Part 16

In Paris the congregations had no mercy on purely clerical logic or clerical taste; if a preacher wished to catch their ear, he must manage to address them in terms they would agree to consider sensible and well-bred. Not that Bossuet thought too much of their good opinion. Having very stern ideas of the dignity of a priest, he refused to descend to the usual devices for arousing popular interest. The narrative element in his sermons grows shorter with each year. He never drew satirical pictures, like his great rival Bourdaloue. He would not write out his discourses in full, much less learn them off by heart: of the two hundred printed in his _Works_ all but a fraction are rough drafts. No wonder ladies like Mme de Sevigne forsook him, when Bourdaloue dawned on the Paris horizon in 1669; though Fenelon and La Bruyere, two much sounder critics, refused to follow their example. Bossuet possessed the full equipment of the orator, voice, language, flexibility and strength. He never needed to strain for effect; his genius struck out at a single blow the thought, the feeling and the word. What he said of Martin Luther applies peculiarly to himself: he could "fling his fury into theses," and thus unite the dry light of argument with the fire and heat of passion. These qualities reach their highest point in the _Oraisons funebres_. Bossuet was always best when at work on a large canvas; besides, here no conscientious scruples intervened to prevent him giving much time and thought to the artistic side of his subject. For the _Oraison_, as its name betokened, stood midway between the sermon proper and what would nowadays be called a biographical sketch. At least, that was what Bossuet made it; for on this field he stood not merely first, but alone. His three great masterpieces were delivered at the funerals of Henrietta Maria, widow of Charles I. (1669), her daughter, Henrietta, duchess of Orleans (1670), and the great soldier Conde (1687).

Apart from these state occasions, Bossuet seldom appeared in a Paris pulpit after 1669. In that year he was gazetted bishop of Condom in Gascony, though he resigned the charge on being appointed tutor to the dauphin, only child of Louis XIV., and now a boy of nine (1670). The choice was scarcely fortunate. Bossuet unbent as far as he could, but his genius was by no means fitted to enter into the feelings of a child; and the dauphin was a cross, ungainly, sullen lad, who grew up to be a merely genealogical incident at his father's court. Probably no one was happier than the tutor, when his charge's sixteenth birthday came round, and he was promptly married off to a Bavarian princess. Still the nine years at court were by no means wasted. Hitherto Bossuet had published nothing, except his answer to Ferry. Now he sat down to write for his pupil's instruction--or rather, to fit himself to give that instruction--a remarkable trilogy. First came the _Traite de la connaissance de Dieu et de soi-meme_, then the _Discours sur l'histoire universelle_, lastly the _Politique tiree de l'Ecriture Sainte_. The three books fit into each other. The _Traite_ is a general sketch of the nature of God and the nature of man. The _Discours_ is a history of God's dealings with humanity in the past. The _Politique_ is a code of rights and duties drawn up in the light thrown by those dealings. Not that Bossuet literally supposed that the last word of political wisdom had been said by the Old Testament. His conclusions are only "drawn from Holy Scripture," because he wished to gain the highest possible sanction for the institutions of his country--to hallow the France of Louis XIV. by proving its astonishing likeness to the Israel of Solomon. Then, too, the veil of Holy Scripture enabled him to speak out more boldly than court-etiquette would have otherwise allowed, to remind the son of Louis XIV. that kings have duties as well as rights. Louis had often forgotten these duties, but Louis' son would bear them in mind. The tutor's imagination looked forward to a time when France would blossom into Utopia, with a Christian philosopher on the throne. That is what made him so stalwart a champion of authority in all its forms: _"le roi, Jesus-Christ et l'Eglise, Dieu en ces trois noms"_, he says in a characteristic letter. And the object of his books is to provide authority with a rational basis. For Bossuet's worship of authority by no means killed his confidence in reason; what it did was to make him doubt the honesty of those who reasoned otherwise than himself. The whole chain of argument seemed to him so clear and simple. Philosophy proved that a God exists, and that He shapes and governs the course of human affairs. History showed that this governance is, for the most part, indirect, exercised through certain venerable corporations, as well civil as ecclesiastical, all of which demand implicit obedience as the immediate representatives of God. Thus all revolt, whether civil or religious, is a direct defiance of the Almighty. Cromwell becomes a moral monster, and the revocation of the edict of Nantes is "the greatest achievement of the second Constantine." Not that Bossuet glorified the _status quo_ simply as a clerical bigot. The France of his youth had known the misery of divided counsels and civil war; the France of his manhood, brought together under an absolute sovereign, had suddenly shot up into a splendour only comparable with ancient Rome. Why not, then, strain every nerve to hold innovation at bay and prolong that splendour for all time? Bossuet's own _Discours sur l'histoire universelle_ might have furnished an answer, for there the fall of many empires is detailed. But then the _Discours_ was composed under a single preoccupation. To Bossuet the establishment of Christianity was the one point of real importance in the whole history of the world. Over Mahomet and the East he passed without a word; on Greece and Rome he only touched in so far as they formed part of the _Praeparatio Evangelica_. And yet his _Discours_ is far more than a theological pamphlet. Pascal, in utter scorn for science, might refer the rise and fall of empires to Providence or chance--the nose of Cleopatra, or "a little grain of sand" in the English lord protector's veins. Bossuet held fast to his principle that God works through secondary causes. "It is His will that every great change should have its roots in the ages that went before it." Bossuet, accordingly, made a heroic attempt to grapple with origins and causes, and in this way his book deserves its place as one of the very first of philosophic histories.

From writing history he turned to history in the making. In 1681 he was gazetted bishop of Meaux; but before he could take possession of his see, he was drawn into a violent quarrel between Louis XIV. and the pope (see GALLICANISM). Here he found himself between two fires. To support the pope meant supporting the Jesuits; and he hated their casuists and _devotion aisee_ almost as much as Pascal himself. To oppose the pope was to play into the hands of Louis, who was frankly anxious to humble the Church before the State. So Bossuet steered a middle course. Before the general assembly of the French clergy he preached a great sermon on the unity of the Church, and made it a magnificent plea for compromise. As Louis insisted on his clergy making an anti-papal declaration, Bossuet got leave to draw it up, and made it as moderate as he could. And when the pope declared it null and void, he set to work on a gigantic _Defensio Cleri Gallicani_, only published after his death.

The Gallican storm a little abated, he turned back to a project very near his heart. Ever since the early days at Metz he had been busy with schemes for uniting the Huguenots to the Roman Church. In 1668 he converted Turenne; in 1670 he published an _Exposition de la foi catholique_, so moderate in tone that adversaries were driven to accuse him of having fraudulently watered down the Roman dogmas to suit a Protestant taste. Finally in 1688 appeared his great _Histoire des variations des eglises protestantes_, perhaps the most brilliant of all his works. Few writers could have made the Justification controversy interesting or even intelligible. His argument is simple enough. Without rules an organized society cannot hold together, and rules require an authorized interpreter. The Protestant churches had thrown over this interpreter; and Bossuet had small trouble in showing that, the longer they lived, the more they varied on increasingly important points. For the moment the Protestants were pulverized; but before long they began to ask whether variation was necessarily so great an evil. Between 1691 and 1701 Bossuet corresponded with Leibnitz with a view to reunion, but negotiations broke down precisely at this point. Individual Roman doctrines Leibnitz thought his countrymen might accept, but he flatly refused to guarantee that they would necessarily believe to-morrow what they believe to-day. "We prefer," he said, "a church eternally variable and for ever moving forwards." Next, Protestant writers began to accumulate some startling proofs of Rome's own variations; and here they were backed up by Richard Simon, a priest of the Paris Oratory, and the father of Biblical criticism in France. He accused St Augustine, Bossuet's own special master, of having corrupted the primitive doctrine of Grace. Bossuet set to work on a _Defense de la tradition_, but Simon calmly went on to raise issues graver still. Under a veil of politely ironical circumlocutions, such as did not deceive the bishop of Meaux, he claimed his right to interpret the Bible like any other book. Bossuet denounced him again and again; Simon told his friends he would wait until "the old fellow" was no more. Another Oratorian proved more dangerous still. Simon had endangered miracles by applying to them lay rules of evidence, but Malebranche abrogated miracles altogether. It was blasphemous, he argued, to suppose that the Author of nature would break through a reign of law He had Himself established. Bossuet might scribble _nova, mira, falsa_, in the margins of his book and urge on Fenelon to attack them; Malebranche politely met his threats by saying that to be refuted by such a pen would do him too much honour. These repeated checks soured Bossuet's temper. In his earlier controversies he had borne himself with great magnanimity, and the Huguenot ministers he refuted found him a kindly advocate at court. Even his approval of the revocation of the edict of Nantes stopped far short of approving dragonades within his diocese of Meaux. But now his patience was wearing out. A dissertation by one Father Caffaro, an obscure Italian monk, became his excuse for writing certain violent _Maximes sur la comedie_ (1694) wherein he made an outrageous attack on the memory of Moliere, dead more than twenty years. Three years later he was battling with Fenelon over the love of God, and employing methods of controversy at least as odious as Fenelon's own (1697-1699). All that can be said in his defence is that Fenelon, four-and-twenty years his junior, was an old pupil, who had suddenly grown into a rival; and that on the matter of principle most authorities thought him right.

Amid these gloomy occupations Bossuet's life came slowly to an end. Till he was over seventy he had scarcely known what illness was; but in 1702 he was attacked by the stone. Two years later he was a hopeless invalid, and on the 12th of April 1704 he passed quietly away. Of his private life there is little to record. Meaux found him an excellent and devoted bishop, much more attentive to diocesan concerns than his more stirring occupations would seem to allow. In general society he was kindly and affable enough, though somewhat ill at ease. Until he was over forty, he had lived among purely ecclesiastical surroundings; and it was probably want of self-confidence, more than want of moral courage, that made him shut his eyes a little too closely to the disorders of Louis XIV.'s private life. After all, he was not the king's confessor; and to "reform" Louis, before age and Mme de Maintenon had sobered him down, would have taxed the powers of Daniel or Ezekiel. But in his books Bossuet was anything but timid. All of them, even the attacks on Simon, breathe an air of masculine belief in reason, rare enough among the apologists of any age. Bossuet would willingly have undertaken, as Malebranche actually undertook, to make an intelligent Chinaman accept all his ideas, if only he could be induced to lend them his attention. But his best praise is to have brought all the powers of language to paint an undying picture of a vanished world, where religion and letters, laws and science, were conceived of as fixed unalterable planets, circling for ever round one central Sun.

AUTHORITIES.--The best edition of Bossuet's sermons is the _OEuvres oratoires de Bossuet_, edited by Abbe Lebarq, in 6 vols. (Paris, 1890-1896). His complete works were edited by Lachat, in 31 vols. (Paris, 1862-1864). A complete list of the innumerable works relating to him will be found in the _Bossuet_ number of the _Bibliotheque des bibliographies critiques_, compiled by Canon Charles Urbain, and published by the Societe des Etudes Historiques (Paris, 1900). The general reader will find all he requires in the respective studies of M. Rebelliau, _Bossuet_ (Paris, 1900), and M. Gustave Lanson, _Bossuet_ (Paris, 1901). In English there is a modest _Bossuet_ by Mrs Sidney Lear (London, 1874), and two remarkable studies by Sir J. Fitz-James Stephen in the second volume of his _Horae Sabbaticae_ (London, 1892). (St. C.)

BOSTANAI, the name of the first exilarch under Mahommedan rule, in the middle of the 7th century. The exilarchs had their seat in Persia, and were practically the secular heads of the Jewish community in the Orient.

BOSTON, THOMAS (1676-1732), Scottish divine, was born at Duns on the 17th of March 1676. His father, John Boston, and his mother, Alison Trotter, were both Covenanters. He was educated at Edinburgh, and licensed in 1697 by the presbytery of Chirnside. In 1699 he became minister of the small parish of Simprin, where there were in all "not more than 90 examinable persons." In 1704 he found, while visiting a member of his flock, a book which had been brought into Scotland by a commonwealth soldier. This was the famous _Marrow of Modern Divinity_, by Edward Fisher, a compendium of the opinions of leading Reformation divines on the doctrine of grace and the offer of the Gospel. Its object was to demonstrate the unconditional freeness of the Gospel. It cleared away such conditions as repentance, or some degree of outward or inward reformation, and argued that where Christ is heartily received, full repentance and a new life follow. On Boston's recommendation, Hog of Carnock reprinted _The Marrow_ in 1718; and Boston also published an edition with notes of his own. The book, being attacked from the standpoint of high Calvinism, became the standard of a far-reaching movement in Scottish Presbyterianism. The "Marrow men" were marked by the zeal of their service and the effect of their preaching. As they remained Calvinists they could not preach a universal atonement; they were in fact extreme particular redemptionists. In 1707 Boston was translated to Ettrick. He distinguished himself by being the only member of the assembly who entered a protest against what he deemed the inadequate sentence passed on John Simson, professor of divinity at Glasgow, who was accused of heterodox teaching on the Incarnation. He died on the 20th of May 1732. His books, _The Fourfold State, The Crook in the Lot_, and his _Body of Divinity_ and _Miscellanies_, long exercised a powerful influence over the Scottish peasantry.

His _Memoirs_ were published in 1776 (ed. G.D. Low, 1908). An edition of his works in 12 volumes appeared in 1849. (D. Mn.)

BOSTON, a municipal and parliamentary borough and seaport of Lincolnshire, England, on the river Witham, 4 m. from its mouth in the Wash, 107 m. N. of London by the Great Northern railway. Pop. (1901) 15,667. It lies in a flat agricultural fen district, drained by numerous cuts, some of which are navigable. The church of St Botolph is a superb Decorated building, one of the largest and finest parish churches in the kingdom. A Decorated chapel in it, formerly desecrated, was restored to sacred use by citizens of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., in 1857, in memory of the connexion of that city with the English town. The western tower, commonly known as Boston Stump, forms a landmark for 40 m. Its foundations were the first to be laid of the present church (which is on the site of an earlier one), but the construction was arrested until the Perpendicular period, of the work of which it is a magnificent example. It somewhat resembles the completed tower of Antwerp cathedral, and is crowned by a graceful octagonal lantern, the whole being nearly 290 ft. in height. The church of Skirbeck, 1 m. south-east, though extensively restored, retains good Early English details. Other buildings of interest are the guildhall, a 15th-century structure of brick; Shodfriars Hall, a half-timbered house adjacent to slight remains of a Dominican priory; the free grammar school, founded in 1554, with a fine gateway of wrought iron of the 17th century brought from St Botolph's church; and the Hussey Tower of brick, part of a mansion of the 16th century. Public institutions include a people's park and large municipal buildings (1904).

As a port Boston was of ancient importance, but in the 18th century the river had silted up so far as to exclude vessels exceeding about 50 tons. In 1882-1884 a dock some 7 acres in extent was constructed, with an entrance lock giving access to the quay sides for vessels of 3000 tons. The bed of the river was deepened to 27 ft. for 3 m. below the town, and a new cut of 3 m. was made from the mouth into deep water. An iron swing-bridge connects the dock with the Great Northern railway. There is a repairing slipway accommodating vessels of 800 tons. Imports, principally timber, grain, cotton and linseed, increased owing to these improvements from L116,179 in 1881 to L816,698 in 1899; and exports (coal, machinery and manufactured goods) from L83,000 in 1883 to L261,873 in 1899. The deep-sea and coastal fisheries are important. Engineering, oil-cake, tobacco, sail and rope works are the principal industries in the town. Boston returns one member to parliament. The parliamentary borough falls within the Holland or Spalding division of the county. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 2727 acres.

Boston (Icanhoe, St Botolph or Botolph's Town) derives its name from St Botolph, who in 654 founded a monastery here, which was destroyed by the Danes, 870. Although not mentioned in Domesday, Boston was probably granted as part of Skirbeck to Alan, earl of Brittany. The excellent commercial position of the town at the mouth of the Witham explains its speedy rise into importance. King John by charter of 1204 granted the bailiff of Boston sole jurisdiction in the town. By the 13th century it was a great commercial centre second only to London in paying L780 for two years to the fifteenth levied in 1205, and Edward III. made it a staple port for wool in 1369. The Hanseatic and Flemish merchants largely increased its prosperity, but on the withdrawal of the Hanseatic League about 1470 and the break-up of the gild system Boston's prosperity began to wane, and for some centuries it remained almost without trade. Nevertheless it was raised to the rank of a free borough by Henry VIII.'s charter of 1546, confirmed by Edward VI. in 1547, by Mary in 1553, by Elizabeth (who granted a court of admiralty) in 1558 and 1573, and by James I. in 1608. Boston sent members to the great councils in 1337, 1352 and 1353; and from 1552 to 1885 two members were returned to each parliament. The Redistribution Act 1885 reduced the representation to one member. In 1257 a market was granted to the abbot of Crowland and in 1308 to John, earl of Brittany. The great annual mart was held before 1218 and attended by many German and other merchants. Two annual fairs and two weekly markets were granted by Henry VIII.'s charter, and are still held. The Great Mart survives only in the Beast Mart held on the 11th of December.

See Pishey Thompson, _History and Antiquities of Boston and the Hundred of Skirbeck_ (Boston, 1856); George Jebb, _Guide to the Church of St Botolph, with Notes on the History of Boston; Victoria County History: Lincolnshire_.