ARNAULD
744
ARNAULD
condemned this proposition; "Jansenism is a phan-
tom", as false, scandalous, rash, injurious to the
French Clergy, to the Sovereign Pontiff, to the Uni-
versal Church"; as "schismatical, and favouring the
condemned errors". Arnauld died at BriLssels, at
the age of eighty-two. Nicole, who had accompanied
him into exile, had, by revising his writings, kept him
for a time within the bounds of moderation, but
when Nicole was replaced by Father Quesnel of the
Oratory, Arnauld allowed himself all the extremes of
lanu;uage, and his passion for polemics was given full
scope. He died in the arras of Quesnel, who ad-
ministered Extreme Unction and the Viaticum, al-
though he had no power to do so. He was interred
privately, and his heart taken to Port-Royal. Boi-
leau, Racine, and Santeuil composed for him epitaphs
which have become famous. Arnauld's w-orks are
classed under five heads: on belles-lettres and phi-
losophy; on grace; controversial works against Protes-
tants; those against the Jesuits; on Holy Scripture.
The mass of his wTitings is enormous, and seldom
read to-day. There is no pretence at style. He was
a learned man and a subtle logician, but he entirely
ignored the art of persuading and pleasing, and his
erroneous teachings mar his best pages. His "Gram-
maire gen^rale", and "Logique" are the works most
easily read.
II. Jacqueline-Marie-.\ngelique Arnauld, sis- ter of the preceding, b. 1591, d. 6 August, 1661, was the third of the twenty children of Antoine Arnauld. While still a child she showed great keenness of in- tellect and wonderful endowments in mind, will, and character. To please her grandfather Marion, the advocate, she consented to become a religious, but only on condition that she be made abbess. At the age of eight (1599) she took the habit of a Benedic- tine novice at the monastery of Saint-Antoine in Paris. She was soon transferred (1600) to the Abbey of Maubuisson, ruled by Ang^lique d'Esti^es, sister of the beautiful Gabrielle d'Estr^es, mistress of Henry IV. The child was brought up in liberty, luxury, and ignorance, and was left entirely to her own im- petuous and fantastic impulses. At Confirmation she took the name Ang^lique, in compliment to the ab- bess, and gave up that of Jacqueline, which she had hitherto borne. A reprehensible fraud of the Ar- naulds obtained from Rome abbatial bulls for An- gi51ique, then eleven years of age. She was named coadjutrix to the Abbess of Port^Royal (1602) and continued to live, as she had lived before, without serious irregularities, but also without religious fer- vour. Her days were taken up with walks, profane reading, and visits outside the monastery, all of which could not prevent a deadly ennui which nothing could dispel. "Instead of praying", she tells us, "I set myself to read novels and Roman history". She felt drawn by no call. Too proud to retrace her steps, at the age of .seventeen she confirmed the promise made at eight and, " bursting with spite", signed a formula her father placed before her, which was to forge on her forever the heavy chain of a vocation imposed on her. A sermon preached by a visiting Franciscan (1608) was the occasion of her conversion. She re.solved to change her mode of life at once, and to effect a reform in her monastery. She began with her.self, and determined, despite every obstacle, to follow the rules of her order in all their rigour. She had infinite trouble in encompassing the reform of Port-Royal, but she succeeded, and such was the steadfastness of the young abbess that she closed the doors of the monastery to her own father and brothers despite their indignant protests. This wa-s the "day of the grating" which remained famous in the annals of Jansenism. After the reform of Port-Royal, Mc-re Ang(;iique undertook to recall to a regular life the abbey of Maubuisson, six leagues from Paris, where scandals were frequent. .\ng<v
lique d'Estrdes, the abbess, led such a life that her
sister Gabrielle reproached her as being " the dis-
grace of our house". It is impossible to tell in a
few lines what patience, courage, and gentle, per-
sistent firmness were necessary to bring about this
reform. Mere .\ng61ique was guided and sustained
at this time by St. Francis de Sales. She even
thought of abandoning the crosier to enter the Visi-
tation Order, which the saint had just founded. She
was one of those characters, however, who yield be-
fore those they consider superiors, but stand firm
and immovable in the face of others. The saint
understanding her, gently diverted her from this
project. The years that followed (1620-30) were
the best years for Port-Royal, years of regularity,
prayer, and true happiness. There were many nov-
ices; the reputation of the abbey went far and wide.
In 1625, thinking that the valley of Port-Royal was
unhealthy for her religious, Mi-re Ang^lique estab-
lished them all in Paris, in the Faubourg Saint-
Jacques. It was at this time that the abbess made the
acquaintance of Zamet, Bishop of Langres, who had
reformed the Benedictine .\bbey of Tai-d, near Dijon,
and was thinking of founding an order in honour of
the Blessed Sacrament. He considered the fusion of
the two monasteries an opportunity sent by Provi-
dence. He broached it to the abbess, who agreed
to the project, and together they began the erection
of a new monastery near the Louvre. The bishop's
sumptuous taste, however, contrasted with the ab-
bess's spirit of austere poverty. Mi" re Angdlique,
being self-willed to the point of falling ill when op-
posed, wished to have it built according to her ideas
and to impose her will on those around her. She
was replaced as abbess, although it was her sister
Agnfs who was elected .4bbess of Tard. Even when
second in rank Ang^lique gave as much trouble,
when the "affair of the Secret Chaplet" caused a
diversion. The " Secret Cliaplet " was a term used
to designate a mystical treatise of twenty pages
composed by M6re .4gnes, sister of Angclique, in
which the Sacrament of Love was represented as
terrible, formidable, and inaccessible. This little
book was disturbing, on account of the false spiritual
tendencies it revealed, and it was condemned by
the Sorbonne (18 June, 1633). For the first time
Port-Royal was looke 1 on with suspicion, as having
clouded the integrity of its doctrine. Nevertheless
an anonymous champion had issued a brochure in
apology of the "Chaplet". which caused a tremen-
dous scandal. The author was soon known to be
Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, Abb6 of Snint-Cyran.
Mere .4ng61ique had known the Abbd for ten years,
in the character of a family friend, but she felt no
sympathy whatever with his teachings. From 1633,
however, she took sides with him, introduced him
into her community, and made him the confessor of
her religious and the oracle of the house. The
Bishop of Langres tried in vain to displace him. but
Angdlique entrenched herself deeper in obstinacy.
This marks the separation between Tard and Port-
Royal; from this time, also, the history of Mi^re
Angdlique is merged with that of Jansenism. Saint-
Cyran became master of Port-Royal. He took away
the sacraments, blinded .souls, and subjugated wills.
To dispute his ideas w.is rci^anled :is a crime deserving
of punishment. About the monastery were groupeil
twelve men of the world, most of them of the family
of .\rnauld, who led a life of penance and were called
the "Solitaries of Port-Royal". Further, M^re .\n-
gC'liipic had gathered under her crosier her five .sisters
and many <>f her nieces. It may be said with truth
that tlie Port-Royal of the .seventeenth century was
her creation. With Saiiil-Cyriui it Ix'came a centre of
alarming error. Richelii'U urulerstood this, ,ind caused
the arrest (15 May, 1(')3,S) of the dangerous Abb<^,
and his confinement in the prison at Vincennes
