422 
ther on the “ Love of. God,” called Theo- 
time, haye been admired by “clergy and 
laity,” in all “ranks and ages.’? He was 
the founder of a religious institution, called 
the “ Annunciation of the blessed Virgin,” 
and for which, probably, he was mainly in- 
debted for his canonization. This institution 
was destined to benefit the church, by afford- 
ing a safe retreat to such as from age, in- 
firmity, widowhood, or poverty, could not 
gain admittance into other convents. He 
proposed no hardships, or extraordinary 
severities, concluding, that the subjection 
of the will and the passions was of more im- 
portance than corporal austerities. Origin- 
ally, it had been a part of his plan, which 
eventually he was induced to abandon, to 
exact very simple vows, and to enjoin on 
the members, after the year of noviciate, the 
duty of visiting and consoling rich and poor. 
In a wealthy lady, the grandmother of 
Madame de Sévigné, he found a patroness 
to start his favourite plan in 1610 ; and such 
is the passion for imitating matters of this 
kind, that, by the year 1666, one hundred 
and thirty of these religious houses were 
established in different parts of Europe. 
St. Francis was the son of a Savoyard 
nobleman, lord of Sales, and so early dis- 
tinguished for piety, that, according to a 
very barren sketch of his life before us, the 
first words he uttered were, ‘* God and 
my mother love me.’’? But without detail- 
ing any nonsense, we need only remark, that 
being exceedingly well connected on all 
sides—with a decided leaning to the eccle- 
Siastical profession—he very early succeeded 
to excellent appointments. He was bishop 
and prince of Geneva; and residing at 
Annecy, diligently engaged in the discharge 
of his episcopal functions. Employed, more- 
over, on several occasions by the courts of 
Savoy and France, he came in contact with 
the most eminent individuals ; and ladies of 
distinction, in abundance, with a sort of 
fashion and passion, placed themselves under 
his spiritual guidance. He died at Avignon, 
after great exertions, on the day of his death, 
in the 56th year of his age, in 1622. 
We furnish the reader with a specimen or 
two from Camus’s collections. 
Recommending gentleness in reproof, he 
tells Camus— 
You know thaton a good salad, there should be 
more oil than vinegar or salt. Be always as mild 
as you can—a spoonful of honey attracts more 
flies than a barre! of vinegar. ‘ruth, uttered with 
courtesy, is heaping coals of fire on the head ; or 
throwing roses in the face. How can we resist a 
foe whose weapons are pearls and diamonds? 
Some fruits, like nuts, are by nature bitter, but 
rendered sweet by being candied with sugar, &c, 
Speaking of professions of humility, he 
observed— 
They are the very cream, the very essence of 
pride. Humility is timorous, and starts at her 
own shadow, and so delicate, that if she hears 
her name pronounced, it endangers her existence. 
He who blames himself, takes a by-road to 
Monthly Review of Literature, 
. 
[Aprin, 
praise; and like a rower, turns his back to the 
place whither he desires to go. 
Submission, he once remarked to his 
friend— 
Submission to a superior is justice rather than 
humility, for reason requires that we should re- 
cognise him as such. Submission to an equal is 
friendship, civility, or good breeding ; but sub- 
mission to an inferior is genuine humility, for this 
makes us feel our own nothingness, and places us 
in our own estimation below the whole world. 
This was eminently St. Francis’s virtue. 
He submitted himself (says Camus, with 
a wondering admiration) in many things to 
his valet, as if he had been servant instead of 
master; and if study or business obliged him to 
sit up late at night, he used to dismiss him, lest 
he should be fatigued. He one morning rose un- 
usually early, and called his servant to come and 
dress him. The man was too fast asleep to hear 
the call, and St. Francis contrived to dress him- 
self, and quietly set down to write. At his usual 
hour the servant rose, and finding his master 
dressed, inquired who had assisted him. “TI 
dressed myself,’ replied the good-humoured pre- 
late, ‘‘ did you think I could not do so?” Ina 
surly tone the man asked if he could not have 
taken the trouble to call him, “I do assure you, 
my good friend, I did call you, and then cons 
cluding you were not in the dressing-room, F 
went to seek you; but there you were sleeping 
so pleasantly, that I had not the heart to disturb 
you.” ‘ You are very pleasant indeed,’ mur- 
mured the valet, ‘‘to make game of me thus.” 
««T assure you,” meekly expostulated St. Francis, 
that far from making game, I rejoiced that you 
were so comfortable ; but set your heart at rest ; 
I promise, in future, to call till you are awakened, 
and I will take care not again to dress without 
your assistance.” 
“How must I love God with all my 
heart ?”’ inquired Camus— 
« The best, and the easiest, and the shortest 
way to love God with all your heart, is—to love 
him with all your heart ;’? and when urged to be 
more explicit, he observed, ‘“‘ we learn to study 
by studying, to speak by speaking, to run by run- 
ning, to walk by walking, and so in the same 
manner we learn to love God and our neighbour 
by loving, and those who take any other method, 
deceive themselves.” 
St. Francis was urging his friend to be 
more indifferent to the world’s censures— . 
The principal of a college, he told him, by way 
of illustration, placed the great clock under the 
care of an idle man, to whom he thought the oc- 
cupation would be an amusement, but having 
tried, he declared that he had never found any act 
of obedience so tiresome or difficult. ‘* Why,” 
said the principal, “ you have ouly to wind it up 
regniarly.” ‘Ohno, not that, but I am tormented 
on every side.” “ How sor” demanded the prin- 
cipal. ‘“ Why,” said the poor man, “ when the 
clock loses a liltle, those who are labouring in 
the college complain ; and when, to satisfy them, 
I advance it a little, those who are in the town 
come and abuse me because the clock gains. If 
to please them, I retard it again, complaints are 
renewed on the other side. I am bewildered with 
their murmurs, for my head is like the bell against 
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