The pulpit was designed by Laurent de la Hire, the painter, and sculptured by Claude Lestocard. It is a mass of rich carving. A huge Samson supports the lower part, while upon the canopy are little Angels of the winged-Cupid tribe, and at the summit a draped Angel with a trumpet. Samson is sitting upon the lion he tamed with the jawbone of an ass, and holds the strange weapon in his hand. Sauval remarked that _il la porte bien_ (the pulpit), and certainly he appears to be doing so without much effort. The medallions upon the staircase and round the pulpit represent Evangelists and Doctors, among them Augustin and Jerome, and scenes from the life of S. Stephen, in which he figures as a preacher. The Cardinal Virtues go hand in hand in a becoming fashion with the Theological Ladies: Prudence bearing her mirror, which reflects the wisdom of the serpent hard by; Justice has her sword; Faith a heart as well as her cross; Hope leans upon her anchor; Temperance pours out water from an _amphora_; Courage holds a dangerous weapon of the mallet order; Charity is surrounded by the most charming of children. All these statuettes are exquisitely carved. Behind the preacher the Word of God, bearing the world, blesses those who preach the Gospel in His name; upon His head the Holy Spirit spreads His wings. Upon the edge of the canopy little Angels are playing with the crowns destined for the elect; and at the summit is a larger Angel bearing a trumpet to awake them from their long sleep. The organ is also a mass of fine carving: S. Stephen stoned; S. Geneviève and her sheep; the Elders of the Apocalypse; the "Jewish ladies of the Bible," as a German kindly interpreted, and the Passage of the Red Sea; above all, our Blessed Lord ascending to Heaven. When the Abbey of Port-Royal was destroyed in 1710, the body of Racine was transferred to S. Étienne and placed in the crypt of the Lady Chapel by the side of Pascal; and in 1808 a Latin epitaph, composed by Boileau, which was discovered in the pavement of the church of Magny-les-Hameaux, was also transferred. Ten years later, on April 21st, 1818, a great function was held in honour of the poet and the author of those much-loved _Pensées_; the Academy sent a deputation, and one of their members, the Abbé Sicard, officiated. EPITAPH ON PASCAL. PRO COLUMNA SUPERIORI, SUB TUMULO MARMOREO.