Iv rslUer. 
 
 your faults, and hring back to Geneva liberty and honor that you 
 would fain drive away from it'. " 
 
 In Germany, pci-secution reigned likewise. There is at the pres- 
 t'nt moment only one Christian school in the whole Empire; that 
 is at Melz. This fact speaks for itself; it is needless to enlarge 
 upon it. Amongst the suppres.sed houses we must mention Kem- 
 perhof, an orphanage entrusted to the sons of Blessed de la &dle. 
 
 ' In SwiUcrlond, the Brother* twrvo the two hou««« of NcuchAt«l and Atlalen* : 
 7 BrolherH and 23U ]iu|>il8. (Sco map, p. 584.) 
 
nooK III. 
 
 AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 589 
 
 The Empress Augusta loved this house and took pleasure in visit- 
 ing it. More than once she assisted at the examinations, and 
 distributed the prizes to the pupils. But the May laws have 
 put an end to all that; the Kemperhof orphanage disappeared 
 Avith so many other Catholic institutions, and the Empress Augusta, 
 
 \ A 
 
 ^iK'" ' l 
 
 
 I^ombardieJ 
 
 D u c h e*s , 
 
 THE INSTITUTE 
 
 of the 
 
 Brothers of the Christian schools 
 
 IN ITALY. 
 
 Communities founded 
 from 1702 up to the 
 
 Beatification ol Venerable de la Salle 
 
 November 27tli 1887. 
 
 1 "f R delaSlIJa <B) flOS 
 
 t Urolher Timothy <T) 17;12 
 
 - Agaltion <Aa) 1792 - 1795 
 
 - Gerbiud IG> 1817 
 
 - Gulllaume iGu) 182-2 - 1 8.30 
 Anaclflt (A) 18.30 — 181)* 
 
 - Fhilip (P) 1888-1874 
 Irlid« (II 1875- 1881 
 
 - Joieph (J) 1884-1887 
 
 Former States ol the Church 
 Piedmont 
 
 Ancient Ducliy of Parma 
 — of Moilena 
 Tuscany 
 Lombardy 
 
 Ancient kingdom of Naples 
 Total : t>l eatablistiments. 
 
 34 Houici, 318 Brolheri, 5931 Pupils 
 in 1887. 
 
 For the conventional siuns, 
 see the map ol Belgium. 
 
 Benevenl 
 
 The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian schools in Italy ( pp. 584 , S85 ). 
 
 amidst her many overwhelming griefs, has ceased, probably, to 
 think of the orphans and their masters. 
 
 We breathe again in Austria, and salute the line Imperial or- 
 phanage of Vienna which the Emperor Francis Joseph visited last 
 year, and did not hesitate to admire aloud. " I find, " he said, 
 " a manly bearing in all these children, and their answers have a 
 remarkable degree of precision. Nothing proves the merit of their 
 masters more than this\ " 
 
 ^ 102 Brothers, distributed through b houses, represent the Institute in Austria and 
 Germany. In Austria : Vienna, Pressbaum, Fiinffaus, Strebersdorf. — In Bulgaria, we 
 can only name the house at Sophia, for which the Prince of Battemberg had a particular 
 affection. 
 
590 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Before taking leave of Europe, let us pass by Constuntinopic, 
 where the Brothers have four houses'. They may be aiuntcd 
 amongst the most useful servants of France and of the Clmrch in 
 the East, and amongst those who contribute to uphold our innuonce 
 there. Such also is their mission at Erzeroum, Smyrna, Kadi- 
 KeuT, Jaffa, Trebizond, Gaiffa, Tripoli, and in that dear city of 
 
 Jerusalem which the noblest part of humanity will always call— 
 " the holy City. " Like the Franciscins, these st)ns of Blessed de 
 la Salle mount guard over the holy places. In their primary school, 
 they teach the children of Jerusalem, and in their normal sch(K>l 
 they prepare the natives to beaime Catholic teachers themselves. 
 This new sphere of activity is amongst the most valuable they 
 have inaugurated. 
 
 ' In Turkey in Europe, Greece aiul Rouniania, lliore arc 5 housM, 88 Brollieif, 
 707 pupil*. In Turkey in Asia, 9 houses, l«6 Brollii-rn, 23iW puplU. (See map. p. WJ.) 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 591 
 
 On leaving the Holy Land, we must not fail to pass through 
 Egypt', and we will disembark at Alexandria, where the Brothers 
 have the honor of directing that college of Saint Catherine, which 
 received from the French government the privilege of conferring 
 diplomas almost tantamount to those of the University. It is not. 
 
 Belgium. — CarUbourg, ancient castle of tlie Dukes of Bjuillon (p. 586). — Eugraveil by II. Joffruy. 
 
 however, either at Alexandria or Cairo that we will tarry longest, 
 but at Ramleh, where we find both a novitiate and a boarding- 
 school. This novitiate is an advance post of Christianity in the 
 land of Islamism, and is, therefore, especially dear to us. But we 
 cannot bid farewell to Egypt without having seen the Suez canal, 
 and we can rest at Port -Said, in that unpretending Christian 
 school which the canal Company will, we have no doubt, enlarge 
 and encourage. This school is a light held up in a land traversed 
 
 ' 5 houses, 120 Brothers, 1 715 pupils. (See map, p. 600. 
 
59S 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 ill every direction by dangerous influences, by Protestantism, and 
 modern materialism. 
 
 At Tunis, at La Goulette', tbe Brothers have a school, and there, 
 as elsewhere, they honor France and cause her to be loved. If 
 from Tunis we pass on to the most important of our colonies, 
 
 
 i r.: 
 
 r- 
 
 ZAta, ^ 
 
 r^^P B '^ • *•' 
 
 
 THE mSTITUTE ••^^^jjtr!:^*-*.'*^^.'^" ' 
 
 BnKhen ot lh« ClxitUaD Kboolt ^^' ^— -~^ 
 
 IN BSLOIUM. \ 
 
 y' ' 
 
 p 
 L i •>. 
 
 frxnn IKIC to the 
 
 BcalifiutioD ot Venerable de U Salle 
 
 NoTi'inbar }7lh IHa7. 
 « 14 Bnllxr G«b>ad <GI IHIO - lltH 
 
 .jj - fti<«EM i.A>i«Sri — 
 
 'i 
 
 • - _ 
 
 < - J«mk (J) IIM - IIW7 
 
 Anvtn 7 
 
 W«l»rn rUiukrt 7 
 
 KatUfK Fttiutoit I 
 
 HiiMot 14 
 
 TdUI : «> MiMnkaniU. 
 
 •r«(p.i»74- ir*-; 
 
 iwilifc VMH . 
 
 4« Cfniraailin. TM llrMlwfl 
 II DVI ackotan !• Im7. 
 
 troM 3 u IWvtiMn 
 , riMi 7 u l» - 
 (IrmMlaa* - 
 < traaaoWT* - 
 • (TCrao 
 
 Legend 
 
 tiiplkaM* 10 all c<MlriM Mifaii* Franc* 
 
 BmkmtalWI. 
 
 TiM l««T* «aikt III* 
 
 ■■wWr ■! c**u*wUtiM 
 
 la <h* ■■* UolH, 
 
 kiiatr 
 
 G*W. Tk* Mfcrt l il 
 
 ■<-«ini>iiifaiii>iiii 
 
 jN^UU*. 
 
 X^'-- 
 
 luUtule of Ibo BroUitri of iIm Chriulu Kkoot* In BeWlum • (|<|>. *>, iiax 
 
 we find them numerous and flourishing, at Aigiei's and especially 
 at El-Biar, where they have a novitiate and a boarding-school, 
 likely to render great ser\'ices in the future*. 
 
 In almost all the countries we have passed through, Uie Broth- 
 ers of the Christian schools are lighting against Islamism, which 
 
 ■ In Algiers, 9 liou8c», 92 Brolhers, 1 1)!>9 pupiU. In Tunis, 2 houses, 18 Brothers. 
 689 pupils, and ruilowitig. [Sec map, p. I'lOI.) = ^ See farther on map (p. 594) of the 
 (irand Duchy of Luxembourg : 14 •8labli»linicnts, and following. = ' In Algiers the 
 Hrolhers arc also settled at Bliila, Oran, TIemcen, Sidi-Bel-Abbds. Constanline and 
 I'hilippeville. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 593 
 
 is one of the most formidable agencies of error and of evil. But 
 in India they have a far more terrible enemy to combat, this is 
 Buddhism. The much vaunted traits of so called resemblance 
 between this creed and Christianity have been shown up in their 
 
 Bishop Mcrmillo ' 
 
 ly Napier. 
 
 true light; they are very easily explained away. Buddhism is the 
 more hostile to the Catholic apostleship because of this pretended 
 likeness to the true Church. The battle is a hard one, and the 
 Brothers are in the advance guard. The house at Bangoon, in 
 Burmah, is well worth the trouble of a visit, and Christian travel- 
 
 38 
 
594 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 lers would do well to make a short stay there for the purpose. 
 
 THE INSTITUTE 
 o< tlw Intktii o( tk< CkrIUlu ichMb li tWITIUUll. 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 ■^"^^ 
 
 
 u. 
 s s K ; 
 
 "^-■^ 
 
 CommaBtClM (onnded from 17S0 to th* BeaU flcmU oa 
 of Tcicreble 4e U UUt, Hartmber tTth 1W7. 
 
 (FotIW 
 
 lanltsu of tlw KbooU of tb* ChrUUu BroUwn in 8wilutlu4 (pp. ta,tm). 
 
 Artists would seize many a rapid sketch of those Burmese types 
 
 THE INSTITUTE ol tlie IraUere of Uu OlrtlUtt KhMb In (tUUIT, Ike Smt-BsckT X LOUIMOM ut iDSTlU 
 
 < •( B. TlBMlii I 
 I - {larMfC 
 
 I li«Mt,a Braitan. n ■■vih 
 
 AVSTMA. 
 
 OOMMWlltiM IMated 
 
 (ma IW m» to Ik* 
 
 iMtincittN «i tamkii <i u liUt 
 HoTMBixr trill i«r. 
 
 iMtttiiU of the Bi allwri ct tb* Chrlittoa Mhoola la Otrmaar, th* Oraa4 Onchr at Lnitaibimn nA AaMrla ( »^ M*X 
 
 that de.servc to be better known. It is Burmah christianized, and, 
 let us say it boldly, civilized'. 
 
 ' In India and China, the InsUlule po8w»se» 9 cslablisbroenU, that are a«nred by 
 76 Brothers and count 2477 pupils : Rangoon, Moulmein, Poulo-Pinang, Singapore, in 
 Ihf English Indies; —Colombo (2] and Negombo, in the island of Ceylon;— llong-Koog 
 in Chinii. At liung-Kong there is a college and an orphanage. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 593 
 
 The Brothers have so far barely alighted on the vast Chinese 
 Empire; but this is to be their conquest in the future, a future not 
 far off, we believe. China cannot long continue to be exclusive; 
 
 
 H. M. Praocis 11., Emperor of Austria (p. 580). — Engraved by MeauUc, from a photo -engraving from Vienna. 
 
 thousands of unknown martyrs who died there for Jesus Christ 
 are praying for the coming of His kingdom amongst her people. 
 Their prayers will avail far more than a disciplined army, and 
 the Brothers will be found among the standaixl-bearers of that new 
 
596 
 
 BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 kingdom. But our survey is not yet ended. Madagastar is in 
 our day a sort of lilUe world where the Brothers were not afraid 
 of encamping. Tliey have houses at Tamatave, Tananarive, and 
 Fianai-antsoa. The natives of Madagascar present many new and 
 strange types. We find the Brothers again at Saint Denic, in the 
 island of the Reunion ', and at Gurepipe in the Mauritius'. 
 
 We have travelled all over the old continent; let us now turn 
 our steps to the new one. 
 
 It is, no douht, permitted to challenge the lM)ld and somewhat 
 rash views of a young writer of our day who, in an article w Inch 
 made a great sensation, pointed to America as the country whose 
 
 ' There ore nUo nrollicrs at Sainle Marie, Sainl Andr*. Saint Philip. Saint Joseph, 
 Saint I'eler, Sainl I'aul, Salazio and Eiilre- Deux. = ' In these three islands, 101 Brothers 
 and 13 establishments. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 597 
 
 soil was most favorable to the future development of the Catholic 
 Church. We cannot believe that God has condemned to sterility 
 
 THE INSTITUTE ol the Brothers of the' Christian schools 
 in TURKEY, GREECE and ROOMABIA. 
 Communities founded 
 
 from 1841 to the ?"■■> 
 
 Beslitication ol Y. de la Salle '\ \ 
 
 November 27th 1P87. ,., --' \ 
 
 3olB. Philip (PTTsAI. 18.18. )8«1 '" •'. 
 a - Wide (I) 1881188H 
 i - Joseph (J) 1885^886 > 
 
 Total : 7 ettablishmenu. y 
 
 5 lIoUKl. 28 Brolherj, 707 Pgpili 
 in 1887. 
 
 Institute of the Brothers of ttie Christian schools of Turkey in Europe, Greece and Roumanla (p. 590). 
 
 and impotence the entire old world, and particularly France. It 
 is certain, nevertheless, that Catholicity is expanding in America 
 with incomparable fertility. I saw only the other day a beautiful 
 
 THE INSTITUTE 
 
 of the 
 Brothers ol the Christian schools 
 
 IN TCRKKT IN ASIA. 
 
 Communities founded 
 from 1841 to the 
 [Beatification ot V. de la Salle 
 ^ November 27th 1887. 
 
 4 ol B. PhilipTpT 1838-1874 
 
 5 - Irlidedi l»7r, - 1884 
 i - Joseph (J) 18»o — 1886 
 
 Total : 11 esUblUhments. 
 9 Houses. 96 Brothers. 1303 Pupils 
 
 in 1887. 
 (For the conventional signs, see the 
 map of Belaium.) 
 
 Institute of the Brothers of the Christian schools of Turkey in Asia CP. 500i. 
 
 book containing the portraits of our Bishops across the Atlantic. 
 They all have broad foreheads, eyes sparkling with intelligence, 
 and a dignity tempered with kindness. Learned men and Saints, 
 
598 
 
 HLKSSED DK LA SAI.LE. 
 
 and, withul, wearing an air of youlli like men who look to the 
 future with the trust of conquerors. All (tur Catholic institutions 
 over there resemble transplanted trees that are striking healthy 
 roots in a srjil providentially prepared to receive them. Every- 
 thing succeeds, everything prospers, everything lives. Innume- 
 rable churches, convents and schools are transforming the face 
 
 JeniMlam. — HooM of the Brotban ( pi M»). — DfmwB br A. Bna. 
 
 of the land. It is a consoling and touching spectacle, and as 
 Catholics we heartily congratulate our generous American fellow- 
 Catholics. 
 
 Amongst a people so fond of science and so respectful towards 
 failh, the Institute' of the Christian Brothel's was sure to meet 
 with cordial and kindly welcome; but where could they be better 
 received than in that dear Canada, which has preserved, so to 
 speak, the French stamp? The Congregation of Blessed de la 
 Salle developed more rapidly here than in any other part of Amer- 
 
 ' The InsiiluU has in America 118 cstablishmcntg served bv 1 151 Brolben. 
 
BOOK IIJ. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 599 
 
 ica '. At Montreal, there are no less than a hundred and twenty 
 Brothers divided amongst eight establishments, and in Quebec we 
 reckon fifty-five Brothers in four houses'. These statistics augur 
 well for the future. 
 
 It is not, indeed, surprising that such an Institution should 
 have prospered so well on the Catholic soil of Canada; but in the 
 
 Cairo ( p. 591 ). — Position of Pompey'a Column, — Drawn by SelUer. 
 
 United States the conditions were not the same; the soil here was, 
 in fact, antagonistic to its growth. The United States are, as we 
 know, the very hotbed of religious sects, which may be reckoned 
 there by hundreds. There are dangerous sects, and ridiculous 
 ones, and Protestantism, some fifty years ago, might have passed 
 for the dominant religion of this divided population. But how 
 
 ' Canada has 33 houses and 299 Brothers. = ' The other establishments in Canada 
 are : Ottawa (3, and 2b Brothers), Trois- Rivieres, the Baie-du-Febvre, Nicolet, 
 Saint Grfegoire, Hull, ITslet, Halifax, Saint Jean -Dorchester, Longueuil, Saint Mary, 
 Yamachiche, Lachine, Kingston, Toronto (2), Saint Catherine, Fraserville, Hochelaga. 
 
600 
 
 KLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 changed aro the times! Catholicism, like a beautiful flower, is 
 
 lUmleh. — Baardiag-tcliool and >uviiui>~ vi lur nr 
 
 l>r»wn hy A. Bma. 
 
 opening in the sunshine, and spreading apace. In the entire 
 
 ImUMU of tti« Brotbcn ot Ibr CkrlMUa Mkoate la tttpi ( p-WI >• 
 
 district of Saint Louis', we still find a population of French origin, 
 
 ' Distrirt of Saint Louis : Snint Louin (4', Chirago (2). Saint Joseph (2), FeehanTille, 
 ijleiicoe, Memphis, New -Orleans, Saint I'aul, Bcrnanillo, Santa -Fe. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 601 
 
 and we are not surprised to see one hundred and seventy five 
 
 = i'-]i\iijlili-% 
 
 Algiers. — View taken from the Bab - Azoim Gate (. p. 592 ). ~ Drawn by Sellier. 
 
 Brothers at work there, distributed over fifteen Houses. But what 
 
 THE INSTITUTE of the Brothers of the Christian schools in UGIERS and TUNIS. 
 
 ALGIERS. 
 
 16 Comrounilies founded from 1854 to the 
 
 RettiAcAtion of Venerable DE LA Salle, November 37lh 1887. 
 
 14olB.Pbilln(PI18.18-1874,-i(,f ft John OImm (O; in 1874 
 
 (I Honm. 9i Brothers, 1559 Pupils in 1887. 
 
 TUNIS. 
 
 i Communities founded 
 
 byB. Philip in IR.'jS and 1871. 
 
 i Houses. 18 Brothers, 
 
 b8<J Pupils in 1887. 
 
 Institute of the Brothers of the Christian schools in Algiers and Tunis ( p. SSi ). 
 
 shall we say of the district of New York ' with its thirty establish- 
 
 ' District of New York : New York (8), Albany (2), Troy (2), Utlca (2), Westchester (2), 
 Amawalk, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicopee, Detroit, Manchester, Manhattanville, Melrose, 
 Newburgh, Peekskill, Providence, Syracuse, Yonkers: Halifax, in Canada. 
 
60S 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 monts and its three hundred and forty-two Brothers, and of Bal- 
 timore with its hundred and fifty-five Religious and nineteen 
 
 /*;«"■■»' 
 
 BavUih pnueHlou la latfia : Barauh. 
 
 THE INSTITUTE ol the BroUiera ol Um CkitaUu wkMll U DM. ODU IM GNDKIIU. 
 
 ^ 
 
 \ n •> B. PMiii ipiiKM-mt I 4iiB.MMi (I) trs-i«« 
 
 fi I - J.OtnpaiOl l>in» I I - IwwkiJilatMS 
 
 Taw : M iimilitimi 
 M imalMn. i Mt PwOl )■ IMT. 
 
 IsMlnMottk* BrattiMi o( tiM ObrUttaa MlK>ota> li4la,ChtH**4 0«ekli-CkiM(»kiNV 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 603 
 
 schools ? Yet all these swarms have come from the lowly hive of 
 Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 Catholic institutions have everywhere the same essential charac- 
 teristics; but their external features may, and do vary according 
 to climate and country. A school in New York will not be the 
 
 ^•...t-v.'';' -»(,■*,■."■''".-■ , ...-K-, ■-■""".- "i-il 
 
 
 EngUali poBsessioDB in India : Burmab. — Rangoon. — Boarding - school of the Brothers ( p. 591 ). — Drawn by Sellier. 
 
 same as a school in Paris, and the little American boy of seven will 
 not be the same type as the little Parisian of the same age. We 
 must be prepared for these differences, and study the Protectory of 
 New York or Manhattan college, as we do Saint Nicholas or Passy. 
 The Protectory would require a study all to itself, and nothing 
 is more touching than the history of its rise and early years. We 
 have under our eyes a record where the story is told with the 
 
604 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 simplicity f)f Ciitholic eloquoncp, and we innnot do bolter than 
 quote from it. " Before 1862, Catholics were seriously considering 
 in New York the problem of how to react against the proselytism 
 of Protestant societies, which were every day carrying olT troops of 
 poor destitute Catholic children, and educating them as Protes- 
 
 Kngtiih potMwIoo* 
 
 Is laUa. — BansHC ttpn : Klwlan ml kaMMB ( P^ ••■ >. 
 Draw* b7 D«Ulcr frum local pbotactapbL 
 
 tants. The better to ensure the success of their work, these sec- 
 tarians changed the names of the children, and sent them away 
 after a while to the Far West. This lamentable state of things 
 was a source of constant and deep anxiety to Brother Patrick, then 
 President of Manhattan College, now Assistant of the Superior 
 general, and of the illustrious Doctor Silliman Ives, once a Protes- 
 tant Bishop, and afterwards a faithful and valiant son of the 
 Roman Church. On the occasion of administering Conlirmation 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 605 
 
 in the parish-church of Manhattanville, several of the leading 
 Catholic citizens of New York were invited to meet Archbishop 
 Hughes at the pastoral residence. 
 
 The question was there discussed at length. The moment 
 Brother Patrick promised to give Brothers to manage the projected 
 institution, His Grace exclaimed : " In God's name, gentlemen, 
 
 rt.lCAPItli. 
 
 ChtDa. — Island ot Hong- Kong. — The Brothers' school tP- 595). — Drawn by Leon Labhd ; engravea by Napier. 
 
 let us begin the work ! " Forthwith all those present subscribed 
 for relatively large sums, and the Catholic Protectory sprang into 
 existence. Its beginnings were humble, but God's blessing was 
 upon them. The institution grew rapidly, and, at the present day, 
 contains two thousand children. 
 
 As soon as these waifs and strays are received into the house, 
 the first care of the Brothers is to prepare them for their first 
 Communion. They are taught all that is necessary to make them 
 honest tradesmen or clever mechanics. Twenty different trades 
 
6U6 
 
 BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 are taught in the establishment, and the children ch«>ose which- 
 ever they are best suited for l)y Uisle and natural aptitude. There 
 is a tailoring work-shop, one for carpenters, a shoe-making shop, 
 and above all a printing oflice which occupies a great number of 
 young workers, and does very creditable work. 
 
 " The city of New York pays for the children belonging to it. 
 From time to time, the State has made appropriations for the 
 
 MAdBcmx^v ■' TftinAiar* , viaw of the ma ( ^ MC >, — DrsKii "j r^mw. 
 
 purpose of keeping up the house and defraying such improvements 
 and repairs as are found to be necessary. Places are procured 
 for the most competent of the young workmen when they have 
 reached a certain age. A large majority of these youths have turned 
 out well, and are now useful citizens of the Republic. The gooti 
 thus done increases every day, and is incalculable. Already has the 
 Protectory snatched from misery and physical and moral ruin tens 
 of thousands of souls. " This Protectory naturally leads us to rword 
 the fact that, from the m<»ment of the introduction of the Hrothers 
 into his di<xc8<'. Archbishop Hughes was tlu'ir fast friend and 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 607 
 
 protector. But, besides the Protectory, we should mention other 
 institutions of a dift'erent character, but no less prosperous. We 
 should, above all, mention the Brothers' boarding-schools. Those 
 of Saint Louis, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Memphis merit 
 special notice. We should not forget, in order to see things in 
 their true light, that boarding-schools in these countries have a 
 particular aim and object, and consequently a particular organ- 
 
 THE INSTITUTE of the Brothers of the Christian schools in the islands of REUNIOH, MADAGASCAR, 
 the HAURITIUS, and in the SEYCHELLES. 
 
 Oommanities founded 
 
 from 1817 to the 
 
 Beatification of V. de la Salle 
 
 November 27th 1887. 
 
 1 ol B, Gerbaud (G) in 1817 
 
 2 - Anaclel (A) In 185:1 
 n - Philip (Pi 1838-1874 
 
 — J.OIimpelO) in 1875 
 
 ToUl ; 'ii eiublishmenu. 
 
 9 HouiM, 80 Brothers, 
 
 S7« Pupils in 1887. 
 
 ( For tha roaTeotionil ligiu, tee lh« map 
 ol Brioium. > 
 
 2ofB. Phihp<P)18»i6.18e9 
 H — JoseplwJ) 1880 188" 
 3 HouMi, 9 Brothers, 
 ^^ aOi Pupils in 1887. 
 
 Institute of the Brothers of the Christian schools in the Island of Reunion, Madagascar, Mauritius, 
 and in the Seychelles ( p. 696 ). 
 
 ization. What the new world wants, above all, is a native clergy, 
 both numerous and devoted. The Brothers in their colleges are 
 preparing this element, so necessary in the life of a Catholic 
 country. Let us take, for instance, Manhattan college — in the 
 space of twenty-three years, it has given over one hundred and 
 forty priests to the Church. 
 
 We have just mentioned Baltimore; it is the chief town of a 
 district that possesses nineteen houses and occupies one hundred 
 and fifty-five Brothers'. In Philadelphia, fifty-one Brothers are 
 
 ' District of Baltimore : Baltimore, Ammendale, Ellicott-City, in Maryland ; Jersey- 
 City, Hoboken, Newark, Paterson, in the State of New- Jersey; Washington, Norfolk, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
608 
 
 BLBSSBD DE LA SALLE. 
 
 laboring in seven establishments whose aim is the salvation of 
 souls. The district of San Francisco is less favored, having only 
 eighty-six Religious and nine foundations; but it is a comparativ- 
 ely new district and has a bright future, and the sons of blessed 
 
 Ulu4 of B«ui(« : Viaw <>( 8aiai Ptom ( p IMX — On«a lir iMUw. 
 
 de la Salle will in Ibis land of golden promise, great enei*gA" and 
 generous hearts, find a vast an<l a fair fi«'ld, for their noble task, 
 which is protected from above by St Francis'. 
 
 All honor then to youthful America, who so nobly welcomed 
 the Brothers of the Christian schools, and who, full of trust in the 
 
 ' San-FranciMO (3), Oakland (2), Temescal, Martinn. Sacraroonio, in California; 
 Portland, in Oregon. 
 
BOOK HI. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 609 
 
 f^^ ft T " 
 
 UKlVEI^ 
 
 SI T"'*" 
 
 ^CALIFO^^,!^^ 
 
 future, is perhaps destined to preserve to the Catholic Church her 
 independence, her supremacy and her glory I 
 
 In South America', which is all Catholic, the clergy long sufficed 
 for the education of the people, and the Brothers seemed to be less 
 needed there. The generous Spanish blood flows in the veins of 
 
 Canada. — Montreal and the Saint Lawrence ( p. 598 ). — Drawn by Sellier. 
 
 these proud colons, long since independent. They want a few men 
 like that noble Garcia Moreno, who, deeply penetrated with the 
 beauty of Catholic dogma, aimed at creating a truly Christian re- 
 public, uncompromising, pure and beautiful, sine ruga et macula. 
 We know what a tragical end awaited this grand Christian. Suc- 
 cess, however, is not happily the only thing which inspires the 
 
 ' There are 94Brothers in 12 houses. — At Equador, there are 73 Brothers and 9 estab- 
 lishments. (Quito, 28 Brothers and 2 houses; Guayaquil, Guano, Guaranda, Latacunga, 
 Loja, Riobamba, Ambalo.) In Chili, 19 Brothers and 3 establishments (2 at Santiago and 
 1 at Valparaiso). 
 
 39 
 
610 
 
 BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 admiration of mankind, and the name of Garcia Moreno will 
 always remain dear to noble souls and Catholic hearts, and the 
 Brothers, whose friend he was, will never forget him. 
 
 Our tour round the world is finished; hut our readers may, 
 like ourselves, feel the need of a rapid and clear recapitulation. 
 We will present it to them in the philosophical order. 
 
 luUrat* of Uw Brolhan of the Chriitiaa kImoIi U 
 
 How do these 44,8V.> liiothers or novices who compose the In- 
 stitute at the present time, employ their day? Have they all one 
 and the same function, and do they, as their name w«)uld lead us 
 to infer, occupy themselves solely with (Christian schools? We 
 have seen enough of them to he convinced of the contrary. 
 
 The primary schools are uiidouhledly still the chief mis.sion of 
 the Brothers, and they are likely to remain so; for the sons of 
 Blessed de la Sidle are masters in that specialty, and are moreover 
 loo proud of their mission to the poor and the lowly to change it 
 
BOOK 111. 
 
 AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 611 
 
 for any other; but, while keeping faithfully to the models and les- 
 sons of their holy founder, they have been able to adapt to the 
 present age the scholastic type that he created. They have excel- 
 lent school-books. They keep up with all the modern discoveries 
 and all the new methods. What will never change in their schools 
 is the general method, that simultaneous system of teaching which 
 
 Canada : Montreal. — Saint Joseph's school (p. 5&»). — Drawn by De Belize. 
 
 is being made constantly more complete; what will change still 
 less is the Christian spirit which pervades the whole Institute, 
 and animates every part of its organisation. The Brothers do not 
 profess the great modern heresy : they do not sacrifice education 
 to instruction. To form Christians, to form men, such is their 
 great aim. 
 
 It is a curious name enough, when one comes to analyse it, that 
 of Superior primary schools; but the name exists, and we may let 
 it stand. It undoubtedly answers to a need and a reality. There 
 is a large section of persons who could not afford the luxury of 
 
612 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 having their childron Uiught Greek and Latin. Whilst ilUistriuus 
 religious ordei-s are devoting themselves to the education of tlie 
 govei-ninjr classes, the Brothers devote themselves to that of the 
 governed classes. Their commercial education is acknowledged to 
 
 lutltnu of Uw BroUien of Um ChrUtiu Khoob la lb* DilMd Sum* (.fp. «r-mv 
 
 be first-rate, and their Superior schools of Saint Roch, Stiint Clo- 
 tiide and the Avenue Saint Duen (in Paris) are proofs of this. 
 And yet this is only a beginning, and before twenty years these 
 foundations will need to be mulliplietl tenfold. Hut there is no 
 professional education worthy of the name if practice does not 
 
BOOK HI. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 613 
 
 complete theory in it. In a word, the school is not sufficient; 
 it needs to be supplemented by the work-shop. The disciples of 
 
 IJr Uughes, Archbishop of New -York i.P. 607). — Engraved by MeauUe. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle understood this, and they inaugurated the crea- 
 tion of types entirely modern. At Lyons, the De la Salle school 
 includes a fine scientific laboratory, with work-shops for adjusting, 
 
614 lll.RSSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 forging, weaving, joining and modelling. Saint Nicholas, in Paris, 
 and another professional school at Saint fitienne, are equally well 
 organized, and from these the pupils are taken in sections to a 
 great central manufactory where useful trades of the most oppo- 
 site kinds are carried on. In Rome there is the Artigianelli, an 
 Italian Saint Nicholas; there is the Industrial School in Manches- 
 ter, and in New -York the Protectory. 
 
 We hear loud complaints of the alarming encroachments of trade, 
 and the way the rural districts are being deserted by the laborers. 
 The Brothei-s, largely recruited themselves from the people, could 
 not overlook in their wide-reaching instruction that art of agricul- 
 ture which is the life of the people. The time seems come when 
 there are to be no more peasants; they have lost the love of labor, 
 the noble labor of the soil; they despise the plough, and farmers now 
 bring up their sons to be teachers and tradesmen. The Institute 
 of Blessed de la Salle has protested forcibly against this evil by 
 creating a number of agricultural orphanages, the Agricultural 
 Schools of Igny and of Vaujours, the famous agricultural Institute 
 of Beauvais and the Agronomical Institute of Carlsbourg in Bel- 
 gium. A similar scliool is being started near Philadelphia. Let 
 us hope that they will work on successfully in the same direction, 
 and that the Brothers will end by bringing back the country 
 people to the love of the country. 
 
 The boarding-schools are the subject of violent controversies in 
 these days, but it is pretty generally admitted that, at least for 
 a certain class of children and lads, they are absolutely necessary. 
 Blessed de la Salle was of this opinion, and opened a boarding- 
 school whose chief object was the training of masters for the vil- 
 lages. In 1688, he opened a second for the same purpose in the 
 parish of Saint Hippolyte, and a few years later a third for the 
 young Irish boys that James II. had conlided to him. But this is not 
 all. Blessed de la Salle founded the celebrated boarding-school of 
 Saint Yon, which was the model of so many others, and where the 
 pupils were instructed in all that belongs to trade, finance, the 
 army, architecture and mathematics. The successors of the great 
 
4 
 
fpsEue^g 
 
 TB« 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 615 
 
 servant of God have walked in the way he marked out for them, 
 and have developed the work he so well began. In 1790, the 
 Brothers were directing fifteen boarding-schools. In these days, 
 when more than ever it has become necessary to make " secondary 
 special " education superior to all others, the Brothers have been 
 
 Brother Facile, Assistant for America. — Engraved by Meaulle. 
 
 compelled to enlarge their first programme. We may go farther, 
 and say that this secondary special education is really their disco- 
 very, and that their house at Passy was the first model of it in our 
 age. Their adversaries are obliged to render them this justice, and 
 I have never met one of them who did not speak of Passy with 
 admiration. Here young men are prepared for that Central school 
 into which it is so hard to gain admittance, whose programme is so 
 severe and whose spirit is so material. If, as we arc persuaded. 
 
616 
 
 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 they send Christians into it, they are rendering a great service to 
 their age, which stands so much in need of a faith and an ideal. 
 Pope Leo XIII. earnestly recommends to all Catholics the union of 
 science and faith : the Brothers anticipated this counsel. 
 
 To form schools is all very well; hut it is necessan' also to form 
 
 the future masters of a young generation threatened with so many 
 perils. This is what is being actively carried out in the novitiates 
 of the Congregation, every day and all day long; and here we 
 ought, perhaps, wore not our space measured, to speak at some 
 length of that admirable work which merits above all othei's to 
 bear the name of the holy founder. This " work of the Vene- 
 rable, " which is now the work of " the HIessed, " has no other aim 
 than the creation and support of these preparatory novitiates where 
 lads of thirteen or fourteen are prepared for the Brotherhood by 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 617 
 
 three years' study and pious training. These dear preparatory 
 novitiates, of which there are thirty-two at the present time, only 
 sheltered 933 little novices in 1882; but God blessed them visibly, 
 and in 1887 these neophytes numbered 2,129. It is the nursery 
 of the Institute. 
 
 This forming of subjects for their order could not satisfy the 
 Christian ambition of the Brothers, who formerlv directed in 
 
 THE INSTITUTE of the Brothers ol the Christian schools in SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 Communities founded 
 
 from 1777 to ttie 
 
 Beatidcation of T. de la Salle 
 
 November 27th 1887. 
 
 COLUMBIA, 
 t of B. J. Olimpa (0) in 1875 
 BQUADOR. 
 7olB Philip (PH8.-)«-l874 
 ■2 - J. Oljmpe(O) in t»M 
 2 — Irlide (1) in 188:) 
 
 1 - Josepli (J) in )8»4 
 Total : 1'2 estsblishmonlt. 
 
 CHILI. 
 
 2 of B. Irlide CD 1877-1878 
 
 1 - Jo««h (J) ISS.". 
 
 Total ; :i establishments. 
 
 3 llouies, 19 Hrolhen, 7-24 Pupils 
 
 in 1887. 
 
 GDIANA. 
 
 Cayenne, 1. ol B. Gnillanme in 18*23. 
 
 MARTINIQUE. 
 Fort Bojal, 1 ol B. Florence in 1777. 
 
 Institute of the Brothers of the Christian schools in South America (rp. 609, 610). 
 
 France several Normal schools of the State, and who still direct 
 several similar establishments in Belgium. Every year, their 
 old pupils who have become masters assemble at Carlsbourg or 
 Malonne to make a retreat, and see their former masters whom 
 they love. They come away better and happier. 
 
 When the Viscount de Melun, in 1843, first conceived the plan 
 of his Young Men's Associations, it was the Brothers he asked to 
 manage that little world of apprentices and young workmen whose 
 souls he wanted to save. It is therefore to the Brothers that we owe 
 the model of these Patronages which are the necessary supplement 
 of the Christian schools. No undertaking seemed more difficult 
 to accomplish, and none ever succeeded better. The Parisian 
 
»IH 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 approntic-c is apt to be noisy, insolent, undisciplined; the Brothers 
 have tamed and humanized him. And what they ho\iin in their 
 patronages, they continue in those Societies of perseverance whi«'h 
 
 '^0 
 
 Owcte Homo, l«M rrMMmt of tiM ••pablic of kiudor ( p^. «•, MOV — »wn>«4 kf Mtwllt. 
 
 M. de Melun founded " against ignorance, vice and loneliness. " 
 In all these various foundations we find that spirit of piety, which 
 the Brothers have the gift of communicating, as well as that loyalty 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 619 
 
 and cheerfulness of pious souls, which are characteristic of all 
 their works. 
 
 ^.^ X^^ <^ 
 
 y^^'i-'^'-*-^^ 
 
 ^.■^^. 
 
 z^^.^^^/'^. 
 
 IX^ z^^ 
 
 OarcU Moreno ( pp. 609, 610 1. — Fac- simile ot a letter addressed to the Director ol the Brothers of Quito '. 
 
 ' Translation of the letter : 
 
 My dear Brother : On receiving your estimable letter, I ordered the continuation of 
 the works of your school. To this effect, I am now sending an order to the governor 
 concerning all the expenses to be incurred in the matter. I thank you for the interest 
 you take in the enlarging of the place. This improvement will give more space to 
 your present pupils and to the larger number you will be able to receive in the future. 
 I am your affectionate servant, 
 
 Gabriel-Garcia MORENO. 
 
620 
 
 BLESSED OE LA SALLE. 
 
 Would that we were free to speak as we should wish of those 
 clubs for young men where we find, with this same spirit, the 
 
 rrun : M CoaanlUtt li M Deputantt 
 
 THE 
 
 InUiera o( ciinstuii schools 
 
 CoaiMailiat toiM4«4 
 
 lr»m the tUcliod n( lb* 
 
 Mo«l Mon»r«.< RrollMT 
 
 JOHN OI.YMI'K 
 
 to ih* 
 
 leatiliutlon ol 1 it la Salle 
 
 Eser' if 
 
 
 
 I ^ jry '^?~.^ -v*^* /^^ > »W* "^ '^^ 
 
 land* i>JM»y-<T«i»«> - ' ^ 
 
 af^^i^. 
 
 
 M tt« M»*rki a««*l«rM f ^.---.O ^^IrJ" \ itaii 
 
 at lonnib'jnat ■« th* a««« lAWB. *^ £ v*.'^'.^*' 
 
 C N £ • 
 
 CaaaulUM iltuM onttilc Ult aap. 
 
 ..... ' '''•"^^^. [SSSSCrt ^Siffi!" 
 
 
 UMItaU of Uw Bnxkwi of Um Ckrtatlu acbooU. — OoaaaitltM (o«a4*« Inai Um ilort l M «( IIM Bad aoMcW 
 BrallMr JokB-OlTHP* to Ik* bMtMcaUoa o( ToMcmM* «• Ik aiU* (IMt-IHt). 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 621 
 
 same modest and imposing virtues. The club of the Francs- 
 Bourgeois is known everywhere, and was long the object of the 
 active care of the present Superior. 
 
 THE INSTITUTE OF THE BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD 
 from its origin to the Beatification of its Founder Venerable John Baptist de la Salle 
 June 24tta leso — November 27th 1887. 
 
 Blessed de la Salle 
 
 Brother Bartholomew 
 
 — Timothy 
 
 — Claude 
 
 — Florence 
 
 — AgathOQ 
 
 — Pnimeoce 
 
 — Gerbaud 
 
 — Guillaume 
 
 — Anaclet 
 
 — PhUip 
 
 — John Olympe 
 
 — Irlide 
 
 — Joseph 
 
 Total per country 
 
 Institute of the Brothers of the Christian schools in the world from its origin to te beatification 
 of Blessed John Baptist de la Salle (June 34th 1680 — November 27th 1887 ). 
 
 Such are the principal functions which the Institute is carrying 
 on at the present day. Nor are these the only ones. The Broth- 
 ers are to be seen conducting the choirs of the great parishes in 
 Paris, providing acolytes for them, and drilling those troops of 
 
Sn BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 turbulent and giddy children. In Rome the prefect of the singing- 
 school of San Salvatore in Laura is a Brother. At Ghent, they 
 have their Artistic Club, and in Paris their excellent Family 
 House, founded in 1854 in tlie old Rue des Francs- Bourgeois at 
 the Marais, and which, for the last twenty years, occupies one of 
 the linost mansions of the Rue Saint Antoine. At Besan^on and 
 Saint fitienne the Brothers have Deaf-and-Dumb schools, and 
 while some of them are teaching the little choir- boys to sing, 
 others strive to compensate the poor afflicted ones by giving 
 them a language of their own, drawing out their intelligence and 
 cultivating their souls. 
 
 The works of the Brothers are innumerable, and they do not 
 despair of creating others. Their hope surpasses even their 
 activity. 
 
 We have several times had occasion to say that what the sons 
 of Blessed de la Salle aimed at above all was to train up Clirist- 
 ians. In order to compass this chief object of their institute, and 
 preserve the fruits of Christian education, they have recourse to 
 all the resources of Catholic works. 
 
 In their schools, they encourage the associations of Ihe Propa- 
 tion of the Faith, of the Holy Childhood and Peter's Pence. They 
 multiply Societies of (he Blessed Virgin; they spread the Apostol- 
 ate of prayer. 
 
 They have Conferences of Saint Vincent de Paul in their board- 
 ing-schools, and, for souls more advanced in holiness. Associations 
 for the Monthly Communion of reparation. 
 
 They have Societies of perseverance for the young. Clubs and 
 Family Houses where Christian life is well orgimizitl. They 
 are occupied wiih workmen and snidicrs, and the Society of Saint 
 Fnmcis Xavier reckons them amongst its best auxiliaries. In this 
 
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 ~ OF TBK 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 623 
 
 way they send the rich Christian sap flowing through branches of 
 the Church, which yesterday seemed withered and dead; thus it 
 is that the dry branches blossom forth, and bear flowers and fruit. 
 Thus, in one word, do they bring Jesus Christ to live in souls, 
 and prepare the social reign of victorious Truth. 
 
Laai ylance at Eheime, birth-place of Blessed de l& Salle. — Drawn by fedouard Garnier; engraved by M6aaUe. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BEATIFICATION OF BLESSED JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE 
 
 MINUTE examination of the extraor- 
 dinary virtues of Blessed de la Salle 
 occupied the Holy See during long 
 years; but various causes suspended 
 the process of beatification in which 
 the Institute was so deeply interested. 
 In 1835, one hundred and sixteen 
 years after his death, the process 
 began simultaneously at Rheims, 
 where M. de la Salle conceived the 
 first idea of his work; in Paris, where 
 he consolidated it by suffering, and 
 
 at Rouen, where he left it definitely founded. 
 
 How different is the way of the Church from that of the world 
 
 towards those whom she wishes to honor ! The world awards 
 
 40 
 
G26 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 her great ones, while living, a few hurried honors which it 
 mukes haste to forget the moment their recipients are dead. 
 During the brief moments of regret that follow their departure, 
 it flings a few garlands on their grave; and then it goes on its 
 way. It must make haste. Not being itself sure of the morrow, 
 it cannot afford to delay such rewards as it wishes to l>estow. 
 
 The Church acts differently. While a man lives, she suspends 
 her judgment. He may belie the virtues of his past life, and die 
 a sinner after having lived a Saint. She waiLs until death has 
 linally consecrated his merits and manifested his perseverance. 
 
 She waits still further. She waits till every rumor has died 
 away and until passions are cooled down; until the contempora- 
 ries of the man she judges are dead, and can no longer disturb by 
 their interests or their vanities the peace in which she wishes to 
 judge him; until time, which sets all things in their place and 
 in their true proportions, has done its work. And if, after the 
 lapse of a century, there remains a grand and venerated memory 
 guarded by the respect of mankind, a sanctity which God Himself 
 has proved and attested by miracles, then the process of canoniza- 
 tion may begin. 
 
 The d«'cree of introduction of the cause of the servant of Go»i, 
 the deed conferring on him the title of Venerable, was signed by 
 Gregory XVI. It is dated the 8th of May 1840. 
 
 These proceedings are justly styled a " process. " They lack 
 neither the opposition, nor the formalities, nor any of those cir- 
 cumstances which enter into the most nunute and complicated 
 criminal law-suit. All the actions of him who is about to he 
 placed on the altar are scrupulously searched into, all his writings 
 are passed through the most rigorous ordeal of censorship, in 
 order to make sure that they do not contain any error against 
 faith. The doctrine must 1)C jH'rfectly pure, the life without spot; 
 for the Church holds up to the venenilion of men none but irre- 
 proachable standards. 
 
 All these requirements were lilled by Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 On the 12lh of Septcml)er I8iU was promulgated the decree 
 

 <^U-- 
 
 
 i^'^ 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 627 
 
 declaring that no worship had been paid to him; for the Church 
 does not allow her judgments to be anticipated, and the incon- 
 siderate honors which the faithful might think fit to render to 
 the dead would be an obstacle to those she reserves for them. 
 
 On the 22nd of April 1842, another decree proclaimed " the 
 renown of sanctity " in M. de la Salle's life. And on the 6th of 
 September 1846, the proceedings of Rheims, Paris and Rouen 
 were canonically approved. 
 
 Then came the examination of the writings attributed to the 
 servant of God. 
 
 The three Archbishops of Paris, Rheims and Rouen were 
 charged to search out these writings and send them to Rome to 
 be submitted to the examination of theologians. This enquiry was 
 a lengthened one. A sufficiently large number of writings were, 
 indeed, attributed to M. de la Salle, and they might have really 
 been his work; but his manuscripts were lost. The Servant of 
 God could not be held responsible for the interpretations, some- 
 times ill-intentioned, which the Jansenists might have slipped into 
 the various editions of his works. This doubt was solved in favor 
 of the cause by a decree of the Congregation of Rites, rendered on 
 the 10th of January 1852, and which, on the 18th of the same 
 month, was confirmed by the Sovereign Pontiff. 
 
 The process of beatification was, according to traditional custom, 
 continued by an enquiry into the virtues of Venerable de la Salle 
 and their heroic character. 
 
 On the 10th of July 1873, the Congregation of Rites, assembled 
 in a public sitting under the presidence of the Pope, decided that 
 the " theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity towards God 
 and towards his neighbor, the Cardinal virtues of Prudence, Jus- 
 tice, Fortitude and Temperance, and the ' annexed virtues ' had 
 been practised by the servant of God, John Raptist de la Salle, in 
 the heroic degree. " 
 
 It was only on the Feast of All Souls of this same year 1873 
 that this decree, so long expected, was at last promulgated. 
 
 At noon. Pius IX. entered the throne room, where a hundred 
 
628 BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 Brothers were grouped round their Superior general, who was 
 beaming with happiness. The Sovereign Pontiff seated himself 
 upon his throne, having at his right Cardinal Palrizi, Prefect of 
 the Congregation of Rites, and Cardinal Pitra, reporter of the pro- 
 cess of beatification. We know how solemn are these festivities, 
 and we have not forgotten what the majesty of Pius IX. wa.«; we 
 remember also the calm and pious countenance of Brother Philip : 
 so it is easy to picture to ourselves the whole scene. Hut how the 
 hearts of the Brothers must have leaped when Mgr Bartolini, sec- 
 retary of the Congregation of Kites, gave utterance to this solemn 
 declaration : — " It is proved that the theological virtues — Faith, 
 Hope and Charity towards God and man, as well as the Car- 
 dinal virtues — Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance, — 
 were practised in the heroic degree by the venerable servant of 
 God, John Baptist de la Salle, so that henceforth we may proceed 
 to the examination of the miracles. " 
 
 This great question of the examination of the miracles remained, 
 effectively, to be dealt with. 
 
 Now the Church has always shown herself very minutious and 
 hard to satisfy in the matter of miracles. She insists on their 
 being evident and scientifically proved. She rejects all obscure 
 or doubtful cases. Light, and still more light ! this is what she 
 cries unceasingly. 
 
 On the i'Mh of February 1883, the Congregation of Rites, 
 assembled anew, recognized the validity of the processes which 
 had been conducted simultaneously in Paris, Orleans and Rouen, 
 concerning the miracles of Venerable de la Salle. This judg- 
 ment was, on the very next day, approved by Leo Xlll., happily 
 reigning. 
 
 Since then, these miracles have never ceased to be studied 
 in Rome. The Promoter of the faith presented his objections in 
 a printed memorial which he handed to the advocxtte of the cause. 
 The advocate of the cause answered in another memorial. The 
 Consultore of the Congregation of Hitrs then devoted forty days to 
 the study t)f the alleged and contesti-d facLs. Then followetl a 
 
BOOK in. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 629 
 
 fresh memorial from the Promoter, and a fresh answer from 
 the advocate. 
 It was only now that a " Preparatory Congregation " was con- 
 
 Cardinal Pitra Postiilator of tlie cause of Blessed de la Salle and Protector of the Institute. 
 — EDtfraved by Farlei. 
 
 voked to discuss certain facts; but all ended happily, and the 
 last Congregation in which the final vote is given, and whence 
 the Pope carries away the secret of his final decision, was held. 
 All depends, indeed, on his Yes or No. 
 The whole Catholic universe read with respect and enthu- 
 
630 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 siasm this detTce on the miracles of Blessed de la Salle'. It is 
 dated the 1st of Novcmher 1887, and begins by an admirable 
 euiog>- of the servant of God. 
 
 Then the three miracles, definitely asserted and acknowledged, 
 arc related successively. We shall give them here. 
 
 The first dales from that cruel year 1832 which was to make so 
 many victims. A young girl of twenty, Victoirc Ferry, who was 
 employed in the general Hospital of Orleans, was the victim of a 
 frightful accident. A mad woman fell upon her, threw her down, 
 and tore her body with blows and kicks. They thought she would 
 have died on the spot. Slie survived, however, but only to be 
 threatened with death every day. Iler sufferings were heart- 
 rending to witness; she was burned with fever, and had fearful 
 vomitings of blood; her whole body was swollen; her blood 
 seemed to be decomposed. She sometimes remained three or 
 four hours in her mother's arms like one dead. Horrible to s;iy, 
 she was bled no less th.nn two hundred and sixteen times. This 
 living death lasted twelve years; but in 18t'», all seemed to Ikj at 
 an end. Then it was that some one told her about Venerable dc la 
 
 ' It is necessary, in order lo penetrate oursvlros with Uiesiiiril of llie Cliuich, not to 
 be too free in Die use of this word, and not to confound niirarlcs recofmized by her 
 with " favors and graces " allributcd lo Dl'ssrd de la Salle, cither after death, or during 
 his life lime. Amongst the latter, we must count Ihc cure of a Brother of Guise the 
 account of which deserves mention in a life of the holy founder : '* A Brother of the 
 Community of Guise, boin;? dangerously ill, ex pi cssed a great desire to see before he died 
 him whom he looked upon as liis father. The (lious fchool-master heard of this at Kheims 
 towards noon, and at one o'clock he set out on foot, dcspilo the burning heal of sumnjer. 
 The coarse habit, and especially a hair shirt which he wore almost always, made Iho 
 journcy most painful ; ncvcrlhclcss he walked Fcvcn Ic.n^urs that day. The noxt morning, 
 he arrived at Laon towards eleven oVIock, worn out with fatigue; but, inslead of taking a 
 litllc rest, he went to the church to say mass, and, having Liken some food, wcnl on lo 
 Guise. The Brothers, on beholding him, could scarcely believe Iheir eyes, so amazed 
 were they at the promptness with which this tender father had hastened lo grant the desire 
 of his disciple. The moment he arrived, Blessed de la Salle asked to see the sick man, 
 embraced him paternally, and addressed to him words of consolation diciated by llic 
 tcnderesl charity. The Brother, who was at the last ottremity, was moved to tears; 
 he could only lestify lii< gratitude by raising lii« eyes and hands to Heaven, to thank Uie 
 servant of God forgiving him the comfort he had so must longed for. But what was the 
 joy of Ihc Communily, on «<fing the jiiuly of the sick man and the charily of the Su|Hiior 
 rewarded by a swifl and lasting cure! All gave thanks lo God. " (/-<• Veritable Ami 
 lie Venfunce, 2nd edition, 1844, pp. 44 and 4». C.f. Canon Blain, Spirit and Work* of 
 Venerable John llaptitt de la Salle, 1882, pp. '37, 738.] 
 
^ OF TJm ''» 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
BOOK III. - AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 6.31 
 
 Salle, and she felt a sudden confidence in him as a powerful in- 
 tercessor. She read the life of the servant of God, and her con- 
 fidence increased. Seeing an account of one of the miracles he 
 had performed, she was suddenly seized with a kind of extraordi- 
 nary internal commotion. She then heard the voice of the 
 Venerable founder who appeared to her in the night, and said : 
 " Thou art cured! '' And cured she was, this sufferer who, just 
 now unable to walk, rushed out to the church, and ascended the 
 stops without any effoi't! The people surrounded hoi*, they con- 
 gratulated her, they wept for joy, and Rome was informed of the 
 prodigy, which is one of those thit the Promoter of the faith was 
 forced to acknowledge as clearly authentic. 
 
 In 1866, Brother Adelminien was directing in Paris the Com- 
 munity of Saint Nicholas-des-Ghamps. He was an active and 
 devoted master, given up wholly to his duties, and had reason to 
 look forward to long years of health. Suddenly he was stricken 
 by a thunderbolt. This thunderbolt was a disease of which the 
 illustrious Doctor Trousseau said : — ' There is no cure for it. " 
 It was what is known in medecine as progressive locomotor ataxy. 
 A horrible name, but a more horrible reality. It means a fatal 
 rupture of the whole human equilibrium. The limbs of the suf- 
 ferer are left to themselves, and cannot guide themselves; it is 
 physical anarchy. We have seen sufferers afflicted with this 
 malady, and there is not a more lamentable spectacle. The Brother 
 felt that he had no one to turn to but God and His Saints. He 
 started off heroically from Paiis, and dragged himself to the tomb 
 of Blessed de la Salle at Rouen. On the 5lh of January 1868, after 
 a first novena which brought no result, the poor stricken man, in 
 no way discouraged, began another. Suddenly he felt atrociously 
 sharp pains such as he had never known before. He might have 
 thought it was death; but, instead of that, it was his cure; a com- 
 plete, instantaneous and lasting cure. " There is no cure for it, " 
 Doctor Trousseau had said. Venerable de la Salle, Ihanks be 
 to God, had miraculously reversed the sentence of the great 
 medical man. 
 
632 
 
 DLESSED DE LA SALI.E. 
 
 The third miracle will seem more touching, for the very natural 
 
 Cut at MVkn «• Buum, ttam ■ tkttck I9 fnt IwloaclW M ttt ImMMM. — Mfiirt* kt rvfi. 
 
 reason that it was performed on a child. This poor child, named 
 
BOOK HI. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 633 
 
 Stephen de Suzanne, tliough only eleven years old, was in reality 
 older than many an old man. His rickety emaciation was painful 
 to witness; the doctors counted one hundred pulsations in his 
 feeble pulse, " and his body was so gathered up that the chin 
 touched the knees. " The family gave up all hope of saving this 
 poor little emaciated creature, who had a cough that was strangl- 
 ing. Fortunately, the parents were true Christians, who thought 
 of the child's soul. They were anxious about his First Communion. 
 The child declared with his consumptive voice that he " wanted 
 to make it. " And he did make it, but as one on his death bed. 
 They brought him his God, and he received Him with fervent 
 piety, saying that he would finish his thanksgiving in heaven. His 
 parents believed that he would, and poured out their anguish to 
 Cardinal de Bonnechose. " In your place, " said the prelate, 
 " I would ask Venerable de la Salle to cure the child. He has 
 just saved Brother Adelminien, and perhaps he will save your 
 Stephen. " The grandmother who was there, and who tenderly 
 loved her grandchild, at once seized on this hope. They began a 
 novena immediately. On the third day the child said : — "I think 
 I am going to be cured. " But, as it often happens to those about 
 to be miraculously cured, he suffered more and more. Neverthe- 
 less, he persisted in hoping, and repeated : — "I shall be cured 
 at the end of the novena. " Then, turning to his mother, " Get 
 ready my clothes, " he said, " I want to go to mass. " And he did 
 go, the day after the novena, fresh, active, gay, cured in fact. 
 Never was there a more instantaneous miracle, nor one received 
 with more joy. 
 
 Such are the miracles of which, after long and patient exami- 
 nation, the Church guarantees the authenticity. 
 
 After this declaration, the Church had exhausted all her precau- 
 tions, all her solemn preparations. There now remained to her 
 nothing but to send forth from the dome of Saint Peter's the great 
 cry which reverberates all over the universe : — " Blessed de la 
 Salle, pray for us! " 
 
 These festivities of the Beatification are splendid, and we can 
 
034 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 form some idea of them from the account of what took place in 
 Rome, on Sunday, Februan- 19lh 1888'. 
 
 ■ See the Vnivert of February 23rd ; fioin which the above is in great part taken. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 635 
 
 It is above the portico of Saint Peter's, " in the great hall of 
 
 PesUvities of the Beatiflcation. — Statue by :6mU)en Cabuchet, which was exposed iu the church of Saint Sulpice 
 during the solemn Triduum of March 13rd, Uth, isth 1888. — Engraved by Chapon. 
 
 canonization, " that the solemn rite is about to be accomplished, 
 
636 BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 and this noble hall has been adorned for the occasion. Innumer- 
 able >\'axlights make the gilding shine, and cast their rays 
 over the spectators. All are seated. In the first tribune, to the 
 right, is the Superior general, Brother Joseph, who in recol- 
 lection and prayer is preparing to assist at the triumph of the 
 glorious founder of his Institute. This day will certainly be the 
 happiest of his life, and his deep and silent joy is shared by the 
 six AssistanUs, Brothers Oz6e, Louis de Poissy, Cyrus, Junien, 
 Apronien- Marie and Baphaelis. 
 
 That Brother Adelminien, whose miraculous cure we have 
 just related, is still alive, and held to be at the high festival, and 
 there he was the living witness of a prodigy henceforth incon- 
 tested, and proclaimed by Rome. Count Stephen de Suzanne, 
 the other miraculously cured one, was not able to take his 
 place beside Brother Adelminien and thank by his presence the 
 powerful intercessor to whom he owes his life. But the family 
 of the holy founder is represented at the foot of that altar 
 where, presently, the first liturgical prayer will be offered up 
 to the glory of Blessed de la Salle. Count de la Salle de Roche- 
 maure, great-grand-nephew of John Baptist dc la Salle, occupies 
 a place of honor near the Vicars general of the diocese of Rheims, 
 where the servant of God was born, and the diocese of Rouen, 
 where he died. The other tribunes are filled with delegates of 
 the Institute, who have hastened thither from all parts of the 
 world, and will soon proclaim to all the nations of the earth, 
 where they are teaching childhood and directing youth, the never- 
 to-be-forgotten memories of this day. We see a Brother from 
 America elbowing a Brother from the Indies, a Spaniard side by 
 side with an Englishman, and nothing could be more touching 
 than the variety of so many nations all united in one and the 
 same th<»ughl, in one and the same praise. 
 
 On the benches to the right and to the left, two hundred Bi^oth- 
 crs are grouped above twenty prelates. The Archbishops of Rouen 
 and liesaiiQon are seated there beside the Bishops of Orleans an<l 
 Poitien*. Not far from them, Brother Robustinian, Postulator of 
 

 j:i!tii!jittiii:!:ijtit!i;!!! 
 
 
 £a,aABA//CfU 
 
 UOHAPON. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. G37 
 
 the cause, is waiting for the sacred rite in which he is to take so 
 prominent a part. 
 
 Before the function begins, there is time to take a view of the 
 hall where this grand liturgical drama is about to be performed. 
 Four vast canvases are spread upon the walls, and attract the eyes 
 of all; three of them represent, as accurately as may be, those three 
 miracles of Blessed de la Salle which the severity of Boman cen- 
 sure has declared to be authentic beyond all dispute. Victoria 
 Ferry, Brother Adelminien and young Stephen de Suzanne are 
 represented receiving life and healing from the blessed servant of 
 God. A fourth picture, more solemn than the others, shows us 
 the saintly founder carried up to Heaven in the arms of angels. 
 But, despite all the talent of the painter, these four scenes would 
 not be understood were they not accompanied by the.se beautiful 
 inscriptions printed in that lapidary style of which the Bomans 
 have preserved the secret. The illustrious Father Angelini un- 
 dertook to write these four legends in stately, epigraphical Latin 
 which excites universal admiration in this unique assembly 
 composed of so many scientific and literary men '. 
 
 Suddenly there is a great hush; it is ten o'clock. The door 
 behind the altar opens wide, and the officiating prelate appears, 
 accompanied by two Canons of Saint Peter's. It is to a Belgian 
 prelate, Mgr de Neckere, that the chapter has confided the celebra- 
 tion of the august rite at which we are about to assist. 
 
 At a quarter past ten, the Cardinals of the sacred Congregation 
 of Rites enter, wearing the cappa magna with white ermine. The 
 Swiss guards, in that picturesque costume of the sixteenth century, 
 go before them. The impression of solemnity deepens, all feel that 
 something great is about to take place. 
 
 The decisive moment has come at last. Brother Bobustinian, 
 Postulator of the cause, rises, and, advancing towards Cardinal 
 Bianchi, Prefect of the Congregation of Bites, asks him to promul- 
 
 ' See farther or, amongsl " Document?, " the text and translation of these four 
 inpcriplions. 
 
638 BLESSED DB LA SALLE. 
 
 gate the apostolical letters, in the form of a brief, whose object 
 is " the Beatification of Blessed de la Salle, the Venerable ser>'ant 
 of God. " 
 
 But we must not foiyet that the assembly is lieingheld in a hall 
 which is attached to the (Ihapter of Saint Peter's, and it is proper 
 that the head of this Chapter should here interfere to give his 
 consent to this solemn proclamation. The consent is given, and 
 amidst a silence of profound respect, the brief is read '. We can 
 imagine the feelings of the whole assembly at this moment; above 
 all, of Brother Joseph and his Religious; we can fancy what their 
 emotion must have been beneath their external calm and self- 
 contained joy. 
 
 As soon as the reading of the brief is over, Mfl"" de Neckere en- 
 tones in a loud voice the song of the Church in her triumphs and 
 rejoicings — To Deum laudamus! 
 
 Te Deum laudamus! We thank Thoe, 0, my God, for having 
 sent this consolation to Thy Church in her heavy trials. 
 
 Te Deum laudamus! We thank Thee, 0, my God, for giving 
 such a testimony of Thy love to this holy instructor of children, 
 in an hour when Christian education is subject to such perfidious 
 and dangerous attacks. 
 
 Te Deum laudamus! We thank Thee, 0, my God, in the name 
 of those liffeen thousand spiritual sons of Blessed de la Salle; 
 in the name of the oldest Brother and of the youngest novice, in 
 the name of their three hundred thousand pupils; in the name of 
 France, which has been the cradle of the Institute, and where, 
 as Mo"" d'Annecy so aptly said, " arose this sun which enlightens 
 and warms the world of souls. " 
 
 Scarcely had Mo"" de Neckere begun to entone the Tc Dcum, 
 when the veil which hid the picture of Blessed de la Salle and 
 
 ' Sec rurllicr on in " DorumonU, " Ihe Icxl and translation or these apostolical letters 
 to which wc have ap|)cnde<l tlio new olTlce ot Hlessed d<- la Salic and the Pastoral letter 
 of the Arrhbishop of I'atis. The Ft'ast of ItlesRed de la Salle, as a doultle of the flrst 
 riass, will l)c kept every year, on May 4th, in the dioceses of Hhrim*, Paris and Houen, 
 and in all the cha|iels of the Brothers. 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 639 
 
 his relics was suddenly drawn aside. At the same moment, an 
 indescribable harmony struck upon the ear; it was the bells 
 of Saint Peter's ringing out the glad tidings to Rome and to the 
 world. But, however imposing may be the language of bells, 
 it needs to be translated, and the officiating prelate interprets it. 
 The Te Deum is over, and Mti'' de Neckere calls out in rhythmical 
 tones of the utmost solemnity : Blesied John Baptist de la Salle, 
 pray for us! This is the first time that invocation has been publicly 
 uttered, and henceforth the world will reverberate with it to the 
 end of time. All present make the liturgical response familiar to 
 the children of the Church, and in which such high doctrine is 
 condensed : Ut digni efflciamur promissionibus Christi. For the 
 first time, too, is heard that " proper " of the Blessed founder, 
 and for the first time his relics are incensed. Then mass begins; 
 the mass Justus of Confessors who are not Pontiffs. It is sung in 
 music by the choristers of the Juliana chapel of Saint Peter's and 
 the choir of Saint Saviour's in Laura. The chaunls are noble and 
 worthy of the festival ; but they do not prevent the assistants from 
 listening with recollection to that Collect, that Secret, that Post- 
 communion which, approved by the Congregation of Rites, will be 
 to-morrow printed in all our missals, and recited by every priest 
 at every altar all over the world. 
 
 At half past twelve, the first function is over. 
 
 But the Sovereign Pontiff has not yet appeared, and the last and 
 most solemn part of the rite, which is reserved for the afternoon of 
 this memorable day, has yet to be accomplished. 
 
 The Pope, at four o'clock, enters the hall of canonization to vener- 
 ate the relics and the image of Blessed de la Salle. He is received 
 with great pomp by the Chapter of Saint Peter's, and the students 
 of the Vatican Seminary, who accompany him to the altar. The hall 
 presents the same spectacle as in the morning; but now seculars 
 occupy more of its space. It was essential that France should not 
 be absent from these precincts where such honors have been dis- 
 cerned to a great Christian and a great Frenchman; and France is 
 there, effectively, represented by her Ambassador, Count Lefebvre de 
 
640 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Behiiine, and by the whole slaff of the Embassy in full dress. These 
 Frenchmen are conscious of the august duty they are fuIfilUng, and 
 they accomplish it with respect. Leo XIII. is at the foot of the 
 
 d« U HaU« 111 glorf. — Kavrmrtd l>j PftCtlcr, from « compOAilio* of 1.. 
 Uilu4(4 10 p«r)ietBaU tbe iMaioiT of ik* tMttrlUM at ik« BMIUkatlua. 
 
 altar, and his prayer does not last less than half an hour amidst 
 universal silence. What lofty thoughts, what thanksgiving, what 
 ardent supplications go up in that prayer of the Sovereign Pon- 
 tiff in which all present are silently joining! Hut, at last, the Pop<' 
 rises, and the Superior general of the Institute of the Brothers 
 
BOOK III. — AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 641 
 
 offers him the usual oblations. These oblations consist in the life 
 of Blessed de la Salle, his picture, a wonderful bouquet of flowers, 
 above all in a fihgree reliquary adorned with precious stones, and 
 containing a relic of the Beatified servant of God. Leo XIII. then 
 addresses to Brother Joseph and the Brothers who accompany 
 him a few words in which the gentleness of the father tempers the 
 
 Commemoratire medal struck in honor of the Beatiflcation of Blessed de la Salle. 
 — Engraved by Kapler, from the original of A. BoreL 
 
 majesty of the King. The great-grand-nephew of Blessed de la 
 Salle is admitted with them to the favor of kissing the hand 
 which blesses the City and the world. Then, the Sovereign Pontiff 
 withdraws, and Vespers begin. With what joy the Brothers join 
 in the Magnificat! 
 
 And now all is over, and the great day of the 19th of Febru- 
 ary 4888 is henceforth only a memory. But, in truth, it is a 
 memory which will live as long as the Institute of Blessed de la 
 
 41 
 
612 
 
 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Sjille, that is to say as long as Christian humanity; and it will 
 re-echo to the end of time that prayer on which the Church, in 
 introducing it into her liturgy, has set an indelible seal : — 
 
 " God, Who didst raise up the Blessed John Baptist, Confessor, 
 to teach the poor the way of salvation, and to give science to little 
 ones, and Who hast through him gathered together a nexv family 
 in the Church, grant, we beseech Thee, unto all those that instruct 
 Christian youth, always to follow his example and profit by his 
 intercession. Through our Lord. Amen. " 
 
 This prayer is the most lasting, and at the same time the most 
 beautiful panegyric of Blessed de la Salle. It sums up this book, 
 and bv it will we end it in Christo Jesul 
 
f 
 
 DOCUMENTS 
 
APOSTOLICAL BRIEF 
 
 CONCERNING THE BEATIFICATION 
 
 OF THE VENERABLE SERVANT OF GOD 
 
 JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE. 
 
 LEO PP. XIII, 
 
 AD PERPETUAM REI MEMORIAM. 
 
 Qui doctrinae salutaris lumine rudes atque inscios homines collu- 
 strant, ut Vitae et Veritatis viam ineant, quam praeclaro munere fungan- 
 tur, quamque insignem aeternae gloriae coronam sint recepturi, Divince 
 Litterae nos edocent, cum eos hoc commendant praeconio : « Qui ad 
 justiliam erudiunt multos, quasi stellae in perpetuas aeternitates. » 
 (Dan. XII, 3.) Atque hac potissimum corona donandi videntur, qui, 
 
 LEO XIII., POPE, 
 
 IN PERPETUAL MEMORY OF THE MATTER. 
 
 How sublime is the function exercised, and how brilliant the crown of eternal glory 
 that shall be received by those who carry the light of the doctrine of salvation to the 
 rude and ignorant, that they may walk in the way of life and truth. Holy Writ teaches 
 us, in passing upon them this eulogy : " Those that instruct many to Justice, shall shine 
 as stars for all eternity. " (Dan., xir, 3.) Most especially deserving of this crown are they 
 
64G BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 posthabilis rebus liumanis, omnoHi suam curam operamque in eo 
 collocant, iit nimimm cliristiani homines jam inde a pueritia imbuan- 
 tur Evangelica doctrina et coelestibus iis praeceplis quae ad Vilam recta 
 perducunt. 
 
 Inter hujusmodi fideles Christi administros mire excelluit, sieculo 
 decimo septimo, Joannes Baptista de la Salle, quem providens Deus 
 voluit per id tempus in Ecclesia existere, ut, cum late disseminati ser- 
 perent in Gallia Jansenii errores, ipse integritatem fidei et patrimo- 
 nium christianae sapientiae in juventute tueretur. 
 
 Natus est Rhemis in Gallia, anno Domini MDCLI, Ludovico et Nicolaa 
 Moet parentibus, qui studium domeslicaj laudis non tarn in nobilitate 
 generis quam in pielate ponebant. In puerulo bona spes, et mirifica 
 virlutis indoles, quae non modo nunquam restincta, sed firmata est quo- 
 tidie magis, pnesertim cum tales essent parentes, qui facile noUent 
 a nalura sejungi disciplinam. Quapropter non mirum est si Joannes 
 Haptista ad pietatem excolendam mature animum appulerit, nugas 
 vero ineptiasque, quibus puerilis aplas delectari maxime solet, jam a 
 teneris faslidiverit, sanctorum econtra Vitas atque Historias in deliciis 
 habens. Puer enim ad sanctitatem natus jam turn studiose quaerere 
 visus est praestans aliquod exemplar, quod sibi ad imitandum propo- 
 neret. Naturae interea virtus moribus perficiebatur : parentibus ita 
 obsequi , ut ne leviter quidem de eo queri possenl ; periculosis coeti- 
 bus et ludis abstinere ; templa frequens adire ; rei divinae non adstare 
 
 who, disrofrarding tliinprs human, devote all their attention and all their efforts to initiate 
 Christian soulsi, from early youth, into Evangelical doctrine and thosp celestial precepts 
 which conduce directly to life. Among those faithful st-rvants of Christ, admirahly shone 
 forth in the seventeenth century John Baptist de la Salle, whom God, in His Providence, 
 raised up in His Church at a time when the errors of .lansenius were being scattered 
 broadcast throughout France, in order to maintain intact among youth the integrity of 
 their faith and their inheritance of Christian wisdom. 
 
 He was Iwrn in Bheims, France, in the year of Our l.oni 1651, of Louis and Nicole 
 Mo<-t, who sought to make the chii-f glory of their house consist rather in piety of life 
 than in a noble extraction. His childhood was full of promise; he showed a wonderful 
 disjtosition for virtue, which, far from relaxing, became confirmed, and increased from 
 day to day under the guidance of |iarenls who gave a wise direction to his natural incli- 
 nations. Whfrrfore it is not to Ix' wondoreil at tlipl .lohn Baptist should, at an early 
 agf, give himself up to the cultivation of piety, and that he despiseil the trilles and 
 frivolities in which youth is accustomed to delight, finding, on the contrary, great 
 pleasure in reading the Ijves and narratives of the Saints. For already does this child 
 bom to holiness seem to seek some eminent model which he might pro])oso to himsell 
 for imitation. In the meantime, his conduct pt-rfects his natural virtues. So BubmlMive 
 is he to his parents that they cannot find in him tlie least cause for complaint : he abstains 
 from d.nnirerouH company and amusements; he is fre<]uenlly in church, and not only do04 
 
DOCUMENTS. 647 
 
 solum, sed perlitanti sacerdoti rite inservire; omnia denique pietatis 
 officia persolvere, sic ad pietatem compositus ut caeteris exemplo 
 esset. 
 
 Quum vero per aetatem licuit, celeb rare scholas ccepit, in quibus 
 specimen dedit sane optimum et animi et ingenii. Non minus enim 
 parandis virtutibus quam litteris addiscendis operam navavit , tanta 
 vero sedulitate et solertia, ut aequalibus suis in exemplum praeluxerit, 
 magistrorum expectationem longe superaverit. Ut primum e pueris 
 excessit, quum se divino quodam instinctu ad sacerdotium sentiret 
 impelli, data a parentibus venia, ab archiepiscopo Rhemensi impetra- 
 vit, ut in clericorum numerum adscisceretur. Tum probe intelligens, 
 quae praestanda sint officia ab iis qui vocati sunt in sortem Domini, 
 eam amplexus est vitas rationem, qua plane videbatur omnibus jam 
 ille singulari virtutum excellentiae praeludere, quam postea est conse- 
 cutus. Vita tam sancte instituta quantam ei existimationem pepererit, 
 vel ex eo conjici potest, quod cum quidam Archidiaconus, beneficio, quo 
 in aede metropolitana cum Canonici titulo fruebatur, se abdicare vellet , 
 Joannem Baptistam sponte delegit, cui conferretur. Neque vero opi- 
 nio de adolescente hominem fefellit : quoniam ille inter Canonicos 
 cooptatus, adeo fuit officii memor, ut et ornamenta collegis esset et 
 exemplo. 
 
 Interea, curriculo litterarum emenso, ad severiorum disciplinarum 
 stadium alacriter sese contulit. In Rhemensi enim Athenaeo philoso- 
 
 he assist at the Iioly Sacrifice, but he serves the priest in the celebration of the sacred 
 mysteries ; in a word, he fulfils all his religious duties with such piety as to be an example 
 unto others. 
 
 When his years permitted, he began to attend school, where he displayed the highest 
 qualities of head and heart. He applied himself with such diligence and assiduity, no 
 less to the acquisition of virtue than to the study of letters, that he became a shining 
 light for his companions and surpassed the highest expectations of his masters. As he 
 advanced in years, he felt himself as by a Divine inspiration drawn towards the priest- 
 hood, and besought, with the consent of his parents, the Archbishop of Rheims to admit 
 him among his clergy. Henceforth, realizing the obligations of those who are called to 
 the inheritance of the Lord, he embraced a mode of life which, as was evident to all, 
 already gave earnest of the high degree of virtue that he was afterwards to attain. In 
 what esteem a life so holily begun was held, may be gathered from the fact, that when a 
 certain Archdeacon wished to resign a benefice with the title of Canon in the Metropo- 
 litan church, he, at once, chose John Baptist to be his successor. Nor was he deceived 
 in his choice of the young man; for, once admitted amongst the canons, he was so 
 mindful of duty, that he became an ornament and a model to his colleagues. In the 
 meantime, having completed his course of humanities, he cheerfully gave himself up to 
 more arduous studies. In the Academy of Rheims, he wins the highest honors in philosophy ; 
 thence, with due authorization, he goes to Paris in order to study Theology; and in the 
 
G48 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 phiae lauream summa ingenii laude meritus est, et, cum theologiae 
 operam dare cuperet, facta facultate, Lutetiam Parisiorum est pro- 
 fectus, ibique in florenlissimo Sancti Sulpicii seminario, tanquam in 
 jwrnobili virtutis et doclrinae palestra, laudum optimi cujusque brevi 
 ;emulator extitit. Profecto facile existimari potest, quanta contentione 
 homo constantis ingenii excolendique animi cupidus ad Theologiae et 
 sacrarum lilterarum studium incumberet, et quam avide ex divinis 
 hisce fontibus sapienliam hauriret. Quapropter, magna doctrinae supel- 
 lectile instructus, Rhemos in palriam revertitur, atque ibi quum annos 
 ad XXVII natus esset, pridie diei Paschatis, sacerdolio initiatus est. 
 
 Turn vero apud se reputans non amplius se sui juris, sed Dei pro- 
 prium esse quasi mancipio et nexu, se totum ejus gloriae el proximo- 
 rum saluti tradere planeque devovere constituit. Quamobrem nullum 
 sane est onus, quod Dei causa sibi non suscipiendum existimet; nul- 
 lum sacri muneris oflicium , quo sacerdos novensilis non naviter inte- 
 greque defungatur. Proinde divino cultui provehendo sedulam dare 
 operam; de catholicae fidei veritate crebras ad populum habere con- 
 dones; curare diligenter ne Janseniani contagione sua caeteros christia- 
 nos labefacerent ; pcenitentiae sacramentum , quo nihil est humano 
 generi salutarius, assidue administrare ; visere demum legi-otos, solari 
 calamitosos, consilio, opera, prout res postulabat, proximos quotidie 
 juvare. Quoniam vero compertum habuerat populum in sacerdotes tan- 
 quam in specula oculos conjicere, eorumque mores plus quam praecepta 
 
 very flourishing seminary of Saint Sulpico, as in a most noble school of virtue and science, 
 he soon becomes the rival in merit of the most distinguished amongst his fellow students. 
 Indeed, it may easily he imagined with what earnest application a man of such persevering 
 disposition, and anxious to cultivate his mind, devoted liimself to the study of Theology 
 and the Sacred Sciences, and with what avidily he derived wisdom from these Divine 
 sources. Wherefore, he returned to Rheims, his birthplace, bearing with him a large 
 supply of learning, and there, in the twenty -seventh year of his age, on Holy Saturday, 
 he was ordained priest. Henceforth, considering that he no longer belonged to himself, 
 but to God alone as His servant and bondsman, he devoted himself wholly and entirely 
 to procure the glory of his Master and the salvation of his neighl>or. And so, there is 
 no burden that he does not deen) it his duty to assume in the cause of God; there is no 
 function of the sacred ministry that the newly -ordained priest does not apply himself to, 
 and that he does not faithfully discharge. Wherefore he unremittingly gives his care 
 to everything calculated to promote the Divine worship : explaining to the |H>oplo the 
 truths of Catholic faith; taking evciy precaution lest the malady of Jansenism should 
 spread among Christians hitherto unaffected; as^iduously administering the sacrament of 
 l«nance, than which nothing is more salutary for mankind; visiting the sick, consoling 
 the afflicted, and constantly, by word and work, aiding his neighbor as occasion prtscnls 
 itself. And t)ccause ho was convinced that tlie people have their eyes flxed u|)on the priest 
 as upon a mirror, and that his conduct speaks more efllcaciously than his precepts, he 
 
DOCUMENTS. 649 
 
 valere ad disciplinam , talem se praebere studuit , qualem olim Paulus 
 voluerat se praestitisse Titum : « In omnibus temetipsum prsebe exem- 
 plum bonorum operum, in doctrina, in integritate, in gravitate. » 
 
 Veriim in Joanne Baptista eximia omnino et singularis laus fuit, 
 atque inter cseteras virtutes ejus mirabiliter eluxit summa sequanimitas 
 cum fere incredibili constantia et firmitate animi conjuncta. Ex quo 
 quidem factum est, ut postea, in explendo munere sibi a Deo assignato, 
 omnia adversa quiete patienterque pertulerit, et a magnis difficultati- 
 bus, in quas ssepe incurrit, nunquam sit deterritus. 
 
 Sed divinae Providentise numen cito causam obtulit pientissimo 
 viro, cur ille manum admoveret operi, quod vim beneficiorum chri- 
 stianse civilique reipublicoe attulit maximam, et gloriam nominis ejus 
 ad posteritatem consecravit. Etenim, quum aliquot scholis ad institutio- 
 nem puellarum antea, postea puerorum inopum inchoatis potius, quam 
 constitutis praeficeretur, ipse ad salutem animarum prudens vidit pla- 
 neque sensit quanta utilitas ex iis manare potuisset in populum, si 
 hujusmodi scholas certis institutis et legibus regerent viri divino cul- 
 tui addicti atque in banc curam unice intenti. Idcirco, a Deo opti- 
 morum consiliorum auctore ope implorata, mentem voluntatemque 
 suscepit instituendi Collegium magistrorum, qui pueros maxime e 
 plebe ad religionem probosque mores et ad rudimenta litterarum 
 informarent. 
 
 Neque mora interposita suam ipsius domum vult prima incunabula 
 
 sought to be what formerly St Paul had counselled Titus to prove himself: " In all 
 things show thyself an example of good works, in doctrine, in integrity in gravity. " 
 (Titus, II, 7.) But the virtue that shone above all others, and was his special glory, was 
 great equanimity combined with almost incredible constancy and firmness of soul. 
 Whence it is that afterwards, in fuirilling the ministry to which God appointed him, he 
 bore all opposition quietly and patiently, and was never deterred by any difficulties, 
 however great, that frequently beset his path. 
 
 But Divine Providence soon presented to this most devout man a motive for under- 
 taking a work which should bring an abundance of blessings to the Christian and civil 
 commonwealth, and consecrate the glory of his name for all time. While in charge at 
 first of girls' schools, and later of boys', which were in an inchoate state, his insight 
 into what was needful for the salvation of souls, soon saw and perfectly understood 
 of what great use to the people these schools might be, if directed according to certain 
 rules and principles by men consecrated to God and exclusively devoted to that object. 
 With this view, having implored the assistance of God, Author of every good counsel, 
 he devoted all his energies to the formation of a society of teachers to instruct children , 
 and chiefly those of the people, in religion, morality, and the rudiments of learning. 
 Without delay, he designs his own house to become the cradle of the work, and in it he 
 establishes the Novitiate wherein the masters might be trained to the piety and science, 
 which afterwards they, as they would be sent forth elsewhere, were to impart to youth. 
 
RSO BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 praebere operi, in qua magistri tyrocinio posito ad earn pietatem ac 
 disciplinam erudiantur, quam posthac, peregre missi, pueris impertiant. 
 
 Itaque nonnullos bonae spei adolescentes elegit, jam alumnos disci- 
 plinae suae, quibus docendi methodum traderet altricemque domum 
 VIII Kal. Julias an. MDCLXXXI. Dei auspicio et numine dedicavit. 
 
 Uumani generis hostis, quasi futura praesentiens , consiliis coeptisque 
 hujusmodi acriter intercessit, quin tamen se flecti Joannes Baptisla, 
 deque sententia incoeptoque dimoveri sineret. Immo vero etiam, cum 
 nascentis Congregationis fama percrebresceret juvenesque tradendi se 
 in disciplinam sancti viri cupidos complures arcesseret, ipse alumno- 
 rum numerum auxit et in ampliori domo sedem Instituti stabilem 
 collocavit. Neque est civili societati desideratus diu uber et praestans 
 operae fructus. Etenim brevi interjecto annorum spatio , cum illi puero- 
 rum erudiendorum rationem jam satis iniissent, non modo Rhemis, 
 sed aliis etiam in oppidis Galliae scholas aperuerunt ad normam quam 
 erant edocti. Solers vir, ut christianae puerorum institutioni se penitus 
 dederet, ab omni rerum humanarum cura et cogitatione se abduxit, 
 ac sibi dictam interpretatus eam Evangelii sententiam : c Nolite possidere 
 aurum , neque argentum , neque pecuniam in zonis vestris, > divenditis 
 omnibus bonis, quidquid pecuniae redegerat dispersit, dedit pauperi- 
 bus, sibique et Congregationi suae sociam comitemque constituit pau- 
 pertatem. Sed quo plus Joannes Baptista se terrestribus despoliaverat , 
 eo largius illi divinae bonitatis dona affluxerunt. Omnibus enim negotiis 
 
 Therefore he selected some young men of promise, wlio had been already trained by 
 himself, to whom he pave his own method of teaching; and June 24th 1681, he dedicated 
 the mother-house under the auspices and the blessinp of God. The enemy of man, as 
 though foreseeing the future, fiercely thwarted these designs and undertakings; but John 
 Baptist did not allow himself to be turned aside from his decision and from the work 
 begun. On the contrary, as the fame of the rising Congregation grew apace, and 
 attracted numerous youths desirous of receiving instruction from the holy man, he 
 increased the number of his disciples and permanently eslablish«l the seal of the Insti- 
 tute in a larger house. .Nor had the public long to wait in ex|)eclation of abundant and 
 excellent fruits from the work. In a few years, as soon as his disciples had learned 
 the method of leaching, they opened schools not only in Rheims but in other towns of 
 France as well, which they conducted according to their rules. This thoughtful man, 
 in order to give himself wholly to the Christian education of youth, divested himself 
 of all concern and solicitude about liuman affairs, and applying to himself that sentence 
 of Holy Writ : " Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses " 
 (Matth., X, 9), and selling all his goods, he distributed the proceeds among the |)oor and 
 chose poverty as the friend and companion of himself and his Congregation. But the 
 more John Baptist divested himself of earthly goods, the more abundantly did he receire 
 the gifts of Divine goodness. Free from all worldly anxiety, his soul grew stronger in 
 charity, and became the more inflamed in the pursuit of virtue ; and not content w ith 
 
DOCUMENTS. 651 
 
 expeditus, vehementiorem concepit animo charitatem acriusque exar- 
 sit in studia virtutum, ad quae non solum contendit ipse, sed etiam 
 discipulos suos exemplo provocavit. Eorum autem vitae disciplinam et 
 scholarum rationem cum certain et stabilitam esse vellet, propterea 
 leges scivit Evangelii pr^ceptis apprime consentaneas , quas auctoritas 
 et judicium sapientium virorum antea probavit, successus deinde atque 
 experimentum amplissime confirmavit. Gum vero litterarum primordiis 
 pueros diligentissime imbui voluit, nihil curavit magis , atque in oculis 
 habuit, quam ut teneris animis per christianam doctrinam Evangelicae 
 veritatis lumen affulgeret. Constat tot tantisque curis et laboribus in- 
 dustrii viri fructus sane copiosos respondisse. 
 
 Verum jampridem desiderium ingens eum incesserat communicandi 
 hujusmodi utilitates atque fructus cum Gallia universa : propterea, non 
 sine providentis Dei consilio, cum duobus alumnis suis Lutetiam se 
 contulit. Vixdum operi sese accinxerat, incredibile fere est, quam 
 repentina atque atrox molestiarum tempestas coorta sit, et quam acerbe 
 et contumeliose inveherentur in eum Janseniani. 
 
 Accessit etiam quod, initio puerilis hujus institutionis, gravia quoque 
 impedimenta illata sint, a quibus minime debuissent. lUe tamen illusus, 
 jactatus injuriis, vexatus ignominia calumnise, deductus in judicium, 
 pecunia mulctatus, ad ludibrium positus procacitatis impudentiasque 
 ludi magistrorum, omnia pertulit, omnia exsorbuit animo non minus 
 aequo quam invicto. 
 
 being alone, he stimulated his disciples to the same practice by his example. As he 
 wished their rule of life and their school -methods to be certain and stable, he framed 
 laws in strict conformity with the precepts of the Gospel, which had been previously 
 approved by the authority and judgment of prudent men, and which success and expe- 
 rience afterwards fully confirmed. When, therefore, he would diligently instruct children 
 in the first principles of learning, he had at heart chiefly to enlighten their tender souls 
 by means of Christian doctrine with the light of Evangelical truth. And it is noteworthy 
 what abundant fruit was gathered from the many and great cares and labors of this 
 industrious man. For sometime he was seized with a great desire to tlisserainate 
 throughout France the advantages and fruits of his work, and, for this purpose, under 
 the guidance of God's Providence, he repaired with two of his disciples to Paris. Here he 
 had scarcely begun his work, when it is almost incredible to relate what a sudden and 
 atrocious tempest of annoyances rose up, and how the Jansenists vented against him 
 their bitterness and outrages. Moreover, it happened that at the beginning of this 
 infant Institution grave impediments arose even on the part of those from whom they 
 should be least expected. 
 
 Ridiculed, maltreated, harassed by ignominious calumnies, drawn into lawsuits, 
 mulcted in fines, made sport of through the insolence of school -masters, he bore wilh 
 all, overcame all with a courage as unmoved as it was invincible. Indeed, by reason of 
 the particular and intimate union with which he was bound to the Church of Rome, he 
 
652 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Profecto ex singular! intimoque nexu, quo erat cum Ecclesia Romana 
 (levinctus, sa>pe graves subiit improborura ofTensiones et odia. Sed ille 
 plane inteliigens ex hac Petri cathedra, tanquam ex stirpe ad ramos, 
 ad singulas Christianas institutiones principium vitas et viriditatis 
 affluere, se suamque Congregationem tutelaj Romanorum Pontificum 
 commendavit. Quod quidem luculenter testatur legatio ad Clementem XI 
 decessorem Nostrum niissa, ut obsequium coram profiteretur, Instituti 
 rationem exponeret, scholam in Urbe aperiret et regulas auctoritati 
 Pontificis Maximi subjiceret. 
 
 Cum sibi interea videretur operis tutelae et conservationi satis con- 
 sultum, a Congregationis gubernaculo, id quod propter magnam animi 
 demissionem non semel tentaverat, recedere decrevit. Rem vero ita 
 dexter egit, ut (ieret voti compos, et qui Congregationis auctor et 
 moderator extiterat, discipulorum suorum pareret imperio. Plurima 
 tamen cum adhuc esset in eo auctoritas, ea sic usus est, ut nihil inde 
 adeptus sit commodi, difficultates vero, labores, molestias, et qui 
 paulo post concitati sunt fluctus, omnes in eum redundantes susce- 
 perit. Dei tamen fiducia et conscientijB testimonio fretus, saeviente 
 extrinsecus procella, animi servavit aequabilitatem , et cum magis omni- 
 genis ejusmodi molestiis premeretur, extremo morbo correptus, intra 
 paucos dies placidissimo exitu spiritum efflavit. 
 
 Obeunte ipso, non quidem exaruit fons rerum salutarium, quas insti- 
 tuerat; imo vero ad perennitatem manans, et in plurimos quasi rivulos 
 
 was frequently the object of grave insults and of odium on the part of the wicked. But, 
 knowing full well that from the Chair of Peter flows the principle of life and vigour, as 
 sap from the parent-stock to the branches, he recommended himself and his Congrega- 
 tion to the protection of the Roman Pontiffs. This is strikingly proved in his deputing 
 a Brother to Our predecessor, Clement XI., to render hommage to his person, to explain to 
 . him the method of the Institute, to open a school in Rome, and to submit his rules to the 
 authority of the Sovereign Pontiff. In the meantime, when he thought he had sufficiently 
 provided for the protwtion and preservation of his work, he resolved, as out of great hu- 
 mility he had already more than once attempted, to withdraw from the government of the 
 Congregation. So skilfully did he manage, that he obtained the object of his desires, and 
 he who had been the founder and director of the Congregation, now became obedient to 
 the goveinment of his disciples. Rut as a certain amount of authority was still vested 
 in him, he use<J it in such a manner that no advantage accrued to him therefrom; but he 
 rcserve<l to himself as liis own all the difliculties, all the labors, all the vexations and 
 storms that in a little while rose up against him. Sustained by his confidence in God 
 and the testimony of his conscience, while furious storms raged without, he held his soul 
 in jieace; at the lime that he was most harassed by jwrseculion of every kind, he was 
 seiziil with his last illness, and in a few days breathed forth his soul in peace. 
 
 Rut after his death the source of the salutary works he had established did not dry 
 up; on the contrary, always flowing, its waters are distributed into many streams which 
 
DOCUMENTS. 653 
 
 per universas orbis terrarum partes deductus, copiose irrigat Ecclesiam. 
 Magna interea cum jam esset virtu tum commendatio, tum post ejus 
 obitum aucta magis est, ac latius diffusa. Quapropter fel. rec. Pio IX 
 decessore Nostro Pontifice Maximo, absolutis omnibus quae in hujus- 
 modi judicio erant necessaria, in Congregatione Cardinalium Sacris 
 Ritibus prsepositorum disceptari coeptum est de virtutibus, quibus Vene- 
 rabilis Joannes Baptista de la Salle inclaruit, easque de ejusdem Con- 
 gregationis assensu, heroicum attigisse culmen declaravit idem decessor 
 noster Kalendis Novembribus an. MDCCCLXXIII. Postea quoestio agi- 
 tata est de miraculis, quae, Venerab. Joanne Baptista de la Salle depre- 
 cante, a Deo patrata ferebantur, rebusque omnibus severissimo judicio 
 ponderatis, tria miracula vera et explorata sunt habita; ideoque Nos 
 Kal. Nov. an. MDGCGLXXXVII Decretum edidimus de eorumdem 
 miraculorum veritate, atque ad ulteriora procedi concessimus, quin 
 esset necesse ad alterius miraculi pervestigationem venire. Illud super- 
 erat, ut dictae Congregationis Cardinales rogarentur, num tuto procedi 
 posse censerent ad Beatorum honores Ven. Joanni Baptistoe de la Salle 
 decernendos; iique, in generali conventu coram Nobis habito XVII 
 Kalendas Decembres an. MDCCCLXXXVII , tuto id fieri posse unanimi 
 consensione responderunt. Nos tamen in re tanti momenti Nostram 
 aperire mentem distulimus, donee fervidis precibus a Patre luminum 
 subsidium posceremus. Quo facto, tandem, V Kalendas Decembres 
 an. MDCCCLXXXVII solemni decreto pronuntiavimus procedi tuto 
 
 flow throughout the whole world and copiously irrigate the Church. The fame of Ills 
 virtue, already very great, increased after his death and became widely known. Wherefore, 
 under Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius IX., all requisite forms for a judgment of 
 this nature having been completed, discussion was begun in the Congregation of cardi- 
 nals of Sacred Rites, upon the virtues that shone out in the Venerable John Baptist de 
 la Salle; and, with the concurrence of the said Congregation, Our predecessor, on the 
 first day of November 1873, declared those virtues to have reached the degree of heroic. 
 Then was discussed the question of miracles said to have been wrought by God, through 
 the intercession of the Venerable John Baptist de la Salle, and all things having been 
 examined with the strictest investigation, three miracles were admitted as certain and 
 proven. And so, We, on the first day of November 1887, published a decree regarding 
 the authenticity of those miracles, and permitting the Congregation to proceed to the 
 next step without discussion of any further miracle. It only remained to ask the cardi- 
 nals of the aforesaid Congregation if the honors of the beatified might in all safety be 
 decreed to the Venerable John Baptist de la Salle ; and the said cardinals, in a general 
 assembly held in Our presence November 15th 1887, unanimously replied that they might 
 be so decreed. We, however, deferred pronouncing judgment in a matter of such great 
 moment, until by fervent prayer We had implored assistance from the Father of lights. 
 Which having done. We solemnly decreed, November 27th 1887, that in all security the 
 beatification of the Venerable John Baptist de la Salle might be proceeded with. 
 
654 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 posse ad solemnem Ven. Joannis Baplistae de la Salle Beatificalionem. 
 Qua? cum itasinl, Nos, precihus permoti universal Congregationis Fra- 
 trum Scholarum christianarum , auctoritate Nostra Aposlolica, haioim 
 Litterarum vi facuUatem facimus, ut idem Venerabilis Dei Servus Joan- 
 nes Baptista de la Salle Beati nomine in posterum nuncupelur, ejus- 
 que corpus et lipsana seu reliquiae, non lamen in solemnibus suppli- 
 cationibus deferendie , publicae fidelium venerationi proponantur, atque 
 imagines radiis <lecorentur. 
 
 Pneterea, eadem auctoritate Nostra Apostolica, concedimus, ut de illo 
 recitetur Officium et Missa singulis annis de Communi Confessorum 
 cum orationibus propriis per nos approbatis, juxta rubricas Missalis et 
 Breviarii Romani. Ilanc vero officii recitationem Missajque celebra- 
 tionem fieri dumlaxat concedimus in civitatibus et dioecesibus Rhoto- 
 magensi, Rliemensi et Parisiensi, templisque omnibus atque oratoriis 
 piarum domorum Congregationis Fratrum Scholarum christianarum, 
 ab omnibus christifidelibus qui Horas canonicas recitare teneantur, et, 
 quod ad Missas attinel, ab omnibus sacerdotibus, tam sajcularibus quam 
 regularibus, ad Ecclesias in quibus festum agitur confluentibus. 
 
 Denique concedimus, ut solemnia Beatificationis Ven. Joannis Bapti- 
 sta) de la Salle in templis supradictis celebrentur cum Officio et Missa 
 duplicis majoris ritus, quod quidem fieri praecipimus die per Ordina- 
 ries respective designanda, intra annum, postquam eadem solemnia 
 ob temporum conditiones in Aula superiori porticus BasiUcae Vatican^ 
 
 Sucli bfinp llic case, iirgi-d by the prayers of the whole Congregation of the Brothers 
 of the Christian Schools, We do, by Our Apostolical authority, in virtue of these Letters, 
 (H'ant the right of henreforth calling this same servant of God, John Itajitist de la Salle, 
 by the title of Blessed, and that his liody and all relics belonging to him be cxjtosed for 
 the public veneration of the faithful — except that they cannot bo borne in solemn public 
 prayer— and furthermore that his pictures be adorned with rays. Moreover, by this 
 Rami- A|>ostolical authority of Ours, We grant that there be recited once a year in his 
 honor an Office and the Mass common to Confessors with proper prayers approved by 
 I's, and in conformity with the rubrics of the Missal and the Itoman Breviary. But Uie 
 recitation of the Office and the celebration of Mass, We grant only to llie cities and 
 dioccs<>s of Houen, Rheim-<, and Paris, and to all the churches and oratories of the pious 
 houses of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, by all the failhhil 
 who are obliged to recite the canonical hours; and as regards the Mass, by all priests, 
 iKith secular and re^'ular, frequenting the churches in which the feast shall he cclebra- 
 U-i\. Finally, We grant that the solemnity of the t>eatiflcation of the Venerable John 
 Baptist de la Salle l>o c<-lebrated in the aforesaid churches, with the Office and Mass of 
 double major rite, and We ordain that thi-s Ix' done on whatever day within the year, Uio 
 rfi|x'etivi' Ordinai'ii's shall decide Ujion, after the said soleinnily, as it may l)e found 
 ronvcnirnt as t4) time, shall have Urn celebrated in the upper hall of Uio |>ortico of the 
 Vatican Basilica — all constitutions, Apostolic ordinances and decrees do non cullu to 
 
DOCUMENTS. 655 
 
 celebrata fuerint. Non obstantibus Constitutionibus et Ordinationibus 
 apostolicis ac decretis de non cultu editis, cseterisque contrariis qui- 
 buscumque. Volumus autem ut harum Litterarum exemplis etiam 
 impressis, dummodo manu Secretarii supradictae Congregationis sub- 
 scripta sint et sigillo Prsefecti munita, eadem prorsus fides in discep- 
 tationibus etiam judicialibus habeatur, quae Nostrae voluntatis signifi- 
 cationi, hisce Litteris ostensis, haberetur. Datum Romae, apud S. Petrum 
 sub annulo Piscatoris die XIV Febr. MDCCGLXXXVIII , Pontificatus 
 Nostri anno decimo. 
 
 Loc. f sigilli. 
 
 M. Card. Led6chowski. 
 
 the contrary notwithstanding. And it is Our pleasure that even printed copies of these 
 present Letters, provided they be signed by the hand of the Secretary of the aforesaid 
 Congregation, and furnished with the seal of the Prefect, shall possess all the force, even 
 in judicial discussions, that these present Letters containing the expression of Our will, 
 if shown, would possess. Given at Rome, at Saint Peter's, under the ring of the Fisher- 
 man, this 14th day of February 1888, and the iOth year of Our Pontificate. 
 
 M. Card. Ledochowski. 
 L. f S. 
 
6S6 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 DIE IV MAIL 
 Mitta Justus, de Communi Conf. non Pont. 2° loco. 
 
 ORATIO. 
 
 Deus, qui, ad salularem pauperum eniditionem ac dandam parvulis 
 scientiam , Beatum Joannem Baptistam Confessorem excitasti , et novatn 
 per eum in Ecclesia familiam collegisti : da eos, quaesumus, qui chri- 
 stianam instituunt infantiam , ejusdem semper exemplis insistere et 
 intercessione proficere : Per Dominum nostrum. 
 
 SECRETA. 
 
 Munera tibi, Domine, dicala sanctifica : quorum ubertate repleta 
 familia tua, iiUeicedente Beato Joanne Baptista Confessore, tuis eru- 
 ditionibus multiplicelur et donis : Per Dominum. 
 
 POSTCOMMUNIO. 
 
 Cajlesti dape refecti, te supplices, Domine, deprecamur : ut, Beati 
 Joannis Baptists merilis, bonitatem, et disciplinam, et scientiam hau- 
 riamus de plenitudine Filii tui Domini noslri Jesu Christi : Qui tecum 
 vivit et regnal. 
 
 MAY 4TH. 
 Maa$ Justus, Common to Confessors not Pontiffs. 2" loco. 
 
 PRATER. 
 
 God, Who didst raise up the Blessed John Baptist, Confessor, to teach the poor the 
 way of s.'ilvation, and to give science to little ones, and Who hast through him gathennl 
 together a new family in the Church, grant, we bescH-ch Thee, unto all liiose that instruct 
 Christian youth, always to follow bis example and prolit by his intercession. Through 
 Our Lord. 
 
 BBCRET. 
 
 Sanctify the gifts offered to Thee, Lord, that Thy family, being enriched with the 
 .ibundancc thereof, may, through the intercession of the Blessed John Baptist, Confessor, 
 be increased by Thy teachings and Thy gifts. Through Our Lord. 
 
 POSTCOMMUNION. 
 
 Refreshed with celestial food, we suppliantly entreat Thee, Lord, that through the 
 merits of Blessed John Baptist, we may drink in goodness, discipline and science out of 
 the fulness of Thy Sun, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lirelh and reigneth. 
 
DOCUMENTS. GS" 
 
 DEGRETUM. 
 
 In Apostolicis Litteris in forma Brevis propedieni expediendis ad 
 assequendam formalem Beatificationem ven. servi Dei Joan.nis Baptists 
 DE LA Salle, fundatoris Congregalionis Fratrum Scholarum chrislia- 
 narum, quum, ex majorum prajscripto et praxi Sacrorum Rituum Con- 
 gregalionis, apponendoe sint Orationes proprise in Officio et Missa do 
 Communi in honorem novi Beati, legend* ab iis omnibus quibus, in 
 Brevi recensito, Officium ipsum persolvendi Missamque celebrandi facul- 
 tas impertitur : Sacra eadem Congregatio, utendo facultatibus sibi spe- 
 cialiter a sanctissimo Domino nostro l^eone Papa XIII tributis, ad 
 humillimas preces Rev. Fr. Robustiani e memorata Congregatione , 
 Caustc Postulatoris, suprascriptas Orationes proprias, a R. P, D. Au- 
 gustino Caprara S. Fidei Promotore revisas , benigne approbavit atque 
 ab omnibus, quibus Officium cum Missa concessum est, post expletam 
 formalem Beatificationem , recitari posse indulsit. Gontrariis non obstan- 
 tibus quibuscumque. Die 9 decembris 1887. 
 
 A. Card. BIANCIII, 
 S. E. C. Prmfectus. 
 
 L. -1- S. 
 
 ^ Laurentius Salvati, 
 
 S. R. C. Secretariiis. 
 
 Concordat cum suo original!. In fidem, etc. Ex Secretaria Sacrorum 
 Rituum Congregalionis hac die 15 februarii 1888. 
 
 Pro R. P. D. Laurenlius Salvati, 
 Seerelario, 
 
 Joannes Ponzi, 
 
 Substitiitus. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 Whereas, according to ancient customs and the practice of the Holy Congregation of 
 Rites, to tiie Apostolical Brief recently issued for the formal Beatification of the ^'encr;lble 
 Servant of God, John Baptist de la Salle, founJer of the Congrogalion of the BroUiers of 
 the Christian Schools, certain prayers are to be added proper to the Office and Mass of 
 the newly Beatified, to be recited by all tiiose included in the said Brief and autliorized 
 to recite the Office and celebrate the Mass; therefore, the aforesaid Holy Congregation, 
 exercising the special faculties given it by Our Holy father Pope Leo XIH., and humbly 
 
 42 
 
658 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 petitioned by the Reverend Brother Robustinian of the aboTe-named CoDgregation, 
 I'osliilator of the Caii^e, bath pracioii^ly approTed the Prayers hcrtrin oet down and 
 revised by the Heverend Fatbcr Augustin Caprara, I'romotor of the Holy Faith, and 
 permits the said Flayers to be recited by all those to whom the Mass and OfQcc hare 
 been conceded, after the ceremony of Heatiflcation shall have been proceeded with. 
 All other things to the contrary notwithstanding. December 9th 1887. 
 
 A. Card. BIANCHI, 
 Prefect Holy Congregation of Rite*. 
 L. ■{■ S. 
 
 Laurence Salvati, 
 Secretary Holy Congregation of liites. 
 
 The above agrees with its original. In testimony whereof, etc. From the Bureau 
 of the Congregation of Sacred Rites, this 15th day of February 1888. 
 
 Signed for the Rev. Father Lawrence Salvati, 
 Secretary, 
 
 John PoNZi, 
 
 Substitute. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 639 
 
 II 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS WHICH, ON SUNDAY FEBRUARY 19TH 1888, 
 DECORATED THE HALL OF CANONIZATION AT SAINT PETER'S IN ROME. 
 
 MARIA . MAGDAI.ENE . VICTORIA . FERRY 
 
 GRAVIBUS . DUODECIM . ANNOS . TENTATA . MORBIS 
 
 SANGUINEM . ORE . EJECTABAT 
 
 TOTO . INTUMUERAT . CORPORE 
 
 CONTREMISGEBAT . ARTUBUS 
 
 DOLORE . AD . IMA . CORDIS . LAPSO 
 
 ENECABATUR 
 
 EAM . BLANDIS . BEATUS . DE . LA . SALLE . COMPELLANS . VOCIBUS 
 
 DIEM . ET . IIORAM . QUA . CONVALESCERET . PR.EMONSTRAT 
 
 EVENTUS . FIDEM . VERBIS . PR.ESTAT ' 
 
 ADELMINIANUS . SODALIS . A . SCHOLIS. CHRISTIANIS 
 
 EARUMQUE . PRiESES . IN . COLLEGIO . S . NICOLAI . LUTETI.E 
 
 TOTO . TORPEBAT . CORPORE 
 
 PEDES . ET . ARTUS . RIGEBANT 
 
 INTER . MANUS . SUBLATUS 
 
 AD . TUMULUM . BEATI . DE . LA . SALLE 
 
 LACRIMIS . OBORTIS . ORAT 
 
 SURGIT . INCOLUMIS 
 
 CELERI . GRESSU . DOMUM . CONTENDIT ' 
 
 ' Mary Magdalene Victoria Ferry, — sulfering from a grave malady during twelve years, 
 — vomited blood. — The whole body became swollen, — the members were trembling. — 
 Attacked by acute jiains in the centre of the heart, — she was dying. — Blessed de 
 la Salle, addressing her a benevolent word, — announces the day and the hour of her 
 cure. — The event confirms the prophecy. 
 
 * Aldelminien, Brother of the Christian schools, — being Director in the school of 
 S. Nicholas, Paris, — had his whole body disordered, — feet and limbs stiffened. — 
 Carried in arms — to the tomb of Blessed de la Salle, — weeping, he prays ; — he rises 
 up cured ; — at a rapid pace he returns to the house. 
 
660 ULESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 STEPIIANUS . DE . SUZANNE 
 
 PUER . L'NDECIM . ANNOS . NATUS 
 
 EXTIIEMLM . TUAHEBAT . SI'IIUTUM 
 
 TLSSI . QCATIEUATUH . ANIIELA 
 
 I.N . SE . I'LICATL'S . CONTRAXEHAT . ARTUS 
 
 MENTO . GENUA . TAXUEBAT 
 
 KEBRI . UREBATUa 
 
 1IU.\1ANA . SPE . OEJECTI . PARENTES 
 
 AD . BEATUM . DE . LA . SALLE . CONFUGIUNT 
 
 SUB . EXITU.\I . PRECUM . NOVENDIALIUM 
 
 STEPHANUS . MORBU . LEVATUR 
 
 L-tTUS . GRADITLR ' 
 
 JOANNI . BAPTIST.E . DE . LA . SALLE 
 
 AUCTORI . ET . PARENTI 
 
 SODALIUM . A . SCIIOLIS . CIIRISTIANIS 
 
 C*:LITU.M . BEATORUM . HONORIBUS . AUCTO 
 
 CATHOLICUS . ORBIS 
 
 SUPPLICES . ADMOVET . PRECES 
 
 ADMISCETQUE . LACRIMAS 
 
 NE . PUERORUM . INSTITUTIO 
 
 IN . GRAVE . DISCRIMEN . AB . IHPROBIS . VOCATA 
 
 A . S.KNCTIS . RELIGIOMS . LEGIDUS 
 
 DISSIOEAT * 
 
 ' Stephen cic Suzannt-, — a child eleven jeais old, — was about bn\-ithin^ his last. — 
 Racked by a sufTncating cough, — his limb-; bent and contracltHi, — his rhin touching his 
 knees; — lie was burning with fi-vcr. — Ilis [>aienls, having lost human hope, — had 
 recourse to Hlesse<l de la Salle. — At the end of the Novena, — Stephen, relieved of all 
 sickness, — joyfully walks. 
 
 * To John Baptist de la Salle, — Founder and Father — of the Brothers of the (Christian 
 schools, — raised to the honours of the Blessed, — the whole Catholic world — sends up 
 prayer and supplication, — mingled with tears — that the education of youth, — placed 
 in grave |K'ril by impiety, — may not deviate — from the holy laws of religion. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 661 
 
 III. 
 
 PASTORAL LETTER 
 
 OF 
 
 HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS, 
 
 ANNOUNCING 
 
 A SOLEMN TRIDUUM 
 
 IN HONOR OF BLESSED JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE, 
 
 Founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. 
 
 FnANCis - Mahy - Benjamin RICHARD, by the grace of God and the 
 Apostolic See, Archbishop of Paris, to the Clergy and Faithful of 
 our Diocese, health and benediction in Our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Very dear Brethren, 
 
 For the last two months, solemnities in lionor of the servants of God 
 to whom the Sovereign Pontiff has recently discerned the honors oi 
 canonization or beatification have succeeded one another in Rome. 
 The glorification of the Saints always brings to the Church new joy 
 and strength; it throws hght upon one side of the history of humanity 
 which is too often left in the shade. Historians delight in relating 
 brilliant facts; they easily forget, or they disdain even, to speak of 
 those modest men who, in every age, have labored with heroic virtue 
 to procure glory to God, salvation for souls, and the alleviation of 
 every suffering. And yet, these men who led a humble life on earth, 
 were the best part of humanity. When you study them more closely. 
 
062 ULESSKD DE LA SALLE. 
 
 you ai-e enclianted with the virtues that they practised. The heauty 
 and grandeur of the Christian soul reveals itself to you. You feel 
 encouraged to grow better, and in considering that you also belong 
 to this same race of Adam which, amidst its wanderings, produces 
 such noble children, you say with Si Augustin : — " And why 
 should not I do what these men and these women have done be- 
 fore me? 
 
 All ages and all nations go to form the great family of Saints. Thus, 
 in the recent solemnities, we have seen glorified servants of God be- 
 longing to the various nations of Europe. France reckons two of her 
 children amongst them, Blessed Louis Mary Grignon de Montforl, born 
 in 1(573, and Blessed John Baptist de la Salle, born in 1051. They 
 fell asleep in the peace of the Ix)rd, the fii-st in 1716, the second in 
 1710. lUtlh came to be initiated into the sacerdotal life at tlie semi- 
 nary of Saint Sulpice, where the traditions of the Oliers, the Vincents 
 of Paul, the Condrens, raised up by God in the eighteenth century for 
 the sanctification of the clergy, have been faithfully preserved from 
 their origin. 
 
 A powerful missionary in word and in work, Blessed Louis Mary 
 Grignon de Montfort has left a memory still living in our provinces of 
 Brittany and Poitou. Round his tomb, in the Vendean village of Saint 
 Laurent on Sevres, in the diocese of Lugon, are grouped the two Reli- 
 gious families that he founded — the Priests and Brothere of the Com- 
 pany of Mary, and the Daughtei-s of Wisdom, When, a few months 
 hence, the Bishop of Luyon convokes the populations of his own and 
 the neighboring dioceses, we shall see them arise to come and pay 
 their homage to the servant of God. Has he not, indeed, left the 
 print of his footsteps in every parish that he has evangelized? Do not 
 the people still come to kneel at the foot of the Calvaries where he 
 planted the Cross at the end of every mission? The echoes of these 
 countries still repeat the songs that Blessed Father de Montfort com- 
 posed, and which the populations have remembered these hundred 
 and fifty yeai"s. 
 
 Tlie other provinces of France will not remain indifferent to the 
 glorj' of this priest who continued the chain of our great missionaries, 
 such as Vincent Ferrier and Francis Regis. But closer bonds link 
 Blessed de la Salle to our diocese. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 
 
 Three towns especially claim a title to his protection — Rheim?, 
 which was his cradle; Rouen, which guards his tomb, and Paris, 
 where Providence placed the head quarters of his Institute. We 
 know what honors the illustrious mother -churches of Rheims and 
 Rouen are preparing to render to the servant of God. We shall en- 
 deavor, on our side, dearly beloved Brethren, to bring to him our 
 tribute of respect and veneration. 
 
 Blessed John Baptist de la Salle, as the founder of the Brothers 
 of the Christian schools, represents in the Ciiurch one of the most 
 admirable types of holiness. 
 
 Every word of the Divine Master in the Gospel is marvellously 
 fertile, and almost invariably this fertility manifests itself by an insti- 
 tution which Providence raises up at the hour marked in the decrees of 
 God. Our Saviour said : — " Suffer the little ones to come unto me, " 
 and the Church has always surrounded the little ones with tender 
 care. But a permanent institution was needed for the exercise of this 
 solicitude. At the moment when the discoveries of the fifteenth and 
 sixteenth centuries were producing an expansion hitherto unknown 
 of the arts of reading and writing, God raised up the Institute of the 
 Brothers of the Christian schools. 
 
 The children of the working classes were calling out for disinter- 
 ested and competent masters who would train them at the same time in 
 knowledge and in virtue. The servant of God was called upon to un- 
 dertake this work. As it so often happens with tlie founders of orders, 
 John Baptist de la Salle does not at first perceive the extent of the 
 enterprise he was destined to achieve; but he understands that it 
 must be founded on poverty and penance. He strips himself of all 
 his goods, and distributes them to the poor. Thus poor himself, he 
 goes. generously forth with disciples equally poor, to the service of the 
 working classes, who call out his self-devotion. Then began that 
 powerful attraction which has never ceased to draw thousands of 
 children to the Christian schools. 
 
 Blessed John Baptist de la Salle, inspired by Divine grace, created 
 the real school-master of the child of the working classes. By the 
 holy engagement of religious vows, the Brothers set themselves free 
 from all cares foreign to their mission. Their work is hard; but they 
 will be sustained in their task by the love of Our Lord, who sends 
 
not BLESSED [iE LA SALLE. 
 
 tliem to (rain unto Clirislian life those little ones for whom He died, 
 lliey will study in oixier to imparl to the ciiildrcn all knowledge that 
 can be of use to them in tlieir social position; but they will strictly 
 refrain from all studies foreign to their mission, as tliese would have 
 no other aim than the satisfaction of curiosity or personal vanity. They 
 will form these children into men capable of serving their country use- 
 fully ami modesliy; llicy will prepare them above all to be Christians, 
 for they know tiiat, according to the words of St Paul, piety is useful 
 in all ways, and that it has the promises of this life and the next. 
 
 Cast a mental glance, dearly l>eloved Brethren, not only over Europe, 
 but over all the countries of the world where the children of IJIes.sed 
 de la Salle are to be found, and you will be struck with admiration for 
 the creative power which God gave to this poor and humble priest, 
 often pei-secuted during his life, and who showed forth in his pei-son 
 the truth of the Divine oracle — Infirma mundi elegit Detis ut confun- 
 dat forlia : " Cod chose what is least acpording to this world to con- 
 found what is mightiest. " 
 
 Providence has opportunities that we should never cease admiring. 
 If the Institute of the Brothers sprang into existence at the very mo- 
 ment that society was in need of its ministry, the hour of iLs Itlessed 
 founder's glorification is no less opportune. Just as the Christian 
 schools are most fiercely attacked, just as new theories are banishing 
 religious education and proclaiming a lamentable neutrality which 
 goes the length of denying Christian faith and belief in the very exis- 
 tence of God, Providence proclaims the glory of the true friend of child- 
 hood, of the pre-eminently Christian school -master. And, a.ssuredly, 
 public conscience, and still less the paternal instinct, will not fail to 
 understand this. Fathers and mothers who want good education for 
 their children will take Ihem to the sons of lMes.sed de la Salle. If we 
 may em|)l(>y the word, i( is a veritable plebiscite which is pi-oclaiming 
 the excellence and the necessity of Christian education. 
 
 Such, very dear Itrethrcn, is the grand and salutary les.son to be 
 gathered from the solemnities we are about to celebrate in honor of 
 Blessed de la Salle. The Church, in glorifying the father, also covers 
 the children with her blessings and her gratitude. V) sons of Bles.sed 
 de la Salle, we pay the debt of the Church in olTering a just tribute 
 to your self-flevolioii. It is not the praise that men give and receive. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 065 
 
 tlie vain reward of human efforts. It is the testimony which Our I-ord 
 and His Church give to those who work in self- forge tfuhiess : " Cou- 
 rage, good and faithful servants ! " Yes, courage, because your hope is 
 in God, and what you are asking of your beloved fatlier is, we well 
 know, that he will renew in you his life of immolation, poverty and 
 obedience. Your faith, according to the promise of the Divine Master, 
 will make you triumph over this world — Ilaec est vidoria quse vincil 
 mundum, fides nostra. 
 
 We also, very dear Brethren, shall have in the glorification of Bless- 
 ed de la Salle a reward and an encouragement for the work of the 
 Christian schools, that you have so generously undertaken, and carried 
 on with such perseverance. 
 
 Nor is it only the Brothers of our schools, but all Christian masters 
 who will feel honored and stimulated to work, by the honors which 
 the Church has discerned to the servant of God. Blessed de la 
 Salle, with that intuition which God gives to Saints, saw that there 
 was room, by the side of the Institute of Brothers, for secular Clirist- 
 ian masters, lie several times founded wiiat our fathers called semi- 
 naries, but what we now call normal schools of teachers. We must 
 not forget this trait in his life. It shows us that the Church, in her 
 solicitude, blesses and embraces every form of self- devotion. 
 
 It was, therefore, meet, very dear Brethren, lliat we should cel- 
 ebrate by solemn festivities the beatification of the servant of God. 
 These festivities will take place on the 13th, 14th and 15tli of March, 
 in the church of Saint Sulpice. We have chosen this church design- 
 edly; it deserved the preference for many reasons. The servant of 
 God was a student of the seminary of Saint Sulpice. It was in this 
 parish that he founded and kept up liis pi'incipal schools, led by a 
 secret inspiration of God to place the centre of his Institute in Paris. 
 
 A Pontifical mass will be celebrated on each of those three days, the 
 panegyric of the servant of God will be pronounced in tlie afternoon, 
 according to the programme already published with our approbation. 
 
 We will ourselves sing mass on Thursday, the third day of the Tri- 
 duum, and after mass we will give the Apostolical benediction, with 
 the plenary indulgence, according to the power bestowed on us by tlie 
 Holy Father, at the pilgrims' audience in Rome, the 8th of January 
 of this year. 
 
666 
 
 BLESSED UE LA SALLE. 
 
 By a decree addressed to the Institute of the I3rotljei"s, last February 
 'iTith, the failliful who, liaving confessed and received Holy Commu- 
 nion, visit the church of Saint Sulpice during; the Triduum, and pray 
 for tlie intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff, will gain a plenary indul- 
 gence, applicable to the souls in Purgatory. An indulgence of one 
 hundred years, likewise applicable to the souls in Purgatory, may be 
 gained once a day by the faithful who, with contrite heart, visit the 
 same church. 
 
 We convoke you, very dear Brethren, to take part in these religious 
 solemnities, during which we shall offer to God our most fen'enl 
 prayers to obtain his blessing on the Institute of the Brothers, on 
 Christian masters, and on the work of the Christian schools. 
 
 Given in Paris, under our hand, our seal and the counter-.seal of 
 the chancellor of our Archbishopric, on the Feast of St Thomas 
 Aquinas, March 7th 1888. 
 
 f FRAN^^OIS, AncHBisaop of Paris. 
 
 By order of His grace llie Archbishop, 
 
 E. PETIT, Vic. gen., Chancellor. 
 
 .s«^/>.. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 667 
 
 IV. 
 
 PASTORAL LETTER 
 
 HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF TORONTO, 
 
 ANNOUNCING 
 
 A TRIDUUM 
 
 IN HONOR OF BLESSED JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE. 
 
 John Joseph LYNCH, by the grace of God, and the appointment of 
 the Holy See, Archbishop of Toronto, Assistant at the Pontifical 
 throne, etc., etc., to the beloA'ed Clergy, Religious Communities, 
 and devout Laity of this Archdiocese : Health and Rlessing in the 
 Lord. 
 
 Dearly Reloved, 
 
 The Holy Church of God is the fruitful Mother of innumerable Saints. 
 From the first Martyrs and Confessors of the faith to the Martyrs and 
 Confessors of the present century, millions of her children have signal- 
 ized themselves by the most heroic virtues — in the practice of the 
 most ardent love of God and of their neighbor. In the latter ages, 
 since the rise of Protestantism, the Church has produced numbers of 
 holy personages who, as Bishops, Priests,' or Founders of Religious 
 
008 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Orders, have ploriously comhatted heresy and ipnorance. As in days 
 past, so in onr days, Missionaries througliout the world labor even lo 
 the shedding of their blood in this cause. 
 
 To dispel the darkness of error, to instruct especially the poor and 
 the middle classes in the knowledge of God, and in the rudiments of 
 secular knowledge necessary for their condition of life, God raised 
 up Blessed John Baptist de la Salle, who was born in France in the 
 year 1G51, and slept in the Lord, A.D. 1719, after diffusing the odor of 
 perfect sanctity both by his own life and by the institution of a Religious 
 Order, to continue the work in which he himself was engaged— the 
 instruction of youth. 
 
 These loving words of our Divine Savior, so fruitful of sweetness 
 and ble-ssing : " Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid 
 them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God " (St Mark, x, 14); and 
 these other words : '' Amen, 1 say to you, as long as you did it to one 
 of these my least brothron, you did it to me " (St Matth., xxv, 40); and 
 that expression of the Holy Ghost by the lips of the Angel : " They that 
 instruct many to justice shall shine as star's to all eternity " (Dan., xii, 3), 
 have produced wonderfid fruit in the souls of God's servants, in Apostles, 
 in innumerable Missionaries, and in Founders of Religious Ordei's, 
 whose number is known to the Almighty alone. 
 
 llie Church has at all times encouraged the institution of higher 
 schools of learning. Universities and Colleges spi-ang up in every 
 country under her care. Each Bi.sliop was obliged to have in his dio- 
 cese schools of higher learning to supply well-trained Clergy for his 
 diocese, and each Parish Priest endeavored lo have what was known 
 as a Parochial School. 
 
 The monasteries were the principal seals of the higher studies. It is 
 but recently that Stales have un<lcrtakcn to proviile and maintain 
 schools for the education of the people. Since they have done so, 
 the enemies of the Church loudly proclaim that she was Ihe friend of 
 ignorance, whereas the Church preserved for the world whatever 
 learning and learned records were left after Ihe invasion of the 
 barbarians and the breaking up of the Roman Enipire, in days when 
 Stales were i-abbles, and Kings could not .'^ign their names. We hear 
 the .same calumny to-day. The Church gets no credit for all her past 
 labor in preser\'ing and extending Ihe civilization of the world. Now, 
 
DOCUMENTS. 669 
 
 whatever is done by the State in favor of education is entirely, but 
 falsely, attributed to Protestantism. 
 
 The Church has at all times maintained that secular knowledge 
 without religious training is not really an education of the moral man, 
 but the raising of the temporal above the spiritual, and hence, a two- 
 edged sword is put in the hands of men without a just appreciation of 
 God's Commandments. We see this every day in the robberies of 
 banks and swindling and peculation and other grievous crimes com- 
 mitted by very smart men. Prisons are filled with such men. The best 
 thinkers of the age are raising their voices against Godless education. 
 
 In His divine Providence God raises up in His Church men fitted to 
 battle with the evils of the age. At the time of the birth of Elessed 
 de la Salle it was impossible for the Church to provide, by the means 
 then at her disposal, for the education of the masses of the people. 
 There was a growing necessity for free schools for the poor. But to 
 have free schools it was, above all, necessary to have proper teachers, 
 who would voluntarily consecrate their lives to teaching, requiiing only 
 food and clothing for their services, as the poor could not requite them, 
 and the State was doing nothing for the education of the poor. The 
 education of the middle and lower classes could only at that time be 
 carried on by a Religious Order supported by generous Catholics and 
 by the Church. But, to have competent teachers, a Normal School for 
 their training was an absolute necessity. Blessed de la Salle instituted 
 such an Order, and founded the first Normal School recorded in the 
 whole history of pedagogy. 
 
 This Normal School was used not only for his own novices, but also 
 for seculars who were sent there by Priests and Bishops, to be trained 
 as teachers with de la Salle's own disciples. The object of these good 
 Priests and Bishops was to have the young masters take charge of 
 schools the Brothers could not accept owing to want of a sufficient 
 number to supply all demands. The Normal Schools are kept up in 
 the Order and their methods and equipment are the finest in the world, 
 and are the models on which State Normal Schools have been formed. 
 Blessed de la Salle was the originator of the mutual -simultaneous 
 system of education, often erroneously ascribed to Lancaster and Bell. 
 In this system the novices are carefully drilled in the Christian Broth- 
 ers' Normal Schools, and none leave those schools without strict 
 
670 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 examination and certificate of qualification as teachers. " In the 
 science of teaching, " says a recent writer, " not a single step in 
 advance of de la Salle has yet been made in any quarter '. " 
 
 The methods and school-books of the Brothers have a world-wide 
 reputation. In the educational congresses held in the United Stales, 
 among the most scholarly papers read are those from the Brotliers of 
 the Christian Schools, who are sent by the Institute as delegates to 
 these assemblies. 
 
 We here briefly sketch the life of this Blessed Benefactor of the 
 human race. 
 
 His father, a fervent Christian, was Chancellor of State to the King 
 of France and President of the High Court of Rheims. His moUier was 
 equally noble and pious. John Baptist, as he grew up, was a model of 
 purity, obedience, and studiousness. He entered the Grand Seminary 
 of Saint Sulpice, in Paris, and made there a course of theology taking 
 the degree of Doctor of Divinity. At an early age he was appointed 
 Canon of the Cathedral of Rheims, and was ordained Priest in 4678. 
 He burned with Uie love of God and a most earnest desire to save the 
 souls of youth. Shortly after his ordination he met a M. Nyel— a 
 descendant of the great O'Neills, of the Emerald Isle — who was endea- 
 voring to found free schools, and who had associated with him in the 
 work a few young men of noble and generous dispositions. The holy 
 Servant of God had found precisely what he wanted. In course of 
 time M. Nyel retired from his office, and left the youthful organization 
 to the care of Father de la Salle, who, finding it was the will of God 
 that he should direct these young men, provided them with a house and 
 supported them himself from his revenues. But this demanded a gi-eal 
 sacrifice. He was a Priest and of noble birth. The teachers were poor 
 and did not aspire to the ecclesiastical state. De la Salle could not 
 divest himself of his priesthood, yet he determined to become one of 
 themselves. For tiiis purpose he resigned his canonry and relinquished 
 all his property in favor of the poor. The good work prospei-ed in spite 
 of the difficulties which the enemy of salvation threw in its way. 
 
 The Holy Founder's deep veneration for the Church and his pi-ofound 
 respect for Christ's Vicar on earth prompted him to send two Brothers 
 
 ' The Pattor, March ISt-S. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 671 
 
 to Rome '. Through the kindness of Cardinal d'Estr^es, Brother Gabriel 
 was received in private audience by His Holiness Innocent XII., who 
 treated him with kindness, promised to protect him, and blessed the 
 Institute. Brother Gabriel remained in Rome till, in 4725, by a solemn 
 Bull of His Holiness Benedict XIII., the rules given to the Brothers by 
 their Blessed Founder were approved, and the Society was raised to 
 the rank of a Religious Order under the title of Institute of thk 
 Brothers of the Christian Schools. 
 
 The Institute was legally recognized in France by Louis XV. In 
 France God raised up two great Saints to protect the Irish driven from 
 their homes on account of their Religion — St Vincent de Paul and 
 Blessed John Baptist de la Salle. St Vincent received and procured 
 places for hundreds of Irish Priests, and Blessed John Baptist de 
 la Salle took into his establishments of learning a great many of the 
 sons of the nobles of the Isle of Saints, who would not conform to the 
 religion of the King, and hence were deprived of all they possessed. 
 
 The work commenced by the Blessed Servant of God grew and 
 prospered. The French Revolution did not crush it. Schools of the 
 Brothers are now found throughout the world. An idea of the immense 
 work the Brothers are now doing may be gained from a few figures 
 taken from the statistics of the Institute wich we append in a note to 
 this Pastoral ^ 
 
 Not until the generalship of the Very Honored Brother Philip, who 
 was elected in 1838, were any steps taken for the canonization of this 
 benefactor of humanity. He was declared Venerable by His Holiness 
 Gregory XVI., in 4840. That he practiced the theological virtues of 
 Faith, Hope, and Charity, and the moral virtues of Prudence, Justice, 
 Temperance and Fortitude in a hei'oic degree, was decided by the 
 Saci'ed Congregation of Rites, in public session, presided over by His 
 Holiness Pius IX., in 4873. The three miracles operated through his 
 intercession were proved to the satisfaction of the Sacred Congregations, 
 and were accepted by the Pope in 4887. Finally on the 49th of last 
 February, in the presence of numerous Cardinals, Archbishops and 
 Bishops, the Superior General of the Order, Very Honored Brother 
 Joseph, representatives of the various provinces of the Institute through- 
 
 * Only "one of the Brothers— Brother Gabriel Drolin— reached Rome. = - These 
 figures have been already given. 
 
r>72 BLESSED UK LA SALLE. 
 
 out the woild, tlie students of the Vatican Seminarj-, and a lai-ge 
 number of friends, in the great Canonization hall over tlie Logpia of 
 St Peter's— our Holy Father, Leo XIII., solemnly beatified John Baptist 
 de la Salle. 
 
 The Catholics of Toronto and St Catharine's owe much to the Broth- 
 ei"s of the Christian Schools. They have taught the children admii-ably 
 both secular and religious science for nearly forty y»^ars, and have 
 been content with the scant pittance the Catholics could afford to pay 
 them, for they are true servants of God, and they never relinquish their 
 task nor lessen their ardor in their holy and self-sacrificing work. 
 If we have to-day the magnificent buildings of the De la Salle Institute 
 on Duke Street, we owe it to the Brothers of the Christian Schools. 
 
 We shall, therefore, celebi'ate with gratitude and with all religious 
 pomp the last day of the Triduum in honor of the Beatificiition of 
 their Holy Institutor, the 4th of May, the day appointed by the Holy 
 See for the annual celebration of the feast of the Blessed John Baptist 
 de la Salle. 
 
 At 9.:W we shall celebrate a Pontifical High Mass in our Cathedral, 
 at which the rising generation, the present and former pupils of Uie 
 Catholic schools of this city, will assist, and supply the minor offices 
 and the chant. Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII., has granted a 
 plenary indulgence, on the usual conditions, to all the faithful, who 
 will confess, receive communion worthily during the Triduum, which 
 will take place on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4tli of May, visit the church where 
 it is celebrated (the Cathedral), and there pray for some time for the 
 conversion of sinnei^s and the other intentions of His Holiness. An 
 indulgence of one hundred years may be gained by tho.se who, with 
 contrite heart, visit the Cathedral, and there pray for the .same inten- 
 tions, once a day each day of the Triduum. 
 
 The pupils of the Schools will receive Holy Communion on the 
 ;ird of May. A panegyric will be delivered by our Vicar General, 
 Very Hev'd Father Rooney, at the High Mass, and Uev'd Father McCann 
 will preach in the evening at Vespei-s at l.'.M) in the Cathedral, whei-e 
 Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament will be given, and a Tc Deum 
 will be chanted to thank God fur His blessings bestowed on His faithful 
 servant, John Baptist de la Salle, on his Congregation, and on all those 
 lit wImiiii the happy influence of the Order is extended. 
 
nOCUMENTS. 
 
 C73 
 
 This pastoral letter shall be read in all the Churches, and in the 
 Chapels of Religious Communities in our Archdiocese the first Sunday 
 after its reception. 
 
 Given at St Michael's Palace, Toronto, on the Feast of St Mark, 
 April 25th 1888. 
 
 t JOHN JOSEPH LYNCH, 
 Archbishop of Toronto. 
 
 By order of His Grace the Archbishop, 
 
 J. F. McBride, Priest, Secretary. 
 
 43 
 
INDEXES. 
 
I. — INDEX OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface 
 
 Introduction, by M" d'Hulsl. 
 
 IX 
 
 xv 
 
 BOOK THE FIRST. 
 
 PRIMARY EDUCATION 
 BEFORE THE TIME OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Chapter I. — The Saints in history; mission of Blessed John Baptist de la Salle 3 
 
 — II. — The Primary Schools of the Middle Ages, and in particular those of Paris. . 13 
 
 — III. — The Church and the Schools in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. . 33 
 
 — IV. — The Precursors and Predecessors of Blessed de la Salle 65 
 
 BOOK THE SECOND. 
 LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Chapter I. — Preparation 101 
 
 — II. — Vocation 129 
 
 — III. — Sacrifice 155 
 
 — IV. — Foundation 173 
 
 — V. — The Sulpician Schools 199 
 
 — VI. — Vaugirard (1691-1697) 225 
 
»78 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Cakrrtn VII. — The Larg« Hou»e (1698-1703;. x^ ^: 5M7 
 
 — VIII. — BIaM«d de la Salle in the Faubourg Saint Antoine. ^^ Z78 
 
 — IX. — School* in the ProTincea (1899-1700) 887 
 
 — X. — The School in Rome 303 
 
 — XI. — Foundation in Rouen (1706) 307 
 
 — XII. — Schoola in the South 323 
 
 — XIII. — Freah TriaU 343 
 
 — XIV. — Grenoble and the Grande-Chartreuse (1713-17U) 371 
 
 — XV. — Freeh Troublea in Paris and at Rouen (1T14-1717) 385 
 
 — XVI. — LaM Years and Death uf Slewed de la SaUe (1717-1719) 411 
 
 BOOK THE THIRD. 
 AFTER BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 CiiArrER I. — The First Successors of Blessed de la Salle. — Brother Bortholomew 
 
 (1717-1720) and Brother Timothy (1720-1751) *35 
 
 — II. — The Revolutionary Spirit before the Revolution. — Brother Qaude (1791- 
 
 1767) and Brotl«(r Florence (1767-1777) 455 
 
 — III. — The Great Storm — the Brothers during the Revolution. — Government of 
 
 Brother Agathon (1777-1797) 467 
 
 — IV. — Alter the Storm. — The Inalitute from the end of the reign of Terror to the 
 
 election of Brother Philip, in 1838 481 
 
 — V. — Brothe • Philip 821 
 
 — VI. - The Present Hour 551 
 
 — VII. — BeatiQcation of Blessed John Baptist de la Salle 625 
 
 Documents. — I. Apostolical Brief concerning the Beatification of the Venerable Servant of 
 
 God, Jubn Baptist de la Salle (Latin text and English translation). . . 645 
 
 — — II. Inscriptions which, on Sunday Ffbruary 19lh 1888, decorated the Hall of 
 
 Canonization at Saint Peter's in Rome C59 
 
 — — III. Pastoral Letter of His Grace the Archbishop of Paris announcing a 
 
 Solemn Triduum in honor of Blessed John Baptist de la Salle .... 661 
 
 — — IV. Pastoral Letter of His Grace the Archbishop of Toronto, announcing a 
 
 Trictuum in honor of Blessed John Baptist de la Salle 667 
 
 Indexe* 677 
 
II. — INDEX OF PORTRAITS. 
 
 Preliminary remarks on the nature and the plan of the whole illustration of this 
 VOLUME.— In order to understand this illustration, which hos been the subject of long and deli- 
 cate labor, it is necessary to remark that it is of two entirely distinct orders. The large plates, 
 the plates " outside the text, " were devoted to artistic illustration, and entrusted, under one 
 general direction, to the tried ability of draughtsmen and painters with the following clearly 
 defined programme :— " To bring into relief, — while taking into account all the exigencies 
 of local coloring, — all the characteristic facts of the life of Blessed de la Salle and the history 
 of his Institute. " = The plates " in the text " were, on the contrary, reserved for purely 
 scientific and documentary illustration (views, portraits, fac-similes and maps). =: Following 
 the same idea, the friezes, or " heads of chapters " were specially intended to make known all 
 the towns, all the places that were by turns sanctified by the presence of Blessed de la Salle. 
 = The principal object of the superior letters and tail-pieces is to give an idea of the art of 
 decoration in the time of Blessed de la Salle, and the same motive dictated the frame in which are 
 inscribed the names of all the artists w-ho consented to take part in this work. = Finally, the 
 binding with " special clasps, " reproduces in the middle of the frame, which is bor.owed from 
 the decoration at the end of the sixteenth century, the fine group of Falguifere which adorns 
 one of the squares of Rouen. = Such is, in short, the whole economy of this illustration, of 
 which the following indexes will give the details. 
 
 A. — ARTISTIC ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 PLATES OUTSIDE THE TEXT. 
 
 ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS DESTINED TO REPRODUCE 
 
 THE PRINCIPAL EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE 
 
 AND THE ANNALS OF THE INSTITUTE. 
 
 I. Frontispiece. — « Blessed de la Salle, » founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the 
 
 Christian schools. Group by Falguifere, at Rouen; helio - engraving by P. Dujardin. 
 Opposite the title 
 
 II. — a Portrait of Blessed de la Salle, » painted by P. L6ger in 1734, engraved on steel 
 
 by Manigaud Opposite page 6 
 
 III. — II Blessed de la Salle has the Lives of the Saints read to him by his mother. » Com- 
 position of Albert Maignan, engraving by Froment 20 
 
 ly. — « First mass of Blessed de la Salle. » Composition by Albert Maigaan, engraving 
 
 by Froment 36 
 
 V. — <i Blessed de la Salle in a snow drift. » Composition by F. Lafont, engraving by 
 
 Trichon 52 
 
 VI. — « Blessed de la Salle sees Jesus Christ in the poor. » Composition by Charles 
 Lameire, engraving by MeauUe 116 
 
 VII. — « Blessed de la Salle watches in the church of Saint Remy at Rheims. » Compo- 
 sition by Albert Maignan, engraving by Froment 132 
 
 VIII. — II Blessed de la Salle giving the Infant Jesus as a model to his first novices. » 
 Composition by Alfred Hervier, engraving by Gusman 136 
 
 IX. — 11 The gardens of Vaugirard. » Composition by Hanoteau, engraving by Froment. 184 
 .\. — « Blessed de la Salle offering to the Virgin the Rules of the Institute. » Compo- 
 
 eition by Mouchot, engraving by MSauUe 228 
 
 XI. — « M. de la Chitardie, pastor of Saint Sulpice, visits Blessed de la Salle's school. » 
 
 Composition by A. Edouard, engraving by Dochy 234 
 
nRO BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 XU. — < Blessed de la Salle during Ihe famine. * Coniixwition ty Lumioais, engraving 
 
 by M&iulle aU 
 
 Mil. — « Jainc:^ the Secoii<l visits the school for youri^r Irishmen uhom he had cunOded 
 
 to Blessed de la Salle. > Cunipusitioii by ICdounrd Gamier, engraving by Trichon. . . 328 
 
 \IV. — • Blessed de la Salle at the Grande-Cltartreuss. • Coui|iosition by I'aul Flandrio, 
 
 eng aving by MiauUe 3^ 
 
 W. — ( Blessed do L-i .-'alle te-icliing. • &>ni|Kiiiilion by Krug, engraving by I'arlct. . . 300 
 
 .Wl. — < Blessed de la Salle receiving Viaticum. • Com|>o«itiun by Muuchot, engraving 
 
 by M^aulle ". 392 
 
 .W'll. — • Dcilh of Blessed de la Salle. • Composition by Athanase Grellet, engraving 
 
 by Barbaiil 404 
 
 .Will. — « Obsequies u[ Blessed da la Salle. > Composition by Edouard Gamier, engrav- 
 ing by Trichon 412 
 
 .\1.\. — « Blesse<l de la Salle writing out bis Bule. » Composition by Clinrles Muller, 
 
 engraving by Cha|'on 430 
 
 \.\. — < Benedict the Thirloontb • (172'i-1730). Portrait by Pielro Leone Ghezzi, en- 
 graving on sicjl by Manigaud 4i0 
 
 .\.\1. — • The Sovereign PuuliflT gives his solemn approbation to the Institute. • Drawn 
 by Ldouard Garnier from a stained gkiss window in the cathedral uf New -York, en- 
 graving by Trichon 444 
 
 .\X1I. — • Th3 Institute boforc Uie Kevolutionary Tribunal. • Composition by CUivvin, 
 
 engraving by Kousscau 476 
 
 XMll. — II Pius the Seventh blesses the Brother's house at Lyons, and Ihe reviving Insti- 
 tute. • Composition by Edouard Garnier, engraving by Trichon 492 
 
 .\X1V. — • Brother I'bilip. • Portrait by Horace Vernat, engraved by Jules Boberl. . . 522 
 
 .\XV. — The Brolhors during Ihe war of 1870-187! — 1st • At Cbampigny (the wounded). • 
 
 Composition by Dotaille, engraving by Froment 532 
 
 XXVI. — The Brothers during the war of 1870-1871- 2ndly . At Cliampigny (Ihe dead). . 
 
 — Drawn by Sollier, from a composition by Coniat; engraving by Pannemaker . . . 536 
 
 XXVII. — The Brothers during the war of 1870-1871— 3rdly » At the Bourgcl; Brother 
 Nethclmo mortally wounded. » — Drawn by Sellior, from a picture by Emilo Cros- 
 pelle ; engraving by Farlal SW 
 
 XXVIII. — The Brothers during the war of 1870-1871— 4tlily . An Ambulance. • Com- 
 position by Lix, engraving by l-'romcnt 546 
 
 .X.XI.X. — The Brothers during llie Commune— n Arrest of Brolhsr Calixlus. n — Drawing 
 
 by Scllier, from a picture by Bonnard; engraving by Pannemaker 948 
 
 .\X.X. — Favours attributed to Blessed de la Salle during his life. » The eick man at Guise. • 
 
 Composition by Fordinandus, engraving by Bousseau 626 
 
 XX.XI. — Miracles of Blessed de la Salle after his death. « Cure of M"» Ferry. • Cora- 
 
 IKJsition by Chovin, engraving by Qiapon 630 
 
 .\.X.XII. — u BealiHcation of Blessed de la Salle. » Composition by Cotte, drawing by 
 
 Ldouard Garnier, engraving by Chapon 636 
 
 .NXXIU. — « Entrance of Bless.-d de la Salle into heaven. • Composition b; Charles 
 
 Ijuac'm, helio-cngraving by P. Dujardin 638 
 
 B. - DOCUMENTARY ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 1" FRIEZES, OR HEADS OF CHAPTERS. 
 
 CITIES WaOSS NAMES ARE INTIMATELY CONNECTKD WITH THE UISTORT Of BLESSED DE LA SALUt 
 
 AND HIS I.NSTITtTTE. 
 
 1. Paris— • Statue of Montagny, • destined fur the basilica of Saint Genoviivo. — Drawn 
 
 by Gamier; engraved by Napier (heading the Preface.) u 
 
 2. • Bouon, • where Blessed de la Salle died.— Fac-simile of an old print (at the bead 
 
 of the /n<ro</uc/ion) xv 
 
 3. Hbcims, birth-place of Blessed de la Salle— • Old bouses on the .Market- Place. • — 
 
 Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by Mdaulle 3 
 
 i. • Paris, seal of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian schools; • llrst view. — 
 
 Drawn by Hubert CUcrget; engraved by Meaullo 13 
 
 S. • A school before Blessetl de la Salle, • from Abraham Bosso. — Drawn by Edouard 
 
 Garnier: ' ngravod by M^ulle 33 
 
H. — INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 681 
 
 6. Trent— « A silling of the Council, » which had a decisive influence on the question 
 
 of schools. — Drawn by llubsrt Clergot, from a print of the period; engraved by 
 Barbant 65 
 
 7. Rhoims— ci Interior of llie cathedral « wliere Blessed de la Salle was Canon. — Drawn 
 
 by Edouard Gamier; engraved by Cabarleux 101 
 
 8. « Rouen— First general view, in the time of Blessed de la Salle. » — Drawn by Fichot 
 
 Junior; engraved by Meaullc 129 
 
 9. i( Laon, where Blessed de la Salle made one of his first foundations, u — Drawn 
 
 by Hubert Clerget; engraved by Barbant loS 
 
 10. Rheims— « Church of Saint Reniy i> where Blessed de la Salle watched through the 
 
 night from Friday to Saturday. — Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by MeauUe. 173 
 
 11. Paris— 11 The old church of Sninl Sulpice. » — Drawn by Edouard Garnior, from a 
 
 document of the period; engraved by Trichon 199 
 
 12. Paris— Parish of Saint Sulpice, where Blessed de la Salle first established his work— 
 
 « The old Rue des Deohargeurs, « near the Place Saint Sulpice. — Drawn by Hu- 
 bert Clerget; engraved by Cabarleux 225 
 
 13. Paris— « Church of the Carmelites. » — Drawn by Edouard Gamier, from a print of 
 
 the end of the seventeenth century; engraved by Trichon 247 
 
 14. Paris— « Gale of the Dominican convent of the Cross, •> Rue de Charonne, opposite to 
 
 which Blessed de la Salle lived in 1703. — Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by 
 Cabarleux 275 
 
 15. Chartros— « Old gate. » — Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by MeauUe 287 
 
 16. Rome— « Saint Peter's. » — prawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by MeauUe .... 303 
 
 17. Rouen — « House called th3 Rampart, » which formed part of llie old general Hospital, 
 
 and where the Brothers taught the children of the Hospital. — Drawn by Edouard 
 Garnier; engraved by Cabarteux 307 
 
 18. (I Marseilles. » — Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by MeauUe 32b 
 
 19. « Paris— Another view, towards the end of the seventeenth century. » — Drawn by 
 
 Edouard Garnier; engraved by MeauUe 343 
 
 20. « The Grande- Chartreuse. » — Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by Barbant ... 371 
 
 21. Rouen — « Chapel of Saint Yon. » — Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by MeauUe. 385 
 
 22. (I Rouen — Second general view. » — Drawn by Hubert Clerget, engraved by MeauUe. 411 
 
 23. Rome— « Piazza di Spagna and the Trinita dei Monti, u near wliich the house of the 
 
 Brothers has been since 1702. — Drawn by Hubert Clerget; engraved by MeauUe. 435 
 2'i. <i Avignon, u chief town of the southern province of the Institute in the eighteenth 
 
 century. — Drawn by Edouard Garnier; engraved by MeauUe 455 
 
 25. Paris— « Carmelite church, » in which the massacres of September took place, and 
 
 where Brother Salomon perished. — Drawn by Edouard Garnier ; engraved by 
 M"« ChevaUer 467 
 
 26. Paris— « House in the Rue Oudinot, present seat of the administration. » — Drawn 
 
 by Hubert Clerget; engraved by Barbant 481 
 
 27. Paris— « The Brothers on the ramparts, » 1870-1871. — Drawn by M. de Bellee; en- 
 
 graved by MeauUe S21 
 
 28. <i New York, » where the Brothers manage the Protectory and other schools. — Drawn 
 
 by Brun; engraved by MeauUe S31 
 
 29. « Rheims — Last glance over the city where Blessed de la Salle was born. » — Drawn 
 
 by Edouard Garnier; engraved by MeauUe 625 
 
 30. (( Blessed de la Salle, u — Final composition by Fauvel; engraved by MeauUe. ... 678 
 
 2o VIGNETTES IN THE TEXT. 
 
 a. — PORTRAITS OF THE PRINCIPAL PERSONS WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED 
 
 AS THE PRECURSORS OF BLESSED DE LA SALLE, 
 
 OF THOSE WHO WERE HIS CONTEMPORARIES, OR WHO, SINCE HIS DEATH, 
 
 HAVE BEEN THE HEADS, THE COLLABORATORS, AND THE PROTECTORS OF HIS INSTITUTE. 
 
 1. <i Blessed de la Salle. » — Statue by Oliva in the chief court of the mother-house in 
 
 Paris. — Drawn by Edouard Garnier; engraved by Chapon 5 
 
 2. (I Canon Blain, » first historian of Blessed de la Salle. — Engraved by MiauUe, from a 
 
 contemporary print 9 
 
C82 ni.ESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 J. • St Nicholas, • patron of tcholan during lh« Middle Ages, and one of the SainU 
 most honurcd in the Institute. — Drawn by tdouard Gamier, from a ducument in 
 the print dc|>artment of the National Library ; engraved by Cabarteux {7 
 
 i. ' Carson. • — Drawn by tdouard Gamier, from a document in the print department in 
 
 the National Library ; engraved by Trichon 85 
 
 5. •• St Igiiatiu:« of I^yola. • — Drawn by ^ouard Gamier, from a document in the 
 
 print de|>.irlmcnt; engraved by Trichon TO 
 
 6. ~ i:t Vincent of Paul, • statue by Emilien Cabucbet, in the church of Saint 8alpic«, 
 
 in Paris. — Engraved by Pannomaker 73 
 
 7. •. M. Tronson, priest of Saint Sulpice, » from a portrait by Guarry. — Engraved by 
 
 .M&iulle, from a copper-pLite by Duflos. . 77 
 
 8. • ^t Joseph Cabsanctius. • — Drawn by Edouard Gamier, trom a document by 
 
 J. Mansfeld; engraved by Trichon 80 
 
 0. • Venerable C^ar d:> Bus. • — Drawn by tdouard Gamier, from an engraving by 
 
 Charpipnon; engraved by Trichon 81 
 
 10. • M. Demui. b — Drawn by Edouard Gamier, from a portrait painted by Ruelle; en- 
 
 graved by Trichon 88 
 
 1 1. « Hlessod Peter Fourricr of Nfnttaincourt. » — Drawn by ^ouard Gamier, from a draw- 
 
 ing by Ibiumgartner; engraved by Trichun 89 
 
 12. < Ablid Bourduisr;. • — Drawn by Edouard Gamier, from a print of the period; en- 
 
 (.'ravoil by Trichon 96 
 
 13. • M. Leschassijr. » — Engraved by M^ulle, from a portrait by F. Andrd, Dominican; 
 
 engraved in copper-jilale by J. Moyre.iu 120 
 
 IS. « .M. Roland, » from a portrait of the period. — Drawn by Vidal; engraved by M&iulle. 121 
 
 15. " Reverend Father Barrd, » from a contemporary portrait. — Drawn by Thadte, en- 
 
 graved by M&iullo 137 
 
 16. • M. Olier, » pastor of Saint Sulpice, trom a portrait of the period. — Engraved by 
 
 Meaullo 208 
 
 17. « M. de la Barmondiire, » pastor of Saint Sulpice, from a portrait of the period. — 
 
 Engraved by II. Joffroy 209 
 
 18. • M. Baudrand, • pastor of Saint Sulpice, from a portrait of the period. — Engraved 
 
 by Farlel (and not by M&iulle, as printed by mistake) 217 
 
 19. • Mir do Noailles, » Archbishop of Paris, from a contemporary print. — Drawn by 
 
 Vidal; engravo<l by Jolfroy 241 
 
 20. « .M" Godet des Marais, • from a contomponry print. — Engraved by A. Gusman. . . 289 
 
 21. • M»'' Jacques-Nicolas Colbert, » coadjutor, and afterwards Archbishop of Rouen, from 
 
 a contemporary print. — Drawn by Kilounrd Gamier; engraved by Cliapon 312 
 
 22. • M. Camus do Pont-Carr£, first president of the Parliament of Rouen, • from a con- 
 
 temporary print. — Engraved by M^aulle 313 
 
 23. • \[*r Belzuiice, • Bishop of Marseilles, from a portrait of the period. — Engraved by 
 
 Joffroy 337 
 
 2V • Louis XIV, » from a copper -plate by S. Thomassin (1675). — Engraved by 
 
 M^ull- 408 
 
 23. • Blessed da la Sall-j after death, »from adrawing by Du Phly. — Engraved by JolThty. 424 
 
 26. • Blessed de la Sallo, » authentic (vorlrail, from a valuable rainiaturo belonging to 
 
 M. Edouard Pelay, of Rouimi. — Drawn by Edouard Gamier; engraved by Qupoo. . 49S 
 
 27. • Brother Bartholom w, llrst Superior general • (1717-1720). — Engraved by Mteulle, 
 
 from a drawing by Mouilleron 438 
 
 28. « Louis XV. • — Engraved by M^aulle, from a portrait of the period 440 
 
 29. I Brother Timothy, second Superior general • (1720-1731). — Engraved by Miaulle; 
 
 from a drawing by Mouilleron 44S 
 
 30. • Brother Ireneus, . |>ortrait of the |)eriod. — Engraved by MAaulle 451 
 
 31. • Benedict .\III., • from a medal. — Engraved by M6aulle 4S3 
 
 32. • Brother Claude, third Superior general > ( 1751 -1767). — Ejigravod by M^ulle, from 
 
 a drawing by Mouilleron 467 
 
 33. • Brother Florence, fourih Su|>erior general • (1767-1777). — Same draughtsman and 
 
 engraver 459 
 
 3i. . Brother Agathon, Oflh Superior general • (1777-1797). — Same draughtaman and 
 
 engraver 47J 
 
 35. « Pius VI. . — Drawn by Ivdouard Gamier, from a drawing of the period; engraved 
 
 by .Napier 483 
 
II. — INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 683 
 
 36. Brother Frumence, Vicar general of the Institute » (1793-1810).— Same draughtsman 
 
 and engraver 485 
 
 37. (( Bonaparte, first consul, « from a picture by Isnbey. — Drawn by Edouard Garnier; 
 
 engraved by Levasseur /i86 
 
 38. n Portalis, » from a portrait in the gallery of Versailles. — Drawn by Chovin; engraved 
 
 by Cabarleux 487 
 
 39. « M"« de Chamillart, marquise de Villeneuve-Trans, » benefactress of the Institute, 
 
 particularly of the schools of Gros-Caillou. — Engraved by Meaulle, from a portrait 
 
 belonging to the Brothers of Gros-Caillou 489 
 
 •40. " Pius VII., » from David's portrait. — Drawn by Chovin; engraved by Chapon. . . . 491 
 
 41. (I Cardinal Fesch. » — Engraved by M6aulle, from a portrait of the time 493 
 
 'i2. (I M. de jFontanes. » — Engraved by Meaulle, from a portrait of ths period 496 
 
 ''i3. <i Abb^ Emery, » from a portrait of the period. — Drawn by Edouard Garnier ; engraved 
 
 by Meaulle 497 
 
 44. Me:r de Boulogne, Bishop of Troyes. » — Drawn by Edouard Garnier, from a portrait 
 
 belonging to the family ; engraved by Napier 504 
 
 45. « Brother Gerbaud, sixth Superior general » (1810-1822). — Engraved by Meaulle, from 
 
 a drawing by Mouilleron 503 
 
 \6. « Brother William of Jesus, seventh Superior general » (1822-1830). — Same draughts- 
 man and engraver 512 
 
 •47. (I Abbe Martin, pastor of Saint Aphrodise, at Beziers. » — Engraved by Farlet, from 
 
 the bust of David d'Angers 513 
 
 48. " Brother Anaclet, eighth Superior general » (1830-1838). — Engraved by Meaulle, 
 
 from a drawing by Mouilleron 513 
 
 49. !■ Gregory XVI., » from a contemporary portrait. — Drawn by Edouard Garnier; en- 
 
 graved by Huyot 529 
 
 50. II Brother Nethelme, mortally wounded at Le Bourget, » died September 24th 1870. — 
 
 Engraved by Barbant 337 
 
 51. II Dr Ricord. » — Drawn by Thadee; engraved by Meaulle 544 
 
 52. II Brother Philip, ninth Superior general (1838-1874), during the last years of his life. " 
 
 — Drawn by Sellier, from a portrait preserved at the mother -house of the Institute; 
 engraved by Barbant 347 
 
 53. (I Brother John Olympe, tenth Superior general » (1874-1873). — Engraved by Mteulle, 
 
 from a photograph of F. A 553 
 
 34. II Brother Irlide, eleventh Superior general " (lfe7o-1884). — Engraved by Huyot. . . . 536 
 
 55. II Pius IX. » — Drawn by Thadee ; engraved by Farlet 558 
 
 .36. II Leo XIII. » — Drawn by Thadee; engraved by Meaulle 539 
 
 57. II Cardinal Gousset, Archbishop of Rheims. » — Engraved by Huyot 560 
 
 58. II Cardinal Langenieux, Archbishop of Rheims. — Engraved by Huyot 561 
 
 59. « Cardinal de Bonnechose, Archbishop of Rouen. » — Drawn by Krug, and engraved 
 
 by Meaulle 562 
 
 60. " Usr Thomas, Archbishap of Rouen. » — Engraved by Meaulle 563 
 
 61. II Cardinal Guibert, Archbishop of Paris, n — Drawn by Thadee; engraved by Chapon. 566 
 
 62. Vicomte de Melun. » — Drawn by Thadee; engraved by Meaulle 567 
 
 63. « M. Chesnelong. » — Drawn by Thadee; engraved by Napier 568 
 
 64. « Doiia Ernestine Manuel de Villena, n foundress of the Orphan Asylum of the Sacred 
 
 Heart, at Madrid. — Engraved by Meaulle 583 
 
 65. II Mer Mermillod. » — Engraved by Napier 593 
 
 66. II H. M. Francis II., Emperor of Austria. » — Engraved by Meaulle 595 
 
 67. II Dr Hughes, Archbishop of New York. » — Engraved by Meaulle 613 
 
 68. II Brother Facile, Assistant for America. » — Engraved by Meaulle 615 
 
 69. « Garcia Moreno, former President of the Republic of Equador. » — Engraved by 
 
 Meaulle 618 
 
 70. II Cardinal Pitra, « postulator of the cause of Blessed de la Salle, and protector of the 
 
 Institute. — Engraved by Farlet 629 
 
 71. <i Cure of Stephen de Suzanne. » — Drawn by Krug; engraved by Farlet 632 
 
 72. (I Blessed de la Salle. » — Statue by limilien Cabuchet, engraved by Chapon 635 
 
 73. « Blessed de la Salle in glory. » — Engraved by Pattier, from a composition by L. R. 640 
 
 74. II Blessed de la Salle, » from a medal by A. Borel, struck on the occasion of the beati- 
 
 fication; engraved by Napier 641 
 
084 BLESSED HE LA SALLB. 
 
 6. — VIEWS, MOHUMKNTI, AND lO rORTH. 
 t TW HrtM of >klrh an caatl*la4 by IW rrtMM, ur iMadlaf* «< rk*|4«n u«aMnM4 »!■••.) 
 
 1. • Paris — Calhedml of Nutre-Dnmo in the lime of BIcMod do la Salle. • — Drawn by 
 
 ^ounnl Garnicr, fruin a print of llie periud; cnpravod by M"< Chevalier 29 
 
 2. • Pari« — Coming from »i-houl in the ei)rhtoenlh century. • — Drawn by Eduuard Gar- 
 
 nior, from Auguslin do Snint-Aubin; engmved by M&iulle 57 
 
 3. • Rtieims — Huuse in which Bteesed de la Salle was bom. • — Itestitution by Ch. 
 
 Fichol ; engraved by JulTroy 104 
 
 i. • Rheiins — Second view of the same bouse. • — Restitution by Ch. Fichol; engraved 
 
 by Puyplal lOR 
 
 5. • Rhoinis — Mouse in the Rue des Anglaiit, • formerly Rue de la Toumelle, af»t hired 
 
 fur the tnaslers by RIessed do la Salto in 1t>79. (It in by mistake that another indica- 
 tien was given above.) — Umwn by Fichut Junior 106 
 
 6. • Rlieims — Arms of the de la Sille family. > — Drawn by Sellier 1(10 
 
 7. • Rlicims — Dress of the Canons, > from Ihe seal of the Senechal of the Chapter. — 
 
 Drawn by Ch. Fichol Ill 
 
 8. • Rheims — The Cathedral, ■ wliere Blessed de la Salle was Canon. — Drawn by Tous- 
 
 saint 112 
 
 9. • Rheims — Porta preliota. • — Drawn by Ch. Fichol; engraved by Guillaurool. ... 113 
 
 10. • Liesse — Church of Notre- Dime — 1* Faterior. • — Drawn by P. I^egrand 114 
 
 11. « Liesse — Church of .Notre- Dam« — 2* Interior. • — Drawn by Fichol Junior; engraved 
 
 by Joffroy 145 
 
 12. • Laon — The Cathedral. » — Drawn by Sellier 161 
 
 13. • Rheims— Church of S.iint Remy— !• Exterior. • — Drawn by Edouard Gamier; 
 
 engraved by M^aulle 176 
 
 14. • Rheims — Church of Saint Rcmy — 2* Interior. • — Drawn by ^ouard Gamier; en- 
 
 graved by M^ulle 177 
 
 15. • Kheims — TombofSIRt-my, in Blessed de la Salle's lime. <> — Drawn by Kdou.ird Gamier. 192 
 
 16. • Rheims — Tomb of St Remy, at present. • — Drawn by Edouard Oamior; engraved 
 
 by Fnrlel 193 
 
 17. • Paris — Plan of the parish of Saint Sulpice, • taken from that ofJouvin de Rochpforl, 
 
 in 1072. — Drawn by Paul l.egrand 201 
 
 18. Rouen— Basso-relievo which adorns tlio foot of the statne by Falgui^re — • Bleased 
 
 de la Sallo during the famine. » — Drawn by Chapuig 833 
 
 19. • Vaugimnl — Old Chun-h. • — Drawn by Paul Legrand 243 
 
 20. Rouen — Basso-relievo which adorns the foot of tliQ statue — « James II. visiting the 
 
 young Irish boys under the care of Blessed de la Salle. • — Drawn by Chapuis. . . 257 
 
 21. • Paris — Plan of the Faubourg Saint Anioine, • where the Dominican Nuns lived, 
 
 from the plan ofJouvin do Rochcfurt, in 1672. — Drawn by Paul Leprand 281 
 
 22. • Cbartros— The Cathedral. > — Drawn by Toussaint 291 
 
 23. • Rouen— The Cathedral. > — Drawn by Sellier 30!) 
 
 2i. • Rouen — Saint Ouen. > — Drawn by Sellier 320 
 
 25. • Rouen — Palace of Justice, t — Drawn by Toussaint 321 
 
 26. • Saint Maximin, • where Rle<se<1 do la Salle stopped on his way lo Marseilles. — 
 
 Drawn by Thadiie 365 
 
 27. • La Sainte Baumc, • where Blcssetl de la Salle stopped on his way from Marseilles to 
 
 .Mende; as it is now. — Drawn by Thad6e 368 
 
 28. • Mende. • — Drawn by tlldouard Gamier; engraved by M&iulle 300 
 
 29. • The Grande -Cliartreuse, • second view. — Drawn by Cliapuis; cngmved by Joffroy. 377 
 
 30. Marseilles— • Notre- Dame de la Gar«le, • at Ihe beginning of Ihe devotion. — Drawn 
 
 by Thaddo 400 
 
 31. • Rouen— Cha|iol of Saint Yon. • Drawn by Edouard Gamier; engraved by Cabarteuz. 417 
 
 32. ■ Rouen— Old church of Saint Sever — 1* Exterior. • — Drawn by Ficbot Junior. . . 418 
 
 33. • Rouen — Old church of Saint Sever — 2* Interior. • — Drawn by Ficbot Junior; en- 
 
 graved by Meaulle 419 
 
 34. • Rouen— Fragment of the inscription placed on the tecood tomb of Blataed de U 
 
 Salle. • — Drawn by Edouard Gamier 4S6 
 
 35. • Rouen— Present tomb of Blessed de la Salle • at the boarding-school of Um Brotbert. 
 
 — Drawn bv Ivdouard Gamier 429 
 
11. — INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 685 
 
 36. n Rheims— Chalice and cruets of Blessed de la Salle, » preserved in the treasury of 
 
 the Cathedral 430 
 
 37. « Mareville. » — Drawn by Edouard Garnier, from a print of the eighteenth century; 
 
 engraved by Cabarleux 449 
 
 38. " Rouen — Complete plan of the house of Saint Yon, » from contemporary documents. 461 
 
 39. « Angers — The Rosslgnolerie. » — Drawn by l^douard Garnier; engraved by Smeeton. 464 
 
 40. II Marseilles — Former boarding-school. « — Drawn by Thadee 465 
 
 41. » Melun. » — Drawn by Clair-Guyot 469 
 
 42. II Paris— House in the Faubourg Saint Martin, » occupied in 1821 by the administra- 
 
 tion of the Institute. — Drawn by Sellier; engraved by Fattier S09 
 
 43. II Paris — The Brothers' scholars, » from the Tableaux de Paris by Marlet. — Drawn 
 
 by Edouard Garnier; engraved by Rousseau 319 
 
 44. II Le Puy-en-Velay — Notre Dame de France. » — Drawn by Edouard Garnier; en- 
 
 graved by Napier 525 
 
 45. II Rouen — Monumental fountain to the memory of Blessed de la Salle. » — Drawn 
 
 by Notor 552 
 
 46-49. Rouen — Monumental fountain — « The four parts of the world represented by four 
 
 children studying, under the guidance of Blessed de la Salle, the elements of Divine 
 
 and human sciences. » — Drawn by Sellier 553 
 
 50. II Paris — Great establishment of the Brothers at Passy. » General view. — Drawn by 
 
 Sellier; engraved by MeauUe 569 
 
 51-33. II Paris— House of Saint Nicholas— Workshop of the carpenters, gymnasium, the 
 
 band. » — Three sketches by Ferdinandus 571-572-573 
 
 54. II Athis — The mortuary chapel. » — Drawn by Sellier; engraved by Pannemaker. . . 574 
 
 55. II Athis— The lawn and statue of the Sacred Heart. » — Drawn by Sellier; engraved 
 
 by Sargent 573 
 
 56. « Fleury — House of retreat for the Brothers— The gardens and chapel. » — Drawn by 
 
 Sellier; engraved by Meaulle 576 
 
 37. (I Fleury — House of retreat for the Brothers — Walk near the chapel. » — Drawn by 
 
 Sellier; engraved by Meaulle 577 
 
 38. II Beauvais — Boarding-school of Saint Joseph — Chapel which is the centre of the 
 
 Archconfraternily of Saint Joseph. » — Engraved by JolTroy 579 
 
 59. II Rheims — Boarding-school of the Bnthors. i> — Drawn by Sellier; engraved by 
 
 Tilly ." 580 
 
 60. II Lyons — House of the Brothers on the hill of Fourvifere. » — Drawn by Sellier. . . 581 
 
 61. (I Madrid — Asylum of the Orphans of the Sacred Heart. » — Drawn by Sellier .... 582 
 
 62. II London — General view of the college of Saint Joseph, at Tooting, near London « . . 585 
 
 63. « Albano — Novitiate of the Brothers. » — Engraved by Pattier 587 
 
 64. ic Rome — French college, » near the Trinity dei Monti.— Engraved by Pattier. . . . 588 
 
 65. II Malonne (Belgium) — View of the establishment of the Brothers in the ancient abbey 
 
 of Malonne. » — Engraved by Pattier 590 
 
 66. II Carlsbourg (Belgium) — Ancient castle of the Dukes of Bouillon, n — Engraved by 
 
 JolTroy 591 
 
 67-69. II Erzeroum — Types of Armenian scholars. » — Three drawings by Sellier. . . . 596 
 
 70. II Jerusalem — House of the Brothers. » — Drawn by A. Brun 598 
 
 71. II Cairo — Place of Pompey's column. » — Drawn by Sellier 599 
 
 72. II Ramleh — School and Novitiate of the Brothers. « — Drawn by A. Brun 600 
 
 73. II Algiers — View from the gate of Bab-Azoun. » — Drawn by Sellier 601 
 
 74. II Rangoon (Burmah) — General view. » — Drawn by Sellier 602 
 
 75. II Rangoon (Burmah) — School of the Brothers. » — Drawn by Sellier 603 
 
 76-78. II Rangoon (Burmah)— Types of Burmese scholars, n — Three drawings by Sellier, 
 
 from local photographs 604 
 
 79. II Hong-Kong (China) — Brothers' school. » — Drawn by Leon Labbe; engraved by 
 
 Napier 603 
 
 80. « Madagascar — Tamatave. » — Drawn by Sellier 606 
 
 81. IC Island of the Reunion — View of Saint Pierre. » — Drawn by Sellier 608 
 
 82. II Montreal (Canada) — General view. » — Drawn by Sellier 609 
 
 83. II Montreal (Canada)— Saint Joseph' school, d — Drawn by De Bellee 611 
 
 84. II Quito, » in the Republic of Equador. — Drawn by Sellier 61C 
 
 85. II Fleury — General view, » double plate. — Engraved by Meaulle; drawn by 
 
 Sellier 576 
 
C8G DLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 86. « New York— The Calholio Protectory, • double plate. — Drawn bjr Sellier; engraved 
 
 by Tilly " 614 
 
 87. t Houen— First chapel raised in honor of Blesaed de la Salle, in the Brothers' school. • 
 
 — Drawn by Sellier; engraved by Miaulle 634 
 
 3« HAPS. 
 
 1. The Institute at the death of Blessed de la Salle, in 1719 43t 
 
 2. The Institute in 1792 473 
 
 3. The Inslitut] from 1800 to the election of Brother Philip, in 1838 S18 
 
 4. The Institute under the administration of Brother Philip (1838-1874) 52i 
 
 5. The Institute in Spain 884 
 
 6. — in the Brlstisb Isles S88 
 
 7. — in Italy 8W 
 
 8. — in Belgium »J 
 
 9. — in Switzerland 804 
 
 10. — in Germany, in Austria and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 594 
 
 11. — in Turkey in Europe, Greece and Roumania 897 
 
 12. — in Turkey in Asia 897 
 
 13. — in Kgypt 600 
 
 14. — in Algiers and Tunis 601 
 
 15. — in the Indies, China and Cocbinchina 602 
 
 16. — in the islands of Reunion, Madagascar, the Mauritius and the Seychelles. 607 
 
 17. — in Canada 610 
 
 18. — in tho United Stales 612 
 
 19. — in South America 617 
 
 20. The Institute from the election of Brother John Olympe to the beatiflcation of Venerable 
 
 John Baptist de la Salle (1874-1887) 620 
 
 21. The Institute in France in 1887. — Colored map, double plate 623 
 
 22. Tho Institute throughout the world, from its birth to the beatiflcation of Venerable 
 
 John Baptist de la Salle 621 
 
 4° FAC-SIMILES. 
 
 The fac-similes are divided into two sets : — A. Fac-siniilcs of autographs — !• Blessed de 
 la Salle— First formula of vows, written in his hand (June 6th lC9'i), p. 2M); 2> Blessed de la 
 Salle— Brother Joseph sent to Guise, etc. (July 30th 1709), p. 427; 3< and 4* Bull of Bene- 
 dict XIII., approving of the Institute (January 26th 1725), pp. 4-i2 and 443; 5- Abbd fimery— 
 Letter to Brother Gerbaud (.November 30lh 1810), p. SOI ; 6» Doctor Ricord— Letter to Brotlicr 
 Philip (January Ist 1872), p. 545. — B. Fac-similes of incunables — 1« Frontispiece of the Canta- 
 lycit epigrammatum liber (1493), p. 24; 2« Coming out of school, engraving of the Heurti de 
 la Viergt printed by Thielman Kerver (1523), p. 40; 3* VABC det Chrettient, at tho end of 
 the Ileiires de Nmtre Dame, of Jacques Kerver (1575), p. 41 ; 4' and 5» Very t'(Uij ilelhod lo 
 team to read in French and in Latin, etc. — " The Rector, " p. 48; " the School-nuitter, " 
 p. 49; 6* On French eloquence, by G. D. V. (1606)— Title of this book, with tlie dedication of 
 M~de Maillefor for the college of Rhcims, p. 139. — C. Fac-similes of rare prints — 1* The mas- 
 sacre in the church of the Carmelite Monks, p. 477; 2* The school at Gros-Caillou, p. 488. 
 
 5" HEAD-LETTERS AND TAIL-PIBCB8. 
 
 Edouard Gamier and Lambert have endeavored to revive tho omementation of tho end of tho 
 seventeenth century in these secondary elements of so important an illustration; but however 
 largo tho share given to decoration, the moral and religious idea has not been led out even hero. 
 Each of Urse letters and tail -pieces expresses one of the functions of tho Institute fuunded by 
 Blessed de U Salle, ono of the olemenU of his life— Teacliing (pp. 11, 32, Gi, 128, 301 ); tho 
 Alphabet (pp. 129, 225, 411, etc.); Science (p. 273, etc.); Prayer (p. 3, etc.); Worship 
 (pp. XV, etc.); tho KurhariKt, which keeps up the courage of the masters' hoart (pp. 247, 
 4iJ6, etc.); tlio litter-bearers (p. 153); tlio memory of tho Passion of Christ (p. 3.1, etc.); the 
 Cross (p. 97), etc. etc. A few tail-pieces are, by exception, devoted to subjects U>at are more 
 than urnamental— as, for instance, the school -master, from Boissieu (p. 64); tlio Brother^, 
 by Marlct (p. 519); the marker found by M. Golis Didot at Bourbon - rArcliambaud [p. xii) 
 and the fiortrait of Blessed de la Salle (p. 642), etc. 
 
II. — INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 687 
 
 ALPHABETICAL INDEX 
 
 OF ALL THE HEADS CONTAIiNED IN THE DOCUMENTARY ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 ABC des ChrestienSj fac-simile of a do- 
 cument attached to the Heures of Jac- 
 ques Kerver (lS7o) 41 
 
 Agathon (Br.), fifth Superior general . . Ji71 
 
 Albano. Novitiate of the Brothers .... 587 
 
 Algiers 001 
 
 Algiers. The Institute in Algiers and Tu- 
 nis (map) 601 
 
 America South. The Institute in South 
 
 America (map) ■. 617 
 
 Anaclet ( Br.), eiglh Superior general . . 515 
 
 Angers. The Rossignolerie 464 
 
 Armenia. Types of scholars at Erze- 
 
 roum 596 
 
 Athis. Mortuary Chapel, 574; lawn and 
 
 statue of the Sacred Heart 575 
 
 Austria. The Institute in Austria, etc. 
 
 (map) 594 
 
 Avignon 455 
 
 Barmondi^re (M. de la), pastor of Saint 
 
 Sulpice 209 
 
 Barre (Father) 137 
 
 Bartholomew (Br.), first Superior gene- 
 ral 438 
 
 Baudrand (M.), pastor of Saint Sulpice. . 217 
 
 Baume or Beaume(Ia Sainte-) 368 
 
 Beauvais. School of Saint Joseph. . . . 579 
 
 Belgium. The Institute in Belgium (map). 592 
 
 Belzunce (Mo"-) 337 
 
 Benedict XIll. Medal, 453; Bull approv- 
 ing of the Institute 442, 443 
 
 Burmah 603, 60 'i 
 
 Blain (Canon), first historian of Blessed 
 
 de la Salle 9 
 
 Bonaparte, first consul 486 
 
 Bonnechose (Cardinal de) 562 
 
 Bosse (Abraham). A school before Blessed 
 
 de la Salle 33 
 
 Boulogne (M'^de) 504 
 
 Bourdoise (Abb6) 96 
 
 Bus (Blessed Caesar de) 81 
 
 British Isles. The Institute in the British 
 
 Isles (map) 586 
 
 Cairo 599 
 
 Canada. The Institute in Canada (map). 610 
 Carlsbourg, in Belgium; ancient castle of 
 
 the Dukes of Bouillon 591 
 
 Carmelite Monks (chapel of) in Paris. 247, 467, 477 
 
 Caesar de Bus (Blessed) 81 
 
 Chamillart (M"«), marquise de Villeneuve- 
 
 Trans 489 
 
 Chartres. The Cathedral, 291 ; old gate of 
 
 the town 287 
 
 Chartreuse (the Grande-) 371, 377 
 
 Chesnelong (M. ) 568 
 
 China. The Institute in China (map). . . 602 
 
 Claude (Br.), third Superior general. . . 457 
 Cochin- China. The Institute in Cochin- 
 
 China ( map ) 602 
 
 Colbert (M"' Jacques Nicolas), coadjutor, 
 
 then Archbishop of Rouen 312 
 
 Demia (M.) 88 
 
 Egypt. The Institute in Egypt (map) . . 600 
 Emery (Abb6). Portrait, 497; fao-simile 
 
 of one of his letters 501 
 
 Erzeroum. Types of Armenian scholars. . 596 
 
 England (map) ■ . . 586 
 
 Facile (Br.), Assistant for America . . . 615 
 
 Fesch (Cardinal) 493 
 
 Fleury (Meudon). The chapel and gardens, 
 
 376; the walk near the chapel 577 
 
 Florence (Br.), fourth Superior generaj. 459 
 
 Fontanes (de) 496 
 
 Fourier (Blessed Peter) of Mattaincourt. 89 
 
 Francis II., Emperor of Austria 595 
 
 Frumence (Br.), Vicar general of the In- 
 stitute, from 1793 to 1810 485 
 
 Gerbaud (Br.), sixth Superior general. . 505 
 Germany. Institute in Germany and Luxem- 
 bourg, etc. (map) 594 
 
 Gerson 25 
 
 Godet des Marais (Msr) 289 
 
 Gousset (Cardinal) 560 
 
 Greece. The Institute of the Brothers in 
 
 Greece (map) 597 
 
 Gregory XVI 529 
 
 Guibert (Cardinal) 566 
 
 Hong-Kong (China). School of the Broth- 
 ers 605 
 
 Hughes (Dr), Archbishop of New York. 613 
 
 Ignatius of Loyola (S.) 72 
 
 India. The Institute in India (map) . . . 602 
 
688 
 
 RLESSEI) DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Initilute of the Druthers ot the Christian 
 tchooU. Serie* of maps in which we 
 can follow its development and pro- 
 gress from its foundation up to the pre- 
 sent day— 1* The Institute in 1719, at 
 the time of Blessed do la Salle's death, 
 431 ; 2* in 1792, 473 ; 3* since the re- 
 esUiblishmcnt of the Congregation in 
 France up to the election of Brother 
 Philip (1800-1838), 518; A' the Institute 
 under the administration of Brother Phi- 
 lip (1838-1874), 524; 6» the Institute 
 from the election of Brother Jean Olympe 
 to the beatiflcation of Venerable Jean 
 Baptiste de la Salle, 620; O* the Institute 
 in 1887, 623; T the Institute throughout 
 
 the world 621 
 
 Irencus ( Br.) 451 
 
 Irlido ( Br.), eleventh Superior general. . 556 
 Italy. The Institute in Italy (map). ... 589 
 
 John Olympe (Br.), tenth Superior gene- 
 ral 555 
 
 Jerusalem. House of the Brothers. . . . 596 
 
 Jospph Calasanzio (S.) 80 
 
 Langinicux (Cardinal) 561 
 
 Laon. General view; the Cathedral . . . 161 
 
 LeoXm 659 
 
 Lescliassier ( M.) 120 
 
 Liesso (Notre Dame de). Exterior of the 
 
 church, 144; Interior 145 
 
 London. General view of the college of 
 
 Saint Joseph at Tooting, near London. 585 
 
 Louis XIV 409 
 
 Louis XV ViO 
 
 Luxembourg. The Institute in Luxem- 
 
 liourg (map) 694 
 
 Lyons. The Brothers' House on the hill of 
 
 Pourvitre 681 
 
 Madagascar. Tamatare, 606; Institute at 
 
 Madagascar (map) 607 
 
 Madrid. Asylum of the Orphans of the 
 
 Sacred Heart 582 
 
 Maillefer (M-« de). Title of a book given 
 
 by her to the college at Rheims. . . . 139 
 Malonnp, in Belgium (Establishment of 
 the Brothers in the old abbey of] . . . 590 
 
 MarivUle ' 449 
 
 Miirseilles. General view, 325; Notre Dame 
 
 de la Garde, 409; former school. . . . 465 
 M.irtin (Abb^), pastor of Saint Aphrodise, 
 
 at IMziers 513 
 
 M.-iuritius ( Island of), Institute in the in- 
 land (map) 607 
 
 Mrlun nnd tbo House of the brothers . . 469 
 
 Melun (vicomte del 567 
 
 Mende 369 
 
 Mcrmillod (M«') 603 
 
 Mrlhod for traching ehildren lo rrad in 
 
 Latin and French— 1» The Rector, 48; 
 
 2* the School-master 49 
 
 Montreal (Canada). General view, 609; 
 
 Brothers' school 611 
 
 Moreno (Garcia). Portrait, 618 ; autograph . 619 
 
 Nethelme(Br.), wounded mortally at Bour- 
 
 get (December 1870) 937 
 
 New York, p. 551. (Cf. double pUte 
 
 representing the Calhotie Proleelory. 614 
 
 Nicholas (Saint) 17 
 
 Noailles (M" de). Archbishop of Paris. 241 
 
 Notre Dame de France, at Puy-en-Velay. 925 
 
 Olier (M.) 206 
 
 Paris. General view in Blessed de la 
 Salle's time, 13 and 343; Notre Dame, 
 at the same period, 29; Saint Sulpice 
 (old church), 199; plan of the parish in 
 1672, 201 ; Rue dos D^chargeurs, 225 ; 
 the chapel of the Carmelites, 2i7 and 
 467 ; Convent of Uie Dominican Nuns of 
 the Cross, 275; plan of that part of the 
 Faubourg Saint Antoine, in which the 
 Convent was situated, 281 ; lac-simile 
 of a common print representing the 
 massacre at the Carmelites, 477; school 
 at Gros-Caillou, 488; Brothers taking 
 children to school from the Tableaux 
 de Pari$, by Marlet, 519; house in the 
 Faubourg Saint Martin, occupied in 1821 
 by the Administration of the Institute, 
 509; the Brothers on Uie ramparts in 
 1870-1871, 521; mother-house, Rao Ou- 
 dinot, 481 ; Saint Nicolas — workshop of 
 the carpenters, 571 ; the gymnasium, 
 572; the band, 573; establishment at 
 
 Passy 909 
 
 Passy S69 
 
 Philip (Br.), ninth Superior general. Ills 
 portrait taken during the last years of 
 
 hisUfe 547 
 
 Pius VI 483 
 
 Pius VII 491 
 
 Pius IX . 598 
 
 Pitra (Cardinal), Postulator of the caus) 
 of beatilication and Protector of tlio In- 
 stitute 929 
 
 Pont-Carrd (Camus de), first President 
 
 of the Pariiament of Rouen 313 
 
 Portalis 487 
 
 Puy-en-Velay (Le). Noire Dame of 
 France IBS 
 
 Quilo CIO 
 
 Ramloh 600 
 
 Rangoon (Durmah). General view, 002; 
 school of tbo Brothers, OiO; BumidM 
 scholar* 6W 
 
II. — INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 689 
 
 Rheims. General view, 625; the Cathedral, 
 101 and 112; Porla pretiosa, 113; cos- 
 tume of the Canons of Rheims, HI; 
 Saint Remy — 1° exterior, 173 and 176; 
 2» interior, 177; tomb of Saint Remy — 
 1» former state, during the life-time of 
 Blessed de la Salle, 192 ; 2° present state, 
 193; houso where Blessed de la Sallo 
 was born, restitution by Ch. Fichot, lO^i 
 and 105; house in the Rue des Anglais, 
 108; old houses on the Market-Place, 3; 
 boarding-school of the Brothers. . . . 580 
 
 Reunion (Island of the). The Institute in 
 the island (map), 607; view of Saint 
 Pierre 608 
 
 Ricord (Doctor). Portrait, 5i4; autograph. 545 
 
 Roland (M.) 121 
 
 Rome. Saint Peter's, 303; Piazza di Spa- 
 gna and the Trinity dei Monti, 435; 
 French college 588 
 
 Rouen. General view, xv, 129, 411 ; the 
 Cathedral, 309 ; Saint Ouen, 320 ; palace 
 of Justice, 321 ; Houso of the Haniparl, 
 where the Brothers taught in Blessed 
 . de la Salle's time, 307; old church of 
 Saint Sever, 418, 419; old school and 
 chapel of the Saint Yon, 461, 385, 417; 
 tomb of Blessed de la Salle, 428, 429; 
 monumental fountain to his memory, 
 552, 553, 233, 257 ; first chapel raised in 
 his honor 634 
 
 Roumania. Institute of the Brothers in 
 Roumania (map) 597 
 
 Saint Antoine (Faubourg), Paris .... 281 
 
 Saint Maximin 365 
 
 Saint Nicholas in Paris 571,572 
 
 Saint Sever, Rouen 418, 419 
 
 Saint Sulpice (parish of), Paris. . . 199, 201 
 
 Saint Yon, Rouen 461,385,417 
 
 Salle (Blessed John Baptist de la). The 
 principal elements of his iconography 
 are — 1° valuable miniature belonging 
 to M. Pelay, 425; 2" portrait of Blessed 
 de la Salle after death, by du Phly, 424. 
 
 — In the present work four of his sta- 
 tues have been reproduced— 1° that of 
 Falguiere, Rouen (frontispiece) ; 2° that 
 of Oliva in the court of the mother-house, 
 5; 3° that of Montaguy intended for the 
 basilica of Sainto Genevieve, ix, and 
 lastly 4° that of Emilien Cabuchet, 635. 
 Of. the portrait of P. Leger (p. 6) and 
 Charles Muller (p. 430); Modal struck 
 on the occasion of the beatification of 
 Venerable John Baptist de la Salle, 
 641 ; fac-simile of his writing, 240, 427; 
 his family arms, 109; his tomb. . . 428,429 
 
 Schools before Blessed de la Salle, from 
 the most ancient monuments of the 
 printing press . . 24, 32, 33, 40, 41, 48, 49 
 
 Spain. The Institute in Spain (map). . . 584 
 
 Seychelles. The Institute in the islands of 
 Seychelles (map) 607 
 
 States (United). The Institute in the United 
 States (map) 612 
 
 Switzerland. The Institute in Switzerland 
 (map) 594 
 
 Suzanne (cure of Stephen de), sketch by 
 Krug 632 
 
 Tamatave, in Madagascar 606 
 
 Thomas (Msr), Archbishop of Rouen . . 563 
 
 Timothy (Br.), second Superior general. 445 
 
 Trent (Council of) 65 
 
 Tronson (M.), priest of Saint Sulpice , . 77 
 
 Tunis. Map of the Institute 601 
 
 Turkey. The Institute in Turkey in Eu- 
 rope and in Turkey in Asia 397 
 
 Vaugirard (Old church of) 243 
 
 Villena (Doiia Ernestina Manuel de), 
 foundress of the Orphan Asylum of the 
 Sacred Heart in Madrid 583 
 
 Villeneuve-Trans (M"* de Chamillart, 
 marquise de) 489 
 
 Vincent de Paul (Saint) 73 
 
 William of Jesus (Br.), seventh Superior 
 general 512 
 
 44 
 
III. — INDEX OF DOCUMENTS'. 
 
 A. — MANUSCRIPTS. 
 
 AncHn^ES (national), Paris. — Rights and functions of the Precentor. L. 492, 493. — 
 Factum a^'ainst the Pastors and the University. LL. 475. — Docaments relating to t)ic 
 parish of Saint Sulpice. L. 710-712. — Notes on various churches of Paris. L. 716-717. 
 — Receipts of the writing- masters (1073-1775). Y. 9335 t.. 0340. 
 
 AitciiivES OF THE AUMINISTRATION OF THE Bkothehs, PufU. — Xuiuerous documents 
 relating to the history of Blessed de la Salle and his Institute. — " Admirahle conduct 
 of Divine Providence in the person of the venerable servant of God, John Baptist de 
 la Salle, " by Brother Bernard. — Remarks on the life of M. de la Salle, ", by the 
 same. — Letter of Brother John tu M. de la Salle, Canon of Rheims, brother of Blessed 
 de la Salle, sending him the second manuscript of Brother Bernard. — Letters of Bleaaed 
 J. B.de la Salle. 
 
 AncHiVES OF THE itEPAiiTMENT OF THE Marne, Chdions.— VaWous title-deeds belonging 
 to Blessed de la Salle. 
 
 Archives of the city of Rheims. — Christian schools (1724). — Report drawn up by 
 Canon de la Salle, and so on. 
 
 Aiichives of the Si!>tki(.'< of the Infant Jesus, Rheims. —Life of M. Roland, founder of 
 the Sisters of the infant Jesus, by Barthelemy. 
 
 LiBRAHY (national). — List of the distribution of taxes over the faubourg Saint Germain 
 districts (after 1099). Section of French Manuscripts, n" 11,095. 
 
 LiiiRARY (mazarine). — Life of the venerable servant of God, raessire Adrien Bour- 
 doise (1094), by Courteaux, priest of the Community of Saint Nicolas. 
 
 Library (Luxemiiolro). — Verbal reports of the Assemblies of the French clergy 
 1610-1608; ms. 9,082. 
 
 Library of the seminary of Saint Sulpice. — Abridged lives of several priests and 
 ecclesiastics who had distinguished themselves, by Joseph Grandet, 4 vol. iu-4°. (The 
 National Library possesses a partial copy of them, containing the lives of MM. Tronsou, 
 de la Barmondierc and de la Chtitardie.) — Letters of M. Leschassier (1700-1709). 
 
 LiiiRARY OF THE CITY OF RuElMS. — Life of messire Jean-Baptistc de la Salle, by 
 Dom liUie Maillefcr. 
 
 B. — PRINTED PAPERS. 
 
 AlXAiN (abbd). •— Primary Instruction in France before the Revolution, from recent 
 researches and uiipulilished documents. Puns, 1881, in- 12. Cf. two articles of the 
 same author in the Review of historical questions, vol. XYll, p. 114 (1875); XXXIII, 
 p. 510 (1883). — Except when the contrary is indicated, the numerous quotations we 
 have made from the remarkable work of abb<i Allain are all taken from the vol. in-i2. 
 
 Annals of the Institute, vol. I (1679-1725); vol. II, (1725-1803). Paris, 1883, 2 vol. in-8<>. 
 
 I 8m, pp. MS tt Mq., th« rollowlag DoeunraoU in txteiwo .- Ilriaf of hit llolintH l.«o XIII. (or lb* BmUIcMIm 
 t'l Vtntrtbla J. B. d« U S<ll«; onuamUl lawriplioa* for Ui* hall of C«ao«U*lioa; PMIortI MUr of tb* 
 Arefabuhup ol Ptria; Puloral Utur of hit Oric* lb« Arcbbithop •( Toronto. 
 
III. — INDEX OF DOCUMENTS. 691 
 
 Arsac (J. d'). — Brothers of the Christian schools during the war, -1870-1871. Paris, 
 
 1882, in-12. 
 .\rnould (Ernest). — Notes and deeds referring to the establishments of primary 
 
 instruction in the city of Rheims. 
 Assemblies of the French clergy from 1560 to 1775. (Collection of verbal reports. 
 
 Paris, 1767, 9 vol. in-folio. 
 AuLNAY (C. d'). — The friends of the poor, or religious bodies and their works through 
 
 the centuries. Lille. 
 Ayma. — Work of tiie Christian schools, in their dealings with the Church and society. 
 
 Aix, 1859, 1 vol. in-12. 
 Ayma. — Life of Venerable John Baptist de la Salle, founder of Christian schools. Aix, 
 
 1858, 2 vol. in-12 (2'«i edition). 
 Babeau (Alfred). — Primary Instruction in the country districts before 1789. Troyes, 
 
 1875, in-8''. — The Village under the old regime. Bar -stir -Seine and Paris, 1879, 
 
 in-18. 
 BAiinE (R. F.), Minim, founder of the charitable schools of the holy Infant Jesus. — 
 
 Statutes and rules of Christian and charitable schools. Paris, 1685, in-12. 
 Batault. — Schools at Chulon-sur-Sa6ne in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 
 
 Chdlon, 1873, in-4». 
 Beaurepaihe (Robillard de). — Researches on Public Instruction in the diocese of 
 
 Rouen before 1789. £vreux, 1872, 3 vol. in-18. 
 Bkllanger (R. F. Theodore). — Sister Louisa, tlie plus shepherdess of Parmenle. 
 
 Paris, 1863, in-32. 
 Bell^e. — Researches on Primary Instruction in the Sarthe before and during the 
 
 Revolution. Mans, 1875, in-12. 
 Blain. — Life of B. J. B. de la Salle, Founder of the Christian schools, by L***. Rouen, 
 
 1733,2 vol. in-4". — New edition, Paris, 1882, in-18. 
 BouTiOT. — History of Public and Popular Instruction at Troyes. Troyes, 1865, in-8». 
 BuissoN. — Dictionary of Pedagogy and Primary Instruction. Parts, 1877-1887, 2 vol. 
 
 in-8». 
 Carion (abbe Auguste). — Second centenary of the foundation of the Institute of the 
 
 Brothers of the Christian schools, by venerable John Baptist de la Salle. — Accounts 
 
 of the festivities held on the occasion, with papers and documentary evidence, preceded 
 
 by an Introduction. Paris, 1881, in-8''. 
 Cii.vntrel (J.). — Monument to Venerable John Baptist de la Salle at Rouen. (Feast 
 
 2d of June 1875.) Parts, 1875, m-S". 
 Chapia (I'abbe). — History of B. Peter Fourrier. Paris, 1850, 2 vol. in-8'>. 
 Charles (L.). — Public Instruction at La Ferte-Bernard. La Ferti-Bernard, 1873, in-8". 
 CiiARMASSE (Anatole de). — State of Primary Instruction in the old diocese of Autun, 
 
 during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 2"'' edit. Paris, 1878, in-8". 
 Chev.yuer (Alexis). — The Brothers of the Christian schools and Primary Instruction 
 
 after the Revolution, 1797-1830. Paris, 1887, in-8''. 
 Choron. — Historical Researches on Primary Instruction in Soissonnais. Soiasons, 
 
 1865-1879, 3 fascicules in-8». 
 Civility which is common in France, amongst respectable persons (New treatise of), by 
 
 the author of the Point of honor. New edition, Paris, 1712. 
 Civility (primitive and decent) for the instruction of children, drawn up by a missionary, 
 
 with precepts and rules for teaching young people to behave well in company. 
 
 Paris, 1749. 
 Collections of deeds, title-deeds and notes concerning tlie affairs of the clergy (vol. I., 
 
 ch. III. : On primary Schools). 
 Collection of laws and regulations concerning public instruction from the edict of 
 
 Henri IV. to present day. Paris, 1814, 8 vol. in-8'>. 
 Councils. — Collections by Mansi, Labbe, Cossart, and others. 
 CouRNOT. — Institutions of Public Instruction in France. Paris, 1864, in-S". 
 
692 BLESSED DE LA SALLE. 
 
 Darsv. — lliatoriral Study upon Public Instruction. — Schools and Colleges in the dioceae 
 
 of .\mions. Amicm, 1881, iii-8°. 
 Decize (Schools of i from the fourteenth century to 1789. — Reports of the Society of 
 
 Nevei-s. Vol. L, p. 416. 
 Deijsu: (Leopold). — Studies on the Agricultural class in Normandy in the Middle Ages. 
 
 XVreiJx, 1851, in-S". 
 DiNOLAiio (abb^), canon of Saint Benolt, Paris. — Manuel of the Pastor. Lyon, St** edit., 
 
 17C8 (School Ilepulalions). 
 DoNCOURT (Simon de), priest of the Community of Saint Sulpice. — Historical Observa- 
 tions on the church and parish of Saint Sulpice. Paris, 1773, 3 vol. in-18. 
 DiTRf: DE Loire. — Of Primary Teaching in the department of the DrAroe before ■1789. 
 
 Valence. 
 DuROZiER (Charles). — Abbd de la Salle and the Brothers and Institute of the Ctiristian 
 
 Sc!iool3 from 1051 to our own day. Paris, 1&i2, in-18. 
 Er.vsjius. — Moral Civility for children, composed in Latin; translated into French by 
 
 Claude Hardy, Parisian. Paris, 1513. 
 Extract from the Statutes of the Society of the Christian Schools of the faubourg Saint 
 
 Antoine, founded in 1713. Paris. 
 Fa VET. — Historical Researches and statistics on the Communes and schools of Haute- 
 
 Marne. Paris, 1879, in-S". — The School Fee. Historical study. Paris, 1886, in-8». 
 Galabert. — Instruction in the second half of the rifteenth century at Caylus. ilon- 
 
 tauban, 1882, in-S". 
 Oarreau (R. F. Ch.), of the Society of Jesus. — Life of M. de la Salle. 2 vol. in-12, 
 
 liouen, 1760. 
 G.WEAU (Abel), priest. — Life of Venerable de la Salle. Paris, 1883. 
 Gliuiermy (he). — Inscriptions of the diocese of Paris. 5 vol. in-4"', Paris, 1873-1883. 
 
 (Collection of unpublished documents.) 
 Idea (general oftho Institute of the Christian schools, in-12, s. il. (towards 1790). 
 Instruction (Public) in France, past and present, by a former professor. Paris, 1864, 
 
 in-8''. 
 Joi.v (Claude), Precentor of the chapter of Notre Dame. — Historical treatise on 
 
 Episcopal and Ecclesiastical Schools. Paris, 1078, in-12. 
 JoussE. — Treatise on the government of parishes. Paris, 17G9, in-12. 
 Krebs (R. F.), of the Congregation of the Holy Redeemer. — Life of Venerable Servant 
 
 of God, John Baptist de la Salle. Ratisbonne, 1859 (in German). 
 Lacroix. — Primary Instruction in the Drime before 1789. Grenoble, 1885, in-12. 
 I.ACROIX (Claude). — The perfect Ecclesiastic, edition of 1066. (The chapter of the Visit, 
 
 tit. XV, is consecrated to the elementary schools.) 
 Ledru.n (Eugene). — Report on the establishment of the Brothers in the town of Troyea 
 
 from its birth to our day. Troyes, 18.V2. 
 Lempereur. — Public Instruction in the ancient diocese of Rodez. Report made at the 
 
 meeting of Socit'les Savanles. Journal of/ieiel of the S'"" of June 1887. 
 LiiuiLLiEn (Th.). — Historical Researches on Primary Instruction in Brie. Meatuc, 1884, 
 
 in-8». 
 Life of H. Demia, teacher of the Sisters of Saint Charles. Lyons, 18S0. 
 LucARU (Brother). — Christian and Free Schools; the influence exercised over them by 
 
 Blessed de la Salle, and on Primary Instruction in general. Rouen, 1871, in-S", and 
 
 following. 
 Li;cE (Simton). — History of Bt-rlrand du Guesclin. Pari.i, 1870, in-8". 
 .MAUUioi.0 (L,). — Archives of the schools of Beauce and GUtinais. Nanry, 1876, in-8". 
 
 Retrospective statistics. Recapitulative and comparative estimate showing in each 
 
 department the average of couples able to sign their marriage cerlillcatcs in the 
 
 sovpiileenth and eighteenth centuries. Paris, 1870, in-4". (Extr. from the statistics 
 
 of Primary Instruction, 2"'' vol.). — School Registers in the Parishes oftho dioceaea 
 
 of Toul, Verdun and Mutx. Naney, 1880-1883, 3 vol. in-8". 
 
III. — INDEX OF DOCUMENTS. 093 
 
 Maitre (L.). — Public Instruction in the towns and country districts of the county of 
 
 Nantes before i789. Nantes, 1882, in-S". 
 Merlet. — Public Instruction in Eure-et-Loir before 1789. Chartres, 1879, in-S". 
 Mirror of youth, to form it to good manners and politeness. Poitiers, 1559, in -16. 
 Morel (abbe E.). — Schools in the ancient dioceses of Beauvais, Noyon and Senlis. 
 
 Compiegne, 1887, in -8°. (Extr. from the Bulletin of the Historical Society of 
 
 Corapiegne.) 
 MoREY. — Teaching by the Ursulines of Franche-Comt6. Lons-le-Saunier, 1882, in-S". 
 Notice on the V. H. Brother Irlide, Superior general. Paris, 1884, in-12. (Institute of 
 
 the Brothers of the Christian schools; quarterly necrological notices, n" 418.) 
 Order retablished in the parish of Saint Sulpice for the relief of the respectable poor. 
 
 Paris, 1652, in -18. 
 Ott (A.). — A Word on Primary Instruction. Nancy, 1880, in-S". 
 P.\ROZ (Jules). — Universal History of Pedagogy. Paris, in-12. 
 PoMPEE (Philibert). — Historical Report on the Primary Schools of Paris. Paris, 1839, 
 
 in-S", vol. I. (This work stops at 1700 and has not been carried on.) 
 PODJOULAT. — Life of Brother Philip, Superior general of the Institute. Tours, 1880, 
 
 in-S". 
 QuANTiN. — History of Primary Instruction before 1789 in those places which have been 
 
 formed into the department of Yonne. Auxei-re, 1874, in -8°. 
 Rameau (Abbe). — Primary Instruction at Macon. (Review of the Library Society of the 
 
 Ain, 1876, p. 174.) 
 Rendu (A.). — Historical Essay on Public Instruction. Paris, 1819, in-B". 
 Resbecq (de Fontaine de). — History of Pi-imary Instruction in the department of the 
 
 Nord. Paris, 1878, in -8°. 
 RiANCEY (Henri de). — Critical and Legislative History of Public Instruction, and Liberty 
 
 of Teaching in France. Paris, 1844, 2 vol. in-8". — Liberty of Teaching in 1867. 
 
 {Correspondant, May 25th 1867). 
 Ribbe (Charles de). — The Family and Society in France before the Revolution. Paris, 
 
 1874, 2 vol. in-18. 
 S.\LLE (Blessed John Baptist de la). — Works attributed to him : 
 
 Catechism of the Brothers of the Christian schools, in questions and answers. 
 
 Management of Christian schools, edition of 1720. 
 
 Duties of a Christian towards God, edition of 1727. 
 
 Explanation of the Method of Prayer, edition of 1739. 
 
 Instructions and Prayers for Confession, Communion and Mass. Meditations for 
 Retreats and Sundays. 
 
 Rules and Constitutions of the Brothers. 
 
 Rules of decency and Christian civility. Troyes, 1713. 
 
 Collection of various small treatises for the use of the Brothers of the Christian schools. 
 Avignon, 1711. 
 Salvan (abbe). — Life of Venerable John Baptist de la Salle, founder of the Institute 
 
 of the Christian schools. Toulouse, 1852, in-8°. 
 SfiRURiER. — Primary Instruction in the Western Pyrenees, especially in Beam (1385- 
 
 1789). Pau, 1874, in-S". 
 Simon (Jules). — The Schools. Paris, 1855, 2'«' edition in-S". 
 Synod.\l Statutes and Episcopal ordinances. — Aleth. Rule of school -masters, 
 
 1674; Synodal Statutes, 1640-1670. — Albi. Id., 1695. — Angers. Id., 1667-1678. 
 
 — Auch. Id., 1624-1700. — Arras. Id., 1570-1675. — Autun. Rule of Ms' Roquette 
 
 for Elementary schools, 1685. — Auxerre. Id., 1552. — Avranches. Constitution 
 
 of M.«' Pericard, 1600. — Beauvais. Synodal Statutes, 1646. — Besangon. Id., 1480- 
 
 1707. — Bordeaux. Id., 1255-1039. — Chalons -sur-Marne. Rule of the school- 
 masters, 1663. Synodal Statutes, 1662-1676. — Chartres. Synodal Constitutions, 
 
 1555-1653. — Clermont. Id., 1576. — Evreux. Synodal Statutes, 1666. — Grasse. 
 
 Id., 1696. — Laon. Synodal Ordinances, 1696. — Limoges. Id., 1589-1683. — 
 
(i94 
 
 BLESSED DE I.A SALLE. 
 
 Lyons. Synodal Statutes, 1577. — Lu^on. Synodal Ordinances, 1629. — Maillezais. 
 /("/., 1C23. — Sainl-Malo. Synodal Statutes, 1CI8-1C20. — Meaux. /(/., iCM-iCSH. 
 
 — Metz. /(/., 1(iai-1G33. — Mirepoix. Jd., 10f>i. — Narbonne. Id., 1671. — Niraes. 
 Id., 1670. — Noyon. Id., 1673. — Orleans. Id., 1G15-16&i. — Paris. Id., 1557. 
 
 — Poitiers. /(/., 1554. — Saint-Pol-de-Lcon. Id., 1629. — Riez. Id., 1675. — 
 Rhodez. /</., 1674. — Rouen. /J., 14i5-1581. — Saintcs. W., 1200-1650. — Senez. 
 Episcopal Ordinances, 1676. — Sens. Synodal Statutes, 1524-1686. — Toul. School 
 Rcfrulalions, 1695; Synodal Statutes, 1686-1712. — Toulouse. Id., 1531-1677. — 
 Toulon. /(/., 1704. 
 
 TiiKiiY (A. F.). — Hi.slory of Education in France from the fifth century to our days. 
 Paris, 1861 , 2 vol. in-i2. 
 
 Tour (Abbti de la). — Life of Brother Ireneus, disciple of Blessed de laSallc. Pari*, 1854. 
 
 Varin. — .\dministralive Archives of the city of Rheims, 1839-48, 4 vol. in-4". (Collec- 
 tion of unpublished documents.) 
 
 Veixijn. — Historical Notes on Public Instruction before the Revolution in the town 
 ofBernay. Bernai/, 1886, in-8°. 
 
 Verit.ible (The) Friend of youth, or Abridgment of the Life aud Virtues of Venerable 
 John Baptist de la Salle. New edition, Paris, 188-4. 
 
 ViLLAnLT {M"« FouLQUES DE). — Primary Instruction before 1789, at Orleans. Orleans, 
 1882, in-8». 
 
DECLARATION. 
 
 We submit the present book to the judgment of the Holy See, and we disavow in it 
 anything which, contrary to our intention, may not be conformable to the teaching of 
 the Church. Secondly we declare that what it contains is based on human belief, 
 except in those matters on which the Apostolic See has already passed judgment. 
 
 This declaration, in our intention, applies to every edition of this work. 
 
FINISHED PRINTING 
 
 SEPTEMBER 29tH 1888, 
 
 THE FEAST OF ST MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, 
 
 AT THE PRESS OF NAME AND SONS, 
 
 TOURS. 
 
 IWI4 — Toara : A. M*iM ud Sao*.