ociation. It was in this
country, however, that I first heard his eloquent and convincing speech,
the occasion being a sermon given by him at the Unitarian Church of
Newport, R. I., in the summer of the year 1873. It happened on this
Sunday that the poet Bryant, John Dwight, and Parke Godwin were seated
near me. All of them expressed great admiration of the discourse, and
one exclaimed, "That French art, how wonderful it is!" The text chosen
was this: "And greater works than these shall ye do."

"How could this be?" asked the preacher. "How could the work of the
disciples be greater than that of the Master? In one sense only. It
could not be greater in spirit or in character. It could be greater in
extent."

The revolution in France occasioned by the Franco-Prussian war was much
in the public mind at this time, and the extraordinary crisis of the
Commune was almost unexplained. As soon as I found an opportunity of
conversing with Monsieur Coquerel, I besought him to set before us the
true solution of these matters in the lectures which he was about to
deliver.

He consented to do so, and in one of his discourses represented the
Commune as the result of a state of exasperation on the part of the
people of Paris. They saw their country invaded by hostile armies, their
sacred city beleaguered. In the desperation of their distress, all
longed to take active part in some counter movement, and the most brutal
and ignorant part of the populace were turned, by artful leaders, to
this work of destruction. The speaker gave a very moving account of the
hardships of the siege of Paris, the privations endured of food and
fuel, the sacrifice of costly furniture as fire-wood to keep alive
children in imminent danger of death. In the midst of the tumults and
horrors enumerated, he introduced the description of the funeral of an
eminent scientist. The quiet cortege moved on to the cemetery where halt
was made, and the several speakers of the occasion, as if oblivious of
the agonies of the hour, bore willing testimony to the merits and good
work of their departed colleague.

The principal object of Monsieur Coquerel's visit to this country was to
collect funds for the building of a church in Paris which should grandly
and truly represent liberal Christianity. I fear that his success in
this undertaking fell far short of the end which he had hoped to attain.
His death occurred not long after his return to France, and I do not
know wh