FLECHIER, ESPRIT, bishop of Nismes, an eminent French ecclesiastic, was born at Pernes, a small town near Carpentras, on the 10th of June 1632, of obscure but re spectable parents. He was educated at Tarascon, in a college possessed by the congregation formerly known in France under the name of the Doctrinaires, or fathers of the Christian doctrine, of which his maternal uncle was, at that time, general. At the age of fifteen, having finished his studies, he employed himself, for some years, in teach ing the belles lettres, in the same college. Some time af ter he repaired to Paris, and having determined to fix his residence in that city, he accepted employment in a parish, and afterwards undertook the education of the son of M. Lefebvre de Caumartin. From this period, his reputation rapidly increased, in consequence of the discourses which he delivered on different festivals of the church ; and his celebrity procured him admission into the Academy, in the year 1675. He had the honour of preaching before Louis XTV. on Advent, 1682.
For his preferment, and the many favours he received from the king, Flechier was principally indebted to the ac tive patronage and friendship of the Duke of 1\lontaussier, who had already procured for him two benefices, and the abbacy of St Severin, besides the office of almoner to the dauphiness ; when, in the year 1685, he was selected as one of a mission, which was destined to bring back into the bo som of the church, the Protestants of Poitou and Brittaiy, of which mission Fenelon was the chief. On his return, he was appointed to the bishopric of Lavaur, which he held for two years, and was then translated to the more lucrative see of Nismes. The duties of this charge, however, were much more troublesome than those of the former, on ac count of the great number of Calvinists who were then open revolt, or ready to break out, against whom the impo litic and disastrous edict, revoking that of Nantes, was ri gorously executed. in this difficult situation, the high character of Flechier became eminently conspicuous. By his mildness, moderation, and persuasive address, he con tributed to assuage the sanguinary zeal of the Catholics; his humane virtues conciliated the good will of all parties, and he received unequivocal testimonies of regard even from the Calvinists, amidst the horror and devastation of civil war.
When these troubles were at length appeased, he was enabled to devote himself, without obstruction, to the ex ercise of a zealous and active benevolence. There was not a single charitable institution at Nismes, which was not either founded by him, or indebted to his liberality for support. His favours were indiscriminately conferred up
on unfortunate persons of all descriptions, without regard to religious opinions ; and in the disastrous winter of 1709, his charity was only limited by the total expenditure of his funds. When some one, upon that occasion, represented to him the disagreeable consequences which might ensue to himself from such profuse liberality, he answered, " What you say is, perhaps, very true ; but are we bishops for nothing ?" He was as much the enemy of superstition and fanaticism, as he was zealous for the maintenance of pure religion ; and he laboured with ardour and efficacy to reform and instruct his clergy, and to enlighten and relieve the people from that blind ignorance and credulity, which arc often abused for the purpose of misleading them. The well-known story of the Nun of Nismes, which furnished the subject of a drama to an esteemed French author of later times, bears strong testimony to his enlightened hu manity, and to the sensibility of his heart.
Amidst the manifold and important duties of his charge, Flechicr did not entirely neglect the cultivation of letters, to which he originally owed his celebrity and his elevation. The academy of Nismes, which had been founded before his time, was indebted to him for a new existence, and, among other advantages, for that of being affiliated with the French academy. To the latest period of his life, he enjoyed a vigorous state of health, a blessing which result ed in a great measure from his simple and moderate ha bits, and the equality of his temper. He died on the 16th of February 1710, at the age of 78.
The moral character of Flechier is sufficiently elucidated by the preceding narrative. As an author, his reputation rests principally on his Oraisons Funebres, which, although inferior, perhaps, in point of genius and true eloquence to those of Bossuet, are written with an elegance and brillian cy of expression, and in an affecting strain of Christian pi ety, which have procured them a considerable portion of admiration, and given them a place among the classical productions of the French divines. His style is remarka bly polished ; even in his familiar letters, and notes written upon ordinary occasions, his language had a finished cor rectness, which, in any other person might be taken for the effect of labour and affectation ; but which, in him, resulted from a profound study of the delicacies of the French tongue, and a habit which he had acquired of constantly writing with the utmost attention to propriety and elegance of expression. The complete works of Flechier were pub lished at Nismes, in ten volumes 8vo. in 1732. (::)