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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of St. Vincent de Paul, by 
+F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life of St. Vincent de Paul
+
+Author: F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes
+
+Release Date: January 5, 2009 [EBook #27706]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David McClamrock
+
+
+
+
+
+SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL
+c. 1581-1660
+
+By F.A. [Francis Alice] Forbes
+
+
+
+
+"Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor:
+the Lord will deliver him in the evil day."
+--Psalm 40:2
+
+"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Wherefore he hath anointed me to
+preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the contrite
+of heart, to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the
+blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
+acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward."
+--Luke 4:18-19
+
+
+
+
+Nihil Obstat: Francis M. Canon Wyndham
+              Censor Deputatus
+
+Imprimatur:   Edmund Canon Surmont
+              Vicar General
+              Westminster
+              July 2, 1919
+
+
+
+
+Originally published in 1919 by R. & T. Washbourne, Limited, London,
+as _Life of St. Vincent de Paul_ in the series _Standard-bearers of
+the Faith: A Series of Lives of the Saints for Young and Old._
+
+
+
+
+"Extend mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need
+whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God
+should withdraw His mercy from us?"
+--St. Vincent de Paul
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+1.  A Peasant's Son
+
+2.  Slavery
+
+3.  A Great Household
+
+4.  The Galleys
+
+5.  Mission Work
+
+6.  The Grey Sisters
+
+7.  The Foundlings
+
+8.  At Court
+
+9.  The Jansenists
+
+10. Troubles in Paris
+
+11. "Confido"
+
+
+
+SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL
+
+"Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for charity is of God. And
+every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth
+not, knoweth not God: for God is charity."
+--1 John 4:7-8
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 1
+A PEASANT'S SON
+
+A MONOTONOUS line of sand hills and the sea; a vast barren land
+stretching away in wave-like undulations far as eye can reach; marsh
+and heath and sand, sand and heath and marsh; here and there a
+stretch of scant coarse grass, a mass of waving reeds, a patch of
+golden-brown fern--the Landes.
+
+It was through this desolate country in France that a little peasant
+boy whose name was destined to become famous in the annals of his
+country led his father's sheep, that they might crop the scanty
+pasture. Vincent was a homely little boy, but he had the soul of a
+knight-errant, and the grace of God shone from eyes that were never
+to lose their merry gleam even in extreme old age.
+
+He was intelligent, too, so intelligent that the neighbors said that
+Jean de Paul was a fool to set such a boy to tend sheep when he had
+three other sons who would never be good for anything else. There was
+a family in the neighborhood, they reminded him, who had had a bright
+boy like Vincent, and had put him to school--with what result? Why,
+he had taken Orders and got a benefice, and was able to support his
+parents now that they were getting old, besides helping his brothers
+to get on in the world. It was well worthwhile pinching a little for
+such a result as that.
+
+Jean de Paul listened and drank in their arguments. It would be a
+fine thing to have a son a priest; perhaps, with luck, even a
+Bishop--the family fortunes would be made forever.
+
+With a good deal of difficulty the necessary money was scraped
+together, and Vincent was sent to the Franciscans' school at Dax, the
+nearest town. There the boy made such good use of his time that four
+years later, when he was only sixteen, he was engaged as tutor to the
+children of M. de Commet, a lawyer, who had taken a fancy to the
+clever, hardworking young scholar. At M. de Commet's suggestion,
+Vincent began to study for the priesthood, while continuing the
+education of his young charges to the satisfaction of everybody
+concerned.
+
+Five years later he took minor Orders and, feeling the need of
+further theological studies, set his heart on a university training
+and a degree. But life at a university costs money, however thrifty
+one may be, and although Jean de Paul sold a yoke of oxen to start
+his son on his career at Toulouse, at the end of a year Vincent was
+in difficulties. The only chance for a poor student like himself was
+a tutorship during the summer vacation, and here Vincent was lucky.
+The nobleman who engaged him was so delighted with the results that,
+when the vacation was over, he insisted on the young tutor taking his
+pupils back with him to Toulouse. There, while they attended the
+college, Vincent continued to direct their studies, with such success
+that several other noblemen confided their sons to him, and he was
+soon at the head of a small school.
+
+To carry on such an establishment and to devote oneself to study at
+the same time was not the easiest of tasks; but Vincent was a hard
+and conscientious worker, and he seems to have had, even then, a
+strange gift of influencing others for good. For seven years he
+continued this double task with thorough success, completed his
+course of theology, took his degree, and was ordained priest in the
+opening years of that seventeenth century which was to be so full of
+consequences both for France and for himself.
+
+Up to this time there had been nothing to distinguish Vincent from
+any other young student of his day. Those who knew him well respected
+him and loved him, and that was all. But with the priesthood came a
+change. From thenceforward he was to strike out a definite line of
+his own--a line that set him apart from the men of his time and
+faintly foreshadowed the Vincent of later days.
+
+The first Mass of a newly ordained priest was usually celebrated with
+a certain amount of pomp and ceremony. If a cleric wanted to obtain a
+good living it was well to let people know that he was eligible for
+it; humility was not a fashionable virtue. People were therefore not
+a little astonished when Vincent, flatly refusing to allow any
+outsiders to be present, said his first Mass in a lonely little
+chapel in a wood near Bajet, beloved by him on account of its
+solitude and silence. There, entirely alone save for the acolyte and
+server required by the rubrics, and trembling at the thought of his
+own unworthiness, the newly made priest, celebrating the great
+Sacrifice for the first time, offered himself for life and death to
+be the faithful servant of his Lord. So high were his ideals of what
+the priestly life should be that in his saintly old age he would
+often say that, were he not already a priest, he would never dare to
+become one.
+
+Vincent's old friend and patron, M. de Commet, was eager to do a good
+turn to the young cleric. He had plenty of influence and succeeded in
+getting him named to the rectorship of the important parish of Thil,
+close to the town of Dax. This was a piece of good fortune which many
+would have envied; but it came to Vincent's ears that there was
+another claimant, who declared that the benefice had been promised to
+him in Rome. Rather than contest the matter in the law courts Vincent
+gave up the rectorship and went back to Toulouse, where he continued
+to teach and to study.
+
+Some years later he was called suddenly to Bordeaux on business, and
+while there heard that an old lady of his acquaintance had left him
+all her property. This was welcome news, for Vincent was sadly in
+need of money, his journey to Bordeaux having cost more than he was
+able to pay.
+
+On returning to Toulouse, however, he found that the prospect was not
+so bright as he had been led to expect. The chief part of his
+inheritance consisted of a debt of four or five hundred crowns owed
+to the old lady by a scoundrel who, as soon as he heard of her death,
+made off to Marseilles, thinking to escape without paying. He was
+enjoying life and congratulating himself on his cleverness when
+Vincent, to whom the sum was a little fortune, and who had determined
+to pursue his debtor, suddenly appeared on the scene. The thief was
+let off on the payment of three hundred crowns, and Vincent, thinking
+that he had made not too bad a bargain, was preparing to return to
+Toulouse by road, the usual mode of traveling in those days, when a
+friend suggested that to go by sea was not only cheaper, but more
+agreeable. It was summer weather; the journey could be accomplished
+in one day; the sea was smooth; everything seemed favorable; the two
+friends set out together.
+
+A sea voyage in the seventeenth century was by no means like a sea
+voyage of the present day. There were no steamers, and vessels
+depended on a favorable wind or on hard rowing. The Mediterranean was
+infested with Turkish pirates, who robbed and plundered to the very
+coasts of France and Italy, carrying off the crews of captured
+vessels to prison or slavery.
+
+The day that the two friends had chosen for their journey was that of
+the great fair of Beaucaire, which was famous throughout Christendom.
+Ships were sailing backwards and forwards along the coast with
+cargoes of rich goods or the money for which they had been sold, and
+the Turkish pirates were on the lookout.
+
+The boat in which Vincent was sailing was coasting along the Gulf of
+Lyons when the sailors became aware that they were being pursued by
+three Turkish brigantines. In vain they crowded on all sail; escape
+was impossible. After a sharp fight, in which all the men on
+Vincent's ship were either killed or wounded--Vincent himself
+receiving an arrow wound the effects of which remained with him for
+life--the French ship was captured.
+
+But the Turks had not come off unscathed, and so enraged were they at
+their losses that their first action on boarding the French vessel
+was to hack its unfortunate pilot into a thousand pieces. Having thus
+relieved their feelings, they put their prisoners in chains. But
+then, fearing lest the prisoners die of loss of blood and so cheat
+them of the money for which they meant to sell them, they bound up
+their wounds and went on their way of destruction and pillage. After
+four or five days of piracy on the high seas, they started, laden
+with plunder, for the coast of Barbary, noted throughout the world at
+that time as a stronghold of sea robbers and thieves.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 2
+SLAVERY
+
+THE pirates were bound for the port of Tunis, the largest city of
+Barbary. But the sight of the glittering white town with its
+background of mountains, set in the gorgeous coloring of the African
+landscape, brought no gleam of joy or comfort to the sad hearts of
+the prisoners. Before them lay a life of slavery which might be worse
+than death; there was small prospect that they would ever see their
+native land again.
+
+To one faint hope, however, they clung desperately, as a drowning man
+clings to a straw. There was a French consul in Tunis whose business
+it was to look after the trade interests of his country, and it was
+just possible that he might use his influence to set them free.
+
+The hope was short-lived. The pirates, expecting to make a good deal
+of money out of their prisoners, were equally aware of this fact, and
+their first act on landing was to post a notice that the captives
+they had for sale were Spaniards. Nothing was left to Vincent and his
+companions, who did not know a word of the language of the country,
+but to endure their cruel fate.
+
+The Turks, having stripped their prisoners and clothed them in a kind
+of rough uniform, fastened chains round their necks and marched them
+through the town to the marketplace, where they were exhibited for
+sale much as cattle are at the present day. They were carefully
+inspected by the dealers, who looked at their teeth, felt their
+muscles, made them run and walk--with loads and without--to satisfy
+themselves that they were in good condition, and finally selected
+their victims. Vincent was bought by a fisherman who, finding that
+his new slave got hopelessly ill whenever they put out to sea,
+repented of his bargain and sold him to an alchemist.
+
+In the West, as well as in the East, there were still men who
+believed in the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life. By means
+of the still undiscovered Stone they hoped to change base metals into
+gold, while the equally undiscovered Elixir was to prolong life
+indefinitely, and to make old people young.
+
+Vincent's master was an enthusiast in his profession and kept ten or
+fifteen furnaces always burning in which to conduct his experiments.
+His slave, whose business it was to keep them alight, was kindly
+treated; the old man soon grew very fond of him and would harangue
+him by the hour on the subject of metals and essences. His great
+desire was that Vincent should become a Mohammedan like himself, a
+desire which, needless to say, remained unfulfilled, in spite of the
+large sums of money he promised if his slave would only oblige him in
+this matter.
+
+The old alchemist, however, had a certain reputation in his own
+country. Having been sent for one day to the Sultan's Court, he died
+on the way, leaving his slave to his nephew, who lost no time in
+getting rid of him.
+
+Vincent's next master was a Frenchman who had apostatized and was
+living as a Mohammedan on his farm in the mountains. This man had
+three wives, who were very kind to the poor captive--especially one
+of them, who, although herself a Mohammedan, was to be the cause of
+her husband's conversion and Vincent's release. She would go out to
+the fields where the Christian slave was working and bid him tell her
+about his country and his religion. His answers seemed to impress her
+greatly, and one day she asked him to sing her one of the hymns they
+sang in France in praise of their God.
+
+The request brought tears to Vincent's eyes. He thought of the
+Israelites captive in Babylon, and of their answer to a similar
+demand. With an aching heart he intoned the psalm, "By the waters of
+Babylon," while the woman, strangely impressed by the plaintive
+chant, listened attentively and, when he had ended, begged for more.
+
+The _Salve Regina_ followed, and other songs of praise, after which
+she went home silent and thoughtful. That night she spoke to her
+husband. "I cannot understand," she said, "why you have given up a
+religion which is so good and holy. Your Christian slave has been
+telling me of your Faith and of your God, and has sung songs in His
+praise. My heart was so full of joy while he sang that I do not
+believe I shall be so happy even in the paradise of my fathers." Her
+husband, whose conscience was not quite dead within him, listened
+silent and abashed. "Ah," she continued, "there is something
+wonderful in that religion!"
+
+The woman's words bore fruit. All day long, as her husband went about
+his business, the remembrance of his lost Faith was tugging at his
+heartstrings. Catching sight of Vincent digging in the fields, he
+went to him and bade him take courage. "At the first opportunity," he
+said, "I will escape with you to France."
+
+It was nine long months before that opportunity came, for the
+Frenchman was in the Sultan's service and was not able to leave the
+country. At last, however, the two men, escaping together in a small
+boat, succeeded in reaching Avignon, and Vincent was free once more.
+
+Cardinal Montorio, the Pope's legate, was deeply interested in the
+two fugitives, and a few days later reconciled the apostate, now
+deeply repentant, to the Church. The Cardinal, who shortly afterwards
+returned to Rome, took Vincent with him, showing him great kindness
+and introducing him to several people of importance. The opinion they
+formed of him is shown by the fact that he was chosen not long after
+to go on a secret mission to the court of Henry IV, King of France.
+
+An interview--or rather several interviews--with a reigning monarch
+would have been considered in those days as a first-rate chance for
+anyone who had a spark of ambition. Nothing would have been easier
+than to put in a plea for a benefice or a bishopric; but Vincent, who
+was both humble and unselfish, had no thought of his own advancement.
+His only desire was to get his business over and to leave the Court
+as quickly as possible.
+
+The question of how he was to live remaining still unanswered, he
+took a room in a house near one of the largest hospitals in Paris and
+devoted himself to the service of the sick and dying. But even the
+rent of the little room was more than he could afford to pay, and he
+was glad to share it with a companion. This was a judge from his own
+part of the country who was in Paris on account of a lawsuit and who,
+not being overburdened with money, offered to share the lodging and
+the rent.
+
+It was at this time that Vincent met Father--afterwards Cardinal--de
+Bérulle, one of the most holy and learned priests of his time, who
+was occupied at that moment in founding the French Congregation of
+the Oratory, destined to do such good work for the clergy of France.
+De Bérulle was quick to recognize holiness and merit, and he and
+Vincent soon became fast friends.
+
+But it did not seem to be God's will that our hero should prosper in
+Paris; he fell ill, and one day while he was lying in bed waiting for
+some medicine which had been ordered, his companion went out, leaving
+the cupboard in which he kept his money unlocked. The chemist's
+assistant, arriving shortly afterwards with the medicine and opening
+the cupboard to get a glass for the patient, caught sight of the
+purse, slipped it into his pocket, and made off.
+
+No sooner had the judge returned than he went to the cupboard and
+discovered the theft. Turning furiously on the sick man, he accused
+him of having stolen his property and overwhelmed him with insults
+and abuse. Vincent, unmoved by his threats, only answered gently that
+he had seen nothing of the money and did not know what had become of
+it; but his companion, refusing to listen to reason, rushed out and
+accused him to the police. This led to nothing, as neither witness
+nor proof could be brought forward by the judge, who, furious at the
+failure of his accusation, went about Paris denouncing Vincent as a
+thief. So determined was he to ruin the poor priest whose room he had
+shared that he obtained an introduction to Father de Bérulle for the
+express purpose of making Vincent's guilt known to him. As for the
+latter, he bore the affront in silence, making no attempt to justify
+himself beyond his first declaration that he was innocent. "God knows
+the truth," he would reply to all accusations.
+
+The true thief was only discovered six months later. The chemist's
+assistant had fallen ill and was lying at the point of death at a
+hospital, when, repenting of his crime, he sent to implore
+forgiveness of the man he had robbed. The judge, stricken with
+remorse, wrote at once to Vincent, offering to come and ask his
+pardon on his knees for the wrong he had done him.
+
+Vincent was then living at the Oratory with Father de Bérulle, who
+had never doubted his innocence. He hastened to assure his old
+roommate that he desired no such apology and begged him to say no
+more about the matter. Such was his treatment of the man who had done
+him so grievous an injury.
+
+It was during these years that Vincent de Paul had another strange
+experience in which he showed heroic courage and steadfastness. He
+made the acquaintance of a learned doctor of the Sorbonne who was so
+tormented with doubts against the Faith that his reason was in
+danger. This man confided his distress to Vincent, who explained to
+him that a temptation to doubt does not constitute unbelief, and that
+as long as his will remained firm he was safe. It happens, however,
+that such temptations often cloud the reason, and Vincent's labors to
+restore the man's peace of mind were in vain.
+
+The priest, deeply moved at the sight of a soul in such danger,
+besought God for help, offering himself to bear the temptation in the
+doctor's place. It was the inspiration of a saint, and the prayer was
+granted. The man was instantly delivered from his doubts, which took
+possession of Vincent himself. The trial was long and painful. For
+several years this humble and fervent soul endured the agony of an
+incessant temptation to unbelief. But Vincent knew how to resist this
+most subtle snare of the Evil One, and, although the anguish was
+continual, his will never wavered.
+
+Copying out the _Credo_ on a small sheet of parchment, he placed it
+over his heart, and his only answer to the fearful doubts that
+harassed him was to lay his hand upon it as he made his act of Faith.
+To prevent himself from dwelling on such thoughts, he devoted himself
+more than ever to works of charity, spending himself in the service
+of the sick and poor and comforting others when he himself was often
+in greater need of comfort.
+
+One day when the temptation was almost more than he could bear and he
+felt himself on the point of yielding, he made a vow to consecrate
+himself to Jesus Christ in the person of His poor. As he made the
+promise the temptation vanished, and forever. His faith henceforward
+was a faith that had been tried and had conquered; strong and firm as
+such a faith must be, it held him ready for all that God might send.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 3
+A GREAT HOUSEHOLD
+
+VINCENT remained two years in the house of Father de Bérulle, in the
+hope of obtaining permanent work. The administration of a poor
+country parish was, he maintained, the only thing he was fit for, but
+de Bérulle thought otherwise. "This humble priest," he predicted one
+day to a friend, "will render great service to the Church and will
+work much for God's glory."
+
+St. Francis de Sales, who made Vincent's acquaintance while he was
+with de Bérulle, was of the same opinion. "He will be the holiest
+priest of his time," he said one day as he watched him. As for
+Vincent, he was completely won by the gentle serenity of St. Francis
+and took him as model in his relations with others. "I am by nature a
+country clod," he would say in after years, "and if I had not met the
+Bishop of Geneva, I should have remained a bundle of thorns all my
+life."
+
+At last Vincent's desire seemed about to be fulfilled. A friend of de
+Bérulle's, curé of the country parish of Clichy, near Paris,
+announced his intention of entering the Oratory, and at de Bérulle's
+request chose Vincent de Paul as his successor. Here, amidst his
+beloved poor, Vincent was completely happy. In him the sick and the
+infirm found a friend such as they had never dreamed of and any son
+of poor parents who showed a vocation for the priesthood was taken
+into the presbytery and taught by Vincent himself. The parish church,
+which was in great disrepair, was rebuilt; old, standing quarrels
+were made up; men who had not been to the Sacraments for years came
+back to God. Such was the influence of the Curé of Clichy that
+priests from the neighboring parishes came to learn the secret of his
+success and to ask his advice.
+
+Vincent was looking forward to a life spent in earnest work among his
+people when a summons from Father de Bérulle recalled him suddenly to
+Paris. Nothing less than the resignation of his beloved Clichy was
+now asked of him by this friend to whom he owed so much. One of the
+greatest noblemen of France, Messire de Gondi, Count of Joigny and
+General of the King's Galleys, was in need of a tutor for his
+children and had commissioned Father de Bérulle to find him what he
+wanted. De Bérulle decided at once that Vincent de Paul was the man
+for the position and that, as he was evidently destined to do great
+work for God, it would be to his advantage to have powerful and
+influential friends.
+
+Although the prospect of such a post filled the humble parish priest
+with consternation, he owed too much to de Bérulle to refuse. Setting
+out from Clichy with his worldly goods on a hand-barrow, he arrived
+at the Oratory, from whence he was to proceed to his new abode.
+
+The house of Messire de Gondi was one of the most magnificent in
+Paris. The Count, one of the bravest and handsomest men of his day,
+was in high favor at Court; while his wife, at a time when the lives
+of most of the great ladies of the Court were anything but edifying,
+was remarkable for her fervor and piety. The de Gondi children,
+unfortunately, did not take after their parents, and the two boys
+whose education Vincent was to undertake and whose character he was
+to form were described by their aunt as "regular little demons." The
+youngest of the family, the famous, or rather infamous, Cardinal de
+Retz, was not yet born, but Vincent's hands were sufficiently full
+without him. "I should like my children to be saints rather than
+great noblemen," said Madame de Gondi when she presented the boys to
+their tutor, but the prospect seemed remote enough. The violent
+temper and obstinacy of his charges were a great trial to Vincent,
+who used to say in later life that they had taught him, cross-grained
+as he was by nature, how to be gentle and patient.
+
+The position of a man of low birth as tutor in that princely
+household was not without its difficulties. Vincent was a dependent;
+but there was a quiet dignity about him which forbade liberties. With
+the servants, and there were many of every grade, he was always
+cordial and polite, losing no chance of winning their confidence,
+that he might influence them for good. His duties over, he would
+retire to his own room, refusing, unless especially sent for, to mix
+with the great people who frequented the house.
+
+Madame de Gondi, with a woman's intuition, was the first to realize
+the sanctity of her sons' tutor and resolved to put herself under his
+direction. Knowing enough of his humility to be certain that he would
+refuse such a request, she applied to Father de Bérulle to use his
+influence in the matter, and thus obtained her desire. At Vincent's
+suggestion she soon afterwards undertook certain works of charity,
+which were destined to be the seed of a great enterprise.
+
+The Count, too, began to feel the effects of Vincent's presence in
+his household. It was the age of dueling, and hundreds of lives were
+lost in this barbarous practice. De Gondi was a famous swordsman, and
+although the life he led was a great deal better than that of the
+majority of his contemporaries, the possibility of refusing to fight
+when challenged, or of refraining from challenging another when his
+honor was at stake, had never occurred to him.
+
+Vincent had been some time at the de Gondis' when it came to his ears
+that the Count intended to fight a duel on a certain day, and he
+resolved, if possible, to prevent it. De Gondi was present at Mass in
+the morning and remained on afterwards in the chapel, praying,
+probably, that he might prevail over his enemy.
+
+Vincent waited till everyone had gone out, and then approached him
+softly. "Monsieur," he said, "I know that you intend to fight a duel;
+and I tell you, as a message from my Saviour, before whom you kneel,
+that if you do not renounce this intention His judgment will fall on
+you and yours." The Count, after a moment's silence, promised to give
+up his project, and faithfully kept his word. It was the greatest
+sacrifice that could have been asked of a man in de Gondi's
+position, and it was a thing unheard of at the time for a priest to
+lay down the law to a great nobleman. But the influence of sanctity
+is strong, and the Count was noble; for him it was the beginning of a
+better life.
+
+The de Gondis usually spent part of the year at their country house
+in Picardy, where they had large estates. Here the love of the poor
+which Vincent had fostered in Madame de Gondi was in its element, and
+she delighted in visiting her tenants, tending the sick with her own
+hands, and seconding all M. Vincent's plans for their welfare.
+
+It happened one day that Vincent was sent to the bedside of a dying
+peasant who had always borne a good character and was considered an
+excellent Christian. The man was conscious, and Vincent--moved, no
+doubt, by the direct inspiration of God--urged him to make a General
+Confession. There was much need, for he had been concealing for long
+years several mortal sins which he was ashamed to confess, profaning
+the Sacraments and deceiving all who knew him. Moved with contrition
+by M. Vincent's words, he confessed his crimes, acknowledging his
+guilt also to Madame de Gondi, who came to visit him after Vincent
+had departed.
+
+"Ah Madame," he cried, "if I had not made that General Confession my
+soul would have been lost for all eternity!"
+
+The incident made a lasting impression on both Vincent and the
+Countess. Here was a man who for years had been living in deceit and
+making an unworthy use of the Sacraments. How many others might be in
+like case! It was a terrible thought. "Ah, Monsieur Vincent," cried
+the great lady, "how many souls are being lost! Can you do nothing to
+help them?"
+
+Her words found an echo in Vincent's heart. Next Sunday he preached a
+sermon in the parish church on the necessity of General Confession.
+It was the first of the famous mission sermons destined to do so much
+good in France. While he spoke, Madame de Gondi prayed, and the
+result far surpassed their expectations. So great were the crowds
+that flocked to Confession that Vincent was unable to cope with them
+and had to apply to the Jesuits at Amiens for help. The other
+villages on the estate were visited in turn, with equal success.
+Vincent used to look back in later life to this first mission sermon
+as the beginning of his work for souls.
+
+The result of all this for the preacher, however, was a certain
+prestige, and his humility took alarm. Monsieur and Madame de Gondi
+now treated their sons' tutor with the reverence due to a saint. His
+name was on the lips of everybody; and yet, as Vincent sadly
+acknowledged to himself, the work for which he had been engaged was a
+failure. The "little demons" were as headstrong and violent as ever;
+it was only on their parents that he had been able to make any
+impression.
+
+Fearful of being caught in the snare of worldly honors, he resolved
+to seek safety in flight. Father de Bérulle had sent him to the house
+of Monsieur de Gondi; to him did he appeal in his distress. His work
+as a tutor had been a failure, he told him; he could do nothing with
+his pupils, and he was receiving honor which he in no way deserved.
+He ended by begging to be allowed to work for the poor in some humble
+and lonely place, and de Bérulle decided to grant his wish. The
+country parish of Châtillon was in need of workers, was the answer;
+let him go there and exercise his zeal for souls.
+
+The only remaining difficulty was to get away from the great house.
+Dreading the outcry that he knew would follow the announcement of his
+resolution, and the arguments that would be used against him, Vincent
+departed, declaring simply that personal affairs called him away from
+Paris.
+
+Only when he had been already established for some time in his new
+parish did it dawn on the de Gondis that his absence was not to be
+merely temporary. They were in desperation. Madame de Gondi did
+nothing but weep, while her husband applied to everyone whom he
+thought to have any influence with Vincent to persuade him to return.
+"If he has not the gift of teaching children," he wrote to a friend,
+"it does not matter; he shall have a tutor to work under him. He
+shall live exactly as he likes if he will only come back. Get de
+Bérulle to persuade him. I shall be a good man some day," ends this
+great nobleman pathetically, "if only he will stay with me."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 4
+THE GALLEYS
+
+M. DE BÉRULLE had certainly not exaggerated matters when he said that
+the parish of Châtillon-les-Dombes was in need of earnest workers.
+Vincent looked about him and set to work at once.
+
+The first thing to be done was to clean out the church, which was in
+such a state of dirt and squalor that people had some excuse for not
+wishing to enter it. He then turned his attention to the clergy
+already there. They were ignorant and easygoing men, for the most
+part, who thought a good deal more of their own amusement than of the
+needs of their flock, but they were not bad at heart. Vincent's
+representations of what a priest's life ought to be astonished them at
+first and convinced them later--all the more so in that they saw in
+him the very ideal that he strove to set before them.
+
+There was no presbytery at Châtillon, and to the astonishment of
+everyone, Vincent hired a lodging in the house of a young gentleman
+who had the reputation of being one of the most riotous livers in the
+town. He was, moreover, half a heretic, and Vincent had been warned to
+have nothing to do with him. But the new rector had his own ideas on
+the subject, and the ill-assorted pair soon became very good friends.
+
+The change in the young man's mode of life was gradual. His first step
+was to be reconciled to the Church, his second to begin to interest
+himself in the poor. Gradually his bad companions dropped away, until
+one day Châtillon suddenly awoke to the fact that this most rackety of
+individuals was taking life seriously--was, in fact, a changed man.
+The whole town was in a stir. Who was this priest who had so suddenly
+come among them, so self-forgetful, so simple, so unassuming, yet
+whose influence was so strong with all classes?
+
+It was a question that might well be asked in the light of what was
+yet to come.
+
+There lived near Châtillon a certain Count de Rougemont, a noted
+duelist, whose violence and immorality were the talk of the
+neighborhood. Having heard people speak of the wonderful eloquence of
+M. Vincent, this man came one day out of curiosity to hear him preach.
+Surprised and touched in spite of himself, he determined to make the
+preacher's acquaintance and, hastening into his presence, flung
+himself on his knees before him.
+
+"I am a wretch and a sinner!" he cried, "but tell me what to do and I
+will do it." Raising him with gentle courtesy, Vincent bade him take
+courage, and spoke to him of all the good that a man of his position
+might do in the world. The Count, profoundly struck by the contrast
+between this man's life and his own--the one so powerful for good, and
+the other so strong for evil--vowed to mend his ways. And he kept his
+word.
+
+One by one he sold his estates to find the wherewithal for Vincent's
+schemes of charity, and he would have stripped himself of all that he
+had, had not Vincent himself forbidden it. His sword, which had served
+him in all his duels, and to which he was very much attached, he broke
+in pieces on a rock. His great chateau, the walls of which had rung to
+the sound of wild carousals, was now thrown open to the sick and the
+poor, whom the once-dreaded Count insisted on serving with his own
+hands. He died the death of a saint a few years later, amid the
+blessings of all the people whom he had helped.
+
+The ladies of the parish, to whom before Vincent's arrival the hour of
+the Sunday Mass had seemed too long for God's service and who had
+spent it chattering behind their fans, began also to realize that
+there was something in life besides selfish amusement. Some of them,
+moved by curiosity, went to see the new preacher, who, receiving them
+with his usual kindness and courtesy, drew a touching picture of the
+suffering and poverty that surrounded them and begged them to think
+sometimes of their less fortunate brothers and sisters.
+
+Two of the richest and most fashionable ladies of the district,
+touched by Vincent's words and example, gave themselves up entirely to
+the service of the poor, traveling about the country nursing the sick,
+and even risking their lives in the care of the plague-stricken. They
+were the forerunners of those "Sisters of Charity" who were in after
+years to carry help and comfort among the poor of every country.
+
+One day, as Vincent was about to say Mass, one of these ladies begged
+him to speak to the congregation in favor of a poor family whose
+members were sick and starving. So successful was his appeal that when
+he himself went a few hours later to see what could be done, he found
+the road thronged with people carrying food and necessaries.
+
+This, Vincent at once realized, was not practical. There would be far
+too much today and nothing tomorrow. There was no want of charity, but
+it needed organization. Sending for the two ladies, he explained to
+them a scheme which he had thought out on his way home. Those who were
+ready to help the poor were to band themselves together, each in turn
+promising to provide a day's food for starving families.
+
+Thus was founded the first confraternity of the "Ladies of Charity,"
+who were to work in concert for the relief of their poorer brethren.
+The association was to be under the management of the curé of the
+parish, and every good woman might belong to it. Its members were to
+devote themselves to the service of the poor for the love of Our Lord
+Jesus Christ, their Patron. They were to tend the sick cheerfully and
+kindly, as they would their own children, not disdaining to minister
+to them with their own hands. The work developed quickly;
+confraternities of charity were soon adopted in nearly all the
+parishes of France and have since extended over the whole Christian
+world.
+
+The de Gondis, in the meantime, had discovered the place of Vincent's
+retreat and had written him several letters, piteously urging him to
+return. They had succeeded in enlisting as their advocate a certain M.
+du Fresne, a friend of Vincent's, who had promised to plead their
+cause and who set about it with a shrewd common sense that was not
+without its effect. The work at Châtillon, he represented to Vincent,
+could be carried on by any good priest now that it had been set
+agoing, whereas in refusing to return to the de Gondis he was
+neglecting an opportunity for doing good on a very much larger scale.
+Helped by their money and their influence, not only their vast
+estates, but Paris itself, lay open to him as a field for his labors.
+Moreover, he had taken his own way in going to Châtillon; was he sure
+that it was God's way?
+
+Vincent was humble enough to believe that he might be in the wrong. He
+consented to go to Paris to see M. de Bérulle and to allow himself to
+be guided by his advice. The result was a foregone conclusion, for the
+de Gondis had won over de Bérulle completely to their side. The next
+day Vincent returned to the Hôtel de Gondi, where he promised to
+remain during the lifetime of the Countess.
+
+Delighted to have him back at any price, Vincent's noble patrons asked
+for nothing better than to further all his schemes for the welfare of
+the poor and infirm. Confraternities of charity like that of Châtillon
+were established on all the de Gondi estates, Madame de Gondi herself
+setting the example of what a perfect Lady of Charity should be.
+Neither dirt, discourtesy nor risk of infection could discourage this
+earnest disciple of Vincent. In spite of weak health she gave freely
+of her time, her energy and her money.
+
+M. de Gondi was, as we have already seen, General of the King's
+Galleys, or, as we should now say, Admiral of the Fleet. It was no
+easy post in days when the Mediterranean was infested with Turkish
+pirates, to whom the royal ships had to give frequent chase; but the
+General had distinguished himself more than once by his skill and
+courage at this difficult task.
+
+The use of steam was as yet unknown, and the King's galleys were rowed
+by the convicts and prisoners of France, for it would have been
+impossible to find volunteers for the work. Chained to their oars
+night and day, kept in order by cruel cuts of the lash on their bare
+shoulders, these men lived and died on the rowers' bench without
+spiritual help or assistance of any kind. The conditions of service
+were such that many prisoners took their own lives rather than face
+the torments of such an existence.
+
+As Vincent went about his works of charity in Paris it occurred to him
+to visit the dungeons where the men who had been condemned to the
+galleys were confined. What he saw filled him with horror. Huddled
+together in damp and filthy prisons, crawling with vermin, covered
+with sores and ulcers, brawling, blaspheming and fighting, the galley
+slaves made a picture suggestive only of Hell.
+
+Vincent hastened to M. de Gondi and, trembling with emotion, poured
+forth a description of the horrors he had seen.
+
+"These are your people, Monseigneur!" he cried; "you will have to
+answer for them before God." The General was aghast; it had never
+occurred to him to think of the condition of the men who rowed his
+ships, and he gladly gave Vincent a free hand to do whatever he could
+to relieve them.
+
+Calling two other priests to his assistance, Vincent set to work at
+once to visit the convicts in the Paris prisons; but the men were so
+brutalized that it was difficult to know how to win them. The first
+advances were met with cursing and blasphemy, but Vincent was not to
+be discouraged. With his own gentle charity he performed the lowest
+offices for these poor wretches to whom his heart went out with such
+an ardent pity; he cleansed them from the vermin which infested them
+and dressed their neglected sores. Gradually they were softened and
+would listen while he spoke to them of the Saviour who had died to
+save their souls. At Vincent's earnest request, money was collected
+among his friends and patrons, and a hospital built where the
+prisoners condemned to the galleys might be nursed into good health
+before they went on board.
+
+In due time the rumor of the good work that was being done reached the
+ears of Louis XIII, who promptly made Vincent de Paul Almoner to the
+King's ships, with the honors and privileges of a naval officer and a
+salary of six hundred livres. This enabled Vincent to carry his
+mission farther afield, and he determined to visit all the convict
+prisons in the seaport towns, taking Marseilles as his first station.
+
+Here, where the conditions were perhaps even worse than in Paris,
+Vincent met them in the same spirit and conquered by the same means.
+The fact that he had once been a slave himself gave him an insight
+into the sufferings of the galley slaves and a wonderful influence
+over them. Accustomed as they were to be looked upon as brutes, it was
+a new experience to be treated as if it were a privilege to be in
+their company. This strange new friend who went about among them,
+kissing their chains, sympathizing with their sufferings and attending
+to their lowest needs seemed to them like an Angel from Heaven; even
+the most hardened could not resist such treatment.
+
+In the meantime, through the generosity of Vincent's friends,
+hospitals were being built and men and women were offering themselves
+to help in any capacity in this work of charity. Many of these earnest
+Christians gave their very lives for the galley slaves; for fevers,
+plague and contagious diseases of every kind raged in the filthy
+convict prisons, and many priests and lay helpers died of the
+infection. Yet other devoted workers were always found to take their
+place, and the work which Vincent had inaugurated thrived and
+prospered.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 5
+MISSION WORK
+
+THE incident which had given rise to Vincent's first mission at
+Folleville had never been forgotten by Madame de Gondi. It seemed to
+her that there was need to multiply such missions among the country
+poor, and no sooner had Vincent returned to her house than she offered
+him a large sum of money to endow a band of priests who would devote
+their lives to evangelizing the peasantry on her estates.
+
+Vincent was delighted, but considering himself unfit to undertake the
+management of such an enterprise, he proposed that it should be put
+into the hands of the Jesuits or the Oratorians.
+
+Madame de Gondi, although convinced in her own mind that Vincent, and
+Vincent alone, was the man to carry out the enterprise, obediently
+suggested it to one religious Order after another. In every case some
+obstacle intervened, until the Countess was more than ever persuaded
+that her first instinct had been right. Knowing Vincent's loyalty to
+Holy Church and his obedience to authority, she determined to have
+recourse to her brother-in-law, the Archbishop of Paris. An old house
+called the Collège des Bons Enfants was at that moment vacant. She
+asked it of the Archbishop, whom she had interested in her scheme, and
+who proposed to Vincent to undertake the foundation. There was no
+longer room for hesitation; the will of God seemed plain; indeed,
+Vincent's love of the poor had been for some time struggling with his
+humility.
+
+The new Congregation was to consist of a few good priests who,
+renouncing all thought of honor and worldly advancement, were to
+devote their lives to preaching in the villages and small towns of
+France. Their traveling expenses were to be paid from a common fund.
+They were to spend themselves in the service of their neighbor,
+instructing, catechizing and exhorting; and they were to take nothing
+in return for their labors. Nine months of the year were to be given
+to this kind of work; the other three to prayer and preparation.
+
+In March, 1625, the foundation was made, and Vincent de Paul was named
+the first superior. It was stipulated, however, that he should remain,
+as he had already promised, in the house of the founders, a condition
+which seemed likely to doom the enterprise to failure. Vincent could
+hardly fail to realize how necessary it was that the superior of a new
+Congregation should be in residence in his own house, but he confided
+the little company to God and awaited the development of events.
+
+The solution was altogether unexpected. Two months after the signing
+of the contract of foundation, Madame de Gondi was taken suddenly ill,
+and she died a few days later. Her broken-hearted husband not only
+consented to Vincent's residence in the Collège des Bons Enfants, but
+shortly afterwards, leaving that world where he had shone so
+brilliantly, he himself became a postulant at the Oratory.
+
+The beginnings of the new Congregation were humble enough. Its members
+were three in number: Vincent, his friend M. Portail, and a poor
+priest who had lately joined them. Before setting out on their mission
+journeys they used to give the key of the house to a neighbor; but as
+there was nothing in it to steal, there was little cause for anxiety.
+In the course of their travels other priests, realizing the greatness
+of the work, asked to be enrolled in the little company. Its growth,
+nevertheless, was slow; ten years after the foundation the
+Congregation only numbered thirty-three members; but Vincent had no
+desire that it should be otherwise. In 1652 it was recognized by Pope
+Urban VIII under the name of the Congregation of the Mission.
+
+Vincent lavished the greatest care on the training of his priests.
+They were to be simple and frank in their relations with the poor,
+modest in manner, friendly and easy of access.
+
+"Our sermons must go straight to the point," he would say, "so that
+the humblest of our hearers may understand; our language must be clear
+and unaffected." The love of virtue and the hatred of evil were the
+points to be insisted on; the people were to be shown where virtue lay
+and how to attain it. For "fine sermons" Vincent had the greatest
+contempt; he would use his merry wit to make fun of the pompous
+preachers whose only thought was to impress their audience with an
+idea of their own eloquence.
+
+"Of what good is a display of rhetoric?" he would ask; "who is the
+better for it? It serves no purpose but self-advertisement."
+
+The Mission Priests did good wherever they went; everybody wanted
+them, and it was hard to satisfy the appeals for missions which came
+from all over the country. In due time the Congregation outgrew the
+Collège des Bons Enfants, and was transferred to a large Augustinian
+priory which had originally been a leper hospital, and still bore the
+name of St. Lazare.
+
+Up to this time the Mission Priests had contented themselves with
+ministering to the peasantry, but in the course of their travels it
+had become painfully apparent that the clergy themselves were in
+urgent need of some awakening force. Those of good family led, for the
+most part, worldly and frivolous lives, while the humbler sort were as
+ignorant as the peasants among whom they lived. The religious wars had
+led to laxity and carelessness; drunkenness and vice were fearfully
+prevalent.
+
+To Vincent, with his high ideals of the priesthood, this was a
+terrible revelation. The old custom of giving a retreat to priests who
+were about to be ordained had fallen into disuse. With the assistance
+of some of the French bishops he determined to revive it, and retreats
+of ten or fourteen days were organized at St. Lazare for candidates to
+the priesthood. Here, in an atmosphere of prayer and recollection,
+those who were about to be ordained had every opportunity of realizing
+the greatness of the step that they were taking and of making
+resolutions for their future lives.
+
+The Mission Priests were to help in this work more by example than by
+precept; they were to preach by humility and simplicity. "It is not by
+knowledge that you will do them good," Vincent often repeated, "or by
+the fine things you say, for they are more learned than you--they have
+read or heard it all before. It is by what they see of your lives that
+you will help them; if you yourselves are striving for perfection, God
+will use you to lead these gentlemen in the right way."
+
+The blessing of God seemed, indeed, to rest upon the ordination
+retreats; nearly all who made them carried away something of Vincent's
+noble ideal of the priestly life. Many to whom they had been the
+turning point of a lifetime, felt the need of further help and
+instruction from the man who had awakened all that was noblest in
+their natures.
+
+To meet this necessity Vincent inaugurated a kind of guild for young
+priests who desire to live worthy of their vocation. Weekly gatherings
+were held at St. Lazare under the name of "Tuesday Conferences," where
+difficulties were discussed, debates held and counsels given. It was
+not easy to belong to the "Conferences." Members were pledged to offer
+their lives completely to God and to renounce all self-interest.
+Nevertheless, they increased rapidly in number, and the Conferences
+were attended by all the most influential priests in Paris.
+
+But Vincent's zeal was boundless, and one good work grew out of
+another. The retreats for ordination candidates having been so
+successful, he conceived the idea of giving retreats on the same lines
+for the laity. The work thrived beyond all expectation. All were
+admitted without exception: noblemen and beggars, young men and old,
+the learned and the ignorant, priests and laymen. St. Lazare at such
+times, Vincent once said, was like Noah's ark: every kind of creature
+was to be found in it.
+
+The only difficulty was the expense entailed, for many of the
+retreatants could pay nothing toward their board and lodging, and
+Vincent would refuse nobody. Here, as in so many other cases, it was
+the Congregation of the Ladies of Charity, founded by Vincent in
+Paris, that came nobly to his rescue. There was Madame de Maignelais,
+sister of M. de Gondi, who, left a widow at the age of twenty, devoted
+herself and her enormous fortune to alms and good works. There was the
+Duchesse d'Aiguillon, niece of the great Richelieu; Madame de
+Miramion, beautiful and pious; Madame Goussault, the first President
+of the Dames de Charité; and many others, whose purses were always at
+Vincent's disposal.
+
+The Congregation of the Mission Priests was to inaugurate another good
+work for which there was an urgent necessity in the world of Vincent's
+day. While yet at the Collège des Bons Enfants, he had realized how
+great was the need of a special training for young men destined for
+the priesthood and had founded a small seminary. After the move to St.
+Lazare the undertaking had grown and prospered. A college of the same
+kind had been lately founded by M. Olier, the zealous curé of St.
+Sulpice; and these two institutions, the first of the famous
+seminaries which were later to spread all over France, were powerful
+for the reform of the clergy. One hundred and fifty years later the
+Mission Priests of St. Lazare alone were at the head of sixty such
+seminaries.
+
+So the work of the Congregation increased and multiplied until it
+seemed almost too much for human capacity. But Vincent knew wherein
+lay the strength of the Mission Priests. "How may we hope to do our
+work?" he would ask. "How can we lead souls to God? How can we stem
+the tide of wickedness among the people? Let us realize that this is
+not man's work at all, it is God's. Human energy will only hinder it
+unless directed by God. The most important point of all is that we
+should be in touch with Our Lord in prayer."
+
+Dearest to his heart of all his undertakings was the first and chief
+work of the Congregation--the holding of missions for the poor. By
+twos and threes he would send out his sons to their labors, bidding
+them travel to their destination in the cheapest possible way. They
+were to accept neither free quarters nor gifts of any kind. All their
+thoughts and prayers were to be concentrated on their work: they were
+to live for their mission. Two sermons were to be preached
+daily--simple instructions on the great truths--and those who had not
+yet made their First Communion were to be catechized. The mission
+lasted ten or fourteen days, during which the Mission Priests were to
+have as much personal contact with the people as possible, visiting
+the sick and the infirm, reconciling enemies and showing themselves as
+the friends of all.
+
+It was no easy task to be a good Mission Priest. It meant
+self-mastery, self-renunciation, self-forgetfulness total and
+complete. It meant the laying aside of much that lies very close to a
+man's heart. "Unless the Congregation of the Mission is humble," said
+Vincent, "and realizes that it can accomplish nothing of any value,
+but that it is more apt to mar than to make, it will never be of much
+effect; but when it has this spirit it will be fit for the purposes of
+God."
+
+Yet, in spite of all that such a vocation meant of self-renunciation,
+year after year the Mission Priests increased in number. "This work is
+not human, it is from God," was Vincent's answer to those who
+marvelled at the power of the company for good.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 6
+THE GREY SISTERS
+
+ALTHOUGH many of the great ladies of Paris had enrolled themselves
+among the Ladies of Charity and were ready to help Vincent to the
+utmost of their ability, much of the work to be done in that great
+town was hardly within their scope. The care of the sick in the
+hospitals alone demanded ceaseless labor and an amount of time which
+few wives and mothers could give. There was a gap which needed
+filling, as Vincent could not but see, and he took immediate steps to
+fill it.
+
+The instrument he required lay close to his hand in the person of
+Louise le Gras, a widow lady who had devoted her life to the service
+of the poor. She had gathered in her house a few young working women
+from the country to help her in her labors; these were the people
+needed to step in where the Ladies of Charity fell short. A larger
+house was taken on the outskirts of Paris; good country girls who were
+ready to give their services without payment were encouraged to devote
+themselves to the work, and Louise le Gras, with all the enthusiasm of
+her unselfish nature, set to work to train the little company to
+efficiency.
+
+Of one thing this holy woman was absolutely convinced--unless the
+motive with which the work was undertaken was supernatural, neither
+perseverance nor success could be expected. "It is of little use for
+us to run about the streets with bowls of soup," she would say, "if we
+do not make the love of God the object of our effort. If we let go of
+the thought that the poor are His members, our love for them will soon
+grow cold." To pray, to labor and to obey was to be the whole duty of
+the members of the little sisterhood. The strength of their influence
+was to be the fact that it was Christ to whom they ministered in the
+person of His poor.
+
+To many of these girls, rough and ignorant as they were for the most
+part, life in a great town was full of dangers. Such work as theirs
+could only be adequately done by women whose lives were consecrated to
+God, who were prepared to spend themselves without stint or measure in
+His service. "If you aspire to perfection, you must learn to die to
+self" was the teaching of their foundress.
+
+Louise le Gras was a soul of prayer, and she knew that more was needed
+than fervent philanthropy and a heart full of pity to give the Sisters
+courage for the lives they had undertaken to lead. Uncloistered nuns
+were at that time a thing unheard of, and in the first days of the
+little company the Sisters were often greeted with insults when they
+appeared in the streets. In Vincent's own words, they were "a
+community who had no monastery but the houses of the sick, no cells
+but a lodging of the poorest room, no cloisters but the streets, no
+grille but the fear of God, and no veil but their own modesty."
+
+Their life was hard. They rose at four, their food was of the plainest
+description, they spent their days in an unhealthy atmosphere and were
+habitually overworked. The life of a true Sister of Charity needed to
+be rooted and nourished in the love of God, and no one realized it
+more completely than Vincent himself. In his weekly conferences, when
+they met together at St. Lazare, he would set before them the ideals
+of their vocation, bidding them above all things to be humble and
+simple.
+
+"You see, my sisters," he would say to them, "you are only rough
+country girls, brought up like myself to keep the flocks." He
+understood their temptations and knew their weaknesses, but the
+standard was never to be lowered.
+
+"The Daughters of Charity must go wherever they are needed," he said,
+"but this obligation exposes them to many temptations, and therefore
+they have special need of strictness." They were never to pay a visit
+unless it was part of their work; they were never to receive one; they
+were not to stand talking in the street unless it was absolutely
+necessary; they were never to go out without leave.
+
+"What?" Vincent makes them say in one of his conferences, "do you ask
+me to be my own enemy, to be forever denying myself, to do everything
+I have no wish to do, to destroy self altogether?"
+
+"Yes, my sisters," he answers; "and unless you do so, you will be
+slipping back in the way of righteousness." Their lives were of
+necessity full of temptations, and only in this spirit could they
+resist them.
+
+Life in the streets of a great city was full of interest to these
+country girls, and it required a superhuman self-control to go about
+with downcast eyes, noticing nothing. At the weekly conference one of
+the Sisters acknowledged that if she passed a troop of mountebanks or
+a peepshow, the desire to look was so strong upon her that she could
+only resist it by pressing her crucifix to her heart and repeating, "O
+Jesus, Thou art worth it all."
+
+One day Vincent appeared among them in great joy. He had just met a
+gentleman in the street, who had said to him, "Monsieur, today I saw
+two of your daughters carrying food to the sick, and so great was the
+modesty of one of them that she never even raised her eyes."
+
+It was many years before he would allow the Sisters, however great
+their desire, to bind themselves by vows to the service of Christ in
+His poor. When at last the permission was given, the formula of the
+vows, which were taken for one year only, ran thus:
+
+"I the undersigned, in the Presence of God, renew the promises of my
+Baptism, and make the vow of poverty, of chastity, and of obedience to
+the Venerable Superior General of the Priests of the Mission in the
+Company of the Sisters of Charity, that I may bind myself all this
+year to the service, bodily and spiritual, of the poor and sick our
+masters. And this by the aid of God, which I ask through His Son Jesus
+Christ Crucified, and through the prayers of the Holy Virgin."
+
+Although vows taken thus annually did not imply a lifelong dedication,
+the Sisters of Charity who returned to the world were few. Many heroic
+women spent their lives, unknown and unnoticed, in the daily drudgery
+of nursing the sick or trying to maintain order in country hospitals.
+
+"The saintliness of a Daughter of Charity," said Vincent, "rests on
+faithful adherence to the Rule; on faithful service to the nameless
+poor; in love and charity and pity; in faithful obedience to the
+doctor's orders . . . It keeps us humble to be quite ordinary . . ."
+
+"For the greater honor of Our Lord, their Master and Patron," runs a
+certain passage in their Rule, "the Sisters of Charity shall have in
+everything they do a definite intention to please Him, and shall try
+to conform their life to His, especially in His poverty, His humility,
+His gentleness, His simplicity and austerity." Therein was to lie
+their strength and the secret of their courage; before them stood
+their crucified Lord, bidding them suffer and be strong.
+
+The "Grey Sisters," as they were called by the poor, not only nursed
+in the hospitals of Paris, but went far and wide on their errands of
+mercy. Scarcely a day passed without an appeal. After the siege of
+Arras in 1656, Louise le Gras was implored to send help to those of
+the inhabitants who had survived the horrors of the war. Only two
+Sisters could be spared to meet the requirements of eight parishes;
+dirt, disease and famine reigned supreme; yet one of them, writing to
+her Superior to tell her that the other had been obliged to stop
+working from sheer exhaustion, says: "I have never heard a word of
+complaint from her lips or seen anything in her face but perfect
+content."
+
+A little later the Sisters were sent for to nurse the wounded soldiers
+in the hospitals of Calais. "My dear daughters," said Vincent, as he
+bade them farewell, "be sure that, wherever you go, God will take care
+of you."
+
+Only four could be spared, and the soldiers were dying in scores of an
+infectious disease. It was at the risk of their lives that the Sisters
+went among them, and two out of the four caught the infection and
+died. When the news reached Paris, there were numbers eager to take
+their place, and the four who were chosen set off rejoicing.
+
+The hospitals all over the country were in need of reform, and in
+Paris every new scheme for the relief of the poor called for the
+Sisters' assistance. In the hospital at Marseilles they were tending
+the convicts; when the home for the aged poor was instituted, it was
+under their government; the Foundling Hospital was in their hands.
+Wherever there was need for zeal and self-denial, there these devoted
+women were to be found, ready to lay down their lives in the service
+of their neighbor. They had renounced what pleasures the world might
+hold for them for a life of toil and discomfort; their sacrifice was
+hidden; they lived and died unnoticed.
+
+"We have no knowledge of our way except that we follow Jesus," writes
+the Mother and Foundress of the company, "always working and always
+suffering. He could never have led us unless His own resolve had taken
+Him as far as death on the Cross."
+
+In 1641 the Sisters of Charity had taken up a fresh work, one which
+lay very close to Vincent's heart, the teaching of little children. It
+should be, he told them, as much a part of their vocation as the care
+of the poor and the sick, and they were to spare no pains to give
+these little creatures the solid Christian teaching which nothing can
+replace.
+
+As the years went on, many ladies of noble birth enrolled themselves
+in the company, working side by side with their humbler sisters in the
+relief of every kind of misery; but daughter of peer or of peasant,
+the Sister of Charity was and is, before all else, the daughter of God
+and the servant of the poor. Louise le Gras rejoiced one day when she
+heard that one of the Sisters had been severely beaten by a patient
+and had borne it without a murmur. She, their Superior, and a woman of
+gentle birth, led the way in that humility which was their strength.
+She had been trained by Vincent de Paul and had learned from a living
+model.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 7
+THE FOUNDLINGS
+
+M. VINCENT was passing one day through the streets of Paris on one of
+his errands of mercy when he saw a beggar mutilating a newborn baby in
+order to expose it to the public as an object of pity. Snatching the
+poor little creature out of the hands of its tormentor, Vincent
+carried it to the "Couche St. Landry," an institution which had been
+founded for the care of children left homeless and deserted in the
+streets.
+
+The state of things in that household filled him with horror. The
+"Couche" was managed by a widow, who, helped by two servants, received
+about four hundred children within the year. These unfortunate little
+creatures, in a state of semi-starvation and utter neglect, were
+crowded together into two filthy holes, where the greater number died
+of pestilence. Of those who survived, some were drugged with laudanum
+to silence their cries, while others were put an end to by any other
+method that suggested itself to the wretched women into whose hands
+they had fallen.
+
+The sight of the "Couche" was one that could not fail to rouse any
+mother's heart to indignation. Vincent took one or two of the Ladies
+of Charity to the place and let them judge for themselves. The result
+was a resolve to rescue the little victims at any cost.
+
+It was not difficult to get possession of the babies; their inhuman
+guardians were in the habit of selling them for the modest sum of one
+franc each to anyone who would take them off their hands. But the cost
+of maintenance was a more serious matter. A house was taken near the
+Collège des Bons Enfants, and twelve of the miserable little victims
+were ransomed and installed there under the care of Louise le Gras and
+the Sisters of Charity.
+
+But this was only a beginning. The work appealed all the more strongly
+to the Ladies of Charity for the reason that most of the babies were
+unbaptized. It was a question of saving souls as well as bodies, and
+every effort was made to empty the Couche. The Ladies, often at the
+cost of real self-denial, gave every penny they could afford; Louis
+XIII and his Queen, Anne of Austria, contributed liberally. In ten
+years' time Vincent's institution had grown to such an extent that it
+was able to open its doors to all the foundlings in Paris.
+
+Four thousand children had been adopted and cared for, and the numbers
+were still increasing; finances had been stretched to the breaking
+point; there came a moment when it seemed impossible to meet the
+expenses any longer. The Thirty Years' War was raging, and the eastern
+provinces of France, which had served as a battlefield for the
+nations, were reduced to the utmost misery. There were many other
+claims on the purses of the Ladies of Charity; the time had come when
+it looked as if there was nothing to be done but sorrowfully give up
+an undertaking that was altogether beyond their power.
+
+But the very thought of such a possibility nearly broke Vincent's
+heart; he determined to make one last effort, and, gathering the
+Ladies together, laid the case before them in all simplicity.
+
+"I ask of you to say only one word," he said to them: "will you go on
+with the work or no? You are perfectly free; you are bound by no
+promise. Yet, before you decide, reflect for one moment on what you
+have done, and what you are doing. Your loving care has preserved the
+lives of a very great number of children, who without your help would
+have been lost in time as well as eternity; for these innocent
+creatures have learned to know and serve God as soon as they were able
+to speak. Some of them are beginning to work and to be
+self-supporting. Does not so good a beginning promise yet better
+results?
+
+"Ladies, it was pity and charity that moved you to adopt these little
+ones as your children. You were their mothers by grace when their
+mothers by nature had deserted them. Are you going to abandon them
+now? If you cease to be their mothers you become their judges; their
+lives are in your hands. I will now ask you to give your votes: it is
+time for you to give sentence and to make up your minds that you have
+no longer any mercy to spare for them. If in your charity you continue
+to take care of them, they will live; if not, they will certainly die.
+It is impossible to deny what your own experience must tell you is
+true."
+
+Vincent paused; his voice was trembling with emotion; he was answered
+by the tears of the assembly. It was decided that at any cost the
+Foundling Hospital must be supported. The work was saved. The
+practical question of expenses, however, remained yet to be faced, and
+although the King increased his subscription, the funds were still
+insufficient. But the Ladies made still greater sacrifices; the
+Sisters of Charity limited themselves to one meal a day, and Vincent,
+who had already reduced himself to the direst poverty, strained every
+nerve to help.
+
+The Foundling Hospital was thus kept going until some years after
+Vincent's death, when the State took over the responsibility, and the
+work ceased to depend on voluntary support.
+
+Of all the good works on which he had spent himself, this was the one,
+it is said, that appealed to him the most strongly. He knew every baby
+in the Foundling Hospital by name; the death of any one of them caused
+him a very real sorrow, and he would appear among them at the most
+unexpected hours. Their innocence and happiness rejoiced him, and he
+delighted in watching their pretty baby ways. At the sight of his
+kind, homely face, they would gather round him, clinging to his hands
+or his cassock, certain of a smile or a caress. He came across much
+that was neither innocent nor attractive in his dealings with the
+world; he was one who never judged harshly, and who could always see
+in man, however depraved, the image of his Maker; yet the innocence
+and purity of his own soul found their best solace in the company of
+these little creatures whom he had rescued from a double death. They
+were his recreation in the moments of depression which all who work
+for the welfare of mankind must experience and which are more intense
+in proportion as the zeal is stronger.
+
+He was blamed one day, when the difficulty of providing for the
+foundlings was at its height, for having spent upon them alms destined
+for the support of the Mission.
+
+"Ah!" he cried, "do you think Our Lord will be less good to us because
+we put the welfare of these poor children before our own? Since that
+merciful Saviour said to His disciples, 'suffer the little children to
+come unto Me,' can we who wish to follow Him reject these babies when
+they come to us?"
+
+But if the foundlings had a large share of Vincent's heart, it was
+great enough for all who were in suffering or distress. The misery in
+the provinces of Lorraine and Picardy was hardly to be described; the
+people were literally dying of hunger. The Ladies of Charity had at
+first come nobly to the rescue, but the Foundling Hospital was now
+absorbing all their funds; they could do no more. Then Vincent
+conceived the idea of printing leaflets describing the sufferings of
+the people and what was being done to help them by the Mission
+Priests. These were sold at the church doors, in the public squares
+and in the streets, and people bought them with such avidity that
+Vincent soon realized a steady little income.
+
+In days when there were no such things as newspapers, regular tidings
+from the provinces were as welcome as they were unexpected. "God
+showered such blessings on the work," says Vincent, "that the greater
+number of those who read these narratives opened their hands for the
+relief of the poor."
+
+The next step was to institute in all the regions where famine was
+prevalent public soup kitchens, where nourishing soup, made at the
+lowest possible cost, was portioned out among the poor. Vincent
+himself gave minute directions for its making, prescribing the
+ingredients so that the greatest number of people might be maintained
+at the least expense.
+
+In many places laid waste by fire and sword, the dead remained
+unburied for days or even weeks. Heaps of filth and garbage were left
+to rot at the doors of houses and in the streets; pestilence and fever
+reigned supreme. Here, again, the Priests of the Mission and the
+Sisters of Charity devoted themselves to the work that no one else
+would do. Organizing themselves into bands, they went about burying
+the dead, nursing the sick and cleansing the streets, many of them
+dying of the pestilence.
+
+It was very necessary, moreover, to take steps to bring back some kind
+of prosperity to the devastated country. Seeds and grain were
+distributed among the peasants, who were encouraged to cultivate the
+land and taught the best methods of doing so. All these different
+undertakings were carried out with the regularity and practical common
+sense that were characteristic of the sons of St. Vincent de Paul,
+accustomed as they were to brave hardship and danger without a thought
+of their own safety.
+
+If their Superior asked much of others, he himself set the example in
+generosity. It was said of him that he never could keep anything for
+his own use, either clothes or money; everything that came into his
+hands went straight to the poor. There were days at St. Lazare when it
+seemed uncertain where the daily bread was to come from, or whether it
+was to come at all; but Vincent put his trust in God, who never failed
+him, and he gave while there was anything to give.
+
+Several times, while he was organizing relief for the eastern
+provinces, his heart almost failed him at the magnitude of the work he
+had undertaken, and it was at one of these moments that he dared to
+face the terrible Richelieu, to demand peace in the name of the
+suffering people.
+
+"Monseigneur!" he cried, appearing before the great Cardinal with
+tears streaming down his cheeks, "give us peace! Have pity on France
+and give us peace." Richelieu's heart was certainly none of the
+softest, but even he seems to have been touched by this earnest
+appeal. At all events, he showed no anger.
+
+"I wish for peace," he declared, "and I am taking means to procure it,
+but it does not depend on me alone"; and he dismissed Vincent with an
+unwonted urbanity. His was not the only hard nature that was softened
+by contact with St. Vincent de Paul. The love of this man for his
+fellow men was infectious, for it was born of his love for Christ.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 8
+AT COURT
+
+WHEN Louis XIII was on his deathbed, with all the Bishops and
+Archbishops of France ready to offer him their services, it was M.
+Vincent, the humble Mission Priest, who prepared him to meet his God.
+During the last days of the King's life, Vincent never left him, and
+in his arms Louis XIII breathed his last. Then, having done the work
+for which he had come, Vincent slipped quietly out of the palace to
+hasten back to St. Lazare and his beloved poor.
+
+Some remarks made by the King during his illness and certain other
+words of Vincent's were remembered by the Queen, Anne of Austria, who
+had been left Regent during the minority of her son. Richelieu was
+dead, and Mazarin, his pupil, a crafty and unscrupulous Italian, had
+succeeded him as chief Minister of State. His influence over the Queen
+was growing daily, but it was not yet strong enough to override all
+her scruples. She was a good-natured woman, quite ready to do right
+when it was not too inconvenient, and it was clear to her that of late
+years bishoprics and abbeys had been too often given to most unworthy
+persons. In France the Crown was almost supreme in such matters; the
+Queen therefore determined to appoint a "Council of Conscience"
+consisting of five members, whose business it would be to help her
+with advice as to ecclesiastical preferment.
+
+Mazarin's astonishment and disgust when he heard that Vincent de Paul
+had been appointed one of the number were as great as Vincent's own
+consternation. The responsibility and the difficulties which he would
+have to face filled the humble Mission Priest with the desire to
+escape such an honor at any price; he even applied to the Queen in
+person to beg her to reconsider her decision.
+
+But Anne was obdurate, and Vincent was forced to yield. "I have never
+been more worthy of compassion or in greater need of prayers than
+now," he wrote to one of his friends, and his forebodings were not
+without cause. If Mazarin had been unable to prevent the Queen from
+naming Vincent as one of the Council of Conscience, he had at least
+succeeded in securing his own nomination. In the cause of honesty and
+justice, and for the Church's welfare, the Superior of St. Lazare
+would have to contend with the foremost statesman of the day, a
+Minister who had built up his reputation by trading on the vices of
+men who were less cunning than he. Well did Vincent know that he was
+no match for such a diplomatist; but having once realized that the
+duty must be undertaken, he determined that there should be no
+flinching.
+
+He went to Court in the old cassock in which he went about his daily
+work, and which was probably the only one he had. "You are not going
+to the palace in that cassock?" cried one of the Mission Priests in
+consternation.
+
+"Why not?" replied Vincent quietly; "it is neither stained nor torn."
+
+The answer was noteworthy, for a scrupulous cleanliness was
+characteristic of the man. As he passed through the long galleries of
+the Louvre he caught sight of his homely face and figure in one of the
+great mirrors that lined the walls. "A nice clodhopper you are!" he
+said amiably to his own reflection, and passed on, smiling.
+
+Among the magnificently attired courtiers his shabby appearance
+created not a little merriment. "Admire the beautiful sash in which M.
+Vincent comes to Court," said Mazarin one day to the Queen, laying
+hold of the coarse woolen braid that did duty with poor country
+priests for the handsome silken sash worn by the prelates who
+frequented the palace. Vincent only smiled--these were not the things
+that abashed him; he made no change in his attire.
+
+At first it seemed as if his influence were to be paramount in the
+Council. Nearly all the priests of Paris had passed through his hands
+at the ordination retreats and those who belonged to the "Tuesday
+Conferences" were intimately known to him. Who could be better fitted
+to select those who were suitable for preferment? Mazarin, it is true,
+objected to the Council on principle, but that was simply because he
+considered that bishoprics and abbeys were useful things to keep in
+reserve as bribes for his wavering adherents. Certain reforms on which
+Vincent insisted were not to his mind either, although he offered no
+opposition. It was not his way to act openly, and he bided his time;
+the wonder was that Vincent was able to do what he did so thoroughly.
+
+In the meantime it began to dawn upon the public that the Superior of
+St. Lazare was for the moment a man of influence. It was already well
+known that he was a man of immense charity, with many institutions on
+his hands, several of which were in urgent need of funds. It seemed a
+very simple thing to offer him a large sum of money for the poor on
+condition that he would put in a good word for a brother or a nephew
+who was just the man for a bishopric or anything else that might
+offer.
+
+Vincent's reception of these proposals was disconcerting. "God
+forbid!" he would cry indignantly. "Better that we should all go
+without the barest necessities of life."
+
+Some would come with a recommendation from the Queen herself, which
+made things doubly embarrassing; but in spite of everything Vincent
+remained faithful to his first determination to choose for bishoprics
+no priests save those worthy of the position by reason of their virtue
+and learning.
+
+Now, it was exceedingly unpleasant for needy noblemen to be obliged to
+sue to a peasant priest in a shabby cassock for the preferment of
+their relations; but it became quite intolerable when the shabby
+priest refused to listen.
+
+"You are an old lunatic," said a young man who had been refused a
+benefice through Vincent's agency.
+
+"You are quite right," was the only answer, accompanied by a
+good-natured smile.
+
+Another day a gentleman who had come to recommend his son for a
+bishopric was so angry when Vincent explained that he did not see his
+way to grant his request that he answered the "impertinent peasant"
+with a blow. Vincent, without the slightest allusion to this
+treatment, quietly escorted him downstairs and saw him into his
+carriage. Insulted another day in public by a magistrate whose
+interests he had refused to forward, the Superior of St. Lazare made
+the noble answer: "Sir, I am sure that you try to acquit yourself
+worthily in your office; you must allow me the same freedom of action
+in mine."
+
+But Vincent's strangest adventure was with a Court lady of high rank,
+a certain Duchess in the household of the Queen. Catching her royal
+mistress in an unguarded moment, this lady succeeded in inducing the
+Queen to promise the bishopric of Poitiers to her son, a young man of
+very bad character. The Queen's courage, however, failed her at the
+prospect of breaking the news to M. Vincent, and she commissioned the
+Duchess to let him know of the appointment. Off went the great lady to
+St. Lazare, and, flouncing into the Superior's presence, haughtily
+declared her errand. Vincent, aghast, begged her to sit down and talk
+the matter over, but Madame declined curtly. She was in a great hurry,
+she replied; the Queen had spoken; there was nothing more to be said.
+She would be obliged if he would make out the deed of nomination and
+take it to Her Majesty to sign.
+
+What was to be done? To resist would only provoke; submission seemed
+the wisest, if not the only course.
+
+Next morning at an early hour M. Vincent made his appearance at the
+palace with a roll of paper in his hand and was shown into the Queen's
+presence.
+
+"Oh," said Her Majesty, not without some embarrassment, "you have
+brought me the nomination of the Bishop of Poitiers." Without a word,
+Vincent handed her the roll, which she proceeded to unfold.
+
+"Why," she cried, "what is this? It is blank! The form is not drawn up
+at all!"
+
+"If Your Majesty's mind is made up," said Vincent quietly, "I must beg
+you to write down your wishes yourself; it is a responsibility which
+my conscience forbids me to take." Then, noticing the hesitation of
+the Queen: "Madame," he said hotly, "this man whom you intend to make
+a bishop spends his life in public houses and is carried home drunk
+every night. That his family should want to get him out of Paris is
+not surprising, but I ask you if an episcopal see is a fitting retreat
+for such a person."
+
+Convinced by Vincent's vehement presentation of the facts of the case,
+the Queen consented to revoke the nomination, but she openly confessed
+to him that she had not courage to face the Duchess. "Suppose you go
+and make my peace with her," she said pleasantly, despatching the
+unfortunate Vincent on this very disagreeable errand.
+
+He was shown into the lady's presence and carried out his mission with
+the greatest possible tact, but the Duchess could not control her
+fury. Seizing a heavy stool, she flung it at the head of the unwelcome
+messenger, who bowed and retired from the house with the blood
+streaming from a wound in his forehead. The brother who had
+accompanied him and who was waiting in the antechamber, justly
+indignant, begged to be allowed to give the great lady a piece of his
+mind. "Come on," said Vincent; "our business lies in another
+direction." "Is it not strange," he said, smiling, a few moments
+later, as he tried to staunch the blood with his handkerchief, "to
+what lengths the affection of a mother for her son will go!"
+
+Such incidents did not pass unnoticed by Mazarin, who looked with
+jealous eyes on Vincent's influence with the Queen. As time went on he
+resolved at any cost to rid the Court of the presence of this man,
+whose simple, straightforward conduct baffled the wily and defeated
+their plans; but an attempt to get him ejected from the Council met
+with such stormy opposition that the Prime Minister determined to
+change his tactics. There was no man whom he revered or admired so
+much as M. Vincent, he declared enthusiastically; no one who was of
+such use in the Council of Conscience.
+
+But the summoning of the Council rested with Mazarin, and the
+intervals between its meetings became longer and longer. Anne of
+Austria's sudden spurt of energy--she was a thoroughly indolent woman
+by nature--began to die out as she became accustomed to her new
+responsibilities; she was only too glad to leave all matters of State
+to a man who declared that his only desire was to save her worry and
+trouble. In course of time the Council of Conscience ceased to meet,
+and the distribution of bishoprics and abbeys fell once more into the
+hands of Mazarin, who used them, as of old, for his own ends.
+
+Vincent de Paul, in bitter grief and sorrow, was forced to witness an
+abuse that he had no longer any power to check. "I fear," he wrote in
+after years to a friend, "that this detestable barter of bishoprics
+will bring down the curse of God upon the country." A few years later,
+when civil war, pestilence and famine were devastating France, and
+Jansenism was going far to substitute despair for hope in the hearts
+of men, his words were remembered.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 9
+THE JANSENISTS
+
+WHILE Vincent de Paul was striving, by charity and patience, to renew
+all things in Christ, the Jansenists* were busy spreading their
+dangerous doctrines. When the Abbé de St. Cyran, the apostle of
+Jansenism in France, first came to Paris, Vincent, like many other
+holy men, was taken in by the apparent piety and austerity of his
+life. It was only when he knew him better, and when St. Cyran had
+begun to impart to him some of his ideas on grace and the authority of
+the Church, that Vincent realized on what dangerous ground he was
+standing.
+
+* So called from their founder, Cornelius Jansen, Bishop of Utrecht,
+who died, however, before his heresy had been condemned.
+
+"He said to me one day," wrote the Saint long afterwards to one of his
+Mission Priests, "that it was God's intention to destroy the Church as
+it is now, and that all who labor to uphold it are working against His
+will; and when I told him that these were the statements made by
+heretics such as Calvin, he replied that Calvin had not been
+altogether in the wrong, but that he had not known how to make a good
+defense."
+
+After such a statement as that there could be no longer question of
+friendship between Vincent and St. Cyran, although the latter, anxious
+not to break with a man who was held in such universal esteem as
+Vincent de Paul, tried to persuade him that he, St. Cyran, was really
+in the right, justifying himself in the elusive language which was
+more characteristic of the Jansenists than the frank declaration he
+had just made.
+
+Vincent, however, was too honest and straightforward, too loyal a son
+of the Church, to be deceived. Realizing fully the danger of such
+opinions, he soon became one of the most vigorous opponents of the
+Jansenists, who, indeed, soon had cause to look upon Vincent as one of
+the most powerful of their enemies. But although he hated the heresy
+with all the strength of his upright soul, Vincent's charitable heart
+went out in pity to those who were infected with its taint, and it was
+with compassion rather than indignation that he would speak of St.
+Cyran and his adherents. Not until they had been definitely condemned
+by the Church did he cease his efforts to win them from their
+errors--efforts which were received, for the most part, in a spirit of
+vindictive bitterness.
+
+The teaching of the Jansenists, like that of most other heretics, had
+begun by being fairly plausible. The necessity of reform among the
+clergy had come home to them forcibly, as it had to Vincent himself;
+the Jansenists' lives were austere and mortified. The book which
+contained their heretical doctrines, the Augustinus of Jansenius, was
+read by only a few, and these mostly scholars. That the Sacraments
+should be treated with the greatest respect and approached only by
+those who were fit to approach them seemed at first sight a very
+reverent and very proper maxim. Many people of holy lives took up this
+teaching enthusiastically, among them some of Vincent's own Mission
+Priests. When Antoine Arnauld, the youngest of the famous family which
+did so much to further Jansenism, published his book _Frequent
+Communion_, which might more truly have been called "_In_frequent
+Communion," it was received with delight and eagerly read. That
+Vincent clearly saw the danger is shown by one of his letters to a
+member of the Jansenist company who had written protesting against the
+attitude that St. Lazare was taking in the matter:
+
+"Your last letter says that we have done wrong in going against public
+opinion concerning the book _Frequent Communion_ and the teaching of
+Jansenius. It is true that there are only too many who misuse this
+Divine Sacrament. I myself am the most guilty, and I beg you to pray
+that God may pardon me . . . . You say also that as Jansenius read all
+the works of St. Augustine ten times, and his treatises on grace
+thirty times, the Mission Priests cannot safely question his opinions.
+To which I reply that those who wish to establish new doctrines are
+always learned and always study deeply the authors of which they make
+use. But that does not prevent them from falling into error, and we
+shall have no excuse for sharing in their opinions in defiance of the
+censure of their doctrine."
+
+The letter was answered by a second protest in favor of Arnauld's
+book, which was met by Vincent with equal energy:
+
+"It may be, as you say," he writes, "that certain people in France and
+Italy have drawn benefit from the book; but for a hundred to whom it
+has been useful in teaching more reverence in approaching the
+Sacrament, ten thousand have been driven away . . . For my part, I
+tell you that if I paid the same attention to M. Arnauld's book as you
+do, I should give up both Mass and Communion from a sense of humility,
+and I should be in terror of the Sacrament, regarding it, in the
+spirit of the book, as a snare of Satan and as poison to the souls of
+those who receive it under the usual conditions approved by the
+Church. Moreover, if we confine ourselves only to what he says of the
+perfect disposition without which one should not go to Communion, is
+there anyone on earth who has such a high idea of his own virtue as to
+think himself worthy? Such an opinion seems to be held by M. Arnauld
+alone, who, having made the necessary conditions so difficult that St.
+Paul himself might have feared to approach, does not hesitate to tell
+us repeatedly that he says Mass daily."
+
+It is evident that so cold and narrow a teaching could not but be
+repugnant to a man of Vincent's breadth and charity. The monstrous
+heresy held by the Jansenists that Christ did not die for all men, but
+for the favored few alone, filled him with a burning indignation. No
+one could have deplored more than he did the unworthy use of the
+Sacraments; but he held firmly to the truth that they had been
+instituted by a loving Saviour as man's greatest strength and as a
+protection against temptation and sin. And he was not going to believe
+that He who had been called the Friend of sinners and had eaten and
+drunk in their company would exact from men as a condition of
+approaching Him a perfection that they could never hope to attain
+without Him.
+
+Indeed, the chief aim of the company of Mission Priests was to draw
+the people to the Sacraments as to the great source of grace, and it
+seemed to Vincent that the means taken by the Jansenists to destroy
+certain evils were very much more dangerous than the evils themselves.
+It was better, according to his opinion, even at the risk of abuse, to
+make the reconciliation of a sinner to his God too easy rather than
+too hard. The rule of the Mission Priests lays down that "one of the
+principal points of our Mission is to inspire others to receive the
+Sacraments of Penance and of the Eucharist frequently and worthily."
+The teaching of the Jansenists sought, on the contrary, to inspire
+such awe of the Sacraments that neither priests nor people would dare
+to approach them save at very rare intervals.
+
+It was the great mass of the people--poor, simple and suffering, those
+children of God whom Vincent loved and in whose service the whole of
+his life had been spent--whose salvation was in danger. It was against
+them that the Jansenists were shutting the doors of salvation. Is it
+any wonder that Vincent de Paul fought against them as only men of
+strong conviction can fight, with heart and soul aglow in the battle?
+Compared with this all other evils were light. His business was to
+relieve suffering, to comfort sorrow, but above all to help men to
+save their souls. There could be no yielding, no compromise with
+error.
+
+Rightly, therefore, did the Jansenists see in Vincent de Paul the most
+dangerous of their enemies, and it was not surprising that both during
+his life and after his death they hated him and assailed him with
+abuse. He was "insincere, treacherous, a coward," they declared. They
+spoke of the "great betrayal"; they held him up to ridicule as an
+ignorant peasant; but Vincent went quietly on his way. The question
+"What will people say?" did not exist for him. He simply did his duty
+as it was made clear to him by God and his own conscience. It was hard
+to fight against such uncompromising honesty as his, and more than
+once the man whose ignorance the Jansenists had ridiculed tore their
+specious arguments to tatters with the weapon of his strong common
+sense.
+
+Nevertheless, the dangers of Jansenism were a continual anxiety to
+Vincent, and there were other sorrows no less poignant to be borne.
+Foreign missions had been established in Africa and Madagascar, and in
+the latter station no less than twenty-seven Mission Priests had lost
+their lives. Some, it is true, had died the martyr's death; but the
+work had not prospered. It was difficult to get news from far
+countries in those days, and there were often such long intervals
+between the death of one priest and the arrival of another that any
+good that had been done was lost.
+
+"There is nothing on earth that I desire so much as to go as your
+companion in the place of M. Gondrée," wrote Vincent to one who was
+just about to set forth on this dangerous mission; but the darker side
+of the picture is not left untouched. "You will need the strongest
+courage," he writes; "you will need faith as great as that of
+Abraham."
+
+The Madagascar Mission was, humanly speaking, a failure; the natives
+were hostile, the missionaries not sufficiently numerous; it was
+necessary in the end to give up the enterprise.
+
+The Lazarists were at work also in Poland, in Ireland, and in the
+Hebrides. Vincent had a gift for rousing zeal and charity in the
+hearts of others, and there were always plenty of volunteers for the
+most dangerous posts. But there were times when his heart nearly
+failed him at the news that came to him of the sufferings of some of
+his sons on their far-distant missions. There were times when apparent
+failure weighed him down with sorrow, and the death of young Mission
+Priests who had given their lives for the salvation of their fellowmen
+caused a grief almost too heavy to be borne. But Vincent knew
+
+How far high failure overtops the bounds
+Of low success.
+
+He could afford to leave his work and theirs in the hands of God. He
+had done what he could, and God asks no more of any man.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 10
+TROUBLES IN PARIS
+
+
+
+The Parliament at last took up the matter; men went about the streets
+of Paris shouting "Down with Mazarin!" A revolution was feared, and
+the Queen, with her young son, fled to St. Germain. The Royal troops
+in the meantime, under Condé, were blockading Paris; the rebellion
+known as the "Fronde" had begun.
+
+Vincent de Paul was in a difficult position. His sympathies were
+wholly with the suffering people; but, although it had long ceased to
+meet, he was still a member of the Council of Conscience and owed
+allegiance to the Royal party.
+
+What would become of the poor in Paris if the town were reduced to
+famine? This was the thought that was uppermost in his mind. On the
+other hand, he had always insisted that the Congregation of the
+Mission should in no way mix itself up with politics. The life of its
+members was to be a hidden life of prayer and labor for souls. The
+safest course was obviously to remain neutral and take no part in the
+matter; but his own safety was the last consideration likely to move
+him. Was it his duty to remain silent? That was the vital question.
+Could he do any good by speaking? Long and earnestly did he pray for
+guidance and, without a thought of the consequences to himself,
+decided at last to act.
+
+Judging of others in the light of his own straightforward honesty, it
+seemed to him that if it were once clearly represented to the Queen
+that it was Mazarin's presence alone that prevented peace, she could
+not fail to see that it was her duty to force him to withdraw.
+Surrounded as she was by courtiers who did not dare to tell her the
+truth, she might be ignorant of how much she herself was to blame in
+the matter. He had shamed her into doing what was right in the matter
+of the Bishop of Poitiers. Might he not succeed in awakening her
+conscience once more?
+
+It was on his knees in the Church of St. Lazare that Vincent resolved
+on the action that was at best only a forlorn hope, but still worth
+trying. With his usual prompt energy, the old man of seventy-three
+mounted his horse and, accompanied only by his secretary, du
+Courneau, set out for St. Germain. The Seine was in flood and the
+water breast-deep on the bridge over which they had to ride. Du
+Corneau [sic] avowed afterwards that he was quaking with fright; but
+Vincent, though wet to the skin, scarcely seemed to notice that all
+was not as usual and rode on through the floods in silence. Arrived at
+St. Germain, he asked to see the Queen, who, thinking that he had been
+sent by the people to make their peace with her, admitted him at once
+to her presence.
+
+With the straightforward simplicity that characterized all his
+dealings, he proceeded to state his errand. He had come, he said, to
+ask the Queen, for the sake of her country and her people, to rid
+herself of Mazarin and to forgive the rebels.
+
+Anne of Austria listened in silence and gave no sign of either
+sympathy or displeasure. When the speaker had ended, she quietly
+referred him to Mazarin himself.
+
+Vincent's hopes must have sunk low indeed at such a suggestion, but he
+was determined to go through with what he had begun. Confronted with
+the Cardinal, he earnestly represented to him that it was his duty to
+sacrifice himself for the good of the country; that his retirement
+would be an act of noble unselfishness which could not fail to win the
+blessing of Christ; that it would put an end to the sufferings under
+which France was groaning and save many innocent people from a fearful
+and horrible death. Mazarin had a sense of humor, and it was perhaps
+the only thing about him that responded to this appeal to his better
+feelings. It no doubt appeared to him sufficiently ludicrous that
+anyone should expect him to sacrifice himself for the sake of others,
+and probably those around him would have shared his opinion.
+
+Yet Vincent was justified in his experiment. Long as had been his
+experience of the sin and misery of men, it had not taught him, any
+more than it did his Divine Master, to despair of human nature. He had
+only employed his usual methods with Mazarin: methods that had
+prevailed with so many souls. He had appealed to the desire for good
+which he believed lay hidden in the heart of every man, no matter how
+deeply it might be buried under the refuse of a wasted life. He had
+appealed and failed--his mission had borne no fruit, yet he could not
+regret that he had undertaken it, although the consequences were to be
+serious for himself. For during his absence the fact that he had gone
+to St. Germain had leaked out among the people, and in one moment of
+anger all his claims on their love and gratitude were forgotten.
+
+"M. Vincent has betrayed us to the Queen!" was the cry in the streets
+of Paris, while the mob, falling on St. Lazare, pillaged it from top
+to bottom, carrying off everything on which they could lay hands.
+Vincent had gained nothing and lost all; it was not even safe for him
+to return to Paris, so great was the fury of the people; he had also
+won for himself the ill will of both Mazarin and the Queen.
+
+Yet with his usual humility and patience, he blamed no one but
+himself. He had done, he declared solemnly to du Courneau, that which
+he would have wished to have done were he lying on his deathbed; that
+he had failed was due solely and entirely to his own unworthiness.
+
+And now, since it was better for every reason that he should not
+return to Paris, he determined to undertake a visitation of the
+Congregation of the Mission Priests and Sisters of Charity in every
+center where they were working in France. In spite of his weariness
+and his seventy-three years, he set forth on his journey, riding the
+old horse that was kept to carry him now that he could no longer
+travel on foot.
+
+The suffering and misery that he witnessed, the horrors of famine and
+of war, only seemed to redouble his zeal to win the souls of men for
+their Maker. He knew the purifying force of suffering borne for God;
+he knew also the danger of despair. These poor creatures must be
+taught at any cost to lift their hearts to God, to bear their anguish
+patiently, to remember amid what agonies the Son of God had given His
+life for them. Wherever he went, his burning words and heroic example
+infused new life and courage into the hearts of his sons and daughters
+in Christ, who, in the life of abnegation they had undertaken, had
+often good reason for despondency.
+
+Traveling in these lawless times was both difficult and dangerous, for
+the country roads were infested with robbers, but Vincent had no fear.
+He was seldom free from illness, which was sometimes increased by the
+privations he had to undergo, but he traveled on without resting.
+
+Yet, amid all the new suffering which he had to witness and relieve,
+he was always mindful of his dear poor in Paris, which was still
+besieged by the troops of Condé. He had obtained a promise from the
+Queen during their last interview to let grain be taken into the town
+to feed the starving inhabitants, but she had not had sufficient
+energy to see that it was carried out.
+
+The people were beginning to realize what they had lost in M. Vincent
+and to suspect that they had misjudged him. Hunger at last forced them
+to make terms with the Royal party, although the hated Mazarin was
+still supreme, and the Queen and her young son re-entered Paris in
+triumph.
+
+But even Anne of Austria was not so foolish as to make her entry with
+the Cardinal at her side, and during the few weeks which still elapsed
+before he made his appearance in the capital, the Queen, free for a
+moment from the evil influence that stifled all her better impulses,
+wrote to Vincent, begging him to return. He was ill at Richelieu when
+the message reached him, and the Duchess d'Aiguillon, one of the most
+devoted of his Ladies of Charity, sent a little carriage to fetch him.
+She had known him long enough, however, to be sure that his love of
+mortification would prevent him from availing himself of what he would
+certainly look upon as a luxury. The carriage was accompanied by a
+letter from the Queen and the Archbishop of Paris ordering him in
+virtue of obedience to use it in the future for all his journeys. He
+obeyed, but sorely against the grain, and as long as he was obliged to
+avail himself of it always referred to the little carriage as his
+"disgrace."
+
+"Come and see the son of a poor villager riding in a carriage," he
+would say to his friends when he took leave of them; and indeed, "M.
+Vincent's little carriage" soon became well known in Paris. It was
+always at the disposal of anyone who wanted it, and when Vincent used
+it himself it was generally shared by some of his beloved poor. The
+fact that it came in handy for taking cripples for a drive or the sick
+to the hospital was the only thing that reconciled him to its
+possession.
+
+But the troubles of the Fronde were not yet at an end, and with
+Mazarin's return to Paris the discontent broke out afresh. The people
+were glad enough during the troublous times that followed to have
+Vincent once more in their midst.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 11
+"CONFIDO"
+
+WHEN at last peace was partially restored to the country, the number
+of poor people had enormously increased, and the charities that
+already existed were unable to cope with the misery and poverty in
+Paris. It was at this time that Vincent conceived the idea of founding
+a house of refuge for old men and women who had no means of gaining a
+livelihood. The foundation was placed in the charge of the Sisters of
+Charity. Work was provided for those who were able to do it; the
+proceeds went to keep up the establishment.
+
+So successful was the venture and so happy were the poor creatures who
+found a comfortable home and kind treatment in their old age that the
+Ladies of Charity determined to found an institution on the same lines
+for all the beggars of Paris. A large piece of ground that had been
+used for the manufacture of saltpetre was accordingly obtained from
+the King, who also gave a large contribution of money toward the
+undertaking. The hospital, known as "La Salpêtrière" from the use to
+which the ground had formerly been put, was soon in course of
+building, but the beggars who were destined to 1711 it, many of whom
+were worthless vagabonds, showed very little desire for being shut up
+and employed in regular work. Vincent would have preferred to begin in
+a small way with those who were willing to come in; but the Ladies of
+Charity, in their enthusiasm, declared that it would be for the
+beggars' own good to bring them in by force, and the King was of their
+opinion. The Salpêtrière was soon crowded, while the sturdy rascals
+who infested the streets and begged under pretense of infirmity were
+suddenly cured at the prospect of leading a regular life and working
+for their living. Begging, at the risk of being taken off to the
+Salpêtrière, soon became an unpopular occupation, and the streets of
+Paris were a good deal safer in consequence.
+
+In 1658, two years before his death, Vincent de Paul gave to the
+Congregation of Mission Priests its Rule and Constitutions. It was the
+work of God, he explained to them; there was nothing of his own in it.
+If there had been, he confessed humbly, it would only make him fearful
+lest his touch might spoil the rest. Those who listened to him and who
+had been witnesses of his long and holy life, his wisdom and his
+charity, knew better.
+
+St. Lazare was a center where all fervent souls zealous for the
+service of God and the good of others met to find counsel and
+inspiration at the feet of its holy founder. Letters from all parts of
+the world and from all kinds of people in need of help and counsel
+kept the old man continually busy during the time he was not giving
+instructions, visiting the sick, or receiving those who came to ask
+his advice. He rose at four o'clock to the very end of his life and
+spent the first hours of the day in prayer, and this in spite of the
+fact that the last years of his life were years of acute bodily
+suffering.
+
+His legs and feet, which for a long time had caused him great pain,
+became so swollen and inflamed that every step was torture. Ulcers,
+which opened and left gaping wounds, next made their appearance. It
+was said that in earlier years he had taken the place of an
+unfortunate man who had been condemned to the galleys and who was in
+consequence on the verge of despair, and that the malady from which he
+suffered had been caused by the heavy fetters with which his legs had
+been chained to the rowers' bench. It was several months, ran the
+tale, before his heroic action had been discovered and he was set at
+liberty, to bear for the rest of his life the penalty of his noble
+deed. When asked if this story were true, Vincent would change the
+subject as quickly as possible--which to those who knew how eagerly he
+always disclaimed, if he could, any action likely to bring honor to
+himself, seemed a convincing proof of its truth. With the greatest
+difficulty he was induced during the last years of his life to have a
+fire in his room and to use an extra coverlet, though he reproached
+himself bitterly in his last conferences to the Mission Priests and
+the Sisters of Charity "for this immortification."
+
+But there were sufferings harder than those of the body. Mazarin was
+still in power; the "accursed barter of bishoprics" was still going
+on; and Vincent was forced to witness the very abuses against which he
+had fought so bravely during the brief time of his influence at Court.
+
+The year 1660 brought two great sorrows: the death of M. Portail, the
+oldest and best beloved of Vincent's companions at St. Lazare, and
+that of Louise le Gras, the devoted Superior of the Sisters of Charity
+and the woman who would become known as St. Louise de Marillac. "You
+are going a little before me," he wrote to the latter when he heard
+that her life was despaired of, "but I shall meet you soon in Heaven."
+He was unable to go to her, for he could scarcely walk and was racked
+with fever. He would struggle on his crutches as far as the chapel to
+hear the Mass that he could no longer say and then go back again to
+his room, where he sat at a little table, working to the last, with a
+gentle smile of welcome for all who sought him.
+
+The letters written during the last days of Vincent's life are full of
+the same good sense, the same lucid clearness of thought, the same
+sympathy and knowledge of the human heart that always characterized
+him. Two months before his death he gathered the Sisters of Charity
+together and gave them a conference on the saintly death of their
+Superior. With touching humility he asked his dear daughters to pardon
+him for all the faults by which he might have offended them, for any
+annoyance that his "want of polish" might have caused them, and he
+thanked them for their faithful cooperation in all his schemes of
+charity.
+
+It was now such agony for him to walk to the chapel that his sons
+begged him to allow them to fit up a little oratory next to his room
+where Mass might be said, but Vincent would not hear of it. Then they
+implored him to allow himself to be carried in a chair, but, unwilling
+to give others the trouble of carrying him, he evaded the question
+until six weeks before his death, when he could no longer support
+himself on his crutches. During the nights of anguish, when his
+tortured limbs could find no rest on the hard straw mattress which he
+could never be prevailed upon to change for something softer, no
+complaint ever passed his lips. "My Saviour, my dear Saviour" was his
+only exclamation. On the days that followed these sleepless nights of
+pain, he was always smiling and serene. In spite of the weakness that
+oppressed him, he had help, advice and sympathy for everybody.
+
+His reward was close at hand. On the 26th of September, 1660, having
+been carried to the chapel for Mass and Holy Communion, he was taken
+back to his room, where he fell asleep in his chair from sheer
+exhaustion, as he had so often done before. The brother who had charge
+of him, thinking that he slept longer and more heavily than usual,
+awakened him and spoke to him. Vincent smiled and answered, but
+instantly fell asleep again. The doctor was sent for, and roused him
+again. Once more the same bright smile lit up the old face; he
+answered, but had not sufficient strength to speak more than a few
+words. In the evening they gave him the Last Sacraments, and he passed
+the night in silent prayer. In the early morning one of the priests
+who belonged to the "Conferences," and who was making a retreat in the
+house, asked the dying man to bless all the priests for whom he had
+done so much and to pray that his spirit might be with them. "May God,
+who began the good work, bring it to perfection," was the humble
+answer.
+
+A little later he was heard to murmur softly, "_Confido_"--"I trust";
+and with these words on his lips, as a child puts its hand into that
+of his Father, he gently gave up his soul to God.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of St. Vincent de Paul, by 
+F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of St. Vincent de Paul, by
+F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life of St. Vincent de Paul
+
+Author: F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes
+
+Release Date: January 5, 2009 [EBook #27706]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David McClamrock
+
+
+
+
+
+SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL
+c. 1581-1660
+
+By F.A. [Francis Alice] Forbes
+
+
+
+
+"Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor:
+the Lord will deliver him in the evil day."
+--Psalm 40:2
+
+"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Wherefore he hath anointed me to
+preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the contrite
+of heart, to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the
+blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
+acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward."
+--Luke 4:18-19
+
+
+
+
+Nihil Obstat: Francis M. Canon Wyndham
+              Censor Deputatus
+
+Imprimatur:   Edmund Canon Surmont
+              Vicar General
+              Westminster
+              July 2, 1919
+
+
+
+
+Originally published in 1919 by R. & T. Washbourne, Limited, London,
+as _Life of St. Vincent de Paul_ in the series _Standard-bearers of
+the Faith: A Series of Lives of the Saints for Young and Old._
+
+
+
+
+"Extend mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need
+whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God
+should withdraw His mercy from us?"
+--St. Vincent de Paul
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+1.  A Peasant's Son
+
+2.  Slavery
+
+3.  A Great Household
+
+4.  The Galleys
+
+5.  Mission Work
+
+6.  The Grey Sisters
+
+7.  The Foundlings
+
+8.  At Court
+
+9.  The Jansenists
+
+10. Troubles in Paris
+
+11. "Confido"
+
+
+
+SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL
+
+"Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for charity is of God. And
+every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth
+not, knoweth not God: for God is charity."
+--1 John 4:7-8
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 1
+A PEASANT'S SON
+
+A MONOTONOUS line of sand hills and the sea; a vast barren land
+stretching away in wave-like undulations far as eye can reach; marsh
+and heath and sand, sand and heath and marsh; here and there a
+stretch of scant coarse grass, a mass of waving reeds, a patch of
+golden-brown fern--the Landes.
+
+It was through this desolate country in France that a little peasant
+boy whose name was destined to become famous in the annals of his
+country led his father's sheep, that they might crop the scanty
+pasture. Vincent was a homely little boy, but he had the soul of a
+knight-errant, and the grace of God shone from eyes that were never
+to lose their merry gleam even in extreme old age.
+
+He was intelligent, too, so intelligent that the neighbors said that
+Jean de Paul was a fool to set such a boy to tend sheep when he had
+three other sons who would never be good for anything else. There was
+a family in the neighborhood, they reminded him, who had had a bright
+boy like Vincent, and had put him to school--with what result? Why,
+he had taken Orders and got a benefice, and was able to support his
+parents now that they were getting old, besides helping his brothers
+to get on in the world. It was well worthwhile pinching a little for
+such a result as that.
+
+Jean de Paul listened and drank in their arguments. It would be a
+fine thing to have a son a priest; perhaps, with luck, even a
+Bishop--the family fortunes would be made forever.
+
+With a good deal of difficulty the necessary money was scraped
+together, and Vincent was sent to the Franciscans' school at Dax, the
+nearest town. There the boy made such good use of his time that four
+years later, when he was only sixteen, he was engaged as tutor to the
+children of M. de Commet, a lawyer, who had taken a fancy to the
+clever, hardworking young scholar. At M. de Commet's suggestion,
+Vincent began to study for the priesthood, while continuing the
+education of his young charges to the satisfaction of everybody
+concerned.
+
+Five years later he took minor Orders and, feeling the need of
+further theological studies, set his heart on a university training
+and a degree. But life at a university costs money, however thrifty
+one may be, and although Jean de Paul sold a yoke of oxen to start
+his son on his career at Toulouse, at the end of a year Vincent was
+in difficulties. The only chance for a poor student like himself was
+a tutorship during the summer vacation, and here Vincent was lucky.
+The nobleman who engaged him was so delighted with the results that,
+when the vacation was over, he insisted on the young tutor taking his
+pupils back with him to Toulouse. There, while they attended the
+college, Vincent continued to direct their studies, with such success
+that several other noblemen confided their sons to him, and he was
+soon at the head of a small school.
+
+To carry on such an establishment and to devote oneself to study at
+the same time was not the easiest of tasks; but Vincent was a hard
+and conscientious worker, and he seems to have had, even then, a
+strange gift of influencing others for good. For seven years he
+continued this double task with thorough success, completed his
+course of theology, took his degree, and was ordained priest in the
+opening years of that seventeenth century which was to be so full of
+consequences both for France and for himself.
+
+Up to this time there had been nothing to distinguish Vincent from
+any other young student of his day. Those who knew him well respected
+him and loved him, and that was all. But with the priesthood came a
+change. From thenceforward he was to strike out a definite line of
+his own--a line that set him apart from the men of his time and
+faintly foreshadowed the Vincent of later days.
+
+The first Mass of a newly ordained priest was usually celebrated with
+a certain amount of pomp and ceremony. If a cleric wanted to obtain a
+good living it was well to let people know that he was eligible for
+it; humility was not a fashionable virtue. People were therefore not
+a little astonished when Vincent, flatly refusing to allow any
+outsiders to be present, said his first Mass in a lonely little
+chapel in a wood near Bajet, beloved by him on account of its
+solitude and silence. There, entirely alone save for the acolyte and
+server required by the rubrics, and trembling at the thought of his
+own unworthiness, the newly made priest, celebrating the great
+Sacrifice for the first time, offered himself for life and death to
+be the faithful servant of his Lord. So high were his ideals of what
+the priestly life should be that in his saintly old age he would
+often say that, were he not already a priest, he would never dare to
+become one.
+
+Vincent's old friend and patron, M. de Commet, was eager to do a good
+turn to the young cleric. He had plenty of influence and succeeded in
+getting him named to the rectorship of the important parish of Thil,
+close to the town of Dax. This was a piece of good fortune which many
+would have envied; but it came to Vincent's ears that there was
+another claimant, who declared that the benefice had been promised to
+him in Rome. Rather than contest the matter in the law courts Vincent
+gave up the rectorship and went back to Toulouse, where he continued
+to teach and to study.
+
+Some years later he was called suddenly to Bordeaux on business, and
+while there heard that an old lady of his acquaintance had left him
+all her property. This was welcome news, for Vincent was sadly in
+need of money, his journey to Bordeaux having cost more than he was
+able to pay.
+
+On returning to Toulouse, however, he found that the prospect was not
+so bright as he had been led to expect. The chief part of his
+inheritance consisted of a debt of four or five hundred crowns owed
+to the old lady by a scoundrel who, as soon as he heard of her death,
+made off to Marseilles, thinking to escape without paying. He was
+enjoying life and congratulating himself on his cleverness when
+Vincent, to whom the sum was a little fortune, and who had determined
+to pursue his debtor, suddenly appeared on the scene. The thief was
+let off on the payment of three hundred crowns, and Vincent, thinking
+that he had made not too bad a bargain, was preparing to return to
+Toulouse by road, the usual mode of traveling in those days, when a
+friend suggested that to go by sea was not only cheaper, but more
+agreeable. It was summer weather; the journey could be accomplished
+in one day; the sea was smooth; everything seemed favorable; the two
+friends set out together.
+
+A sea voyage in the seventeenth century was by no means like a sea
+voyage of the present day. There were no steamers, and vessels
+depended on a favorable wind or on hard rowing. The Mediterranean was
+infested with Turkish pirates, who robbed and plundered to the very
+coasts of France and Italy, carrying off the crews of captured
+vessels to prison or slavery.
+
+The day that the two friends had chosen for their journey was that of
+the great fair of Beaucaire, which was famous throughout Christendom.
+Ships were sailing backwards and forwards along the coast with
+cargoes of rich goods or the money for which they had been sold, and
+the Turkish pirates were on the lookout.
+
+The boat in which Vincent was sailing was coasting along the Gulf of
+Lyons when the sailors became aware that they were being pursued by
+three Turkish brigantines. In vain they crowded on all sail; escape
+was impossible. After a sharp fight, in which all the men on
+Vincent's ship were either killed or wounded--Vincent himself
+receiving an arrow wound the effects of which remained with him for
+life--the French ship was captured.
+
+But the Turks had not come off unscathed, and so enraged were they at
+their losses that their first action on boarding the French vessel
+was to hack its unfortunate pilot into a thousand pieces. Having thus
+relieved their feelings, they put their prisoners in chains. But
+then, fearing lest the prisoners die of loss of blood and so cheat
+them of the money for which they meant to sell them, they bound up
+their wounds and went on their way of destruction and pillage. After
+four or five days of piracy on the high seas, they started, laden
+with plunder, for the coast of Barbary, noted throughout the world at
+that time as a stronghold of sea robbers and thieves.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 2
+SLAVERY
+
+THE pirates were bound for the port of Tunis, the largest city of
+Barbary. But the sight of the glittering white town with its
+background of mountains, set in the gorgeous coloring of the African
+landscape, brought no gleam of joy or comfort to the sad hearts of
+the prisoners. Before them lay a life of slavery which might be worse
+than death; there was small prospect that they would ever see their
+native land again.
+
+To one faint hope, however, they clung desperately, as a drowning man
+clings to a straw. There was a French consul in Tunis whose business
+it was to look after the trade interests of his country, and it was
+just possible that he might use his influence to set them free.
+
+The hope was short-lived. The pirates, expecting to make a good deal
+of money out of their prisoners, were equally aware of this fact, and
+their first act on landing was to post a notice that the captives
+they had for sale were Spaniards. Nothing was left to Vincent and his
+companions, who did not know a word of the language of the country,
+but to endure their cruel fate.
+
+The Turks, having stripped their prisoners and clothed them in a kind
+of rough uniform, fastened chains round their necks and marched them
+through the town to the marketplace, where they were exhibited for
+sale much as cattle are at the present day. They were carefully
+inspected by the dealers, who looked at their teeth, felt their
+muscles, made them run and walk--with loads and without--to satisfy
+themselves that they were in good condition, and finally selected
+their victims. Vincent was bought by a fisherman who, finding that
+his new slave got hopelessly ill whenever they put out to sea,
+repented of his bargain and sold him to an alchemist.
+
+In the West, as well as in the East, there were still men who
+believed in the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life. By means
+of the still undiscovered Stone they hoped to change base metals into
+gold, while the equally undiscovered Elixir was to prolong life
+indefinitely, and to make old people young.
+
+Vincent's master was an enthusiast in his profession and kept ten or
+fifteen furnaces always burning in which to conduct his experiments.
+His slave, whose business it was to keep them alight, was kindly
+treated; the old man soon grew very fond of him and would harangue
+him by the hour on the subject of metals and essences. His great
+desire was that Vincent should become a Mohammedan like himself, a
+desire which, needless to say, remained unfulfilled, in spite of the
+large sums of money he promised if his slave would only oblige him in
+this matter.
+
+The old alchemist, however, had a certain reputation in his own
+country. Having been sent for one day to the Sultan's Court, he died
+on the way, leaving his slave to his nephew, who lost no time in
+getting rid of him.
+
+Vincent's next master was a Frenchman who had apostatized and was
+living as a Mohammedan on his farm in the mountains. This man had
+three wives, who were very kind to the poor captive--especially one
+of them, who, although herself a Mohammedan, was to be the cause of
+her husband's conversion and Vincent's release. She would go out to
+the fields where the Christian slave was working and bid him tell her
+about his country and his religion. His answers seemed to impress her
+greatly, and one day she asked him to sing her one of the hymns they
+sang in France in praise of their God.
+
+The request brought tears to Vincent's eyes. He thought of the
+Israelites captive in Babylon, and of their answer to a similar
+demand. With an aching heart he intoned the psalm, "By the waters of
+Babylon," while the woman, strangely impressed by the plaintive
+chant, listened attentively and, when he had ended, begged for more.
+
+The _Salve Regina_ followed, and other songs of praise, after which
+she went home silent and thoughtful. That night she spoke to her
+husband. "I cannot understand," she said, "why you have given up a
+religion which is so good and holy. Your Christian slave has been
+telling me of your Faith and of your God, and has sung songs in His
+praise. My heart was so full of joy while he sang that I do not
+believe I shall be so happy even in the paradise of my fathers." Her
+husband, whose conscience was not quite dead within him, listened
+silent and abashed. "Ah," she continued, "there is something
+wonderful in that religion!"
+
+The woman's words bore fruit. All day long, as her husband went about
+his business, the remembrance of his lost Faith was tugging at his
+heartstrings. Catching sight of Vincent digging in the fields, he
+went to him and bade him take courage. "At the first opportunity," he
+said, "I will escape with you to France."
+
+It was nine long months before that opportunity came, for the
+Frenchman was in the Sultan's service and was not able to leave the
+country. At last, however, the two men, escaping together in a small
+boat, succeeded in reaching Avignon, and Vincent was free once more.
+
+Cardinal Montorio, the Pope's legate, was deeply interested in the
+two fugitives, and a few days later reconciled the apostate, now
+deeply repentant, to the Church. The Cardinal, who shortly afterwards
+returned to Rome, took Vincent with him, showing him great kindness
+and introducing him to several people of importance. The opinion they
+formed of him is shown by the fact that he was chosen not long after
+to go on a secret mission to the court of Henry IV, King of France.
+
+An interview--or rather several interviews--with a reigning monarch
+would have been considered in those days as a first-rate chance for
+anyone who had a spark of ambition. Nothing would have been easier
+than to put in a plea for a benefice or a bishopric; but Vincent, who
+was both humble and unselfish, had no thought of his own advancement.
+His only desire was to get his business over and to leave the Court
+as quickly as possible.
+
+The question of how he was to live remaining still unanswered, he
+took a room in a house near one of the largest hospitals in Paris and
+devoted himself to the service of the sick and dying. But even the
+rent of the little room was more than he could afford to pay, and he
+was glad to share it with a companion. This was a judge from his own
+part of the country who was in Paris on account of a lawsuit and who,
+not being overburdened with money, offered to share the lodging and
+the rent.
+
+It was at this time that Vincent met Father--afterwards Cardinal--de
+Berulle, one of the most holy and learned priests of his time, who
+was occupied at that moment in founding the French Congregation of
+the Oratory, destined to do such good work for the clergy of France.
+De Berulle was quick to recognize holiness and merit, and he and
+Vincent soon became fast friends.
+
+But it did not seem to be God's will that our hero should prosper in
+Paris; he fell ill, and one day while he was lying in bed waiting for
+some medicine which had been ordered, his companion went out, leaving
+the cupboard in which he kept his money unlocked. The chemist's
+assistant, arriving shortly afterwards with the medicine and opening
+the cupboard to get a glass for the patient, caught sight of the
+purse, slipped it into his pocket, and made off.
+
+No sooner had the judge returned than he went to the cupboard and
+discovered the theft. Turning furiously on the sick man, he accused
+him of having stolen his property and overwhelmed him with insults
+and abuse. Vincent, unmoved by his threats, only answered gently that
+he had seen nothing of the money and did not know what had become of
+it; but his companion, refusing to listen to reason, rushed out and
+accused him to the police. This led to nothing, as neither witness
+nor proof could be brought forward by the judge, who, furious at the
+failure of his accusation, went about Paris denouncing Vincent as a
+thief. So determined was he to ruin the poor priest whose room he had
+shared that he obtained an introduction to Father de Berulle for the
+express purpose of making Vincent's guilt known to him. As for the
+latter, he bore the affront in silence, making no attempt to justify
+himself beyond his first declaration that he was innocent. "God knows
+the truth," he would reply to all accusations.
+
+The true thief was only discovered six months later. The chemist's
+assistant had fallen ill and was lying at the point of death at a
+hospital, when, repenting of his crime, he sent to implore
+forgiveness of the man he had robbed. The judge, stricken with
+remorse, wrote at once to Vincent, offering to come and ask his
+pardon on his knees for the wrong he had done him.
+
+Vincent was then living at the Oratory with Father de Berulle, who
+had never doubted his innocence. He hastened to assure his old
+roommate that he desired no such apology and begged him to say no
+more about the matter. Such was his treatment of the man who had done
+him so grievous an injury.
+
+It was during these years that Vincent de Paul had another strange
+experience in which he showed heroic courage and steadfastness. He
+made the acquaintance of a learned doctor of the Sorbonne who was so
+tormented with doubts against the Faith that his reason was in
+danger. This man confided his distress to Vincent, who explained to
+him that a temptation to doubt does not constitute unbelief, and that
+as long as his will remained firm he was safe. It happens, however,
+that such temptations often cloud the reason, and Vincent's labors to
+restore the man's peace of mind were in vain.
+
+The priest, deeply moved at the sight of a soul in such danger,
+besought God for help, offering himself to bear the temptation in the
+doctor's place. It was the inspiration of a saint, and the prayer was
+granted. The man was instantly delivered from his doubts, which took
+possession of Vincent himself. The trial was long and painful. For
+several years this humble and fervent soul endured the agony of an
+incessant temptation to unbelief. But Vincent knew how to resist this
+most subtle snare of the Evil One, and, although the anguish was
+continual, his will never wavered.
+
+Copying out the _Credo_ on a small sheet of parchment, he placed it
+over his heart, and his only answer to the fearful doubts that
+harassed him was to lay his hand upon it as he made his act of Faith.
+To prevent himself from dwelling on such thoughts, he devoted himself
+more than ever to works of charity, spending himself in the service
+of the sick and poor and comforting others when he himself was often
+in greater need of comfort.
+
+One day when the temptation was almost more than he could bear and he
+felt himself on the point of yielding, he made a vow to consecrate
+himself to Jesus Christ in the person of His poor. As he made the
+promise the temptation vanished, and forever. His faith henceforward
+was a faith that had been tried and had conquered; strong and firm as
+such a faith must be, it held him ready for all that God might send.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 3
+A GREAT HOUSEHOLD
+
+VINCENT remained two years in the house of Father de Berulle, in the
+hope of obtaining permanent work. The administration of a poor
+country parish was, he maintained, the only thing he was fit for, but
+de Berulle thought otherwise. "This humble priest," he predicted one
+day to a friend, "will render great service to the Church and will
+work much for God's glory."
+
+St. Francis de Sales, who made Vincent's acquaintance while he was
+with de Berulle, was of the same opinion. "He will be the holiest
+priest of his time," he said one day as he watched him. As for
+Vincent, he was completely won by the gentle serenity of St. Francis
+and took him as model in his relations with others. "I am by nature a
+country clod," he would say in after years, "and if I had not met the
+Bishop of Geneva, I should have remained a bundle of thorns all my
+life."
+
+At last Vincent's desire seemed about to be fulfilled. A friend of de
+Berulle's, cure of the country parish of Clichy, near Paris,
+announced his intention of entering the Oratory, and at de Berulle's
+request chose Vincent de Paul as his successor. Here, amidst his
+beloved poor, Vincent was completely happy. In him the sick and the
+infirm found a friend such as they had never dreamed of and any son
+of poor parents who showed a vocation for the priesthood was taken
+into the presbytery and taught by Vincent himself. The parish church,
+which was in great disrepair, was rebuilt; old, standing quarrels
+were made up; men who had not been to the Sacraments for years came
+back to God. Such was the influence of the Cure of Clichy that
+priests from the neighboring parishes came to learn the secret of his
+success and to ask his advice.
+
+Vincent was looking forward to a life spent in earnest work among his
+people when a summons from Father de Berulle recalled him suddenly to
+Paris. Nothing less than the resignation of his beloved Clichy was
+now asked of him by this friend to whom he owed so much. One of the
+greatest noblemen of France, Messire de Gondi, Count of Joigny and
+General of the King's Galleys, was in need of a tutor for his
+children and had commissioned Father de Berulle to find him what he
+wanted. De Berulle decided at once that Vincent de Paul was the man
+for the position and that, as he was evidently destined to do great
+work for God, it would be to his advantage to have powerful and
+influential friends.
+
+Although the prospect of such a post filled the humble parish priest
+with consternation, he owed too much to de Berulle to refuse. Setting
+out from Clichy with his worldly goods on a hand-barrow, he arrived
+at the Oratory, from whence he was to proceed to his new abode.
+
+The house of Messire de Gondi was one of the most magnificent in
+Paris. The Count, one of the bravest and handsomest men of his day,
+was in high favor at Court; while his wife, at a time when the lives
+of most of the great ladies of the Court were anything but edifying,
+was remarkable for her fervor and piety. The de Gondi children,
+unfortunately, did not take after their parents, and the two boys
+whose education Vincent was to undertake and whose character he was
+to form were described by their aunt as "regular little demons." The
+youngest of the family, the famous, or rather infamous, Cardinal de
+Retz, was not yet born, but Vincent's hands were sufficiently full
+without him. "I should like my children to be saints rather than
+great noblemen," said Madame de Gondi when she presented the boys to
+their tutor, but the prospect seemed remote enough. The violent
+temper and obstinacy of his charges were a great trial to Vincent,
+who used to say in later life that they had taught him, cross-grained
+as he was by nature, how to be gentle and patient.
+
+The position of a man of low birth as tutor in that princely
+household was not without its difficulties. Vincent was a dependent;
+but there was a quiet dignity about him which forbade liberties. With
+the servants, and there were many of every grade, he was always
+cordial and polite, losing no chance of winning their confidence,
+that he might influence them for good. His duties over, he would
+retire to his own room, refusing, unless especially sent for, to mix
+with the great people who frequented the house.
+
+Madame de Gondi, with a woman's intuition, was the first to realize
+the sanctity of her sons' tutor and resolved to put herself under his
+direction. Knowing enough of his humility to be certain that he would
+refuse such a request, she applied to Father de Berulle to use his
+influence in the matter, and thus obtained her desire. At Vincent's
+suggestion she soon afterwards undertook certain works of charity,
+which were destined to be the seed of a great enterprise.
+
+The Count, too, began to feel the effects of Vincent's presence in
+his household. It was the age of dueling, and hundreds of lives were
+lost in this barbarous practice. De Gondi was a famous swordsman, and
+although the life he led was a great deal better than that of the
+majority of his contemporaries, the possibility of refusing to fight
+when challenged, or of refraining from challenging another when his
+honor was at stake, had never occurred to him.
+
+Vincent had been some time at the de Gondis' when it came to his ears
+that the Count intended to fight a duel on a certain day, and he
+resolved, if possible, to prevent it. De Gondi was present at Mass in
+the morning and remained on afterwards in the chapel, praying,
+probably, that he might prevail over his enemy.
+
+Vincent waited till everyone had gone out, and then approached him
+softly. "Monsieur," he said, "I know that you intend to fight a duel;
+and I tell you, as a message from my Saviour, before whom you kneel,
+that if you do not renounce this intention His judgment will fall on
+you and yours." The Count, after a moment's silence, promised to give
+up his project, and faithfully kept his word. It was the greatest
+sacrifice that could have been asked of a man in de Gondi's
+position, and it was a thing unheard of at the time for a priest to
+lay down the law to a great nobleman. But the influence of sanctity
+is strong, and the Count was noble; for him it was the beginning of a
+better life.
+
+The de Gondis usually spent part of the year at their country house
+in Picardy, where they had large estates. Here the love of the poor
+which Vincent had fostered in Madame de Gondi was in its element, and
+she delighted in visiting her tenants, tending the sick with her own
+hands, and seconding all M. Vincent's plans for their welfare.
+
+It happened one day that Vincent was sent to the bedside of a dying
+peasant who had always borne a good character and was considered an
+excellent Christian. The man was conscious, and Vincent--moved, no
+doubt, by the direct inspiration of God--urged him to make a General
+Confession. There was much need, for he had been concealing for long
+years several mortal sins which he was ashamed to confess, profaning
+the Sacraments and deceiving all who knew him. Moved with contrition
+by M. Vincent's words, he confessed his crimes, acknowledging his
+guilt also to Madame de Gondi, who came to visit him after Vincent
+had departed.
+
+"Ah Madame," he cried, "if I had not made that General Confession my
+soul would have been lost for all eternity!"
+
+The incident made a lasting impression on both Vincent and the
+Countess. Here was a man who for years had been living in deceit and
+making an unworthy use of the Sacraments. How many others might be in
+like case! It was a terrible thought. "Ah, Monsieur Vincent," cried
+the great lady, "how many souls are being lost! Can you do nothing to
+help them?"
+
+Her words found an echo in Vincent's heart. Next Sunday he preached a
+sermon in the parish church on the necessity of General Confession.
+It was the first of the famous mission sermons destined to do so much
+good in France. While he spoke, Madame de Gondi prayed, and the
+result far surpassed their expectations. So great were the crowds
+that flocked to Confession that Vincent was unable to cope with them
+and had to apply to the Jesuits at Amiens for help. The other
+villages on the estate were visited in turn, with equal success.
+Vincent used to look back in later life to this first mission sermon
+as the beginning of his work for souls.
+
+The result of all this for the preacher, however, was a certain
+prestige, and his humility took alarm. Monsieur and Madame de Gondi
+now treated their sons' tutor with the reverence due to a saint. His
+name was on the lips of everybody; and yet, as Vincent sadly
+acknowledged to himself, the work for which he had been engaged was a
+failure. The "little demons" were as headstrong and violent as ever;
+it was only on their parents that he had been able to make any
+impression.
+
+Fearful of being caught in the snare of worldly honors, he resolved
+to seek safety in flight. Father de Berulle had sent him to the house
+of Monsieur de Gondi; to him did he appeal in his distress. His work
+as a tutor had been a failure, he told him; he could do nothing with
+his pupils, and he was receiving honor which he in no way deserved.
+He ended by begging to be allowed to work for the poor in some humble
+and lonely place, and de Berulle decided to grant his wish. The
+country parish of Chatillon was in need of workers, was the answer;
+let him go there and exercise his zeal for souls.
+
+The only remaining difficulty was to get away from the great house.
+Dreading the outcry that he knew would follow the announcement of his
+resolution, and the arguments that would be used against him, Vincent
+departed, declaring simply that personal affairs called him away from
+Paris.
+
+Only when he had been already established for some time in his new
+parish did it dawn on the de Gondis that his absence was not to be
+merely temporary. They were in desperation. Madame de Gondi did
+nothing but weep, while her husband applied to everyone whom he
+thought to have any influence with Vincent to persuade him to return.
+"If he has not the gift of teaching children," he wrote to a friend,
+"it does not matter; he shall have a tutor to work under him. He
+shall live exactly as he likes if he will only come back. Get de
+Berulle to persuade him. I shall be a good man some day," ends this
+great nobleman pathetically, "if only he will stay with me."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 4
+THE GALLEYS
+
+M. DE BERULLE had certainly not exaggerated matters when he said that
+the parish of Chatillon-les-Dombes was in need of earnest workers.
+Vincent looked about him and set to work at once.
+
+The first thing to be done was to clean out the church, which was in
+such a state of dirt and squalor that people had some excuse for not
+wishing to enter it. He then turned his attention to the clergy
+already there. They were ignorant and easygoing men, for the most
+part, who thought a good deal more of their own amusement than of the
+needs of their flock, but they were not bad at heart. Vincent's
+representations of what a priest's life ought to be astonished them at
+first and convinced them later--all the more so in that they saw in
+him the very ideal that he strove to set before them.
+
+There was no presbytery at Chatillon, and to the astonishment of
+everyone, Vincent hired a lodging in the house of a young gentleman
+who had the reputation of being one of the most riotous livers in the
+town. He was, moreover, half a heretic, and Vincent had been warned to
+have nothing to do with him. But the new rector had his own ideas on
+the subject, and the ill-assorted pair soon became very good friends.
+
+The change in the young man's mode of life was gradual. His first step
+was to be reconciled to the Church, his second to begin to interest
+himself in the poor. Gradually his bad companions dropped away, until
+one day Chatillon suddenly awoke to the fact that this most rackety of
+individuals was taking life seriously--was, in fact, a changed man.
+The whole town was in a stir. Who was this priest who had so suddenly
+come among them, so self-forgetful, so simple, so unassuming, yet
+whose influence was so strong with all classes?
+
+It was a question that might well be asked in the light of what was
+yet to come.
+
+There lived near Chatillon a certain Count de Rougemont, a noted
+duelist, whose violence and immorality were the talk of the
+neighborhood. Having heard people speak of the wonderful eloquence of
+M. Vincent, this man came one day out of curiosity to hear him preach.
+Surprised and touched in spite of himself, he determined to make the
+preacher's acquaintance and, hastening into his presence, flung
+himself on his knees before him.
+
+"I am a wretch and a sinner!" he cried, "but tell me what to do and I
+will do it." Raising him with gentle courtesy, Vincent bade him take
+courage, and spoke to him of all the good that a man of his position
+might do in the world. The Count, profoundly struck by the contrast
+between this man's life and his own--the one so powerful for good, and
+the other so strong for evil--vowed to mend his ways. And he kept his
+word.
+
+One by one he sold his estates to find the wherewithal for Vincent's
+schemes of charity, and he would have stripped himself of all that he
+had, had not Vincent himself forbidden it. His sword, which had served
+him in all his duels, and to which he was very much attached, he broke
+in pieces on a rock. His great chateau, the walls of which had rung to
+the sound of wild carousals, was now thrown open to the sick and the
+poor, whom the once-dreaded Count insisted on serving with his own
+hands. He died the death of a saint a few years later, amid the
+blessings of all the people whom he had helped.
+
+The ladies of the parish, to whom before Vincent's arrival the hour of
+the Sunday Mass had seemed too long for God's service and who had
+spent it chattering behind their fans, began also to realize that
+there was something in life besides selfish amusement. Some of them,
+moved by curiosity, went to see the new preacher, who, receiving them
+with his usual kindness and courtesy, drew a touching picture of the
+suffering and poverty that surrounded them and begged them to think
+sometimes of their less fortunate brothers and sisters.
+
+Two of the richest and most fashionable ladies of the district,
+touched by Vincent's words and example, gave themselves up entirely to
+the service of the poor, traveling about the country nursing the sick,
+and even risking their lives in the care of the plague-stricken. They
+were the forerunners of those "Sisters of Charity" who were in after
+years to carry help and comfort among the poor of every country.
+
+One day, as Vincent was about to say Mass, one of these ladies begged
+him to speak to the congregation in favor of a poor family whose
+members were sick and starving. So successful was his appeal that when
+he himself went a few hours later to see what could be done, he found
+the road thronged with people carrying food and necessaries.
+
+This, Vincent at once realized, was not practical. There would be far
+too much today and nothing tomorrow. There was no want of charity, but
+it needed organization. Sending for the two ladies, he explained to
+them a scheme which he had thought out on his way home. Those who were
+ready to help the poor were to band themselves together, each in turn
+promising to provide a day's food for starving families.
+
+Thus was founded the first confraternity of the "Ladies of Charity,"
+who were to work in concert for the relief of their poorer brethren.
+The association was to be under the management of the cure of the
+parish, and every good woman might belong to it. Its members were to
+devote themselves to the service of the poor for the love of Our Lord
+Jesus Christ, their Patron. They were to tend the sick cheerfully and
+kindly, as they would their own children, not disdaining to minister
+to them with their own hands. The work developed quickly;
+confraternities of charity were soon adopted in nearly all the
+parishes of France and have since extended over the whole Christian
+world.
+
+The de Gondis, in the meantime, had discovered the place of Vincent's
+retreat and had written him several letters, piteously urging him to
+return. They had succeeded in enlisting as their advocate a certain M.
+du Fresne, a friend of Vincent's, who had promised to plead their
+cause and who set about it with a shrewd common sense that was not
+without its effect. The work at Chatillon, he represented to Vincent,
+could be carried on by any good priest now that it had been set
+agoing, whereas in refusing to return to the de Gondis he was
+neglecting an opportunity for doing good on a very much larger scale.
+Helped by their money and their influence, not only their vast
+estates, but Paris itself, lay open to him as a field for his labors.
+Moreover, he had taken his own way in going to Chatillon; was he sure
+that it was God's way?
+
+Vincent was humble enough to believe that he might be in the wrong. He
+consented to go to Paris to see M. de Berulle and to allow himself to
+be guided by his advice. The result was a foregone conclusion, for the
+de Gondis had won over de Berulle completely to their side. The next
+day Vincent returned to the Hotel de Gondi, where he promised to
+remain during the lifetime of the Countess.
+
+Delighted to have him back at any price, Vincent's noble patrons asked
+for nothing better than to further all his schemes for the welfare of
+the poor and infirm. Confraternities of charity like that of Chatillon
+were established on all the de Gondi estates, Madame de Gondi herself
+setting the example of what a perfect Lady of Charity should be.
+Neither dirt, discourtesy nor risk of infection could discourage this
+earnest disciple of Vincent. In spite of weak health she gave freely
+of her time, her energy and her money.
+
+M. de Gondi was, as we have already seen, General of the King's
+Galleys, or, as we should now say, Admiral of the Fleet. It was no
+easy post in days when the Mediterranean was infested with Turkish
+pirates, to whom the royal ships had to give frequent chase; but the
+General had distinguished himself more than once by his skill and
+courage at this difficult task.
+
+The use of steam was as yet unknown, and the King's galleys were rowed
+by the convicts and prisoners of France, for it would have been
+impossible to find volunteers for the work. Chained to their oars
+night and day, kept in order by cruel cuts of the lash on their bare
+shoulders, these men lived and died on the rowers' bench without
+spiritual help or assistance of any kind. The conditions of service
+were such that many prisoners took their own lives rather than face
+the torments of such an existence.
+
+As Vincent went about his works of charity in Paris it occurred to him
+to visit the dungeons where the men who had been condemned to the
+galleys were confined. What he saw filled him with horror. Huddled
+together in damp and filthy prisons, crawling with vermin, covered
+with sores and ulcers, brawling, blaspheming and fighting, the galley
+slaves made a picture suggestive only of Hell.
+
+Vincent hastened to M. de Gondi and, trembling with emotion, poured
+forth a description of the horrors he had seen.
+
+"These are your people, Monseigneur!" he cried; "you will have to
+answer for them before God." The General was aghast; it had never
+occurred to him to think of the condition of the men who rowed his
+ships, and he gladly gave Vincent a free hand to do whatever he could
+to relieve them.
+
+Calling two other priests to his assistance, Vincent set to work at
+once to visit the convicts in the Paris prisons; but the men were so
+brutalized that it was difficult to know how to win them. The first
+advances were met with cursing and blasphemy, but Vincent was not to
+be discouraged. With his own gentle charity he performed the lowest
+offices for these poor wretches to whom his heart went out with such
+an ardent pity; he cleansed them from the vermin which infested them
+and dressed their neglected sores. Gradually they were softened and
+would listen while he spoke to them of the Saviour who had died to
+save their souls. At Vincent's earnest request, money was collected
+among his friends and patrons, and a hospital built where the
+prisoners condemned to the galleys might be nursed into good health
+before they went on board.
+
+In due time the rumor of the good work that was being done reached the
+ears of Louis XIII, who promptly made Vincent de Paul Almoner to the
+King's ships, with the honors and privileges of a naval officer and a
+salary of six hundred livres. This enabled Vincent to carry his
+mission farther afield, and he determined to visit all the convict
+prisons in the seaport towns, taking Marseilles as his first station.
+
+Here, where the conditions were perhaps even worse than in Paris,
+Vincent met them in the same spirit and conquered by the same means.
+The fact that he had once been a slave himself gave him an insight
+into the sufferings of the galley slaves and a wonderful influence
+over them. Accustomed as they were to be looked upon as brutes, it was
+a new experience to be treated as if it were a privilege to be in
+their company. This strange new friend who went about among them,
+kissing their chains, sympathizing with their sufferings and attending
+to their lowest needs seemed to them like an Angel from Heaven; even
+the most hardened could not resist such treatment.
+
+In the meantime, through the generosity of Vincent's friends,
+hospitals were being built and men and women were offering themselves
+to help in any capacity in this work of charity. Many of these earnest
+Christians gave their very lives for the galley slaves; for fevers,
+plague and contagious diseases of every kind raged in the filthy
+convict prisons, and many priests and lay helpers died of the
+infection. Yet other devoted workers were always found to take their
+place, and the work which Vincent had inaugurated thrived and
+prospered.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 5
+MISSION WORK
+
+THE incident which had given rise to Vincent's first mission at
+Folleville had never been forgotten by Madame de Gondi. It seemed to
+her that there was need to multiply such missions among the country
+poor, and no sooner had Vincent returned to her house than she offered
+him a large sum of money to endow a band of priests who would devote
+their lives to evangelizing the peasantry on her estates.
+
+Vincent was delighted, but considering himself unfit to undertake the
+management of such an enterprise, he proposed that it should be put
+into the hands of the Jesuits or the Oratorians.
+
+Madame de Gondi, although convinced in her own mind that Vincent, and
+Vincent alone, was the man to carry out the enterprise, obediently
+suggested it to one religious Order after another. In every case some
+obstacle intervened, until the Countess was more than ever persuaded
+that her first instinct had been right. Knowing Vincent's loyalty to
+Holy Church and his obedience to authority, she determined to have
+recourse to her brother-in-law, the Archbishop of Paris. An old house
+called the College des Bons Enfants was at that moment vacant. She
+asked it of the Archbishop, whom she had interested in her scheme, and
+who proposed to Vincent to undertake the foundation. There was no
+longer room for hesitation; the will of God seemed plain; indeed,
+Vincent's love of the poor had been for some time struggling with his
+humility.
+
+The new Congregation was to consist of a few good priests who,
+renouncing all thought of honor and worldly advancement, were to
+devote their lives to preaching in the villages and small towns of
+France. Their traveling expenses were to be paid from a common fund.
+They were to spend themselves in the service of their neighbor,
+instructing, catechizing and exhorting; and they were to take nothing
+in return for their labors. Nine months of the year were to be given
+to this kind of work; the other three to prayer and preparation.
+
+In March, 1625, the foundation was made, and Vincent de Paul was named
+the first superior. It was stipulated, however, that he should remain,
+as he had already promised, in the house of the founders, a condition
+which seemed likely to doom the enterprise to failure. Vincent could
+hardly fail to realize how necessary it was that the superior of a new
+Congregation should be in residence in his own house, but he confided
+the little company to God and awaited the development of events.
+
+The solution was altogether unexpected. Two months after the signing
+of the contract of foundation, Madame de Gondi was taken suddenly ill,
+and she died a few days later. Her broken-hearted husband not only
+consented to Vincent's residence in the College des Bons Enfants, but
+shortly afterwards, leaving that world where he had shone so
+brilliantly, he himself became a postulant at the Oratory.
+
+The beginnings of the new Congregation were humble enough. Its members
+were three in number: Vincent, his friend M. Portail, and a poor
+priest who had lately joined them. Before setting out on their mission
+journeys they used to give the key of the house to a neighbor; but as
+there was nothing in it to steal, there was little cause for anxiety.
+In the course of their travels other priests, realizing the greatness
+of the work, asked to be enrolled in the little company. Its growth,
+nevertheless, was slow; ten years after the foundation the
+Congregation only numbered thirty-three members; but Vincent had no
+desire that it should be otherwise. In 1652 it was recognized by Pope
+Urban VIII under the name of the Congregation of the Mission.
+
+Vincent lavished the greatest care on the training of his priests.
+They were to be simple and frank in their relations with the poor,
+modest in manner, friendly and easy of access.
+
+"Our sermons must go straight to the point," he would say, "so that
+the humblest of our hearers may understand; our language must be clear
+and unaffected." The love of virtue and the hatred of evil were the
+points to be insisted on; the people were to be shown where virtue lay
+and how to attain it. For "fine sermons" Vincent had the greatest
+contempt; he would use his merry wit to make fun of the pompous
+preachers whose only thought was to impress their audience with an
+idea of their own eloquence.
+
+"Of what good is a display of rhetoric?" he would ask; "who is the
+better for it? It serves no purpose but self-advertisement."
+
+The Mission Priests did good wherever they went; everybody wanted
+them, and it was hard to satisfy the appeals for missions which came
+from all over the country. In due time the Congregation outgrew the
+College des Bons Enfants, and was transferred to a large Augustinian
+priory which had originally been a leper hospital, and still bore the
+name of St. Lazare.
+
+Up to this time the Mission Priests had contented themselves with
+ministering to the peasantry, but in the course of their travels it
+had become painfully apparent that the clergy themselves were in
+urgent need of some awakening force. Those of good family led, for the
+most part, worldly and frivolous lives, while the humbler sort were as
+ignorant as the peasants among whom they lived. The religious wars had
+led to laxity and carelessness; drunkenness and vice were fearfully
+prevalent.
+
+To Vincent, with his high ideals of the priesthood, this was a
+terrible revelation. The old custom of giving a retreat to priests who
+were about to be ordained had fallen into disuse. With the assistance
+of some of the French bishops he determined to revive it, and retreats
+of ten or fourteen days were organized at St. Lazare for candidates to
+the priesthood. Here, in an atmosphere of prayer and recollection,
+those who were about to be ordained had every opportunity of realizing
+the greatness of the step that they were taking and of making
+resolutions for their future lives.
+
+The Mission Priests were to help in this work more by example than by
+precept; they were to preach by humility and simplicity. "It is not by
+knowledge that you will do them good," Vincent often repeated, "or by
+the fine things you say, for they are more learned than you--they have
+read or heard it all before. It is by what they see of your lives that
+you will help them; if you yourselves are striving for perfection, God
+will use you to lead these gentlemen in the right way."
+
+The blessing of God seemed, indeed, to rest upon the ordination
+retreats; nearly all who made them carried away something of Vincent's
+noble ideal of the priestly life. Many to whom they had been the
+turning point of a lifetime, felt the need of further help and
+instruction from the man who had awakened all that was noblest in
+their natures.
+
+To meet this necessity Vincent inaugurated a kind of guild for young
+priests who desire to live worthy of their vocation. Weekly gatherings
+were held at St. Lazare under the name of "Tuesday Conferences," where
+difficulties were discussed, debates held and counsels given. It was
+not easy to belong to the "Conferences." Members were pledged to offer
+their lives completely to God and to renounce all self-interest.
+Nevertheless, they increased rapidly in number, and the Conferences
+were attended by all the most influential priests in Paris.
+
+But Vincent's zeal was boundless, and one good work grew out of
+another. The retreats for ordination candidates having been so
+successful, he conceived the idea of giving retreats on the same lines
+for the laity. The work thrived beyond all expectation. All were
+admitted without exception: noblemen and beggars, young men and old,
+the learned and the ignorant, priests and laymen. St. Lazare at such
+times, Vincent once said, was like Noah's ark: every kind of creature
+was to be found in it.
+
+The only difficulty was the expense entailed, for many of the
+retreatants could pay nothing toward their board and lodging, and
+Vincent would refuse nobody. Here, as in so many other cases, it was
+the Congregation of the Ladies of Charity, founded by Vincent in
+Paris, that came nobly to his rescue. There was Madame de Maignelais,
+sister of M. de Gondi, who, left a widow at the age of twenty, devoted
+herself and her enormous fortune to alms and good works. There was the
+Duchesse d'Aiguillon, niece of the great Richelieu; Madame de
+Miramion, beautiful and pious; Madame Goussault, the first President
+of the Dames de Charite; and many others, whose purses were always at
+Vincent's disposal.
+
+The Congregation of the Mission Priests was to inaugurate another good
+work for which there was an urgent necessity in the world of Vincent's
+day. While yet at the College des Bons Enfants, he had realized how
+great was the need of a special training for young men destined for
+the priesthood and had founded a small seminary. After the move to St.
+Lazare the undertaking had grown and prospered. A college of the same
+kind had been lately founded by M. Olier, the zealous cure of St.
+Sulpice; and these two institutions, the first of the famous
+seminaries which were later to spread all over France, were powerful
+for the reform of the clergy. One hundred and fifty years later the
+Mission Priests of St. Lazare alone were at the head of sixty such
+seminaries.
+
+So the work of the Congregation increased and multiplied until it
+seemed almost too much for human capacity. But Vincent knew wherein
+lay the strength of the Mission Priests. "How may we hope to do our
+work?" he would ask. "How can we lead souls to God? How can we stem
+the tide of wickedness among the people? Let us realize that this is
+not man's work at all, it is God's. Human energy will only hinder it
+unless directed by God. The most important point of all is that we
+should be in touch with Our Lord in prayer."
+
+Dearest to his heart of all his undertakings was the first and chief
+work of the Congregation--the holding of missions for the poor. By
+twos and threes he would send out his sons to their labors, bidding
+them travel to their destination in the cheapest possible way. They
+were to accept neither free quarters nor gifts of any kind. All their
+thoughts and prayers were to be concentrated on their work: they were
+to live for their mission. Two sermons were to be preached
+daily--simple instructions on the great truths--and those who had not
+yet made their First Communion were to be catechized. The mission
+lasted ten or fourteen days, during which the Mission Priests were to
+have as much personal contact with the people as possible, visiting
+the sick and the infirm, reconciling enemies and showing themselves as
+the friends of all.
+
+It was no easy task to be a good Mission Priest. It meant
+self-mastery, self-renunciation, self-forgetfulness total and
+complete. It meant the laying aside of much that lies very close to a
+man's heart. "Unless the Congregation of the Mission is humble," said
+Vincent, "and realizes that it can accomplish nothing of any value,
+but that it is more apt to mar than to make, it will never be of much
+effect; but when it has this spirit it will be fit for the purposes of
+God."
+
+Yet, in spite of all that such a vocation meant of self-renunciation,
+year after year the Mission Priests increased in number. "This work is
+not human, it is from God," was Vincent's answer to those who
+marvelled at the power of the company for good.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 6
+THE GREY SISTERS
+
+ALTHOUGH many of the great ladies of Paris had enrolled themselves
+among the Ladies of Charity and were ready to help Vincent to the
+utmost of their ability, much of the work to be done in that great
+town was hardly within their scope. The care of the sick in the
+hospitals alone demanded ceaseless labor and an amount of time which
+few wives and mothers could give. There was a gap which needed
+filling, as Vincent could not but see, and he took immediate steps to
+fill it.
+
+The instrument he required lay close to his hand in the person of
+Louise le Gras, a widow lady who had devoted her life to the service
+of the poor. She had gathered in her house a few young working women
+from the country to help her in her labors; these were the people
+needed to step in where the Ladies of Charity fell short. A larger
+house was taken on the outskirts of Paris; good country girls who were
+ready to give their services without payment were encouraged to devote
+themselves to the work, and Louise le Gras, with all the enthusiasm of
+her unselfish nature, set to work to train the little company to
+efficiency.
+
+Of one thing this holy woman was absolutely convinced--unless the
+motive with which the work was undertaken was supernatural, neither
+perseverance nor success could be expected. "It is of little use for
+us to run about the streets with bowls of soup," she would say, "if we
+do not make the love of God the object of our effort. If we let go of
+the thought that the poor are His members, our love for them will soon
+grow cold." To pray, to labor and to obey was to be the whole duty of
+the members of the little sisterhood. The strength of their influence
+was to be the fact that it was Christ to whom they ministered in the
+person of His poor.
+
+To many of these girls, rough and ignorant as they were for the most
+part, life in a great town was full of dangers. Such work as theirs
+could only be adequately done by women whose lives were consecrated to
+God, who were prepared to spend themselves without stint or measure in
+His service. "If you aspire to perfection, you must learn to die to
+self" was the teaching of their foundress.
+
+Louise le Gras was a soul of prayer, and she knew that more was needed
+than fervent philanthropy and a heart full of pity to give the Sisters
+courage for the lives they had undertaken to lead. Uncloistered nuns
+were at that time a thing unheard of, and in the first days of the
+little company the Sisters were often greeted with insults when they
+appeared in the streets. In Vincent's own words, they were "a
+community who had no monastery but the houses of the sick, no cells
+but a lodging of the poorest room, no cloisters but the streets, no
+grille but the fear of God, and no veil but their own modesty."
+
+Their life was hard. They rose at four, their food was of the plainest
+description, they spent their days in an unhealthy atmosphere and were
+habitually overworked. The life of a true Sister of Charity needed to
+be rooted and nourished in the love of God, and no one realized it
+more completely than Vincent himself. In his weekly conferences, when
+they met together at St. Lazare, he would set before them the ideals
+of their vocation, bidding them above all things to be humble and
+simple.
+
+"You see, my sisters," he would say to them, "you are only rough
+country girls, brought up like myself to keep the flocks." He
+understood their temptations and knew their weaknesses, but the
+standard was never to be lowered.
+
+"The Daughters of Charity must go wherever they are needed," he said,
+"but this obligation exposes them to many temptations, and therefore
+they have special need of strictness." They were never to pay a visit
+unless it was part of their work; they were never to receive one; they
+were not to stand talking in the street unless it was absolutely
+necessary; they were never to go out without leave.
+
+"What?" Vincent makes them say in one of his conferences, "do you ask
+me to be my own enemy, to be forever denying myself, to do everything
+I have no wish to do, to destroy self altogether?"
+
+"Yes, my sisters," he answers; "and unless you do so, you will be
+slipping back in the way of righteousness." Their lives were of
+necessity full of temptations, and only in this spirit could they
+resist them.
+
+Life in the streets of a great city was full of interest to these
+country girls, and it required a superhuman self-control to go about
+with downcast eyes, noticing nothing. At the weekly conference one of
+the Sisters acknowledged that if she passed a troop of mountebanks or
+a peepshow, the desire to look was so strong upon her that she could
+only resist it by pressing her crucifix to her heart and repeating, "O
+Jesus, Thou art worth it all."
+
+One day Vincent appeared among them in great joy. He had just met a
+gentleman in the street, who had said to him, "Monsieur, today I saw
+two of your daughters carrying food to the sick, and so great was the
+modesty of one of them that she never even raised her eyes."
+
+It was many years before he would allow the Sisters, however great
+their desire, to bind themselves by vows to the service of Christ in
+His poor. When at last the permission was given, the formula of the
+vows, which were taken for one year only, ran thus:
+
+"I the undersigned, in the Presence of God, renew the promises of my
+Baptism, and make the vow of poverty, of chastity, and of obedience to
+the Venerable Superior General of the Priests of the Mission in the
+Company of the Sisters of Charity, that I may bind myself all this
+year to the service, bodily and spiritual, of the poor and sick our
+masters. And this by the aid of God, which I ask through His Son Jesus
+Christ Crucified, and through the prayers of the Holy Virgin."
+
+Although vows taken thus annually did not imply a lifelong dedication,
+the Sisters of Charity who returned to the world were few. Many heroic
+women spent their lives, unknown and unnoticed, in the daily drudgery
+of nursing the sick or trying to maintain order in country hospitals.
+
+"The saintliness of a Daughter of Charity," said Vincent, "rests on
+faithful adherence to the Rule; on faithful service to the nameless
+poor; in love and charity and pity; in faithful obedience to the
+doctor's orders . . . It keeps us humble to be quite ordinary . . ."
+
+"For the greater honor of Our Lord, their Master and Patron," runs a
+certain passage in their Rule, "the Sisters of Charity shall have in
+everything they do a definite intention to please Him, and shall try
+to conform their life to His, especially in His poverty, His humility,
+His gentleness, His simplicity and austerity." Therein was to lie
+their strength and the secret of their courage; before them stood
+their crucified Lord, bidding them suffer and be strong.
+
+The "Grey Sisters," as they were called by the poor, not only nursed
+in the hospitals of Paris, but went far and wide on their errands of
+mercy. Scarcely a day passed without an appeal. After the siege of
+Arras in 1656, Louise le Gras was implored to send help to those of
+the inhabitants who had survived the horrors of the war. Only two
+Sisters could be spared to meet the requirements of eight parishes;
+dirt, disease and famine reigned supreme; yet one of them, writing to
+her Superior to tell her that the other had been obliged to stop
+working from sheer exhaustion, says: "I have never heard a word of
+complaint from her lips or seen anything in her face but perfect
+content."
+
+A little later the Sisters were sent for to nurse the wounded soldiers
+in the hospitals of Calais. "My dear daughters," said Vincent, as he
+bade them farewell, "be sure that, wherever you go, God will take care
+of you."
+
+Only four could be spared, and the soldiers were dying in scores of an
+infectious disease. It was at the risk of their lives that the Sisters
+went among them, and two out of the four caught the infection and
+died. When the news reached Paris, there were numbers eager to take
+their place, and the four who were chosen set off rejoicing.
+
+The hospitals all over the country were in need of reform, and in
+Paris every new scheme for the relief of the poor called for the
+Sisters' assistance. In the hospital at Marseilles they were tending
+the convicts; when the home for the aged poor was instituted, it was
+under their government; the Foundling Hospital was in their hands.
+Wherever there was need for zeal and self-denial, there these devoted
+women were to be found, ready to lay down their lives in the service
+of their neighbor. They had renounced what pleasures the world might
+hold for them for a life of toil and discomfort; their sacrifice was
+hidden; they lived and died unnoticed.
+
+"We have no knowledge of our way except that we follow Jesus," writes
+the Mother and Foundress of the company, "always working and always
+suffering. He could never have led us unless His own resolve had taken
+Him as far as death on the Cross."
+
+In 1641 the Sisters of Charity had taken up a fresh work, one which
+lay very close to Vincent's heart, the teaching of little children. It
+should be, he told them, as much a part of their vocation as the care
+of the poor and the sick, and they were to spare no pains to give
+these little creatures the solid Christian teaching which nothing can
+replace.
+
+As the years went on, many ladies of noble birth enrolled themselves
+in the company, working side by side with their humbler sisters in the
+relief of every kind of misery; but daughter of peer or of peasant,
+the Sister of Charity was and is, before all else, the daughter of God
+and the servant of the poor. Louise le Gras rejoiced one day when she
+heard that one of the Sisters had been severely beaten by a patient
+and had borne it without a murmur. She, their Superior, and a woman of
+gentle birth, led the way in that humility which was their strength.
+She had been trained by Vincent de Paul and had learned from a living
+model.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 7
+THE FOUNDLINGS
+
+M. VINCENT was passing one day through the streets of Paris on one of
+his errands of mercy when he saw a beggar mutilating a newborn baby in
+order to expose it to the public as an object of pity. Snatching the
+poor little creature out of the hands of its tormentor, Vincent
+carried it to the "Couche St. Landry," an institution which had been
+founded for the care of children left homeless and deserted in the
+streets.
+
+The state of things in that household filled him with horror. The
+"Couche" was managed by a widow, who, helped by two servants, received
+about four hundred children within the year. These unfortunate little
+creatures, in a state of semi-starvation and utter neglect, were
+crowded together into two filthy holes, where the greater number died
+of pestilence. Of those who survived, some were drugged with laudanum
+to silence their cries, while others were put an end to by any other
+method that suggested itself to the wretched women into whose hands
+they had fallen.
+
+The sight of the "Couche" was one that could not fail to rouse any
+mother's heart to indignation. Vincent took one or two of the Ladies
+of Charity to the place and let them judge for themselves. The result
+was a resolve to rescue the little victims at any cost.
+
+It was not difficult to get possession of the babies; their inhuman
+guardians were in the habit of selling them for the modest sum of one
+franc each to anyone who would take them off their hands. But the cost
+of maintenance was a more serious matter. A house was taken near the
+College des Bons Enfants, and twelve of the miserable little victims
+were ransomed and installed there under the care of Louise le Gras and
+the Sisters of Charity.
+
+But this was only a beginning. The work appealed all the more strongly
+to the Ladies of Charity for the reason that most of the babies were
+unbaptized. It was a question of saving souls as well as bodies, and
+every effort was made to empty the Couche. The Ladies, often at the
+cost of real self-denial, gave every penny they could afford; Louis
+XIII and his Queen, Anne of Austria, contributed liberally. In ten
+years' time Vincent's institution had grown to such an extent that it
+was able to open its doors to all the foundlings in Paris.
+
+Four thousand children had been adopted and cared for, and the numbers
+were still increasing; finances had been stretched to the breaking
+point; there came a moment when it seemed impossible to meet the
+expenses any longer. The Thirty Years' War was raging, and the eastern
+provinces of France, which had served as a battlefield for the
+nations, were reduced to the utmost misery. There were many other
+claims on the purses of the Ladies of Charity; the time had come when
+it looked as if there was nothing to be done but sorrowfully give up
+an undertaking that was altogether beyond their power.
+
+But the very thought of such a possibility nearly broke Vincent's
+heart; he determined to make one last effort, and, gathering the
+Ladies together, laid the case before them in all simplicity.
+
+"I ask of you to say only one word," he said to them: "will you go on
+with the work or no? You are perfectly free; you are bound by no
+promise. Yet, before you decide, reflect for one moment on what you
+have done, and what you are doing. Your loving care has preserved the
+lives of a very great number of children, who without your help would
+have been lost in time as well as eternity; for these innocent
+creatures have learned to know and serve God as soon as they were able
+to speak. Some of them are beginning to work and to be
+self-supporting. Does not so good a beginning promise yet better
+results?
+
+"Ladies, it was pity and charity that moved you to adopt these little
+ones as your children. You were their mothers by grace when their
+mothers by nature had deserted them. Are you going to abandon them
+now? If you cease to be their mothers you become their judges; their
+lives are in your hands. I will now ask you to give your votes: it is
+time for you to give sentence and to make up your minds that you have
+no longer any mercy to spare for them. If in your charity you continue
+to take care of them, they will live; if not, they will certainly die.
+It is impossible to deny what your own experience must tell you is
+true."
+
+Vincent paused; his voice was trembling with emotion; he was answered
+by the tears of the assembly. It was decided that at any cost the
+Foundling Hospital must be supported. The work was saved. The
+practical question of expenses, however, remained yet to be faced, and
+although the King increased his subscription, the funds were still
+insufficient. But the Ladies made still greater sacrifices; the
+Sisters of Charity limited themselves to one meal a day, and Vincent,
+who had already reduced himself to the direst poverty, strained every
+nerve to help.
+
+The Foundling Hospital was thus kept going until some years after
+Vincent's death, when the State took over the responsibility, and the
+work ceased to depend on voluntary support.
+
+Of all the good works on which he had spent himself, this was the one,
+it is said, that appealed to him the most strongly. He knew every baby
+in the Foundling Hospital by name; the death of any one of them caused
+him a very real sorrow, and he would appear among them at the most
+unexpected hours. Their innocence and happiness rejoiced him, and he
+delighted in watching their pretty baby ways. At the sight of his
+kind, homely face, they would gather round him, clinging to his hands
+or his cassock, certain of a smile or a caress. He came across much
+that was neither innocent nor attractive in his dealings with the
+world; he was one who never judged harshly, and who could always see
+in man, however depraved, the image of his Maker; yet the innocence
+and purity of his own soul found their best solace in the company of
+these little creatures whom he had rescued from a double death. They
+were his recreation in the moments of depression which all who work
+for the welfare of mankind must experience and which are more intense
+in proportion as the zeal is stronger.
+
+He was blamed one day, when the difficulty of providing for the
+foundlings was at its height, for having spent upon them alms destined
+for the support of the Mission.
+
+"Ah!" he cried, "do you think Our Lord will be less good to us because
+we put the welfare of these poor children before our own? Since that
+merciful Saviour said to His disciples, 'suffer the little children to
+come unto Me,' can we who wish to follow Him reject these babies when
+they come to us?"
+
+But if the foundlings had a large share of Vincent's heart, it was
+great enough for all who were in suffering or distress. The misery in
+the provinces of Lorraine and Picardy was hardly to be described; the
+people were literally dying of hunger. The Ladies of Charity had at
+first come nobly to the rescue, but the Foundling Hospital was now
+absorbing all their funds; they could do no more. Then Vincent
+conceived the idea of printing leaflets describing the sufferings of
+the people and what was being done to help them by the Mission
+Priests. These were sold at the church doors, in the public squares
+and in the streets, and people bought them with such avidity that
+Vincent soon realized a steady little income.
+
+In days when there were no such things as newspapers, regular tidings
+from the provinces were as welcome as they were unexpected. "God
+showered such blessings on the work," says Vincent, "that the greater
+number of those who read these narratives opened their hands for the
+relief of the poor."
+
+The next step was to institute in all the regions where famine was
+prevalent public soup kitchens, where nourishing soup, made at the
+lowest possible cost, was portioned out among the poor. Vincent
+himself gave minute directions for its making, prescribing the
+ingredients so that the greatest number of people might be maintained
+at the least expense.
+
+In many places laid waste by fire and sword, the dead remained
+unburied for days or even weeks. Heaps of filth and garbage were left
+to rot at the doors of houses and in the streets; pestilence and fever
+reigned supreme. Here, again, the Priests of the Mission and the
+Sisters of Charity devoted themselves to the work that no one else
+would do. Organizing themselves into bands, they went about burying
+the dead, nursing the sick and cleansing the streets, many of them
+dying of the pestilence.
+
+It was very necessary, moreover, to take steps to bring back some kind
+of prosperity to the devastated country. Seeds and grain were
+distributed among the peasants, who were encouraged to cultivate the
+land and taught the best methods of doing so. All these different
+undertakings were carried out with the regularity and practical common
+sense that were characteristic of the sons of St. Vincent de Paul,
+accustomed as they were to brave hardship and danger without a thought
+of their own safety.
+
+If their Superior asked much of others, he himself set the example in
+generosity. It was said of him that he never could keep anything for
+his own use, either clothes or money; everything that came into his
+hands went straight to the poor. There were days at St. Lazare when it
+seemed uncertain where the daily bread was to come from, or whether it
+was to come at all; but Vincent put his trust in God, who never failed
+him, and he gave while there was anything to give.
+
+Several times, while he was organizing relief for the eastern
+provinces, his heart almost failed him at the magnitude of the work he
+had undertaken, and it was at one of these moments that he dared to
+face the terrible Richelieu, to demand peace in the name of the
+suffering people.
+
+"Monseigneur!" he cried, appearing before the great Cardinal with
+tears streaming down his cheeks, "give us peace! Have pity on France
+and give us peace." Richelieu's heart was certainly none of the
+softest, but even he seems to have been touched by this earnest
+appeal. At all events, he showed no anger.
+
+"I wish for peace," he declared, "and I am taking means to procure it,
+but it does not depend on me alone"; and he dismissed Vincent with an
+unwonted urbanity. His was not the only hard nature that was softened
+by contact with St. Vincent de Paul. The love of this man for his
+fellow men was infectious, for it was born of his love for Christ.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 8
+AT COURT
+
+WHEN Louis XIII was on his deathbed, with all the Bishops and
+Archbishops of France ready to offer him their services, it was M.
+Vincent, the humble Mission Priest, who prepared him to meet his God.
+During the last days of the King's life, Vincent never left him, and
+in his arms Louis XIII breathed his last. Then, having done the work
+for which he had come, Vincent slipped quietly out of the palace to
+hasten back to St. Lazare and his beloved poor.
+
+Some remarks made by the King during his illness and certain other
+words of Vincent's were remembered by the Queen, Anne of Austria, who
+had been left Regent during the minority of her son. Richelieu was
+dead, and Mazarin, his pupil, a crafty and unscrupulous Italian, had
+succeeded him as chief Minister of State. His influence over the Queen
+was growing daily, but it was not yet strong enough to override all
+her scruples. She was a good-natured woman, quite ready to do right
+when it was not too inconvenient, and it was clear to her that of late
+years bishoprics and abbeys had been too often given to most unworthy
+persons. In France the Crown was almost supreme in such matters; the
+Queen therefore determined to appoint a "Council of Conscience"
+consisting of five members, whose business it would be to help her
+with advice as to ecclesiastical preferment.
+
+Mazarin's astonishment and disgust when he heard that Vincent de Paul
+had been appointed one of the number were as great as Vincent's own
+consternation. The responsibility and the difficulties which he would
+have to face filled the humble Mission Priest with the desire to
+escape such an honor at any price; he even applied to the Queen in
+person to beg her to reconsider her decision.
+
+But Anne was obdurate, and Vincent was forced to yield. "I have never
+been more worthy of compassion or in greater need of prayers than
+now," he wrote to one of his friends, and his forebodings were not
+without cause. If Mazarin had been unable to prevent the Queen from
+naming Vincent as one of the Council of Conscience, he had at least
+succeeded in securing his own nomination. In the cause of honesty and
+justice, and for the Church's welfare, the Superior of St. Lazare
+would have to contend with the foremost statesman of the day, a
+Minister who had built up his reputation by trading on the vices of
+men who were less cunning than he. Well did Vincent know that he was
+no match for such a diplomatist; but having once realized that the
+duty must be undertaken, he determined that there should be no
+flinching.
+
+He went to Court in the old cassock in which he went about his daily
+work, and which was probably the only one he had. "You are not going
+to the palace in that cassock?" cried one of the Mission Priests in
+consternation.
+
+"Why not?" replied Vincent quietly; "it is neither stained nor torn."
+
+The answer was noteworthy, for a scrupulous cleanliness was
+characteristic of the man. As he passed through the long galleries of
+the Louvre he caught sight of his homely face and figure in one of the
+great mirrors that lined the walls. "A nice clodhopper you are!" he
+said amiably to his own reflection, and passed on, smiling.
+
+Among the magnificently attired courtiers his shabby appearance
+created not a little merriment. "Admire the beautiful sash in which M.
+Vincent comes to Court," said Mazarin one day to the Queen, laying
+hold of the coarse woolen braid that did duty with poor country
+priests for the handsome silken sash worn by the prelates who
+frequented the palace. Vincent only smiled--these were not the things
+that abashed him; he made no change in his attire.
+
+At first it seemed as if his influence were to be paramount in the
+Council. Nearly all the priests of Paris had passed through his hands
+at the ordination retreats and those who belonged to the "Tuesday
+Conferences" were intimately known to him. Who could be better fitted
+to select those who were suitable for preferment? Mazarin, it is true,
+objected to the Council on principle, but that was simply because he
+considered that bishoprics and abbeys were useful things to keep in
+reserve as bribes for his wavering adherents. Certain reforms on which
+Vincent insisted were not to his mind either, although he offered no
+opposition. It was not his way to act openly, and he bided his time;
+the wonder was that Vincent was able to do what he did so thoroughly.
+
+In the meantime it began to dawn upon the public that the Superior of
+St. Lazare was for the moment a man of influence. It was already well
+known that he was a man of immense charity, with many institutions on
+his hands, several of which were in urgent need of funds. It seemed a
+very simple thing to offer him a large sum of money for the poor on
+condition that he would put in a good word for a brother or a nephew
+who was just the man for a bishopric or anything else that might
+offer.
+
+Vincent's reception of these proposals was disconcerting. "God
+forbid!" he would cry indignantly. "Better that we should all go
+without the barest necessities of life."
+
+Some would come with a recommendation from the Queen herself, which
+made things doubly embarrassing; but in spite of everything Vincent
+remained faithful to his first determination to choose for bishoprics
+no priests save those worthy of the position by reason of their virtue
+and learning.
+
+Now, it was exceedingly unpleasant for needy noblemen to be obliged to
+sue to a peasant priest in a shabby cassock for the preferment of
+their relations; but it became quite intolerable when the shabby
+priest refused to listen.
+
+"You are an old lunatic," said a young man who had been refused a
+benefice through Vincent's agency.
+
+"You are quite right," was the only answer, accompanied by a
+good-natured smile.
+
+Another day a gentleman who had come to recommend his son for a
+bishopric was so angry when Vincent explained that he did not see his
+way to grant his request that he answered the "impertinent peasant"
+with a blow. Vincent, without the slightest allusion to this
+treatment, quietly escorted him downstairs and saw him into his
+carriage. Insulted another day in public by a magistrate whose
+interests he had refused to forward, the Superior of St. Lazare made
+the noble answer: "Sir, I am sure that you try to acquit yourself
+worthily in your office; you must allow me the same freedom of action
+in mine."
+
+But Vincent's strangest adventure was with a Court lady of high rank,
+a certain Duchess in the household of the Queen. Catching her royal
+mistress in an unguarded moment, this lady succeeded in inducing the
+Queen to promise the bishopric of Poitiers to her son, a young man of
+very bad character. The Queen's courage, however, failed her at the
+prospect of breaking the news to M. Vincent, and she commissioned the
+Duchess to let him know of the appointment. Off went the great lady to
+St. Lazare, and, flouncing into the Superior's presence, haughtily
+declared her errand. Vincent, aghast, begged her to sit down and talk
+the matter over, but Madame declined curtly. She was in a great hurry,
+she replied; the Queen had spoken; there was nothing more to be said.
+She would be obliged if he would make out the deed of nomination and
+take it to Her Majesty to sign.
+
+What was to be done? To resist would only provoke; submission seemed
+the wisest, if not the only course.
+
+Next morning at an early hour M. Vincent made his appearance at the
+palace with a roll of paper in his hand and was shown into the Queen's
+presence.
+
+"Oh," said Her Majesty, not without some embarrassment, "you have
+brought me the nomination of the Bishop of Poitiers." Without a word,
+Vincent handed her the roll, which she proceeded to unfold.
+
+"Why," she cried, "what is this? It is blank! The form is not drawn up
+at all!"
+
+"If Your Majesty's mind is made up," said Vincent quietly, "I must beg
+you to write down your wishes yourself; it is a responsibility which
+my conscience forbids me to take." Then, noticing the hesitation of
+the Queen: "Madame," he said hotly, "this man whom you intend to make
+a bishop spends his life in public houses and is carried home drunk
+every night. That his family should want to get him out of Paris is
+not surprising, but I ask you if an episcopal see is a fitting retreat
+for such a person."
+
+Convinced by Vincent's vehement presentation of the facts of the case,
+the Queen consented to revoke the nomination, but she openly confessed
+to him that she had not courage to face the Duchess. "Suppose you go
+and make my peace with her," she said pleasantly, despatching the
+unfortunate Vincent on this very disagreeable errand.
+
+He was shown into the lady's presence and carried out his mission with
+the greatest possible tact, but the Duchess could not control her
+fury. Seizing a heavy stool, she flung it at the head of the unwelcome
+messenger, who bowed and retired from the house with the blood
+streaming from a wound in his forehead. The brother who had
+accompanied him and who was waiting in the antechamber, justly
+indignant, begged to be allowed to give the great lady a piece of his
+mind. "Come on," said Vincent; "our business lies in another
+direction." "Is it not strange," he said, smiling, a few moments
+later, as he tried to staunch the blood with his handkerchief, "to
+what lengths the affection of a mother for her son will go!"
+
+Such incidents did not pass unnoticed by Mazarin, who looked with
+jealous eyes on Vincent's influence with the Queen. As time went on he
+resolved at any cost to rid the Court of the presence of this man,
+whose simple, straightforward conduct baffled the wily and defeated
+their plans; but an attempt to get him ejected from the Council met
+with such stormy opposition that the Prime Minister determined to
+change his tactics. There was no man whom he revered or admired so
+much as M. Vincent, he declared enthusiastically; no one who was of
+such use in the Council of Conscience.
+
+But the summoning of the Council rested with Mazarin, and the
+intervals between its meetings became longer and longer. Anne of
+Austria's sudden spurt of energy--she was a thoroughly indolent woman
+by nature--began to die out as she became accustomed to her new
+responsibilities; she was only too glad to leave all matters of State
+to a man who declared that his only desire was to save her worry and
+trouble. In course of time the Council of Conscience ceased to meet,
+and the distribution of bishoprics and abbeys fell once more into the
+hands of Mazarin, who used them, as of old, for his own ends.
+
+Vincent de Paul, in bitter grief and sorrow, was forced to witness an
+abuse that he had no longer any power to check. "I fear," he wrote in
+after years to a friend, "that this detestable barter of bishoprics
+will bring down the curse of God upon the country." A few years later,
+when civil war, pestilence and famine were devastating France, and
+Jansenism was going far to substitute despair for hope in the hearts
+of men, his words were remembered.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 9
+THE JANSENISTS
+
+WHILE Vincent de Paul was striving, by charity and patience, to renew
+all things in Christ, the Jansenists* were busy spreading their
+dangerous doctrines. When the Abbe de St. Cyran, the apostle of
+Jansenism in France, first came to Paris, Vincent, like many other
+holy men, was taken in by the apparent piety and austerity of his
+life. It was only when he knew him better, and when St. Cyran had
+begun to impart to him some of his ideas on grace and the authority of
+the Church, that Vincent realized on what dangerous ground he was
+standing.
+
+* So called from their founder, Cornelius Jansen, Bishop of Utrecht,
+who died, however, before his heresy had been condemned.
+
+"He said to me one day," wrote the Saint long afterwards to one of his
+Mission Priests, "that it was God's intention to destroy the Church as
+it is now, and that all who labor to uphold it are working against His
+will; and when I told him that these were the statements made by
+heretics such as Calvin, he replied that Calvin had not been
+altogether in the wrong, but that he had not known how to make a good
+defense."
+
+After such a statement as that there could be no longer question of
+friendship between Vincent and St. Cyran, although the latter, anxious
+not to break with a man who was held in such universal esteem as
+Vincent de Paul, tried to persuade him that he, St. Cyran, was really
+in the right, justifying himself in the elusive language which was
+more characteristic of the Jansenists than the frank declaration he
+had just made.
+
+Vincent, however, was too honest and straightforward, too loyal a son
+of the Church, to be deceived. Realizing fully the danger of such
+opinions, he soon became one of the most vigorous opponents of the
+Jansenists, who, indeed, soon had cause to look upon Vincent as one of
+the most powerful of their enemies. But although he hated the heresy
+with all the strength of his upright soul, Vincent's charitable heart
+went out in pity to those who were infected with its taint, and it was
+with compassion rather than indignation that he would speak of St.
+Cyran and his adherents. Not until they had been definitely condemned
+by the Church did he cease his efforts to win them from their
+errors--efforts which were received, for the most part, in a spirit of
+vindictive bitterness.
+
+The teaching of the Jansenists, like that of most other heretics, had
+begun by being fairly plausible. The necessity of reform among the
+clergy had come home to them forcibly, as it had to Vincent himself;
+the Jansenists' lives were austere and mortified. The book which
+contained their heretical doctrines, the Augustinus of Jansenius, was
+read by only a few, and these mostly scholars. That the Sacraments
+should be treated with the greatest respect and approached only by
+those who were fit to approach them seemed at first sight a very
+reverent and very proper maxim. Many people of holy lives took up this
+teaching enthusiastically, among them some of Vincent's own Mission
+Priests. When Antoine Arnauld, the youngest of the famous family which
+did so much to further Jansenism, published his book _Frequent
+Communion_, which might more truly have been called "_In_frequent
+Communion," it was received with delight and eagerly read. That
+Vincent clearly saw the danger is shown by one of his letters to a
+member of the Jansenist company who had written protesting against the
+attitude that St. Lazare was taking in the matter:
+
+"Your last letter says that we have done wrong in going against public
+opinion concerning the book _Frequent Communion_ and the teaching of
+Jansenius. It is true that there are only too many who misuse this
+Divine Sacrament. I myself am the most guilty, and I beg you to pray
+that God may pardon me . . . . You say also that as Jansenius read all
+the works of St. Augustine ten times, and his treatises on grace
+thirty times, the Mission Priests cannot safely question his opinions.
+To which I reply that those who wish to establish new doctrines are
+always learned and always study deeply the authors of which they make
+use. But that does not prevent them from falling into error, and we
+shall have no excuse for sharing in their opinions in defiance of the
+censure of their doctrine."
+
+The letter was answered by a second protest in favor of Arnauld's
+book, which was met by Vincent with equal energy:
+
+"It may be, as you say," he writes, "that certain people in France and
+Italy have drawn benefit from the book; but for a hundred to whom it
+has been useful in teaching more reverence in approaching the
+Sacrament, ten thousand have been driven away . . . For my part, I
+tell you that if I paid the same attention to M. Arnauld's book as you
+do, I should give up both Mass and Communion from a sense of humility,
+and I should be in terror of the Sacrament, regarding it, in the
+spirit of the book, as a snare of Satan and as poison to the souls of
+those who receive it under the usual conditions approved by the
+Church. Moreover, if we confine ourselves only to what he says of the
+perfect disposition without which one should not go to Communion, is
+there anyone on earth who has such a high idea of his own virtue as to
+think himself worthy? Such an opinion seems to be held by M. Arnauld
+alone, who, having made the necessary conditions so difficult that St.
+Paul himself might have feared to approach, does not hesitate to tell
+us repeatedly that he says Mass daily."
+
+It is evident that so cold and narrow a teaching could not but be
+repugnant to a man of Vincent's breadth and charity. The monstrous
+heresy held by the Jansenists that Christ did not die for all men, but
+for the favored few alone, filled him with a burning indignation. No
+one could have deplored more than he did the unworthy use of the
+Sacraments; but he held firmly to the truth that they had been
+instituted by a loving Saviour as man's greatest strength and as a
+protection against temptation and sin. And he was not going to believe
+that He who had been called the Friend of sinners and had eaten and
+drunk in their company would exact from men as a condition of
+approaching Him a perfection that they could never hope to attain
+without Him.
+
+Indeed, the chief aim of the company of Mission Priests was to draw
+the people to the Sacraments as to the great source of grace, and it
+seemed to Vincent that the means taken by the Jansenists to destroy
+certain evils were very much more dangerous than the evils themselves.
+It was better, according to his opinion, even at the risk of abuse, to
+make the reconciliation of a sinner to his God too easy rather than
+too hard. The rule of the Mission Priests lays down that "one of the
+principal points of our Mission is to inspire others to receive the
+Sacraments of Penance and of the Eucharist frequently and worthily."
+The teaching of the Jansenists sought, on the contrary, to inspire
+such awe of the Sacraments that neither priests nor people would dare
+to approach them save at very rare intervals.
+
+It was the great mass of the people--poor, simple and suffering, those
+children of God whom Vincent loved and in whose service the whole of
+his life had been spent--whose salvation was in danger. It was against
+them that the Jansenists were shutting the doors of salvation. Is it
+any wonder that Vincent de Paul fought against them as only men of
+strong conviction can fight, with heart and soul aglow in the battle?
+Compared with this all other evils were light. His business was to
+relieve suffering, to comfort sorrow, but above all to help men to
+save their souls. There could be no yielding, no compromise with
+error.
+
+Rightly, therefore, did the Jansenists see in Vincent de Paul the most
+dangerous of their enemies, and it was not surprising that both during
+his life and after his death they hated him and assailed him with
+abuse. He was "insincere, treacherous, a coward," they declared. They
+spoke of the "great betrayal"; they held him up to ridicule as an
+ignorant peasant; but Vincent went quietly on his way. The question
+"What will people say?" did not exist for him. He simply did his duty
+as it was made clear to him by God and his own conscience. It was hard
+to fight against such uncompromising honesty as his, and more than
+once the man whose ignorance the Jansenists had ridiculed tore their
+specious arguments to tatters with the weapon of his strong common
+sense.
+
+Nevertheless, the dangers of Jansenism were a continual anxiety to
+Vincent, and there were other sorrows no less poignant to be borne.
+Foreign missions had been established in Africa and Madagascar, and in
+the latter station no less than twenty-seven Mission Priests had lost
+their lives. Some, it is true, had died the martyr's death; but the
+work had not prospered. It was difficult to get news from far
+countries in those days, and there were often such long intervals
+between the death of one priest and the arrival of another that any
+good that had been done was lost.
+
+"There is nothing on earth that I desire so much as to go as your
+companion in the place of M. Gondree," wrote Vincent to one who was
+just about to set forth on this dangerous mission; but the darker side
+of the picture is not left untouched. "You will need the strongest
+courage," he writes; "you will need faith as great as that of
+Abraham."
+
+The Madagascar Mission was, humanly speaking, a failure; the natives
+were hostile, the missionaries not sufficiently numerous; it was
+necessary in the end to give up the enterprise.
+
+The Lazarists were at work also in Poland, in Ireland, and in the
+Hebrides. Vincent had a gift for rousing zeal and charity in the
+hearts of others, and there were always plenty of volunteers for the
+most dangerous posts. But there were times when his heart nearly
+failed him at the news that came to him of the sufferings of some of
+his sons on their far-distant missions. There were times when apparent
+failure weighed him down with sorrow, and the death of young Mission
+Priests who had given their lives for the salvation of their fellowmen
+caused a grief almost too heavy to be borne. But Vincent knew
+
+How far high failure overtops the bounds
+Of low success.
+
+He could afford to leave his work and theirs in the hands of God. He
+had done what he could, and God asks no more of any man.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 10
+TROUBLES IN PARIS
+
+
+
+The Parliament at last took up the matter; men went about the streets
+of Paris shouting "Down with Mazarin!" A revolution was feared, and
+the Queen, with her young son, fled to St. Germain. The Royal troops
+in the meantime, under Conde, were blockading Paris; the rebellion
+known as the "Fronde" had begun.
+
+Vincent de Paul was in a difficult position. His sympathies were
+wholly with the suffering people; but, although it had long ceased to
+meet, he was still a member of the Council of Conscience and owed
+allegiance to the Royal party.
+
+What would become of the poor in Paris if the town were reduced to
+famine? This was the thought that was uppermost in his mind. On the
+other hand, he had always insisted that the Congregation of the
+Mission should in no way mix itself up with politics. The life of its
+members was to be a hidden life of prayer and labor for souls. The
+safest course was obviously to remain neutral and take no part in the
+matter; but his own safety was the last consideration likely to move
+him. Was it his duty to remain silent? That was the vital question.
+Could he do any good by speaking? Long and earnestly did he pray for
+guidance and, without a thought of the consequences to himself,
+decided at last to act.
+
+Judging of others in the light of his own straightforward honesty, it
+seemed to him that if it were once clearly represented to the Queen
+that it was Mazarin's presence alone that prevented peace, she could
+not fail to see that it was her duty to force him to withdraw.
+Surrounded as she was by courtiers who did not dare to tell her the
+truth, she might be ignorant of how much she herself was to blame in
+the matter. He had shamed her into doing what was right in the matter
+of the Bishop of Poitiers. Might he not succeed in awakening her
+conscience once more?
+
+It was on his knees in the Church of St. Lazare that Vincent resolved
+on the action that was at best only a forlorn hope, but still worth
+trying. With his usual prompt energy, the old man of seventy-three
+mounted his horse and, accompanied only by his secretary, du
+Courneau, set out for St. Germain. The Seine was in flood and the
+water breast-deep on the bridge over which they had to ride. Du
+Corneau [sic] avowed afterwards that he was quaking with fright; but
+Vincent, though wet to the skin, scarcely seemed to notice that all
+was not as usual and rode on through the floods in silence. Arrived at
+St. Germain, he asked to see the Queen, who, thinking that he had been
+sent by the people to make their peace with her, admitted him at once
+to her presence.
+
+With the straightforward simplicity that characterized all his
+dealings, he proceeded to state his errand. He had come, he said, to
+ask the Queen, for the sake of her country and her people, to rid
+herself of Mazarin and to forgive the rebels.
+
+Anne of Austria listened in silence and gave no sign of either
+sympathy or displeasure. When the speaker had ended, she quietly
+referred him to Mazarin himself.
+
+Vincent's hopes must have sunk low indeed at such a suggestion, but he
+was determined to go through with what he had begun. Confronted with
+the Cardinal, he earnestly represented to him that it was his duty to
+sacrifice himself for the good of the country; that his retirement
+would be an act of noble unselfishness which could not fail to win the
+blessing of Christ; that it would put an end to the sufferings under
+which France was groaning and save many innocent people from a fearful
+and horrible death. Mazarin had a sense of humor, and it was perhaps
+the only thing about him that responded to this appeal to his better
+feelings. It no doubt appeared to him sufficiently ludicrous that
+anyone should expect him to sacrifice himself for the sake of others,
+and probably those around him would have shared his opinion.
+
+Yet Vincent was justified in his experiment. Long as had been his
+experience of the sin and misery of men, it had not taught him, any
+more than it did his Divine Master, to despair of human nature. He had
+only employed his usual methods with Mazarin: methods that had
+prevailed with so many souls. He had appealed to the desire for good
+which he believed lay hidden in the heart of every man, no matter how
+deeply it might be buried under the refuse of a wasted life. He had
+appealed and failed--his mission had borne no fruit, yet he could not
+regret that he had undertaken it, although the consequences were to be
+serious for himself. For during his absence the fact that he had gone
+to St. Germain had leaked out among the people, and in one moment of
+anger all his claims on their love and gratitude were forgotten.
+
+"M. Vincent has betrayed us to the Queen!" was the cry in the streets
+of Paris, while the mob, falling on St. Lazare, pillaged it from top
+to bottom, carrying off everything on which they could lay hands.
+Vincent had gained nothing and lost all; it was not even safe for him
+to return to Paris, so great was the fury of the people; he had also
+won for himself the ill will of both Mazarin and the Queen.
+
+Yet with his usual humility and patience, he blamed no one but
+himself. He had done, he declared solemnly to du Courneau, that which
+he would have wished to have done were he lying on his deathbed; that
+he had failed was due solely and entirely to his own unworthiness.
+
+And now, since it was better for every reason that he should not
+return to Paris, he determined to undertake a visitation of the
+Congregation of the Mission Priests and Sisters of Charity in every
+center where they were working in France. In spite of his weariness
+and his seventy-three years, he set forth on his journey, riding the
+old horse that was kept to carry him now that he could no longer
+travel on foot.
+
+The suffering and misery that he witnessed, the horrors of famine and
+of war, only seemed to redouble his zeal to win the souls of men for
+their Maker. He knew the purifying force of suffering borne for God;
+he knew also the danger of despair. These poor creatures must be
+taught at any cost to lift their hearts to God, to bear their anguish
+patiently, to remember amid what agonies the Son of God had given His
+life for them. Wherever he went, his burning words and heroic example
+infused new life and courage into the hearts of his sons and daughters
+in Christ, who, in the life of abnegation they had undertaken, had
+often good reason for despondency.
+
+Traveling in these lawless times was both difficult and dangerous, for
+the country roads were infested with robbers, but Vincent had no fear.
+He was seldom free from illness, which was sometimes increased by the
+privations he had to undergo, but he traveled on without resting.
+
+Yet, amid all the new suffering which he had to witness and relieve,
+he was always mindful of his dear poor in Paris, which was still
+besieged by the troops of Conde. He had obtained a promise from the
+Queen during their last interview to let grain be taken into the town
+to feed the starving inhabitants, but she had not had sufficient
+energy to see that it was carried out.
+
+The people were beginning to realize what they had lost in M. Vincent
+and to suspect that they had misjudged him. Hunger at last forced them
+to make terms with the Royal party, although the hated Mazarin was
+still supreme, and the Queen and her young son re-entered Paris in
+triumph.
+
+But even Anne of Austria was not so foolish as to make her entry with
+the Cardinal at her side, and during the few weeks which still elapsed
+before he made his appearance in the capital, the Queen, free for a
+moment from the evil influence that stifled all her better impulses,
+wrote to Vincent, begging him to return. He was ill at Richelieu when
+the message reached him, and the Duchess d'Aiguillon, one of the most
+devoted of his Ladies of Charity, sent a little carriage to fetch him.
+She had known him long enough, however, to be sure that his love of
+mortification would prevent him from availing himself of what he would
+certainly look upon as a luxury. The carriage was accompanied by a
+letter from the Queen and the Archbishop of Paris ordering him in
+virtue of obedience to use it in the future for all his journeys. He
+obeyed, but sorely against the grain, and as long as he was obliged to
+avail himself of it always referred to the little carriage as his
+"disgrace."
+
+"Come and see the son of a poor villager riding in a carriage," he
+would say to his friends when he took leave of them; and indeed, "M.
+Vincent's little carriage" soon became well known in Paris. It was
+always at the disposal of anyone who wanted it, and when Vincent used
+it himself it was generally shared by some of his beloved poor. The
+fact that it came in handy for taking cripples for a drive or the sick
+to the hospital was the only thing that reconciled him to its
+possession.
+
+But the troubles of the Fronde were not yet at an end, and with
+Mazarin's return to Paris the discontent broke out afresh. The people
+were glad enough during the troublous times that followed to have
+Vincent once more in their midst.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 11
+"CONFIDO"
+
+WHEN at last peace was partially restored to the country, the number
+of poor people had enormously increased, and the charities that
+already existed were unable to cope with the misery and poverty in
+Paris. It was at this time that Vincent conceived the idea of founding
+a house of refuge for old men and women who had no means of gaining a
+livelihood. The foundation was placed in the charge of the Sisters of
+Charity. Work was provided for those who were able to do it; the
+proceeds went to keep up the establishment.
+
+So successful was the venture and so happy were the poor creatures who
+found a comfortable home and kind treatment in their old age that the
+Ladies of Charity determined to found an institution on the same lines
+for all the beggars of Paris. A large piece of ground that had been
+used for the manufacture of saltpetre was accordingly obtained from
+the King, who also gave a large contribution of money toward the
+undertaking. The hospital, known as "La Salpetriere" from the use to
+which the ground had formerly been put, was soon in course of
+building, but the beggars who were destined to 1711 it, many of whom
+were worthless vagabonds, showed very little desire for being shut up
+and employed in regular work. Vincent would have preferred to begin in
+a small way with those who were willing to come in; but the Ladies of
+Charity, in their enthusiasm, declared that it would be for the
+beggars' own good to bring them in by force, and the King was of their
+opinion. The Salpetriere was soon crowded, while the sturdy rascals
+who infested the streets and begged under pretense of infirmity were
+suddenly cured at the prospect of leading a regular life and working
+for their living. Begging, at the risk of being taken off to the
+Salpetriere, soon became an unpopular occupation, and the streets of
+Paris were a good deal safer in consequence.
+
+In 1658, two years before his death, Vincent de Paul gave to the
+Congregation of Mission Priests its Rule and Constitutions. It was the
+work of God, he explained to them; there was nothing of his own in it.
+If there had been, he confessed humbly, it would only make him fearful
+lest his touch might spoil the rest. Those who listened to him and who
+had been witnesses of his long and holy life, his wisdom and his
+charity, knew better.
+
+St. Lazare was a center where all fervent souls zealous for the
+service of God and the good of others met to find counsel and
+inspiration at the feet of its holy founder. Letters from all parts of
+the world and from all kinds of people in need of help and counsel
+kept the old man continually busy during the time he was not giving
+instructions, visiting the sick, or receiving those who came to ask
+his advice. He rose at four o'clock to the very end of his life and
+spent the first hours of the day in prayer, and this in spite of the
+fact that the last years of his life were years of acute bodily
+suffering.
+
+His legs and feet, which for a long time had caused him great pain,
+became so swollen and inflamed that every step was torture. Ulcers,
+which opened and left gaping wounds, next made their appearance. It
+was said that in earlier years he had taken the place of an
+unfortunate man who had been condemned to the galleys and who was in
+consequence on the verge of despair, and that the malady from which he
+suffered had been caused by the heavy fetters with which his legs had
+been chained to the rowers' bench. It was several months, ran the
+tale, before his heroic action had been discovered and he was set at
+liberty, to bear for the rest of his life the penalty of his noble
+deed. When asked if this story were true, Vincent would change the
+subject as quickly as possible--which to those who knew how eagerly he
+always disclaimed, if he could, any action likely to bring honor to
+himself, seemed a convincing proof of its truth. With the greatest
+difficulty he was induced during the last years of his life to have a
+fire in his room and to use an extra coverlet, though he reproached
+himself bitterly in his last conferences to the Mission Priests and
+the Sisters of Charity "for this immortification."
+
+But there were sufferings harder than those of the body. Mazarin was
+still in power; the "accursed barter of bishoprics" was still going
+on; and Vincent was forced to witness the very abuses against which he
+had fought so bravely during the brief time of his influence at Court.
+
+The year 1660 brought two great sorrows: the death of M. Portail, the
+oldest and best beloved of Vincent's companions at St. Lazare, and
+that of Louise le Gras, the devoted Superior of the Sisters of Charity
+and the woman who would become known as St. Louise de Marillac. "You
+are going a little before me," he wrote to the latter when he heard
+that her life was despaired of, "but I shall meet you soon in Heaven."
+He was unable to go to her, for he could scarcely walk and was racked
+with fever. He would struggle on his crutches as far as the chapel to
+hear the Mass that he could no longer say and then go back again to
+his room, where he sat at a little table, working to the last, with a
+gentle smile of welcome for all who sought him.
+
+The letters written during the last days of Vincent's life are full of
+the same good sense, the same lucid clearness of thought, the same
+sympathy and knowledge of the human heart that always characterized
+him. Two months before his death he gathered the Sisters of Charity
+together and gave them a conference on the saintly death of their
+Superior. With touching humility he asked his dear daughters to pardon
+him for all the faults by which he might have offended them, for any
+annoyance that his "want of polish" might have caused them, and he
+thanked them for their faithful cooperation in all his schemes of
+charity.
+
+It was now such agony for him to walk to the chapel that his sons
+begged him to allow them to fit up a little oratory next to his room
+where Mass might be said, but Vincent would not hear of it. Then they
+implored him to allow himself to be carried in a chair, but, unwilling
+to give others the trouble of carrying him, he evaded the question
+until six weeks before his death, when he could no longer support
+himself on his crutches. During the nights of anguish, when his
+tortured limbs could find no rest on the hard straw mattress which he
+could never be prevailed upon to change for something softer, no
+complaint ever passed his lips. "My Saviour, my dear Saviour" was his
+only exclamation. On the days that followed these sleepless nights of
+pain, he was always smiling and serene. In spite of the weakness that
+oppressed him, he had help, advice and sympathy for everybody.
+
+His reward was close at hand. On the 26th of September, 1660, having
+been carried to the chapel for Mass and Holy Communion, he was taken
+back to his room, where he fell asleep in his chair from sheer
+exhaustion, as he had so often done before. The brother who had charge
+of him, thinking that he slept longer and more heavily than usual,
+awakened him and spoke to him. Vincent smiled and answered, but
+instantly fell asleep again. The doctor was sent for, and roused him
+again. Once more the same bright smile lit up the old face; he
+answered, but had not sufficient strength to speak more than a few
+words. In the evening they gave him the Last Sacraments, and he passed
+the night in silent prayer. In the early morning one of the priests
+who belonged to the "Conferences," and who was making a retreat in the
+house, asked the dying man to bless all the priests for whom he had
+done so much and to pray that his spirit might be with them. "May God,
+who began the good work, bring it to perfection," was the humble
+answer.
+
+A little later he was heard to murmur softly, "_Confido_"--"I trust";
+and with these words on his lips, as a child puts its hand into that
+of his Father, he gently gave up his soul to God.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of St. Vincent de Paul, by
+F.A. [Frances Alice] Forbes
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