Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
100% found this document useful (1 vote)
40 views

(eBook PDF) Starting Out with Java: From Control Structures through Data Structures 4th Edition download

The document provides information about the eBook 'Starting Out with Java: From Control Structures through Data Structures, 4th Edition' by Tony Gaddis and Godfrey Muganda, including links to download the book and other related titles. It also includes details about the book's content, structure, and various chapters covering fundamental Java programming concepts. Additionally, it contains copyright information and acknowledgments related to the publication.

Uploaded by

eltonpolaypg
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
100% found this document useful (1 vote)
40 views

(eBook PDF) Starting Out with Java: From Control Structures through Data Structures 4th Edition download

The document provides information about the eBook 'Starting Out with Java: From Control Structures through Data Structures, 4th Edition' by Tony Gaddis and Godfrey Muganda, including links to download the book and other related titles. It also includes details about the book's content, structure, and various chapters covering fundamental Java programming concepts. Additionally, it contains copyright information and acknowledgments related to the publication.

Uploaded by

eltonpolaypg
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 51

(eBook PDF) Starting Out with Java: From Control

Structures through Data Structures 4th Edition


download

https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-starting-out-with-java-
from-control-structures-through-data-structures-4th-edition/

Download full version ebook from https://ebooksecure.com


We believe these products will be a great fit for you. Click
the link to download now, or visit ebooksecure.com
to discover even more!

(eBook PDF) Starting Out with Java: From Control


Structures through Data Structures 3rd Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-starting-out-with-java-
from-control-structures-through-data-structures-3rd-edition/

(eBook PDF) Starting Out with Java: From Control


Structures through Objects, 7th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-starting-out-with-java-
from-control-structures-through-objects-7th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Starting Out with C++: From Control


Structures through Objects 8th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-starting-out-with-c-
from-control-structures-through-objects-8th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Starting Out with C++: From Control


Structures through Objects, Brief Version 8th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-starting-out-with-c-
from-control-structures-through-objects-brief-version-8th-
edition/
(eBook PDF) Starting Out with C++ from Control
Structures to Objects 9th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-starting-out-with-c-
from-control-structures-to-objects-9th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Data Structures and Abstractions with Java


4th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-data-structures-and-
abstractions-with-java-4th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Data Structures and Abstractions with Java


4th Global Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-data-structures-and-
abstractions-with-java-4th-global-edition/

Data Structures and Abstractions with Java 5th Edition


(eBook PDF)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/data-structures-and-abstractions-
with-java-5th-edition-ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Data Structures and Other Objects Using


Java 4th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-data-structures-and-
other-objects-using-java-4th-edition/
STARTING OUT WITH JAVA™
From Control Structures through Data Structures

FOURTH EDITION

Tony Gaddis

Haywood Community College

Godfrey Muganda

North Central College

330 Hudson Street, NY NY 10013


Senior Vice President Courseware Portfolio Management: Marcia J.
Horton

Director, Portfolio Management: Engineering, Computer Science & Global


Editions: Julian Partridge

Portfolio Manager: Matt Goldstein

Portfolio Management Assistant: Meghan Jacoby

Product Marketing Manager: Yvonne Vannatta

Field Marketing Manager: Demetrius Hall

Marketing Assistant: Jon Bryant

Managing Content Producer: Scott Disanno

Content Producer: Amanda Brands

Inventory Manager: Bruce Boundy

Manufacturing Buyer, Higher Ed, Lake Side Communications, Inc.


(LSC): Maura Zaldivar-Garcia

Cover Designer: Joyce Wells

Cover Image: phloen/Alamy Stock Photo

Manager, Rights Management: Ben Ferrini

Full-Service Project Management: Sasibalan Chidambaram, SPi Global

Composition: SPi Global

Cover Printer: Phoenix Color/Hagerstown

Printer/Bindery: LSC Communications, Inc.


Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2012, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its
affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This
publication is protected by copyright, and permission should be obtained
from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval
system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise. For information regarding
permissions, request forms and the appropriate contacts within the Pearson
Education Global Rights & Permissions department, please visit
www.pearsoned.com/permissions/.

Many of the designations by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their


products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this
book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
have been printed in initial caps or all caps.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, any third-party trademarks that may


appear in this work are the property of their respective owners and any
references to third-party trademarks, logos or other trade dress are for
demonstrative or descriptive purposes only. Such references are not intended
to imply any sponsorship, endorsement, authorization, or promotion of
Pearson’s products by the owners of such marks, or any relationship between
the owner and Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates, authors, licensees or
distributors.

Microsoft and/or its respective suppliers make no representations about the


suitability of the information contained in the documents and related graphics
published as part of the services for any purpose. All such documents and
related graphics are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. Microsoft
and/or its respective suppliers hereby disclaim all warranties and conditions
with regard to this information, including all warranties and conditions of
merchantability. Whether express, implied or statutory, fitness for a particular
purpose, title and non-infringement. In no event shall microsoft and/or its
respective suppliers be liable for any special, indirect or consequential
damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or
profits, whether in an action of contract. Negligence or other tortious action,
arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information
available from the services.
The documents and related graphics contained herein could include technical
inaccuracies or typographical errors changes are periodically added to the
information herein. Microsoft and/or its respective suppliers may make
improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s)
described herein at any time partial screen shots may be viewed in full within
the software version specified.

Microsoft® Windows®, and Microsoft Office® are registered trademarks of


the Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries. This book is not
sponsored or endorsed by or affiliated with the Microsoft Corporation.

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gaddis, Tony, author. | Muganda, Godfrey, author.

Title: Starting out with Java. From control structures through data structures /
Tony Gaddis, Haywood Community College, Godfrey Muganda, North
Central College.

Description: Fourth edition. | Pearson, [2019] | Includes bibliographical


references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018002219| ISBN 9780134787961 | ISBN 013478796X

Subjects: LCSH: Java (Computer program language) | Data structures


(Computer science)

Classification: LCC QA76.73.J38 G33 2019 | DDC 005.13/3--dc23 LC


record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018002219

1 18
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-478796-1

ISBN-10: 0-13-478796-X
Contents in Brief
1. Chapter 1 Introduction to Computers and Java 1

2. Chapter 2 Java Fundamentals 27

3. Chapter 3 Decision Structures 111

4. Chapter 4 Loops and Files 189

5. Chapter 5 Methods 269

6. Chapter 6 A First Look at Classes 317

7. Chapter 7 Arrays and the ArrayList Class 403

8. Chapter 8 A Second Look at Classes and Objects 493

9. Chapter 9 Text Processing and More about Wrapper Classes 557

10. Chapter 10 Inheritance 611

11. Chapter 11 Exceptions and Advanced File I/O 701

12. Chapter 12 JavaFX: GUI Programming and Basic Controls 759

13. Chapter 13 JavaFX: Advanced Controls 823

14. Chapter 14 JavaFX: Graphics, Effects, and Media 909

15. Chapter 15 Recursion 999

16. Chapter 16 Sorting, Searching, and Algorithm Analysis 1027

17. Chapter 17 Generics 1079

18. Chapter 18 Collections and the Stream API 1125


19. Chapter 19 Linked Lists 1195

20. Chapter 20 Stacks and Queues 1245

21. Chapter 21 Binary Trees, AVL Trees, and Priority Queues 1287

1. Index 1353

2. Appendices A–M Companion Website

3. Chapters 22–25 Companion Website

4. Case Studies 1–7 Companion Website


Contents
1. Preface xxv

1. Chapter 1 Introduction to Computers and Java 1

1. 1.1 Introduction 1

2. 1.2 Why Program? 1

3. 1.3 Computer Systems: Hardware and Software 2

1. Hardware 2

2. Software 5

4. 1.4 Programming Languages 6

1. What Is a Program? 6

2. A History of Java 8

5. 1.5 What Is a Program Made Of? 8

1. Language Elements 8

2. Lines and Statements 11

3. Variables 11

4. The Compiler and the Java Virtual Machine 12

5. Java Software Editions 13

6. Compiling and Running a Java Program 14

6. 1.6 The Programming Process 16


1. Software Engineering 18

7. 1.7 Object-Oriented Programming 19

1. Review Questions and Exercises 21

2. Programming Challenge 25

2. Chapter 2 Java Fundamentals 27

1. 2.1 The Parts of a Java Program 27

2. 2.2 The print and println Methods, and the Java API 33

3. 2.3 Variables and Literals 39

1. Displaying Multiple Items with the + Operator 40

2. Be Careful with Quotation Marks 41

3. More about Literals 42

4. Identifiers 42

5. Class Names 44

4. 2.4 Primitive Data Types 44

1. The Integer Data Types 46

2. Floating-Point Data Types 47

3. The boolean Data Type 50

4. The char Data Type 50

5. Variable Assignment and Initialization 52

6. Variables Hold Only One Value at a Time 53


5. 2.5 Arithmetic Operators 54

1. Integer Division 57

2. Operator Precedence 57

3. Grouping with Parentheses 59

4. The Math Class 62

6. 2.6 Combined Assignment Operators 63

7. 2.7 Conversion between Primitive Data Types 65

1. Mixed Integer Operations 67

2. Other Mixed Mathematical Expressions 68

8. 2.8 Creating Named Constants with final 69

9. 2.9 The String Class 70

1. Objects Are Created from Classes 71

2. The String Class 71

3. Primitive Type Variables and Class Type Variables 71

4. Creating a String Object 72

10. 2.10 Scope 76

11. 2.11 Comments 78

12. 2.12 Programming Style 83

13. 2.13 Reading Keyboard Input 85

1. Reading a Character 89
2. Mixing Calls to nextLine with Calls to Other Scanner
Methods 89

14. 2.14 Dialog Boxes 93

1. Displaying Message Dialogs 93

2. Displaying Input Dialogs 94

3. An Example Program 94

4. Converting String Input to Numbers 96

15. 2.15 Common Errors to Avoid 99

1. Review Questions and Exercises 100

2. Programming Challenges 106

3. Chapter 3 Decision Structures 111

1. 3.1 The if Statement 111

1. Using Relational Operators to Form Conditions 113

2. Putting It All Together 114

3. Programming Style and the if Statement 117

4. Be Careful with Semicolons 117

5. Having Multiple Conditionally Executed Statements 118

6. Flags 118

7. Comparing Characters 119

2. 3.2 The if-else Statement 121

3. 3.3 Nested if Statements 124


4. 3.4 The if-else-if Statement 128

5. 3.5 Logical Operators 134

1. The Precedence of Logical Operators 139

2. Checking Numeric Ranges with Logical Operators 140

6. 3.6 Comparing String Objects 142

1. Ignoring Case in String Comparisons 146

7. 3.7 More about Variable Declaration and Scope 147

8. 3.8 The Conditional Operator (Optional) 149

9. 3.9 The switch Statement 150

10. 3.10 Displaying Formatted Output with System.out.printf and


String.format 160

1. Format Specifier Syntax 163

2. Precision 164

3. Specifying a Minimum Field Width 164

4. Flags 167

5. Formatting String Arguments 170

6. The String.format Method 172

11. 3.11 Common Errors to Avoid 174

1. Review Questions and Exercises 175

2. Programming Challenges 181

4. Chapter 4 Loops and Files 189


1. 4.1 The Increment and Decrement Operators 189

1. The Difference between Postfix and Prefix Modes 192

2. 4.2 The while Loop 193

1. The while Loop Is a Pretest Loop 196

2. Infinite Loops 196

3. Don’t Forget the Braces with a Block of Statements 197

4. Programming Style and the while Loop 198

3. 4.3 Using the while Loop for Input Validation 200

4. 4.4 The do-while Loop 204

5. 4.5 The for Loop 207

1. The for Loop Is a Pretest Loop 210

2. Avoid Modifying the Control Variable in the Body of the for


Loop 211

3. Other Forms of the Update Expression 211

4. Declaring a Variable in the for Loop’s Initialization


Expression 211

5. Creating a User Controlled for Loop 212

6. Using Multiple Statements in the Initialization and Update


Expressions 213

6. 4.6 Running Totals and Sentinel Values 216

1. Using a Sentinel Value 219


7. 4.7 Nested Loops 221

8. 4.8 The break and continue Statements (Optional) 229

9. 4.9 Deciding Which Loop to Use 229

10. 4.10 Introduction to File Input and Output 230

1. Using the PrintWriter Class to Write Data to a File 230

2. Appending Data to a File 236

3. Specifying the File Location 237

4. Reading Data from a File 237

5. Reading Lines from a File with the nextLine Method 238

6. Adding a throws Clause to the Method Header 241

7. Checking for a File’s Existence 245

11. 4.11 Generating Random Numbers with the Random Class 249

12. 4.12 Common Errors to Avoid 255

1. Review Questions and Exercises 256

2. Programming Challenges 262

5. Chapter 5 Methods 269

1. 5.1 Introduction to Methods 269

1. void Methods and Value-Returning Methods 270

2. Defining a void Method 271

3. Calling a Method 272


4. Layered Method Calls 276

5. Using Documentation Comments with Methods 277

2. 5.2 Passing Arguments to a Method 279

1. Argument and Parameter Data Type Compatibility 281

2. Parameter Variable Scope 282

3. Passing Multiple Arguments 282

4. Arguments Are Passed by Value 284

5. Passing Object References to a Method 285

6. Using the @param Tag in Documentation Comments 288

3. 5.3 More about Local Variables 290

1. Local Variable Lifetime 292

2. Initializing Local Variables with Parameter Values 292

4. 5.4 Returning a Value from a Method 293

1. Defining a Value-Returning Method 293

2. Calling a Value-Returning Method 294

3. Using the @return Tag in Documentation Comments 296

4. Returning a boolean Value 300

5. Returning a Reference to an Object 300

5. 5.5 Problem Solving with Methods 302

1. Calling Methods That Throw Exceptions 305


6. 5.6 Common Errors to Avoid 305

1. Review Questions and Exercises 306

2. Programming Challenges 311

6. Chapter 6 A First Look at Classes 317

1. 6.1 Objects and Classes 317

1. Classes: Where Objects Come From 318

2. Classes in the Java API 319

3. Primitive Variables vs. Objects 321

2. 6.2 Writing a Simple Class, Step by Step 324

1. Accessor and Mutator Methods 338

2. The Importance of Data Hiding 338

3. Avoiding Stale Data 339

4. Showing Access Specification in UML Diagrams 339

5. Data Type and Parameter Notation in UML Diagrams 339

6. Layout of Class Members 340

3. 6.3 Instance Fields and Methods 341

4. 6.4 Constructors 346

1. Showing Constructors in a UML Diagram 348

2. Uninitialized Local Reference Variables 348

3. The Default Constructor 348


4. Writing Your Own No-Arg Constructor 349

5. The String Class Constructor 350

5. 6.5 Passing Objects as Arguments 358

6. 6.6 Overloading Methods and Constructors 370

1. The BankAccount Class 372

2. Overloaded Methods Make Classes More Useful 378

7. 6.7 Scope of Instance Fields 378

1. Shadowing 379

8. 6.8 Packages and import Statements 380

1. Explicit and Wildcard import Statements 380

2. The java.lang Package 381

3. Other API Packages 381

9. 6.9 Focus on Object-Oriented Design: Finding the Classes and


Their Responsibilities 382

1. Finding the Classes 382

2. Identifying a Class’s Responsibilities 385

3. This Is Only the Beginning 388

10. 6.10 Common Errors to Avoid 388

1. Review Questions and Exercises 389

2. Programming Challenges 394

7. Chapter 7 Arrays and the ArrayList Class 403


1. 7.1 Introduction to Arrays 403

1. Accessing Array Elements 405

2. Inputting and Outputting Array Contents 406

3. Java Performs Bounds Checking 409

4. Watch Out for Off-by-One Errors 410

5. Array Initialization 411

6. Alternate Array Declaration Notation 412

2. 7.2 Processing Array Elements 413

1. Array Length 415

2. The Enhanced for Loop 416

3. Letting the User Specify an Array’s Size 417

4. Reassigning Array Reference Variables 419

5. Copying Arrays 420

3. 7.3 Passing Arrays as Arguments to Methods 422

4. 7.4 Some Useful Array Algorithms and Operations

1. Comparing Arrays 426

2. Summing the Values in a Numeric Array 427

3. Getting the Average of the Values in a Numeric Array 428

4. Finding the Highest and Lowest Values in a Numeric Array


428

5. The SalesData Class 429


6. Partially Filled Arrays 437

7. Working with Arrays and Files 438

5. 7.5 Returning Arrays from Methods 439

6. 7.6 String Arrays 441

1. Calling String Methods from an Array Element 443

7. 7.7 Arrays of Objects 444

8. 7.8 The Sequential Search Algorithm 447

9. 7.9 Two-Dimensional Arrays 450

1. Initializing a Two-Dimensional Array 454

2. The length Field in a Two-Dimensional Array 455

3. Displaying All the Elements of a Two-Dimensional Array 457

4. Summing All the Elements of a Two-Dimensional Array 457

5. Summing the Rows of a Two-Dimensional Array 458

6. Summing the Columns of a Two-Dimensional Array 458

7. Passing Two-Dimensional Arrays to Methods 459

8. Ragged Arrays 461

10. 7.10 Arrays with Three or More Dimensions 462

11. 7.11 The Selection Sort and the Binary Search Algorithms 463

1. The Selection Sort Algorithm 463

2. The Binary Search Algorithm 466


12. 7.12 Command-Line Arguments and Variable-Length Argument
Lists 468

1. Command-Line Arguments 469

2. Variable-Length Argument Lists 470

13. 7.13 The ArrayList Class 472

1. Creating and Using an ArrayList Object 473

2. Using the Enhanced for Loop with an ArrayList 474

3. The ArrayList Class’s toString method 475

4. Removing an Item from an ArrayList 476

5. Inserting an Item 477

6. Replacing an Item 478

7. Capacity 479

8. Storing Your Own Objects in an ArrayList 479

9. Using the Diamond Operator for Type Inference 480

14. 7.14 Common Errors to Avoid 481

1. Review Questions and Exercises 481

2. Programming Challenges 486

8. Chapter 8 A Second Look at Classes and Objects 493

1. 8.1 Static Class Members 493

1. A Quick Review of Instance Fields and Instance Methods 493

2. Static Members 494


3. Static Fields 494

4. Static Methods 497

2. 8.2 Passing Objects as Arguments to Methods 500

3. 8.3 Returning Objects from Methods 503

4. 8.4 The toString Method 505

5. 8.5 Writing an equals Method 509

6. 8.6 Methods That Copy Objects 512

1. Copy Constructors 514

7. 8.7 Aggregation 515

1. Aggregation in UML Diagrams 523

2. Security Issues with Aggregate Classes 523

3. Avoid Using null References 525

8. 8.8 The this Reference Variable 528

1. Using this to Overcome Shadowing 529

2. Using this to Call an Overloaded Constructor from Another


Constructor 530

9. 8.9 Enumerated Types 531

1. Enumerated Types Are Specialized Classes 532

2. Switching On an Enumerated Type 538

10. 8.10 Garbage Collection 540

1. The finalize Method 542


11. 8.11 Focus on Object-Oriented Design: Class Collaboration 542

1. Determining Class Collaborations with CRC Cards 545

12. 8.12 Common Errors to Avoid 546

1. Review Questions and Exercises 547

2. Programming Challenges 551

9. Chapter 9 Text Processing and More about Wrapper Classes 557

1. 9.1 Introduction to Wrapper Classes 557

2. 9.2 Character Testing and Conversion with the Character Class


558

1. Character Case Conversion 563

3. 9.3 More String Methods 566

1. Searching for Substrings 566

2. Extracting Substrings 572

3. Methods That Return a Modified String 576

4. The Static valueOf Methods 577

4. 9.4 The StringBuilder Class 579

1. The StringBuilder Constructors 580

2. Other StringBuilder Methods 581

3. The toString Method 584

5. 9.5 Tokenizing Strings 589

6. 9.6 Wrapper Classes for the Numeric Data Types 594


1. The Static toString Methods 594

2. The toBinaryString, toHexString, and toOctalString


Methods 594

3. The MIN_VALUE and MAX_VALUE Constants 595

4. Autoboxing and Unboxing 595

7. 9.7 Focus on Problem Solving: The TestScoreReader Class 597

8. 9.8 Common Errors to Avoid 601

1. Review Questions and Exercises 601

2. Programming Challenges 605

10. Chapter 10 Inheritance 611

1. 10.1 What Is Inheritance? 611

1. Generalization and Specialization 611

2. Inheritance and the “Is a” Relationship 612

3. Inheritance in UML Diagrams 620

4. The Superclass’s Constructor 621

5. Inheritance Does Not Work in Reverse 623

2. 10.2 Calling the Superclass Constructor 624

1. When the Superclass Has No Default or No-Arg Constructors


630

2. Summary of Constructor Issues in Inheritance 631

3. 10.3 Overriding Superclass Methods 632


Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
to, each and every one of the human family? No; a priest is a man
who has made a solemn vow to become an angel. If he does not
intend to fulfil that vow, then let him never pronounce it!”
“O Rochester!” cried Sir Thomas More, greatly moved, “how I
delight to hear you express yourself in this manner!”
And Sir Thomas spoke with all sincerity, for the bishop, without
being conscious of it, had faithfully described his own life and
character, and those who knew and loved him found no difficulty in
recognizing the portrait.
As Sir Thomas spoke, the door again opened, and all arose
respectfully on seeing the Duke of Norfolk appear—that valiant
captain, to whom England was indebted for her victory gained on
the field of Flodden. He was accompanied by the youngest and best-
beloved of his sons, the young Henry, Earl of Surrey. Even at his very
tender age, the artless simplicity and graceful manners of this
beautiful child commanded the admiration of all, while his brilliant
intellect and lively imagination announced him as the future favorite
and cherished poet of the age.
Alas! how rapidly fled those golden years of peace and happiness.
Later, and Norfolk, this proud father, so happy in being the parent of
such a son, lived to behold the head of that noble boy fall upon the
scaffold! The crime of which Henry VIII. will accuse him will be that
of having united his arms with those of Edward the Confessor, whose
royal blood mingled with that which flowed in his own veins.
Sir Thomas approached the duke and saluted him with great
deference. The Bishop of Rochester insisted on resigning him his
chair, but the duke declined, and seated himself in the midst of the
company.
“I was not aware,” said he, turning graciously towards the bishop,
“that Sir Thomas was enjoying such good company. I congratulate
myself on the return of my Lord of Rochester. He will listen, I am
sure, with lively interest to the recital I have come to make; for I
must inform you, gentlemen, I am just from Blackfriars, where the
king summoned me this morning in great haste, to assist, with some
of the highest dignitaries of the kingdom, at the examination of the
queen before the assembly of cardinals.”
He had scarcely uttered these words when an expression of
profound amazement overspread the features of all present. More
was by no means the least affected.
“The queen!” he cried. “Has she then appeared in person? And so
unexpectedly and rudely summoned! They have done this in order
that she might not be prepared with her defence!”
“I know not,” replied the duke; “but I shall never be able to forget
the sad and imposing scene. When we entered, the cardinals and
the two legates were seated on a platform covered with purple
cloth; the king seated at their right. We were arranged behind his
chair in perfect silence. Very soon the queen entered, dressed in the
deepest mourning. She took her seat on the left of the platform,
facing the king. When the king’s name was called he arose, and
remained standing and in silence. But when the queen was in her
turn summoned, she arose, and replied, with great dignity, that she
boldly protested against her judges for three important reasons:
first, because she was a stranger; secondly, because they were all in
possession of royal benefices, which had been bestowed on them by
her adversary; and, thirdly, that she had grave and all-important
reasons for believing that she would not obtain justice from a
tribunal so constituted. She added that she had already appealed to
the Pope, and would not submit to the judgment of this court.
Having said these words, she stood in silence, but when she heard
them declare her appeal should not be submitted to the Pope, she
passed before the cardinals, and, walking proudly across the entire
hall, she threw herself at the feet of the king.
“It would be impossible,” continued Norfolk, “to describe the
emotion excited by this movement.
“‘Sire,’ she cried, with a respectful but firm and decided tone, ‘I
beg you to regard me with compassion. Pity me as a woman, as a
stranger without friends on whom I can rely, without a single
disinterested adviser to whom I can turn for counsel! I call upon God
to witness,’ she continued, raising her expressive eyes towards
heaven, ‘that I have always been to you a loyal, faithful wife, and
have made it my constant duty to conform in all things to your will;
that I have loved those whom you have loved, whether I knew them
to be my enemies or my friends. For many years I have been your
wife; I am the mother of your children. God knows, when I married
you, I was an unsullied virgin, and since that time I have never
brought reproach on the sanctity of my marriage vows. Your own
conscience bears witness to the truth of what I say. If you can find a
single fault with which to reproach me, then will I pledge you my
word to bow my head in shame, and at once leave your presence;
but, if not, I pray you in God’s holy name to render me justice.’
“While she was speaking, a low murmur of approbation was heard
throughout the assembly, followed by a long, unbroken silence. The
king grew deadly pale, but made no reply to the queen, who arose,
and was leaving the hall, when Henry made a signal to the Duke of
Suffolk to detain her. He followed her, and made every effort to
induce her to return, but in vain. Turning haughtily round, she said,
in a tone sufficiently distinct to be heard by the entire assembly:
“‘Go, tell the king, your master, that until this hour I have never
disobeyed him, and that I regret being compelled to do so now.’
“Saying these words, she immediately turned and left the hall,
followed by her ladies in waiting.
“Her refusal to remain longer in the presence of her judges, and
the touching, unstudied eloquence of the appeal she had made, cast
the tribunal into a state of great embarrassment, and the honorable
judges seemed to wish most heartily they had some one else to
decide for them; when suddenly the king arose, and, turning
haughtily towards them, spoke:
“‘Sirs,’ he said, ‘most cheerfully and with perfect confidence do I
present my testimony, bearing witness to the spotless virtue and
unsullied integrity of the queen. Her character, her conduct, in every
particular, has been above reproach. But it is impossible for me to
live in the state of constant anxiety this union causes me to suffer.
My conscience keeps me in continual dread because of having
married this woman, who was the betrothed wife of my own brother.
I will use no dissimulation, my lords; I know very well that many of
you believe I have been persuaded by the Cardinal of York to make
this appeal for a divorce. But I declare in your presence this day, this
is an entirely false impression, and that, on the contrary, the cardinal
has earnestly contended against the scruples which have disturbed
my soul. But, I declare, against my own will, and in spite of all my
regrets, his opinions have not been able to restore to me the
tranquillity of a heart without reproach. I have, in consequence,
found it necessary to confer again with the Bishop of Tarbes, who
has, unhappily, only confirmed the fears I already entertain. I have
consulted my confessor and many other prelates, who have all
advised me to submit this question to the tribunal of our Holy Father,
the Sovereign Pontiff. To this end, my lords, you have been invested
by him with his own supreme authority and spiritual power. I will
listen to you as I would listen to him—that is to say, with the most
entire submission. I wish, however, to remind you again that my
duty towards my subjects requires me to prevent whatever might
have the effect in the future of disturbing their tranquillity; and,
unfortunately, I have but too strong reasons for fearing that, at
some future day, the legitimacy of the right of the Princess Mary to
the throne may be disputed. It is with entire confidence that I await
your solution of a question so important to the happiness of my
subjects and the peace of my kingdom. I have no doubt that you will
be able to remove all the obstacles placed in my way.’
“Saying these words, the king retired, and started instantly for his
palace at Greenwich. The noblemen generally followed him, but I
remained to witness the end of what proved to be a tumultuous and
stormy debate. Nevertheless, after a long discussion, they decided to
go on with the investigation, to hear the advocates of the queen,
and continue the proceedings in spite of her protest.”
“Who is the queen’s advocate?” demanded the Bishop of
Rochester.
“He has not yet been appointed,” replied Norfolk. “It seems to me
it would only be just to let the queen select her own counsel.”
“But she will refuse, without a doubt,” replied Cromwell, “after the
manner she has adopted to defend herself.”
They continued to converse for a long time on this subject, which
filled with anxious apprehension the heart of Sir Thomas, as well as
that of his faithful friend, the good Bishop of Rochester.
TO BE CONTINUED.

THE BIRTH-PLACE OF S. VINCENT DE PAUL

“I love all waste


And solitary places where we taste
The pleasure of believing what we see
Is boundless as we wish our souls to be:
And such was this wide ocean and the shore
More barren than its billows.”

—Shelley.

The Landes—that long, desolate tract on the western coast of


France between the Gironde and the Adour, with its vast forests of
melancholy pines, its lone moors and solitary deserts, its broad
marshes, and its dunes of sand that creep relentlessly on as if they
had life—appeal wonderfully to the imagination, that folle du logis,
as Montaigne calls it, but which, in spite of him, we love to feed.
One may travel for hours through these vast steppes covered with
heather without discovering the smoke of a single chimney, or
anything to relieve the monotonous horizon, unless a long line of low
sand-hills that look like billows swayed to and fro in the wind; or
some low tree standing out against the cloudless heavens, perhaps
half buried in the treacherous sands; or a gaunt peasant, the very
silhouette of a man, on his stilts, “five feet above contradiction,” like
Voltaire’s preacher, perhaps with his knitting-work in his hands, or a
distaff under his arm, as if fresh from the feet of Omphale, driving
his flock before him—all birds of one feather, or sheep of one wool;
for he is clad in a shaggy sheepskin coat, and looks as if he needed
shearing as much as any of them. Or perhaps this Knight of the
Sable Fleece—for the sheep of the Landes are mostly black—is on
one of the small, light horses peculiar to the region, said to have an
infusion of Arabian blood—thanks to the Saracen invaders—which
are well adapted to picking their way over quaking bogs and moving
sands, but unfortunately are fast degenerating from lack of care in
maintaining the purity of the breed.
During the winter season these extensive heaths are converted by
the prolonged rains into immense marshes, as the impermeable alios
within six inches of the surface prevents the absorption of moisture.
The peasant is then obliged to shut himself up with his beasts in his
low, damp cottage, with peat for his fuel, a pine torch for his candle,
brackish water relieved by a dash of vinegar for drink, meagre broth,
corn bread, and perhaps salt fish for his dinner. Whole generations
are said to live under one roof in the Landes, so thoroughly are the
people imbued with the patriarchal spirit. Woman has her rights here
—at least in the house. The old dauna (from domina, perhaps) rules
the little kingdom with a high hand, including her sons and her sons’
wives down to the remotest generation, with undisputed sway. It is
the very paradise of mothers-in-law. The paterfamilias seldom
interferes if his soup is ready at due time and she makes both ends
meet at the end of the year, with a trifle over for a barrel of pique-
pout to be indulged in on extraordinary occasions. From La Teste to
the valley of the Gave this old house-mother is queen of the hive,
active, thrifty, keen of eye, and sharp of tongue. The slightest
murmur is frozen into silence beneath the arctic ray of her Poyser-
like glance. She is a hawk by day and an owl by night. She directs
the spinning and weaving of the wool and flax, orders the meals,
and superintends the wardrobe of the whole colony. The land is so
poor that it is seldom divided among the children. The oldest heir
becomes head of the family, and they all fare better by sharing in
the general income. In unity there is safety—and economy.
At every door is the clumsy machine for breaking the flax that is
spun during the long winter evenings for the sail-makers of Bayonne
or the weavers of Béarn, whose linen, if not equal to that of
Flanders, is as good as that of Normandy. Before every house is also
the huge oven where the bread is baked for general consumption.
Flocks of geese paddle from pool to pool in the marshes, and wild
ducks breed undisturbed in the fens. In the villages on the borders
of the Landes you hear in the morning a sharp whistle that might
serve for a locomotive. It is the swineherd summoning his charge,
which issue in a gallop, two or three from each house, to seek their
food in the moors. They all come back in the evening, and go to
their own pens to get the bucket of bran that awaits them. Feeding
thus in the wild, their meat acquires a peculiar flavor. Most of these
animals go into the market. The hams of Bayonne have always been
famous. We might say they are historic, for Strabo speaks of them.
When the rainy season is at an end, these bogs and stagnant
pools give out a deadly miasma in the burning sun, engendering
fevers, dysentery, and the fatal pellagra. The system is rapidly
undermined, and the peasant seldom attains to an advanced age.
He marries at twenty and is old at forty.
A kind of awe comes over the soul in traversing this region, and
yet it has a certain mysterious attraction which draws us on and on,
as if nature had some marvellous secret in store for us. The
atmosphere is charged with a thin vapor that quivers in the blazing
sun. Strange insects are in the air. A sense of the infinite, such as we
feel in the midst of the ocean, comes over us. We grow breathless
as the air—grow silent as the light that gilds the vast landscape
before us. One of the greatest of the sons of the Landes—the Père
de Ravignan—says: “Solitude is the patrie des forts: silence is their
prayer.” One feels how true it is in these boundless moors. It is the
only prayer fit for this realm of silence, where one is brought closer
and closer to the heart of nature, and restored, as it were, at least in
a degree, to the primeval relation of man with his Creator.
Carlyle says the finest nations in the world, the English and the
American, are all going away into wind and tongue. We recommend
a season in the Landes, where one becomes speedily impressed that
“silence is the eternal duty of man.”
We wonder such a region should be inhabited. The daunas, we
hope, never have courage enough to raise their still voices in the
open air. We fancy wooing carried on in true Shaksperian style:

“O Imogen! I’ll speak to thee in silence.”

—“What should Cordelia do? Love and be silent.”

However this may be, the Landes are peopled, though thinly. Here
and there at immense distances we come to a cottage. The men are
shepherds, fishermen, or résiniers, as the turpentine-producers are
called. Pliny, Dioscorides, and other ancient writers speak of the
inhabitants as collecting the yellow amber thrown up by the sea, and
trafficking in beeswax, resin, and pitch. The Phœnicians and
Carthaginians initiated them into the mysteries of mining and
forging. The Moors taught them the value of their cork-trees. They
still keep bees that feed on the purple bells of the heather, and sell
vast quantities of wax for the candles used in the churches of France
—cierges, as they are called, from cire vierge—virgin wax, wrought
by chaste bees, and alone fit for the sacred altars of Jesus and Mary.
Ausonius thus speaks of the pursuits of the people:
“Mercatus ne agitas leviore numismate captans,
Insanis quod mox pretiis gravis auctio vendat,
Albentisque sevi globulos et pinguia ceræ
Pondera, Naryciamque picem, scissamque papyrum
Fumantesque olidum paganica lumina tœdas.”

They are devoting more and more attention to the production of


turpentine by planting the maritime pine which grew here in the
days of Strabo, and thereby reclaiming the vast tracts of sand
thrown up by the sea. A priest, the Abbé Desbiez, and his brother
are said to have first conceived the idea of reclaiming their native
deserts and staying the progress of the quicksands which had buried
so many places, and were moving unceasingly on at the rate of
about twenty-five yards a year, threatening the destruction of many
more. That was about a hundred years ago. A few years after M.
Brémontier, a French engineer, tested the plan by planting, as far as
his means allowed, the maritime pine, the strong, fibrous roots of
which take tenacious hold of the slightest crevice in the rock, and
absorb the least nutriment in the soil. But this experiment was slow
to lead to any important result, as the pinada, or pine plantations,
involve an outlay that makes no return for years. It was not till Louis
Philippe’s time that the work was carried on with any great activity.
Napoleon III. also greatly extended the plantations—the importance
of which became generally acknowledged—not only to arrest the
progress of the sands, but to meet the want of turpentine in the
market, so long dependent on imports.
In ten years the trees begin to yield an income. Each acre then
furnishes twelve or fifteen thousand poles for vineyards or the
coalman. The prudent owner does not tap his trees till they are
twenty-five years old. By that time they are four feet in
circumference and yield turpentine to the value of fifty or sixty francs
a year. Then the résinier comes with his hatchet and makes an
incision low down in the trunk, from which the resin flows into an
earthern jar or a hollow in the ground. These jars are emptied at
due intervals, and the incision from time to time is widened. Later,
others are made parallel to it. These are finally extended around the
tree. With prudence this treatment may be continued a century; for
this species of pine is very hardy if not exhausted. When the poor
tree is near its end, it is hacked without any mercy and bled to
death. Then it is only fit for the sawmill, wood-pile, or coal-pit.
Poor and desolate as the Landes are, they have had their share of
great men. “Every path on the globe may lead to the door of a
hero,” says some one. We have spoken of La Teste. This was the
stronghold of the stout old Captals de Buch,[4] belonging to the De
Graillys, one of the historic families of the country. No truer
specimen of the lords of the Landes could be found than these old
captals, who, poor, proud, and adventurous, entered the service of
the English, to whom they remained faithful as long as that nation
had a foothold in the land. Their name and deeds are familiar to
every reader of Froissart. The nearness of Bordeaux, and the
numerous privileges and exemptions granted the foresters and
herdsmen of the Landes, explain the strong attachment of the
people to the English crown. The De Graillys endeavored by alliances
to aggrandize their family, and finally became loyal subjects of
France under Louis XI. They intermarried with the Counts of Foix
and Béarn, and their vast landed possessions were at length united
with those of the house of Albret. Where would the latter have been
without them? And without the Albrets, where the Bourbons?
And this reminds us of the Sires of Albret, another and still more
renowned family of the Landes.
Near the source of the Midou, among the pine forests of
Maremsin, you come to a village of a thousand people called Labrit,
the ancient Leporetum, or country of hares, whence Lebret, Labrit,
and Albret. Here rose the house of Albret from obscurity to reign at
last over Navarre and unite the most of ancient Aquitaine to the
crown of France. The history of these lords of the heather is a
marvel of wit and good-luck. Great hunters of hares and seekers of
heiresses, they were always on the scent for advantageous alliances,
not too particular about the age or face of the lady, provided they
won broad lands or a fat barony. Once in their clutches, they seldom
let go. They never allowed a daughter to succeed to any inheritance
belonging to the seigneurie of Albret as long as there was a male
descendant. Always receive, and never give, was their motto. Their
daughters had their wealth of beauty for a dowry, with a little money
or a troublesome fief liable to reversion.
The Albrets are first heard of in the XIth century, when the
Benedictine abbot of S. Pierre at Condom, alarmed for the safety of
Nérac, one of the abbatial possessions, called upon his brother,
Amanieu d’Albret, for aid. The better to defend the monk’s property,
the Sire of Albret built a castle on the left bank of the Baïse, and
played the rôle of protector so well that at last his descendants are
found sole lords of Nérac, on the public square of which now stands
the statue of Henry IV., the most glorious of the race. The second
Amanieu went to the Crusades under the banner of Raymond of St.
Gilles, and entered Jerusalem next to Godfrey of Bouillon, to whom
an old historian makes him related, nobody knows how. Oihenard
says the Albrets descended from the old kings of Navarre, and a MS.
of the XIVth century links them with the Counts of Bigorre; but this
was probably to flatter the pride of the house after it rose to
importance. We find a lord of Albret in the service of the Black Prince
with a thousand lances (five thousand men), and owner of
Casteljaloux, Lavazan, and somehow of the abbey of Sauve-Majour;
but not finding the English service sufficiently lucrative, he passed
over to the enemy. Charles d’Albret was so able a captain that he
quartered the lilies of France on his shield, and held the constable’s
sword till the fatal battle of Agincourt. Alain d’Albret made a fine
point in the game by marrying Françoise de Bretagne, who, though
ugly, was the niece and only heiress of Jean de Blois, lord of
Périgord and Limoges. His son had still better luck. He married
Catherine of Navarre. If he lost his possessions beyond the
Pyrenees, he kept the county of Foix, and soon added the lands of
Astarac. Henry I. of Navarre, by marrying Margaret of Valois,
acquired all the spoils of the house of Armagnac. Thus the princely
house of Navarre, under their daughter Jeanne, who married
Antoine de Bourbon, was owner of all Gascony and part of Guienne.
It was Henry IV. of France who finally realized the expression of the
blind faith of the house of Albret in its fortune, expressed in the
prophetic device graven on the Château de Coarraze, where he
passed his boyhood: “Lo que ha de ser no puede faltar”—That which
must be will be!
But we have not yet come to the door of our hero. There is
another native of the Landes whose fame has gone out through the
whole earth—whose whole life and aim were in utter contrast with
the spirit of these old lords of the heather. The only armor he ever
put on was that of righteousness; the only sword, that of the truth;
the only jewel, that which the old rabbis say Abraham wore, the light
of which raised up the bowed down and healed the sick, and, after
his death, was placed among the stars! It need not be said we refer
to S. Vincent de Paul, the great initiator of public charity in France,
who by his benevolence perhaps effected as much for the good of
the kingdom as Richelieu with his political genius. He was born
during the religious conflicts of the XVIth century, in the little hamlet
of Ranquine, in the parish of Pouy, on the border of the Landes, a
few miles from Dax. It must not be supposed the particule in his
name is indicative of nobility. In former times people who had no
name but that given them at the baptismal font often added the
place of their birth to prevent confusion. S. Vincent was the son of a
peasant, and spent his childhood in watching his father’s scanty flock
among the moors. The poor cottage in which he was born is still
standing, and near it the gigantic old oak to the hollow of which he
used to retire to pray, both of which are objects of veneration to the
pious pilgrim of all ranks and all lands. Somewhere in these vast
solitudes—whether among the ruins of Notre Dame de Buglose,
destroyed a little before by the Huguenots, or in his secret oratory in
the oak, we cannot say—he heard the mysterious voice which once
whispered to Joan of Arc among the forests of Lorraine—a voice
difficult to resist, which decided his vocation in life. He resolved to
enter the priesthood. The Franciscans of Dax lent him books and a
cell, and gave him a pittance for the love of God; but he finished his
studies and took his degree at Toulouse, as was only discovered by
papers found after his death, so unostentatious was his life. He
partly defrayed his expenses at Toulouse by becoming the tutor of
some young noblemen of Buzet. Near the latter place was a solitary
mountain chapel in the woods, not far from the banks of the Tarn,
called Notre Dame de Grâce. Its secluded position, the simplicity of
its decorations, and the devotion he experienced in this quiet
oratory, attracted the pious student, and he often retired there to
pray before the altar of Our Lady of Grace. It was there he found
strength to take upon himself the yoke of the priesthood—a yoke
angels might fear to bear. It was there, in solitude and silence,
assisted by a priest and a clerk, that he offered his first Mass; for, so
terrified was he by the importance and sublimity of this divine
function, he had not the courage to celebrate it in public. This chapel
is still standing, and is annually crowded with pilgrims on the festival
of S. Vincent of Paul. It is good to kneel on the worn flag-stones
where the saint once prayed, and pour out one’s soul before the
altar that witnessed the fervor of his first Mass. The superior-general
of the Lazarists visited this interesting chapel in 1851, accompanied
by nearly fifty Sisters of Charity. They brought a relic of the saint, a
chalice and some vestments for the use of the chaplain, and a bust
of S. Vincent for the new altar to his memory.
Every step in S. Vincent’s life is marked by the unmistakable hand
of divine Providence. Captured in a voyage by Algerine pirates, he is
sold in the market-place of Tunis, that he might learn to sympathize
with those who are in bonds; he falls into the hands of a renegade,
who, with his whole family, is soon converted and makes his escape
from the country. S. Vincent presents them to the papal legate at
Avignon, and goes to Rome, whence he returns, charged with a
confidential mission by Cardinal d’Ossat. He afterwards becomes a
tutor in the family of the Comte de Gondi—another providential
event. The count is governor-general of the galleys, and the owner
of vast possessions in Normandy. S. Vincent labors among the
convicts, and, if he cannot release them from their bonds, he
teaches them to bear their sufferings in a spirit of expiation. He
establishes rural missions in Normandy, and founds the College of
Bons-Enfants and the house of S. Lazare at Paris.
A holy widow, Mme. Legros, falls under his influence, and
charitable organizations of ladies are formed, and sisters for the
special service of the sick are established at S. Nicolas du
Chardonnet. Little children, abandoned by unnatural mothers, are
dying of cold and hunger in the streets; S. Vincent opens a foundling
asylum, and during the cold winter nights he goes alone through the
most dangerous quarters of old Paris in search of these poor waifs of
humanity.[5] Clerical instruction is needed, and Richelieu, at his
instance, endows the first ecclesiastical seminary. The moral
condition of the army excites the saint’s compassion, and the
cardinal authorizes missionaries among the soldiers. The province of
Lorraine is suffering from famine. Mothers even devour their own
children. In a short time S. Vincent collects sixteen hundred
thousand livres for their relief. Under the regency of Anne of Austria
he becomes a member of the Council of Ecclesiastical Affairs. In the
wars of the Fronde he is for peace, and negotiates between the
queen and the parliament. The foundation of a hospital for old men
marks the end of his noble, unselfish life. The jewel of charity never
ceases to glow in his breast. It is his great bequest to his spiritual
children. How potent it has been is proved by the incalculable good
effected to this day by the Lazarists, Sisters of Charity, and Society
of S. Vincent of Paul—beautiful constellations in the firmament of the
church!
In the midst of his honors S. Vincent never forgot his humble
origin, but often referred to it with the true spirit of ama nesciri et
pro nihilo reputari. Not that he was inaccessible to human weakness,
but he knew how to resist it. We read in his interesting Life by Abbé
Maynard that the porter of the College of Bons-Enfants informed the
superior one day that a poorly-clad peasant, styling himself his
nephew, was at the door. S. Vincent blushed and ordered him to be
taken up to his room. Then he blushed for having blushed, and,
going down into the street, embraced his nephew and led him into
the court, where, summoning all the professors of the college, he
presented the confused youth: “Gentlemen, this is the most
respectable of my family.” And he continued, during the remainder of
his visit, to introduce him to visitors of every rank as if he were some
great lord, in order to avenge his first movement of pride. And
when, not long after, he made a retreat, he publicly humbled himself
before his associates: “Brethren, pray for one who through pride
wished to take his nephew secretly to his room because he was a
peasant and poorly dressed.”
S. Vincent returned only once to his native place after he began
his apostolic career. This was at the close of a mission among the
convicts of Bordeaux. During his visit he solemnly renewed his
baptismal vows in the village church where he had been baptized
and made his First Communion, and on the day of his departure he
went with bare feet on a pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Buglose,
among whose ruins he had so often prayed in his childhood, but
which was now rebuilt. He was accompanied, not only by his
relatives, but by all the villagers, who were justly proud of their
countryman. He sang a solemn Mass at the altar of Our Lady, and
afterwards assembled the whole family around the table for a
modest repast, at the end of which he rose to take leave of them.
They all fell at his feet and implored his blessing. “Yes, I give you my
blessing,” replied he, much affected, “but I bless you poor and
humble, and beg our Lord to continue among you the grace of holy
poverty. Never abandon the condition in which you were born. This
is my earnest recommendation, which I beg you to transmit as a
heritage to your children. Farewell for ever!”
His advice was religiously kept. By mutual assistance his family
might have risen above its original obscurity. Some of his mother’s
family were advocates at the parliament of Bordeaux, and it would
have been easy to obtain offices that would have given them, at
least, prominence in their own village; but they clung to their rural
pursuits. The advice of their sainted relative was too precious a
legacy to be renounced.
Not that S. Vincent was insensible to their condition or
unambitious by nature, but he knew the value of the hidden life and
the perils of worldly ambition. We have on this occasion another
glimpse of his struggles with nature. Hardly had he left his relatives
before he gave vent to his emotion in a flood of tears, and he almost
reproached himself for leaving them in their poverty. But let us quote
his own words: “The day I left home I was so filled with sorrow at
separating from my poor relatives that I wept as I went along—wept
almost incessantly. Then came the thought of aiding them and
bettering their condition; of giving so much to this one, and so much
to that. While my heart thus melted within me, I divided all I had
with them. Yes, even what I had not; and I say this to my confusion,
for God perhaps permitted it to make me comprehend the value of
the evangelical counsel. For three months I felt this importunate
longing to promote the interests of my brothers and sisters. It
constantly weighed on my poor heart. During this time, when I felt a
little relieved, I prayed God to deliver me from this temptation, and
persevered so long in my prayer that at length he had pity on me
and took away this excessive tenderness for my relations; and
though they have been needy, and still are, the good God has given
me the grace to commit them to his Providence, and to regard them
as better off than if they were in an easier condition.”
S. Vincent was equally rigid as to his own personal necessities, as
may be seen by the following words from his own lips: “When I put
a morsel of bread to my mouth, I say to myself: Wretched man, hast
thou earned the bread thou art going to eat—the bread that comes
from the labor of the poor?”
Such is the spirit of the saints. In these days, when most people
are struggling to rise in the world, many by undue means, and to an
unlawful height, it is well to recall this holy example; it is good to get
a glimpse into the heart of a saint, and to remember there are still
many in the world and in the cloister who strive to counterbalance
all this ambition and love of display by their humility and self-denial.
Immediately after S. Vincent’s canonization, in 1737, the
inhabitants of Pouy, desirous of testifying their veneration for his
memory, removed the house where he was born a short distance
from its original place, without changing its primitive form in the
least, and erected a small chapel on the site, till means could be
obtained for building a church. The great Revolution put a stop to
the plan. In 1821 a new effort was made, a committee appointed,
and a subscription begun which soon amounted to thirty thousand
francs; but at the revolution of 1830 material interests prevailed, and
the funds were appropriated to the construction of roads.
The ecclesiastical authorities at length took the matter in hand,
and formed the plan, not only of building a church, but surrounding
it with the various charitable institutions founded by S. Vincent—a
hospital for the aged, asylums for orphans and foundlings, and
perhaps a ferme modèle in the Landes.
In 1850 the Bishop of Aire appealed to the Catholic world for aid.
Pius IX. blessed the undertaking. On the Festival of the
Transfiguration, 1851, the corner-stone was laid by the bishop,
assisted by Père Etienne, the superior-general of the Lazarists.
Napoleon III. and the Empress Eugénie largely contributed to the
work, and in a few years the church and hospice were completed.
The consecration took place April 24, 1864, in the presence of an
immense multitude from all parts of the country. From three o’clock
in the morning there were Masses at a dozen altars, and the hands
of the priests were fatigued in administering the holy Eucharist.
Among the communicants were eight hundred members of the
Society of S. Vincent de Paul, from Bordeaux, who manifested their
joy by enthusiastic hymns. At eight in the forenoon Père Etienne,
surrounded by Lazarists and Sisters of Charity, celebrated the Holy
Sacrifice at the newly-consecrated high altar, and several novices
made their vows, among whom was a young African, a cousin of
Abdel Kader. A châsse containing relics of S. Vincent was brought in
solemn procession from the parish church of Pouy, where he had
been held at the font and received the divine Guest in his heart for
the first time. The road was strewn with flowers and green leaves.
The weather was delightful and the heavens radiant. At the head of
the procession was borne a banner, on which S. Vincent was
represented as a shepherd, followed by all the orphans of the new
asylum and the old men of the hospice. Then came a long line of
Enfants de Marie dressed in white, carrying oriflammes, followed by
the students of the colleges of Aire and Dax. Behind were fifteen
hundred members of the Society of S. Vincent de Paul, and a file of
sisters of various orders, including eight hundred Sisters of Charity,
with a great number of Lazarists in the rear. Then came thirty
relatives of S. Vincent, wearing the peasant’s costume of the district,
heirs of his virtues and simplicity—Noblesse oblige. Then the Polish
Lazarists with the flag of their nation, beloved by S. Vincent, and
after them the clergy of the diocese and a great number from
foreign parts, among whom was M. Eugène Boré, of Constantinople,
now superior-general of the two orders founded by the saint. The
shrine came next, surrounded by Lazarists and Sisters of Charity.
Behind the canons and other dignitaries came eight bishops, four
archbishops, and Cardinal Donnet of Bordeaux, followed by the civil
authorities and an immense multitude of people nearly two miles in
extent, with banners bearing touching devices.
This grand procession of more than thirty thousand people
proceeded with the utmost order, to the sound of chants,
instrumental music, and salutes from cannon from time to time, to
the square in front of the new church, where, before an altar
erected at the foot of S. Vincent’s oak, they were addressed by Père
Etienne in an eloquent, thrilling discourse, admirable in style and
glowing with imagery, suited to the fervid nature of this southern
region. He spoke of S. Vincent, not only as the man of his age with a
providential mission, but of a type suited to all ages.
The man who loved his brethren, reconciled enemies, brought the
rich and poor into one common field imbued with a common idea of
sacrifice and devotion, fed the orphan, aided the needy, and wiped
away the tears of the sufferer, is the man of all times, and especially
of an age marked by the fomentation of political passions.
The old oak was gay with streamers, the hollow was fitted up as
an oratory, before which Cardinal Donnet said Mass in the open air,
after which thousands of voices joined in the solemn Te Deum
Laudamus, and the thirteen prelates terminated the grand ceremony
by giving their united benediction to the kneeling crowd.
A whole flock of Sisters of Charity, with their dove-like plumage of
white and gray, took the same train as ourselves the pleasant
September morning we left Bayonne for the birth-place of S. Vincent
of Paul. They seemed like birds of good omen. They were also going
to the Berceau (cradle), as they called it, not on a mere pilgrimage,
but to make their annual retreat. What for, the saints alone know;
for they looked like the personification of every amiable virtue, and
quite ready to spread their white wings and take flight for heaven. It
was refreshing to watch their gentle, unaffected ways, wholly devoid
of those demure airs of superior sanctity and repulsive austerity so
exasperating to us worldly-minded people. They all made the sign of
the cross as the train moved out of the station—and a good honest
one it was, as if they loved the sign of the Son of Man, and delighted
in wearing it on their breast. Some had come from St. Sebastian,
others from St. Jean de Luz, and several from Bayonne; but they
mingled like sisters of one great family of charity. Some chatted,
some took out their rosaries and went to praying with the most
cheerful air imaginable, as if it were a new refreshment just allowed
them, instead of being the daily food of their souls; and others
seemed to be studying with interest the peculiar region we were
now entering. For we were now in the Landes—low, level,
monotonous, and melancholy. The railway lay through vast forests of
dusky-pines, varied by willows and cork-trees, with here and there,
at long distances, an open tract where ripened scanty fields of corn
and millet around the low cottages of the peasants. The sides of the
road were purple with heather. The air was full of aromatic odors.
Each pine had its broad gash cut by some merciless hand, and its
life-blood was slowly trickling down its side. Passing through this sad
forest, one could not help thinking of the drear, mystic wood in
Dante’s Inferno, where every tree encloses a human soul with
infinite capacity of suffering, and at every gash cut, every branch
lopped off, utters a despairing cry:

“Why pluck’st thou me?


Then, as the dark blood trickled down its side,
These words it added: Wherefore tear’st me thus?
Is there no touch of mercy in thy breast?
Men once were we that now are rooted here.”

Though the sun was hot, the pine needles seemed to shiver, the
branches swayed to and fro in the air, and gave out a kind of sigh
which sometimes increased into an inarticulate wail. We look up,
almost expecting to see the harpies sitting

“Each on the wild thorn of his wretched shade.”

Could we stop, we might question these maimed trees and learn


some fearful tragedy from the imprisoned spirits. Perhaps they
recount them to each other in the wild winter nights when the
peasants, listening with a kind of fear in their lone huts, start up
from their beds and say it is Rey Artus—King Arthur—who is passing
by with his long train of dogs, horses, and huntsmen, from an old
legend of the time of the English occupation which says that King
Arthur, as he was hearing Mass on Easter-day, attracted by the cries
of his hounds attacking their prey, went out at the elevation of the
Host. A whirlwind carried him into the clouds, where he has hunted
ever since, and will, without cessation or repose, till the day of
judgment, only taking a fly every seven years. The popular belief
that he is passing with a great noise through space when the winds
sweep across the vast moors on stormy nights probably embodies
the old tradition of some powerful lord whose hounds and huntsmen
ruined the crops of the poor, who, in their wrath, consigned them to
endless barren hunting-fields in the spirit-land—a legend which
reminds us of the Aasgaardsreja of whom Miss Bremer tells us—
spirits not good enough to merit heaven, and yet not bad enough to
deserve hell, and are therefore doomed to ride about till the end of
the world, carrying fear and disaster in their train.
In a little over an hour we arrived at Dax, a pleasant town on the
banks of the Adour, with long lines of sycamores, behind which is a
hill crowned with an old château, now belonging to the Lazarists.
The place is renowned for its thermal springs and mud-baths, known
to the Romans before its conquest by the Cæsars. It was from Aquæ
Augustæ, the capital of the ancient Tarbelli (called in the Middle
Ages the ville d’Acqs, or d’Acs, whence Dax), that the name of
Aquitaine is supposed to be derived. Pliny, the naturalist, speaking of
the Aquenses, says: Aquitani indè nomen provinciæ. The Bay of
Biscay was once known by the name of Sinus Tarbellicus, from the
ancient Tarbelli. Lucan says:

“Tunc rura Nemossi


Qui tenet et ripas Aturri, quo littore curvo
Molliter admissum claudit Tarbellicus æquor.”

S. Vincent of Saintonge was the first apostle of the region, and fell
a martyr to his zeal. Dax formed part of the dowry of the daughter
of Henry II. of England when she married Alfonso of Castile, but it
returned to the Plantagenets in the time of Edward III. The city was
an episcopal see before the revolution of 1793. François de Noailles,
one of the most distinguished of its bishops, was famous as a
diplomatist in the XVIth century. He was sent to England on several
important missions, and finally appointed ambassador to that
country in the reign of Mary Tudor. Recalled when Philip II. induced
her to declare war against France, he landed at Calais, and, carefully
examining the fortifications, his keen, observant eye soon discovered
the weak point, to which, at his arrival in court, he at once directed
the king’s attention, declaring it would not be a difficult matter to
take the place. His statements made such an impression on King
Welcome to Our Bookstore - The Ultimate Destination for Book Lovers
Are you passionate about testbank and eager to explore new worlds of
knowledge? At our website, we offer a vast collection of books that
cater to every interest and age group. From classic literature to
specialized publications, self-help books, and children’s stories, we
have it all! Each book is a gateway to new adventures, helping you
expand your knowledge and nourish your soul
Experience Convenient and Enjoyable Book Shopping Our website is more
than just an online bookstore—it’s a bridge connecting readers to the
timeless values of culture and wisdom. With a sleek and user-friendly
interface and a smart search system, you can find your favorite books
quickly and easily. Enjoy special promotions, fast home delivery, and
a seamless shopping experience that saves you time and enhances your
love for reading.
Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and
personal growth!

ebooksecure.com

You might also like