FRANCIS DE SALES, SAE VP, 1567-1622; b. Savoy; bishop of Geneva, and a well known Roman Catholic:writer. He received his education at a Jesuit college in Paris, stud ied jurisprudence at Padua, and became an advocate of the senate of Savoy. But his incli nations were towards the church rather than the law. He had received the tonsure as early as 1578, while still a boy at Annecy, very much against his father's wishes, and the spirit shown in this early manifestation of pious self-devotion never forsook him. :Notwithstanding all his father's remonstrances, he resolved to enter an ecclesiastical life; and, the office of provost or dean of Geneva becoming vacant, the dignity of this .office, which was offered to him, was used as a temptation to secure the father's con sent. At length, Francis received holy orders, and entered upon his duties as dean and preacher. He possessed great is as a preacher, and his fame soon spread through Savoy. His sermons were marked by great simplicity and persuasiveness. " The only real point of preaching," he said, " is the overthrow of sin and the increase of righteous ness;" and the principle of this saying guided him in all his sermons. He preached constantly, and in the simplest and most touching and popular words lie could find. His father failed to appreciate his style of preaching, as he had failed to understand his self-denial. " I never refused to preach," Francis tells us, " on the principle of 'give to them that ask you.' My dear father used to hear the bells ringing, and ask who preached. Who, but your son,' was often. the answer. One day he took me aside and said, 'Provost, you preach too often; even on week days the bells go, and it is always the same story, the provost, the provost! It used not to be so in my day. Sermons were much rarer. But then, to be sure, God knows those were something like sermons —full of learning, well got up, more Latin and Greek in one than you stick into a dozen.'" Francis, however, knew his own mind, and was not moved. " My test of the worth of a preacher," he said, " is when his congregation go away saying not what a beautiful sermon,' but ' I will do something.' A man may set forth his own learning and eloquence in a fine sermon, but the true sign of success is when his words induce people to leave off bad habits." And as he preached often, he preached briefly. " The more you say, the less the people remember; the fewer your words, the greater their profit," was his motto. " When a sermon is too long, the end makes forget the middle, and the middle the beginning." Francis was a man of originality both of mind and character, and destined to become a power in the church to which he had so pas sionately devoted himself. Accordingly he soon became marked out for arduous work. Savoy was at this time greatly invaded by Calvinistic "heresies." The neighborhood of Geneva—a focus for the dissemination of Protestantism—and the political and mili tary complications arising out of the hostile relations of the duke of Savoy and the king of France, all tended to the progress of Calvinism. Chablais had been invaded, and Protestant ministers long established at Thonon and other towns. For nearly sixty years, in fact, this region had been Protestant, and the people by express stipulation enjoyed the exercise of the reformed religion. A missionary of apostolic fervor and courage was required to recover the lapsed district to the Roman church, and many eyes were turned to the young provost of Geneva, as the only man fitted to grapple with the exigencies of the position. His father, as usual, was the obstacle. He entreated his son not to expose himself to the dangers of such a mission, but Francis felt the call within him, and calmly replied: " I cannot refuse to obey; wist ye not that I must be about my father's business?' " The result was that he gave himself for four years to laborious and self-denying work in the district, often, it is said by his flat biographers, preaching and administering the offices of his church at the peril of .bus life. His persuasive eloquence and the apostolic simplicity of his life were at first unsuccessful. The inhabitants of Chablais remained hardened in Protestantism. But more violent measures, some of them reflecting little honor on Francis, at length suc ceeded in reclaiming the district to the Roman Catholic faith. His success in this work led the pope to believe that he might gain over Calvin's celebrated successor, Theodore Beza; and long conferences were held between the Protestant teacher and the Roman Catholic missionary, but without result. In 1398, Francis was appointed coadjutor bishop of Geneva, and became the official companion, as he had long been the warm friend of Claude de Gamier, the aged bishop who had fostered his talents and largely shaped his career. Some years after this, in 1602, he spent some time in France and -especially in Paris, where his preaching attracted great crowds, and his influence was felt from the court of Henry IV. to the poor sisters at Port Royal. Before St: Gyran became the spiritual leader of Angelique Arnaud and others of the devoted band which gathered around him, Francis had given a definite direction to her thoughts and aspira tions. It is not the name of Angelique Arnaud, however, but that of another celebrated
pietist, who was destined to be associated with Francis de Sales. Shortly after his succession to the bishopric by the death of his aged friend, he met Mine. tie Chantal, -a character of rare enthusiasm and devotion, whose spirit had been greatly chastened by the loss of her husband and child. She put herself under his direction, cut her beau tiful hair, and clothed herself as a religieuse. Her good works were incessant, and she became known as the sainte de Monthelon. At length, Francis prepared a mission for her. Submitting her saintly obedience to various tests, he intimated his decision that she was destined to establish an order for the relief of the sick and poor, the only rules for which were to be "charity and the love of Jesus Christ." The order was not fully -established till 1610, but gradually acquired great influence. The relation of the saint to Mine. de Chantal and other devout ladies has been much canvassed. There was much of spiritual coquetry in it, and some of his letters to them contained doubtful sentiments; but there is no reason to doubt the purity of his character, and that his main object was to promote what he considered to be the interests of religion, He liked to be "surrounded by women," but chiefly that he might influence them in the interest of the church. In 1608, Francis published his best known and most valuable work, the Introduction. d in Vie Devote, the circulation of which was immense. He became famous through all the Christian world. Henry IV. sought to tempt him by a French bishop ric; but he remained true to the country of his birth, and the comparatively quiet and unambitious life which he was able to continue there. [Facts mainly from Encyc. nth ed.] ' FRAITOICi, AUG. HEux., a distinguished German philanthropist, founder of the orphan asylum and several educational institutions at Halle, was b. at Lubeck in 1663. Having studied languages and theology with great application and success, he first Attracted attention by his academical biblical lectures in Leipsic, begun about 1683. These were more distinguished for piety, warmth, and zeal, than for attention to the strict and dry Orthodoxy then in vogue; and the reception they met with from the pub lic brought on F. envy and persecution as a heretic. He thought proper to yield to the storm, and withdrew in 1690 to Erfurt. In 1692, he obtained the professorship of ori ental languages in the newly instituted university at Halle, where he subsequently held a professorship of He also received the pastoral charge of the suburb of Gaudin,. The ignorance and poverty of his parishioners gave the first impulse to his benevolent labors. To the neglected poor and children that came to him for alms, he gave instruction on stated days, and as others joined, paying a school-fee of a penny a week, and the numbers rose to some sixty, he divided them into classes, and thus laid the first foundation of his educational establishments. At the same time the thought suggested itself of an orphan asylum, and, in 1608, he laid the foundation of a special building for the asylum. Some years after, he erected a pedagogitim, a Latin school, And a boarding establishment connected with it. In 1714, there 1075 boys and 700 girls receiving instruction from 108 teachers under the direction of Francke. He also had a missionary institution for the East Indies. To erect and maintain all these establish ments required large sums of money; and it is surprising how F. succeeded in obtain ing it without assistance from government. But so high was his reputation for disin terested benevolence, and in such a practical way did he set about his undertakings, never appealing for the charitable aid of others till he had first effected something him self, that contributions flowed in from all parts of Germany, and even from abroad. F. also instituted an apothecary's shop and bookselling in connection with his other opera tions, and thus obtained a considerable income for their support. Nor amidst all these voluntary labors did he neglect his duties as professor and pastor; he preached and lec tured regularly, and also found time to study and write. He died June 8, 1727.
Francke's institution, as it now exists in Halle, embraces the orphan house awl schools erected by F., together with others since added; the number of pupils amount ing in all to upwards of 3,500. Bookselling, printing, and a laboratory for the prepara tion and distribution of medicines are also carried on in connection with education.
The revenues consist of the profits of this industry, of the income from some in land and and funds, and of an allowance of E6.000 from the state. The education imparted retains its religious character, but the excessive number of prayers and the. otherwise conventual and ascetic character of the discipline have been diminished.