239. Antoine Arnauld. Theologian and Controversialist.
[Born in Paris, 1612. Died at Brussels, 1694. Aged 82.]
A learned and fierce polemic, whose consistency was as perfect as his spirit was bitter, and whose defiance of conflict and danger was as insolent as his private life was blameless. His happiness consisted in spiritual warfare. He established himself spokesman of the Jansenists. When he was ten years old he was heard to say to Cardinal Perron, “With this pen I, like you, will write against the Huguenots.” He commenced the labours of his life by an attack upon the Jesuits. Taking active part in all the angry discussion respecting grace, he published two “Apologies” in favour of Jansenius, which drew upon him the censure of the Sorbonne, and compelled him to retire to Port Royal, where he remained for the space of twelve years. Returning to Paris in 1668, he plunged immediately into the seething waters of controversy, and was again forced into exile. Fifteen years afterwards, we find him, as furious as ever, attacking the doctrine of Malebranche respecting the grace and vision of God. At his own request, his much-agitated heart, after it had ceased to beat, was sent to be deposited in the Port Royal. Forty-eight volumes remain to attest the intensity of his religious prejudices, the depth and extent of his learning, his violent love of wrangling, and his restless and unwearied industry. We sigh over the waste of power and the misuse of fine material.
240. Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban. Engineer.
[Born at St.-Léger de Foucheret, in Burgundy, 1633. Died 1707. Aged 74.]
Of poor parents, but well descended. At the age of seventeen, entered the army of Condé, in Spain, then fighting against France. Taken prisoner in 1653, he went over to the French army, and received his commission as lieutenant of engineers. His rise was as rapid as his services were great. At the age of twenty-five, he conducted the sieges of Gravelines, Ypres, and Oudenarde. He gave the most valuable help in all the campaigns of Holland and Flanders, from 1667 to 1703; and in 1703 was created Marshal of France. His contributions to the science of fortification have celebrated his name. He was not only a great builder, but a shrewd observer, and knew better than any of his contemporaries how to avail himself, whether in defence, or in attack, of the circumstances by which he was surrounded, and of the opportunities and conditions of his time. To him we owe the system of parallel lines, which he introduced before the city of Maestricht. At the siege of Philisbourg, he invented the “tir à ricochet,” in which the ball, making a series of bounds, strikes several times along works against which it is directed. He also invented the musket, in which the match served in lieu of the cover to the pan. He afterwards armed the musket with the bayonet. He vastly improved the system of inundations, that most useful element of self-defence. His engineering appliances during his long and indefatigable service were inexhaustible. It is affirmed on authority, that he repaired three hundred old fortresses, constructed thirty-three new works, conducted fifty-three sieges, and was present at a hundred and forty severe engagements. He also left behind him twelve folio volumes on Strategetics, entitled “Idle Hours.” Vauban was beloved by the soldiery, for whose safety he was always careful. His humanity is otherwise known by his endeavour to procure from the king, his master, the restoration of the Edict of Nantes. To that king he was deeply attached; although to him, as well as to every other man, he was blunt in the expression of what he believed to be truth,—straightforward and manly. He has been called the prince of engineers, and the best of subjects.
241. Joseph Pitton de Tournefort. Botanist.
[Born at Aix, in Provence, 1656. Died 1708. Aged 52.]
Educated by the Jesuits, and intended originally for the Church; but upon the death of his father he made several botanical excursions, and finally devoted his days to the prosecution of his darling pursuit. He visited England, Spain, and Holland. Tournefort did much towards the foundation of a scientific botany. His special service was in distinguishing plants from one another, and in preparing them by classification for the handling of the more philosophic student. Like the other botanists of his time, he had his own system of classification. He was one of the first thinkers upon the geographical distribution of plants. In 1700, he pursued his inquiries in the Levant, whence he brought home, after protracted and perilous wandering, no fewer than 1356 new plants. He published his “Travels in the Levant” upon his return to France.
242. Charles Rollin. Historian.