538 CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS ORATORY. 



a portion of its lustre to the French bar, amongst the members of which, at this 

 epoch, may be cited Pierre de Fontaines ; Gui Foulques, or Fouquet, who 

 afterwards entered holy orders and became Pope Clement IV. ; and Yves of 

 Brittany, whose Christian virtues caused him to be placed amongst the 

 number of saints, and whom the advocates adopted as their patron. The 

 study of jurisprudence had certainly revived, but there was not the same 

 revival in the art of oratory ; and the advocates, upon leaving the schools in 

 which were taught dialectics, logic, and philosophy, lost themselves in endless 

 discussions bristling with Latin quotations, and utterly devoid of method, 

 simplicity, and true eloquence. 



The profession had nevertheless acquired great importance, owing to the 

 reforms introduced by St. Louis into the judicial institutions. The bar of the 

 fourteenth century can boast of having produced Pierre de Cugnieres, Arnaud 

 de Corbie, Regnault d'Acy, and others who exercised an influence upon public 

 affairs due in part to their oratorical talent. Jean de Meheye, for instance, 

 distinguished himself by the way in which he discharged the functions of 

 advocate-general in the trial of Philippe le Bel's unhappy minister, Enguer- 

 rand de Marigny (1315) ; and Franfois Bertrand, selected in 1329 to defend 

 the ecclesiastical jurisdictions against the encroachments of the nobility, 

 acquitted himself of this task with so much zeal and discretion that the court 

 of Rome rewarded him with the cardinal's hat. These great political trials 

 awoke a general sentiment of curiosity. The imposing spectacle presented 

 by a sitting of Parliament under such circumstances always attracted a 

 numerous attendance. The nobles quitted their hunting parties at home to 

 assist at the pleadings ; but the ladies, even those of the highest rank, scrupu- 

 lously abstained from appearing in the Parliament. The talent of the 

 advocates had much to do with the popularity of these judicial tournaments, 

 and a well-known formulary of the courts, entitled the " Style of the 

 Parliament," enumerates the professional qualities of a good advocate, 

 which were as follows : " He need possess a noble carriage, have an open and 

 good-humoured physiognomy, not affect a presumptuous assurance, demean 

 himself soberly before the tribunal, speak in a loud and clear voice," and so 

 forth. In spite of this good advice, many advocates justified by their conduct 

 the bad opinion of the public conveyed in the popular proverb, "Much 

 eloquence, little conscience." 



But with the fifteenth century the field was opened to every species of 



