Cyran. Many of the teachers rank high to this day in the history of practical philology. Nicole, (of Chartres,) and Lancelot, are renowned as grammatical and philological writers. Two other distinguished teachers in these schools were Fontaine and Du Fosse. Lancelot wrote the Methodes grecque, latine, italienne, et espagnole." The two latter appeared in 1660; the Latin and Greek earlier, as exercises for teachers, and in others for beginners. Many of the Latin authors (poets) were translated by the gentlemen of Port-Royal, for the use of youth. The original idea of Grammaire générale et raisonnée," first published in 1660, was given by Dr. Arnould, but was worked out by Lancelot. In the same manner it was that De Sacy made use of Lancelot's pen, in the "Jardin des Racines grecques;" the book which was so fiercely attacked by the Jesuits, Vavasseur and Labbé, in the "Etymologies de la langue Française contre la nouvelle secte des Hellenistes de Port-Royal, Paris. Paris, 1661. The latter denounced the Hellenists of Port-Royal to the French Academy as a sect, through whom France was threatened with the ruin of the Latin and Greek languages; for, under pretence of teaching Greek, young people were betrayed into intolerable absurdities and blunders; whereby France would be rendered ridiculous and despicable in the eyes of foreigners, as likewise of all future generations. The Jesuits confounded the philological and dogmatical heresies of the Jansenists into one great and terrific bugbear.

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Racine, who was a pupil of Port-Royal, made such rapid progress in the classics, as to be able to read the Latin and Greek tragedies with fluency, with his teacher (de Sacy). The latter, who considered every thing in the spirit of a father-confessor, was not unaware of the objection which existed to placing books, abounding with the spirit of heathenism, in the hands of children;" but his open disposition and good tact preserved him from sentimental prudery. "The classic writers," said he, 66 strengthen both language and mind; therefore it is well to read them, in order that the believer may not bring to the fight weaker weapons than the unbeliever." Geography, history, and genealogy were likewise diligently studied. Several of the young men of good families became officers.

Turenne

expressed himself in terms of great admiration of one of them, as being well versed in the tactics of Cæsar. All of these died young, a circumstance looked upon in Port-Royal as a signal mark of divine grace, on account of the dangers to the soul's health consequent on the military profession.

None of the pupils of Port-Royal appear to have become ecclesiastics, excepting Sacy. His name, as likewise that of Racine, betokens that poetry was not looked upon there as a mere exercise of the memory. Tillemont wrote the well known History of the Church during the first century. Le Nain became a

Trappist. Several had seats in the parliament. One of them, Bignon, advocate-general and councillor of state, remained to the last well disposed towards Port-Royal. Some few retired after a long life passed in the great world to seclusion. Racine, “after he had had the misfortune to write against Port-Royal," expressed his contrition, and became completely reconciled with the fraternity. "It is not to be denied," says our author, “that out of the whole number, (not above thirty altogether,) a considerable number, proportionately speaking, were distinguished men."

Amidst all the ascetism, self-mortifications, doleful persecutions, and serious reminiscences of Port-Royal, there are not wanting occasional traits of wit, repartee, and elasticity of temperament, inseparable, perhaps, from the French character, to enliven the picture. Our grave, sententious, and self-denying religionists could sometimes, it would appear, indulge in the amusement of a little piece of mystification, practised upon their persecutors, or the harmless pastime of a practical joke. In July, 1638, the notorious maître des requêtes de Laubardemont,* a little, pettifogging, criminal lawyer, had been dispatched from the court, in the character of commissioner, to Port-Royal des Champs, for the ostensible purpose of making an inquisition on the premises, but in reality to endeavour to sift out evidence, and to surprise its inmates into some unguarded expressions, which might hereafter form the subject of a prosecution.

With the true instinct of a bird of prey, he came on the 5th July, 1638, to Port-Royal, at an unseasonable hour, that he might take its inmates by surprise. . . . He attempted to question Le Maître on the subject of his conversion [to Jansenism], and as to how often and on what days he had received the sacrament of the Lord's supper. The latter complained that he was interrogated as to things which it was the province of a father-confessor alone to enquire into. On other points he made the cold and insolent creature, whose character had been long known to him, to feel the sting of his sarcasm. The inquisitor had thought, by his almost night-visit, to take the good people by surprise, as a thief in the night-time. Luckily, they had been apprised of it fourteen days previously. He had the strange mania of acting the terrible; "whilst he was not quite the full size of the fox, he was enraged, if people did not take him for a wolf." He was anxious to catch Le Maître as in a net, like a poor sinner, and then to draw him up close. But it was in vain he snapped at every word, and at every scrap of paper; Le Maître always brought him to the legal form; shewed him that he had himself not yet quite learned his trade, handled him with cool irony, and to his interrogation, "whether he was not accustomed to have visions?" gave him for answer, "yes, two; from one window he was in the habit of seeing Baumurier, and from the other St. Lambert." [These two villages, it will be remembered, are close to PortRoyal des Champs ] It fell out, as St. Hieronymus [Jerome] says of the servants of the world and the servants of God, that they take each other, reciprocally, for fools. Away, in great dudgeon, went the little man; he could

This was the man selected by Cardinal Richelieu to conduct the infamous prosecution which ended in the burning of Urbain Grandier, Bishop of Loudon, on the absurd charge of having bewitched a convent of nun in 1634.

not conceive how an organ of the Cardinal's, as he knew himself to be, should be treated by any one. His protocol made him a laughing-stock, for he had faithfully taken down, word for word, all the irony. It stuck to the poor devil as a by-word for life.

Again, in March, 1656, the lieutenant-civil, d'Aubrai, appeared in Port-Royal des Champs, to see if the place had, in obedience to the mandate to that effect, been completely cleared of the men. This man was, indeed, of a different stamp from the "Devil of Loudon," Laubardemont; and the interview between him and Angelica Arnauld passed off smoothly enough on both sides.

The good man was, nevertheless, rather made a fool of by two of the recluses who had remained behind, and who assumed the character of illiterate peasants. When the commissary inquired concerning printing materials,* (la Presse,) brother Charles replied that he knew of no sister in the house of that name. On the question being insisted on, he led him to the wine-press. D'Aubrai enquired as to the boys in the schools, what they were taught. How should I know, replied Charles; they say they teach them humanity (les humanités). The teachers torment the poor children enough; they are gone out to take a walk with them; and much the boys need it! Brother Bouilli, too, played his part as cleverly, and spoke exactly like a countryman; so that d'Aubrai, after an examination of two hours and a half, was not aware of the trick they were playing him.

But, undoubtedly, the best of these tricks was that played off by Port-Royal on their old enemies the Jesuits; a literary trap into which the astute fathers, with all their cleverness, managed to fall blindfold. Whilst the famous dispute on the "five articles" of Jansen, or rather of St. Augustin, was at its height, "the Jansenists laid a snare, in order to expose the ignorance of their adversaries (the Jesuits), in the writings of the early fathers of the church; and in which the latter allowed themselves to be fairly caught. They published, without any author's name, a letter of St. Prosper, a pupil of St. Augustin, addressed to Ruferius. The Jesuits immediately pounced upon it, as upon some new heretical work of the Jansenists; after sufficient time had been allowed them to pull it to pieces, they were convicted of the blunder they had made. It was naturally very difficult to convince the Jesuits of the authenticity of the work."

We know not whether to class the celebrated "Miracle of the Holy Thorn" in the list of these Port-Royal mystifications. The incident is seriously related by several writers of the period, and almost as seriously treated by our author. Certain it is, that this miracle, real or pretended, served the purpose, for a time at least, of averting the persecution with which Port-Royal was then threatened. There was in Port-Royal de Paris a young female boarder, of from ten to eleven years of age, a daughter of Perrier, counsellor at the Cour des Aides of Clermont, in Auvergne, and niece to Pascal. For upwards of three years she had been suffering from a species of fistula in the corner of the left eye; the disease had, in course of time, acquired such virulence as to VOL. I.-NO. IV.-AUGUST, 1839.

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attack the bone of the nose and to perforate the cheek. The first surgeons in Paris had despaired of effecting a cure.

There happened to be then at Paris a pious ecclesiastic who was in pos session of one of the thorns of the crown of Christ. The nuns of PortRoyal, in their extremity, begged the loan of this precious relic, which had been previously lent to various convents, and was then deposited with the neighbouring Carmelite nuns. So, on the 24th of March, 1656, it was brought to Port-Royal de Paris. It was on a Friday during Leat, and the mass for the day commenced with the words, "Lord, perform thou a miracle in my behalf, that mine enemies may see and be ashamed; seeing that thon, O Lord, hast helped and consoled me.' When the nuns, the novices, and boarders had formed a procession, and chanted and prayed in honour of the Passion, they kissed in succession the sacred relic. The superior addressed the invalid du Perrier: "Recommend thyself to God, my daughter, and touch thine ailing eye with the thorn." The little maiden did so; and that same evening, or, according to other accounts, the next morning, it was found that the eye was completely cured." The news of the miraculous cure having quickly spread through Paris, people flocked from all directions to adore the wondrous relic. A special thanksgiving was held. The grand vicar of Paris, with sixteen of his deacons, made his appearance, and performed a solemn mass in the church, where the little Perrier was shown, in a conspicuous seat, to the believing multitude. Her portrait, engraved on copper, was published.

We must here take leave of Port-Royal and its reminiscences. We would willingly have given a few of the details, of historical and biographical interest, connected with the lives of the elder and younger Arnaulds, St. Cyran, Jansen, d'Audelly, LeMaitre, and the rest of its worthies, with which the volume abounds, had not our notice of the work already trenched upon, if not exceeded, the limits prescribed by the nature of our publication. With the appearance of the second volume we hope shortly to return to the subject.

THE ROSE OF DEKAMA.

De Roos van Dekama. (The Rose of Dekama.) By J. van Lennep. 2 vols. 12mo.

1

There is a country close at our doors which is highly remarkable in many respects, and yet about which Englishmen in general either live in total ignorance, or entertain the most erroneous notions. While either from study or ocular observation we are minutely acquainted with France, and Spain, and Italy, and Turkey, and Palestine, and Egypt, we know about Holland less, perhaps, than about China. It is true, the numerous visiters of the banks of the Rhine usually have, on the day of their arrival at Rotterdam, just time enough to stroll a few hours about the handsome streets of that bustling town; some of them may, perhaps, sacrifice a day or two to take a peep at the Hague and its interesting establishments and environs; but who ever thinks of going

thirty miles farther, through Leyden and Haarlem to Amsterdam, if it is not for merely commercial purposes? And yet that capital and those cities, beautiful and replete with curiosities of various kinds as they are, constitute by no means the most interesting part of the country. The lover of the beauties of nature, in particular, will find infinitely more gratification at Utrecht and Arnhem, and in their enchanting vicinities two cities, the road between which is one continuous avenue of some forty miles in length, lined on both sides with country-seats, many of which may be called magnificent.

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We are led to these remarks by reflecting how little the British public is also acquainted with the literature of the same country, which, however, deserves so well to be known. The question naturally suggests itself: If that literature is worth knowing, how comes it that we hear so little of it? We can assign no other reason than the difficulty and the little inducement to learn the Dutch language. French, Spanish, Italian, and even German, are learned, because the knowledge of them is, if not indispensable, at least highly conducive to the multiplication of the enjoyments of those who make any thing like a prolonged stay in the countries where they are spoken, and whose inhabitants seldom study foreign tongues; but, in Holland, few of us remain any length of time, and then it is rare to meet with a native there, among the educated classes, who does not speak at least French, and many of them can converse tolerably, some perfectly well, in English and German besides. The Dutch, aware that foreigners do not learn their language, have made it a principal branch of polite education to learn theirs.

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It must be confessed, however, that the circumstance of their language being limited to their own population, which, however dense, is comparatively inconsiderable, on account of the small extent of their country, has had an unfavourable influence on their literature. The readers being few, there is little inducement for the learned, who, in proportion to the population, are, in no country, perhaps so numerous as in Holland, to write for the public; and the natural consequence is, that almost any book of general interest, that appears either in England, France, or Germany, is immediately translated into Dutch, too often by persons who are very unequal to the task, but whom the bookseller may satisfy with a very small remuneration for their labour. Formerly when, science and literature being in the exclusive possession of the higher classes, almost all books of any importance were written in Latin, the Dutch savants shone among their brethren in other parts of Europe with undeniable lustre, and the works of Erasmus, Grotius, Douza, and many others, will, in all ages, be counted among the brightest productions of human genius and intellect.

About two millions and a half.