very strong impression upon Henry IV. of France. Caussin, when very young, attended father Gonteri, a famous preacher of his time, to court, and there that king observed
None of his works did him more honour in his day, than
that which he entitled “La cour sainte,
” or “The holy court,
”
a moral work, illustrated by stories well known once to the
readers of old folios in this country. It has been often reprinted and translated into Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portugueze, German, and English. He published several other
books, both in Latin and French particularly, 1. “De Kloquentia sacra et humana,
” Klectorum Symbolorum et Parabolarum historicarum Syntagmata,
” Disputes
sur les quatre livres des Hois, touchant l'Education des
Princes,
” fol. 4. “Tragedise Sacra,
” Apologie pour les Religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus,
” La Vie neutre des Filles devotes,
” &c. 1G44-.
7. “Symbolica ^gyptiorum Sapientia,
” Christian Diary
” was printed in English, Father,
you have here an attendant, who, if I am not mistaken,
will become in time one of the greatest ornaments in your
society.
”
rt of the fifteenth century, but we know not in what year. He was a man of reading and judgment, and a famous preacher; for which the rnonka of Loudun soon hated him,
, curate and canon of Loudun in
France, famous for his intrigues and tragical end, was the
son of a notary royal of Sable, and born at Bouvere near
Sable, in the latter part of the fifteenth century, but we
know not in what year. He was a man of reading and
judgment, and a famous preacher; for which the rnonka of
Loudun soon hated him, especially after he had urged the
necessity of confessing sins to the parochial priests at Easter. He was a handsome man, of an agreeable conversation, neat in his dress, and cleanly in his person, which
made him suspected of loving the fair sex, and of being
beloved by them. In 1629, he was accused of having had
a criminal conversation with some women in the very
church of which he was curate on which the official condemned him to resign all his benefices, and to live in
penance. He brought an appeal, this sentence being an
encroachment upon the civil power; and, by a decree of
the parliament of Paris, he was referred to the presidial of
Poitiers, in which he was acquitted. Three years after>
some Ursuline nuns of Loudun were thought, by the vulgar, to he possessed with the devil; and Grandier’s enemies, the capuchins of Loudun, charged him with being
the author of the possession, that is, with witchcraft. They
thought, however, that in order to make the charge succeed
according to their wishes, it was very proper to strengthen
themselves with the authority of cardinal Richlieu. For
this purpose, they wrote to father Joseph, their fellowcapuchin, who had great credit with the cardinal, that
Grandier was the author of the piece entitled “La Cordonnierre de Loudun,
” or “The Woman Shoemaker of
Loudon,' r a severe satire upon the cardinal’s person and
family. This great minister, among many good qualities,
harboured the most bitter resentment against the authors
of libels against him; and father Joseph having persuaded
him that Grandier was the author of
” La Cordonniere de
Loudun," he wrote immediately to De Laubardemont,
counsellor of state, and his creature, to make a diligent inquiry into the affair of the nuns. De Laubardemont
accordingly arrested Grandier in Dec. 1633; and, after he
had thoroughly examined the affair, went to meet the cardinal, and to take proper measures with him. In July
1634, letters patent were drawn up and sealed, to try
Grandier; and were directed to De Laubardemont, and to
twelve judges chosen out of the courts in the neighbourhood of Loudun; all men of honour indeed, but very credulous, and on that account chosen by Grandier’s enemies.
In Aug. 18, upon the evidence of Astaroth, the chief of
possessing devils; of Easas, of Celsus, of Acaos, of Eudon,
&c. that is to say, upon the evidence of the nuns, who asserted that they were possessed with those devils, the commissaries passed judgment, by which Grandier was declared
well and duly attainted, and convicted of the crime of
magic, witchcraft, and possession, which by his means
happened on the bodies of some Ursuline nuns of Loudun,
and of some other lay persons, mentioned in his trial; for
which crimes he was sentenced to make the amende honor'
able, and to be burnt alive with the magical covenants and
characters which were in the register-office, as also with
the ms. written by him against the celibacy of priests;
and his ashes to be thrown up into the air. Grandier heard
this dreadful sentence without any emotion; and, when he
went to the place of execution, suffered his punishment
with great firmness and courage, April 18, 1634.
, a famous preacher, and a cordelier, was a native of Paris, where
, a famous preacher, and a cordelier, was a native of Paris, where he rose to the dignity
of doctor in divinity. He was entrusted with honourable
employments by Innocent VIII. and Charles VIII. of France,
by Ferdinand of Arragon, &c. and is said to have served
the latter prince, even at the expence of his master. He
died at Toulouse June 13, 1502. His sermons, which remained in manuscript, are full of irreverent familiarities,
and in the coarsest style of his times. His Latin sermons
were printed at Paris, in seven parts, forming three volumes in 8vo; the publication commenced in 1711, and
was continued to 1730. In one of his sermons for Lent,
the words hem hem are written in the margin to mark
the places where, according to the custom of those days,
the preacher was to stop to cough. Niceron has given
some amusing extracts from others of them, which, amidst
all their quaintnesses, show him to have been a zealous reprover of the vices of thfe times, and never to have spared
persons of rank, especially profligate churchmen. He even
took liberties with Louis XI. of France to his face, and
when one of the courtiers told him that the king had
threatened to throw him into the river, “The king is my
master,
” said our hardy priest, “but you may tell him,
that I shall get sooner to heaven by water, than he will
with his post-horses.
” Louis XI. was the first who established posting on the roads of France, and when this bon
mot was repeated to him, he was wise enough to allow
Maillard to preach what he would and where he would.
The bon mot, by the way, appears in the “Navis Stultifera,
” by Jodocus Badius, and was probably a current jest
among the wits of the time.
tutor, took the degree of M. A. entered into orders, was made divinity reader of that house, became a famous preacher, a well-studied artist, a skilful linguist,
, a learned divine, was born, according to Fuller, in Sussex, but more probably at Egerton, in Kent, in 1591, and was educated at Magdalen
college, Oxford, on one of the exhibitions of John Baker,
of Mayfield, in Sussex, esq. Wood informs us that having
completed his degree of bachelor by determination, in
1613, he removed to Magdalen-hall, where he became a
noted reader and tutor, took the degree of M. A. entered
into orders, was made divinity reader of that house, became a famous preacher, a well-studied artist, a skilful
linguist, a good orator, an expert mathematician, and an
ornament to the society. “All which accomplishments,
”
he adds, “were knit together in a body of about thirtytwo years of age, which had it lived to the age of man,
might have proved a prodigy of learning.
” As he was a
zealous Calvinist, he may be ranked among the puritans,
but he was not a nonconformist. He died while on a visit
to his tutor, Richard Capel, who was at this time minister
of Eastington, in Gloucestershire, in the thirty-second
year of his age, April 14, 1623. His works, all of which
were separately printed after his death, were collected in
1 vol. fol. in 1635, and reprinted four or five times; but
this volume does not include his Latin works, “De formarum origine;
” “De Sensibus internis,
” and “Enchiridion
Oratorium,
” Bishop Wilkins includes Pemble’s Sermons
in the list of the best of his age.