he last letter he
penned, "We shall soon find again that which we have not lost: every
day we approach it with swift strides; yet a little while, and there
will be no more cause for tears." Among the penitents of Bossuet,
there was one--a widow, named Cornuau, to whom the great prelate gave
more of his heart than to any of the rest. In submitting her
spiritual life to his oversight, they were often brought together,
both by letters and by personal interviews. The affectionate docility
and loyalty of the novice won his kind esteem, and the condescending
benignity and greatness of the noble genius kindled her enthusiasm.
And so the opposite ends of the chain of their attachment were
fastened. After displaying exemplary zeal, for fifteen years, in all
the works of duty assigned her, she was permitted to become a nun,
taking the name of Bossuet in addition to the title of Sister Saint
Benigne. Despite her humble origin and the mediocrity of her
intellect, Bossuet preferred her above all the high-born and
brilliant ladies who constantly knelt for his benedictions. It was
only natural, that, notwithstanding the work of grace, she should
sometimes feel jealous. But once, after she had expressed herself
"ready to burst with jealousy" of a certain great lady, whom she
falsely supposed esteemed more than herself by the lofty director,
when the object of her jealousy was smitten with a frightful disease,
Sister Benigne, with sublime self-sacrifice, went to Paris, and
became her nurse; "shut herself up with her, watched over and loved
her." When Bossuet died, La Cornuau, "happily guided by her
friendship, forgetting her own vanity, and mindful only of the fame
of her spiritual father, did more for him, perhaps, than any
panegyrist." She published the two hundred letters he had written to
her, "noble letters, written in profound secrecy, never intended to
see the light, but worthy of exposure to the perusal of the whole
world."

A friendship, such as we might suppose would be characteristic of
such ecstatic natures, was cherished between the two celebrated
Spanish mystics, Saint Theresa and Saint John of the Cross. The
fullest expressions of it may be found in their respective writings,
now translated into many languages, and easy of access almost
anywhere. Unquestionably there have been very numerous Friendships,
worthy of notice, between clergymen and devout women, in the
Protestant sects. But they are different from those in th