The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-02 00:00:00

I to nanny qualities of mind and heart. His very up-
rearance and manner must have conduced
greatly to the impression which he produced.
No one can look upon the soft, bright face
which is preserved in his portrait without feel-
ing that it is animated and irradiated by a soul
which must find its way to the hearts of others.
The clear bright eye, the fine features, the intelli-
gence which reigns over the whole, above all, the
sweetness of expression, present altogether an in-
fluence which is well-nigh irresistible. If we add
to this a mellifluous flaw of language, it will be
apparent that he possessed ail the physical qualities
which go to make a first•rate orator. But it was
not entirely, or perhaps chiefly, from these that he
derived his influence. The foundation of his power
must be sought in the reality and depth of his
religious convictions, in the affection which he
cherished for his fellow-men, in his earnest love of
souls, which appears perhaps more strikingly in
his letters than in Es Conferences, which were
mainly of a controversial character, in his tender
love for Jesus Christ, a love which amounted to a
passion. His Conference on Jesus Christ, delivered
in 1546, are considered by many the most marvel-
lous fruits of his eloquence. (esurres, tom. 3.)
" Faith and love," he once said, " have no need of
genius : they speak and all the world recognises
them." That he possessed faith and love those
who knew him never doubted : that he added to
these the natural gift of genius, his works still
testify. Without doubt also his custom of impro-
visation, extempore preaching in the strict sense of
the word, had much to do with his successes.
He prepared his discourses rapldly, but with in-
tense application at the time; but he did not write
them. M. Montalembert, who gives us this infor-
malion, states that the conferences, which were
taken down in shorthand and published the same
week in the form in which we now possess them,
received very few corrections from his hand.
The faults of his oratory were such as resulted
from his literary tastes and his historical informa-
tion. His historical illustrations are mostly drawn
from Cornelius Nepos and the " De Viris," and from
the classical authors that he committed to memory
in his youth. Mediaeval history he had not suffi-
ciently studied. Brutus and Socrates, Epaminundas
and Scipio seem to have done the same duty in his
sermons as Hannibal in the essays of our own
public school-boys. Montalembert farther re-
marks that he was given to common-places. In his
striking sermon on " Humility," he makes use of
the expression sa often quoted: " Par la grace de
Dieu j'ai honneur du lien commun," and his friend
says that he never more deceived himself than in
thinking so. But his faults were few compared
with his excellencies, and it is impossible to study '
his published discourses without feeling that we
are in contact wiih a master. Above all, the felt
power of his preaching and the influence which it
actually produced on his audience, were great and
lasting beyond those of any living preacher. Those
whose knowledge of Lacordaire is gained frombooks
are every day receiving fresh accessions to their store)
and his life as a priest and a monk is promised by
a brother Dominican, Father Chocame. All such
contributions to the religious history of the times
will be most valueable. " Two generations of this
century," says the Abbe Perreyve, " have known
him, and have listened to the incomparable majesty
of his word. Many men have approached him as
priest ; several have received from his lips the name
of friend ; some have been to him what a son is to
a father, and will long feel in their hearts the shock
of his premature death. Such and many besides
who have received a healthful impulse from his
writings will welcome all trustworthy additions to
tht: history of his life, works, and character. In
.he me,:itime, M. de Montalembert deserves the
thanks of ev ry student of contemporaneous Church
.2
history, not to se) every Christian, for a memoir
not only remarkable for its literary excellence,
but equally so as the offer of pious affection and
gratitude.