and to promote these studies, when he became a bishop he held frequent conferences with his clergy. A considerable portion of his time was always devoted to prayer and devotional exercises. He was a frequent preacher, and composed three catechisms for his diocese, for beginners, the instructed, and the well-instructed. His correspondence as a spiritual adviser was extensive, although he did not generally hear confessions. His sermons in his diocese were short and simple, often extempore, though seldom unprepared. His sermons at court, and his funeral orations, rank high in the literature of France. As a proof of the candour which he certainly possessed, it may be mentioned, that when Robert Nelson, who knew him well, and whose wife he was mainly instrumental in perverting to Romanism, forwarded to him a copy of his friend Dr Bull's famous Judicium Ecclesia Catholica, he acknowledged the receipt of it in terms of the highest commendation; at the same time sending its author the united congratulations of the clergy of France. In the letter which conveyed this flattering distinction, Bossuet expressed his surprise, that any one who spoke so advantageously of the Church could continue a moment without acknowledging her, and wishes to be informed what the writer means by the term "Catholic Church." To this letter Bull wrote a long reply, now known under the title of The Corruptions of the Church of Rome in relation to Ecclesiastical Government, the rule of Faith, and form of Divine worship-in which he shews that the Roman church and the catholic Church are not convertible terms; the great danger of salvation to those who live in communion with the church of Rome; and that the infallible assistance of the Holy Ghost in the council of Nice is no argument for such assistance in the convention of Trent. It is to be regretted, as a prolonged controversy between disputants of such acknowledged piety and learning might have been attended with beneficial results, that Bossuet died just after Bull's answer had been sent to Nelson, to be forwarded by him to the bishop; and hence he never received it. He died at Paris on the 12th of April, 1704, employing himself in his last illness with a commentary on the 22d psalm, or as it is numbered in the vulgate the the 21st. He was buried in his own cathedral of Meaux. His funeral was attended by the most distinguished prelates of France, and an oration was pronounced on the occasion. The same honour was paid to his memory in the college of Navarre, where cardinal de Noialles performed the pontifical ceremonies; while at Rome, in the college of the Propaganda, Chevalier Maffei celebrated hist death by an oration pronounced before cardinals, prelates, and other eminent personages. Never indeed was any divine more honoured in life, or more lamented in death, by the Gallican church, than the bishop of Meaux, who is considered by Gallicans to have been the last of the fathers. This is flattery: but it must be admitted that he who could boast of bishop Bull and Robert Nelson among his eulogists was no ordinary man.--Life by Charles Butler. Nouvelle Edition des auvres de Bossuet. Nelson's Life of Bull. Hallam's Literature of Europe. Mosheim. Teale's Life of Bull. END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. |
