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 LiToiminnjx 2r

winduiKi''. Scientific Iiistnry is revising Ihin hidg- ment. Saint^imon dibIcco Le Tellipr rcBponsililr for the dMtructioD o( Port-Royal. Father Bliard points out that since 1695 Harlay de Champvailon, Arch- bishop of Paris, and Louis XIV had contemplated iU destruction; that the seiiure in 170;) of Qucs- Ofll'a papers had drawn the king's attention to the political dangers of Jansenism; that as early as 2G March. 1708, Clement XI at Mie request of King IiOuis had united Port-Royal des Champa with Port- Royal de I'aria and supproMed tlie title of the "Ab- baye des Chainpe"; and that Cardinal dc Noaillee, who for a year past hod iDtprdictrd the members of Port - Royal des Ch impH from re- ceiving the sacra- ments, was pre-

it-Kii

ckima that I^ Tel- licr in advising episcopal nomina- tions, relentlessly pursued all eccle- siastics suHpceted

ommentling only " barefooteil friare iind men ready for anything". Such Blurs indicate the iittitudeof the sreat nobleman ■oinst priests who lackeil birth; hut a Idler from Fikielon to which Father Bli:ir(! draws attention proves that in reality it was F^iielon who, at the be- pnning of I« Tellicr's influence, found him too len- ient towards certain nrie^^ts with Jansenist tendencies, and pointed out to nim ihc danger he would incur hj allowii^ the Jansenist faction to predominate in the episeopacy. 8ainl>^Simon, fotlowmc Marshal's ■tariea, aeeuBes I^ Tcllier of having brought to Louis XIV an Opinion of the doctors of the Stirhonne in order to prove that he could levy tithes upon his sub- ieeta witn a clear conscience. Even atlmitting the Mcuracy of Mardchal'ii assertions, it must be borne in mind that the necessity of defending the kingdom waa BO urgent that F^elon wrot« on 4 August, 1710, "Money must be taken wherever it can he found", ftod Ducloe in his "Mfmoires secrets", dcelarca that "the imposition of the tithes was perhaps the salva- tiOD oT the State."

Le Tellier is accused by Saint-Simon of having in 1713 laboured jointly with Madame de Malntcnon and Biasy, Bishop of Meaux, aeainHt Cardinal dc Noailles, Archbishop of Paris, and used bis influence with CInnent XI, through the Jesuit Daul>cnton and Cardinal Fabrom, to obtain the condemnation of Quesnel. And again after the publication of the Bull "Unigenitus" he wished to have Cardinal de Noaillea imprisoned, and he increased the number of "lettrea de cachet", in order to fill the prisonit with Jan^en- ista. Father Bliard shows the capricious and exng- cerated nature of th^se stories, and establishes from Janaenist sourcefl that during the six years of Le Tellicr's influence, only twenty-eight Jansenists were punished more or less severely. Yiy the tcPti- mony of the Jansenist Roslet and Da u lien ton's report to F^neton, he shows that the Bull "Unige- mtua" was the outeome of three long years of doc- trinal ■tudy, and that the alleged letters from I^ TeHier to Chauvelin proving a plot for abducting Cetdinal de NobHIm wen admitted to be apocryphal

1 LBTOUBHXUX

Ivy Diicloc, though he was hostile to the Jesuits. t mally, certain investigations made by Father Brucker lead to the conclusion, that a certain letter recom- mending the destruction of the Oratory is certainly not theworkof Le Tellier, who has been frequently blamed for it, and that tiuch an accusation may have origi- nat«d in an intrigue of Abb^ dc Margon agsjnst the Jesuits. LouiH XIV in a codicil to his will had se- lected Le Tellier as the confessor of the little Louis XV, then seven years of age; but a few days after the king's death the regent^ under the influence of Saint- Simon and the Janscinats, informed the provincial of the Jesuits that Le Tellier must leave Pads. He was sent by his superiors to Amiens, and then to La FIdche, where he died. The menolory of the Society of Jes\is uncler the date of 2 September, repeats the following remarks addressed by Louis XIV to the Due d'Harcourt about Le Tellier; ''Do you see that man? His greatest happiness would be to shed his blood for the Church, and I do not believe there is a single soul in my entire kingdom who is more fearless and more saintly. "

Saint^Biuoji, Mtmoira: DnctiM. Mtmairtt tertti lur Im Hit" dt IaivU XIV (Perw. 1701): D'Oihanhe. Journal (Rome, 1753. 6 vnh.) : Buahd, Lit mfmoim de Saittt-Simm H It piri Le Trttirr (Paria, ITOl); BHV.iirn. Cn -DQeumenl B«-a.iv.^' Jaut- trmentattribneavvhrLt Tritxrria EtudrM. LXXXVIII (Pun 1901): Bbou, La JitMila dt la Ugnde (Paiii, 1007).^

Latounieiix, Nicolas, well-known French preacher

and aecctical writer of Jsnscnislic tendencies, b. at Rouen, 30 .^pril, IMO: d. at Paris, 28 November, 1686. His parents were poor, but the conspicuous talents and the gift of eloquence he displayed even at an early age attracted the attention of^some wealthy benefactors, whow assistance enabledhini to study the humanities at the Jesuit College in Paria, and later philosophy at the Collj^ge des Grasaina. To Dr. Her- sant, his teacher at the latter institution, may be traced the jansenistic views which mar his writings. Ordained priest at Rouen in 1662. he served for some years as curate there. Abotit 1670 he removed to Paris, Iwcamc closely associated with tlie Port-Royal- ists, and l)cgan to eultii-atc Jansenistic asceticism. He exehangefl his soutane for a coarse grey robe and abstained from celebrating Mass, to expiate in this manner what he esteemed his guilt in having accepted ordination at so early an age (22). His intercourse with Lemaltrc restored him to more normal views; returning to pastoral duties, he acted as chaplain at theColU^godcsGrassins. Hisscrmons at various Paris churclies ijuicldy placed him in the front rank of the preachers of his day, and in 1675 his work on the text "Martha, Martha, thou art careful" (Luke, x, 41) won the Balzac prize for clo(|Ucnce awarded by the French Academy, In such esteem was he held by his spiritual

Royal, and also a member of the archiepiscopal com- mission for the emendation of the Breviary. His re- lations with the lending Janaenists, however, soon awakened distrust., and he foimd it necessary to retire, in Ifi82, to the Priorj- of Villieni-sur-Fi^re, a benefice granted him by his patron, Cardinal Colliert of Rouen. In this retirement he de^-oted the remainder of his life to his ascetieal compositions. His principal writ- ings are: "Histoirc de la vie dc Jfous-Christ ' (about lera); "I* catdchisme de la p*nitencc" (1676); "l/Aim^- rhrtticniie, ou les Messes des Dimaiiches, Furies ct Fetes de f oiite I'ann^, on latin et en franjais, ai-ec I'explicution dps Epitrea ct des EvangQes et un abr^gi de lu Vie des Saints, dont on fait I'Oflice". Of this last work I.*loumeux wrote nine volumes, and two were adiled by the Belgian Jansenist, Ruth d'Ans. Sue \-olunies were publL-hed Ijcfore 1686, when they were condemned lor their Jansenistic views. The work was placed on the Index on 7 Sept., 1895. Amoiig the other works of Letoumeux may be mentioned: