A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Labrouse, Clotilde Suzette Courcelles
LABROUSE, CLOTILDE SUZETTE COURCELLES,
A Celebrated French visionary, was born May 8th., 1747, of respectable parents, in the town of Vauxains, in Perigord, in the department of Dordogne. From the age of four she displayed deep religious fervour, and her greatest happiness was in the performance of her religious duties, to which, notwithstanding the remonstrances of her mother, and the raillery of her young companions, she devoted the most of her time. From her earliest years she regarded herself as an especial instrument to make known the will of God. She fasted, wore a girdle lined with sharp points, slept on the floor in winter, cut off her beautiful hair, and gave up music, of which she was very fond. She had offers of marriage from a young man of great piety and immense fortune, whom she liked, but refused to marry, as she said an internal voice commanded her to do, that she might not fail in the great mission which had devolved on her.
Her strongest desire was to travel to convert mankind, but this she was prevented from doing till 1779; she then escaped from her home, and arrived safely in Paris, where she passed some time under the protection of the Duchess de Bourbon. Here she was visited by ail classes of people, and regarded as a prophetess. She predicted various events, and carried on a profound argument with the Abbé Maury, in which she came off victorious. Leaving Paris, where she had been very successful, she returned to Perigord, and went from there to Rome, to convert the pope and cardinals "to the principles of liberty and equality; of the civil constitution of the clergy; and to persuade the pope to abdicate his temporal power." Suzette preached at the different places through which she passed; but when she reached Boulogne, in October, 1792, she was ordered by the pope's legate to leave the city. She took refuge in Viterbo; but the pope had her seized, and confined in the castle of San Angelo. She was not ill-treated, however, and when the Directory, in 1796, requested her liberation, she replied that she did not wish to leave Italy till 1800, when she had predicted that there would be a sign in heaven which would open the eyes of the pope himself. But when the French took Rome, in 1798, she returned to Paris, where she was surrounded by a number of disciples, although the year 1800 passed without the sign. Her followers, many of whom were learned men, remained steadfast, however, and Suzette continued to have visions till she was seventy-four. She died in 1821. Pontard, Bishop of Paris, remained faithful to her to the last,