The Churches of Paris, from Clovis to Charles XBeale, Sophia
History
The Churches of Paris, from Clovis to Charles X
Beale, Sophia
Church buildings -- France -- Paris; Paris (France) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
Quelle matière fut jamais plus disposée à recevoir tous les
ornements d'une grave et solide éloquence, que la vie et la mort de
très-haut et très-puissant Prince Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne,
vicomte de Turenne, maréchal général des camps et armées du roi et
colonel général de la cavalerie légère? Où brillent avec plus
d'éclat les effets glorieux de la vertu militaire: conduite
d'armées, sièges de places, prises de villes, passages de rivières,
attaques hardies, retraites honorables, campements bien ordonnés,
combats soutenus, batailles gagnées, ennemis vaincus par la force,
dissipés par l'adresse, lassés et consumés par une sage patience;
où peut-on trouver tant et de si puissants exemples que dans les
actions d'un homme sage, modeste, libéral, désintéressé, dévoué au
service du prince et de la patrie, grand dans l'adversité par son
courage, dans la prospérité par sa modestie, dans les difficultés
par sa prudence, dans les périls par sa valeur, dans la religion
par sa piété.
Yet another celebrated orator, Massillon, was often heard at S.
Eustache, and in 1704, preaching upon the small number of the elect, so
terrified were his hearers that they all rose as one man, when he
pronounced the words of the Supreme Judge. A lesser man, who rose to be
a Cardinal, perhaps more by intrigues than anything else, was Guillaume
Dubois. He was born at Brives-la-Gaillarde in 1657, and coming to Paris,
he entered, while still quite young, the service of the _curé_ of S.
Eustache. Thence he obtained engagements as tutor to the great
personages of the neighbourhood; entering the house of the Duc de
Chartres, he managed to obtain the abbey of Saint-Just, in the diocese
of Beauvais. A grand monument by Coustou was erected to his memory in
the church of S. Honoré, with an epitaph composed by Couture, which
seems to be a slight satire upon the worldly-minded who love the rich
things of this nether world. After giving the titles of the defunct, the
lines go on: "_Quid autem hi titulis nisi arcus coloratus et fumus ad
modicum parens Viator, stabiliora, solidioraque bona mortuo apprecare,
etc., etc. Mais que sont ces dignités? nuages brillants, fumée qui
s'évapore. Passant, demande à Dieu pour ce mort des biens plus stables
et plus solides._"
S. Eustache is still famous for its processions, and few churches are so
fitted for grand ceremonial; but what are the functions of to-day
compared with those of the 18th century? Here is an extract from the
archives giving an outline of the procession upon the Fête Dieu, 20th
June, 1716, during the minority of Louis XV.:--
Several lacqueys bearing torches.
Footmen of M. le duc de Charot with lights at the top of their
weapons.
Sixteen footmen of M. le Comte de Toulouse.
Six pages of my lord count.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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