BOURDALOUE, bc7.ir'da'll, Louis (1632 1704 ). One of the greatest pulpit orators of France. He was born at Bourges. August 20, 1632, and after having, at the age of sixteen. entered the order of Jesuits, obtained in succession the chairs of humanity, rhetoric, philosophy, and theological ethics in the academy of his native place. He showed a great capacity for science, but his remarkable powers of eloquence led his superiors finally to determine upon employing him as a preacher. Disdaining the inflated style prevalent among the tasteless pulpit orators of his time. he assailed with manly vigor and truly religious earnestness the passions, weaknesses, and errors of men. The dignity of his manner and the fire of his eloquence made him famous even when the public mind was occupied with the festivities of Versailles. the victories of Turenne, and the literary masterpieces of Cor neille and Racine. At the Court of Louis XIV, he was remarkably well received. After the r•voeation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) he was sent to :Montpellier to convert the Protes tants. P.ourdaluue particularly understood how to accommodate his eloquence to the minds of those whom be addressed. Simple among the simple, a dialectician among ecelesiastics, lie was equally a favorite with the common people and with the learned and the great. He was also
much esteemed and beloved as a man and in all circumstances maintained unimpeaehed a high reputation for candor and honesty. In the later years of his life he relinquished the pulpit and devoted his time to hospitals. prisons, and pious institutions. He died in Paris, May 13, 1704. How thoroughly his religious sentiments were governed by the theological tenets of his Church may be perceived from these remark able words which he uttered on his death bed: "It is highly reasonable that God be fully satisfied; and at least in purgatory I will suffer with patience and with love." His Sermons and Moral Discourses appeared in English translation (Dublin, 3d ed., 1855), also his Married Life: its Obligations, Trials, etc. (London. 1897) ; sev eral French editions of his works have been pub lished, e.g. Collection universclle des orateurs sacres, Vols. X1V.-XVI., reprint of Francois Bre tonneau's edition (latest edition, Paris, 1891. 6 vols.). For his biography, consult: Anatole Feugere,Bourdaloue, sa predication et son temps (Paris, 1874. 5th ed., 1889) ; M. Lousas (Paris. 1SS1, 2 vols.) ; and L. Pouthe (Paris, 1900) ; also J. B. E. Tousserat, Etude genealogigue sur les Rourdaloue (Paris, 1900).