Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
colleagues of tha French Academy , F . Genovay spoke as follows : — '' After tho words you have just heard , a most imperious du : y must urge me on to trouble your feelings and to speak over this tomb ; but it is my duty , in the name of Scotch Masonry , to render a last tribute to its beloved chief .
"For many , ninny years he has been of our Order ; he has taken a generous share in all our labours ; he has loved and defended that which ive love and defend ; and , to his last hour , he remained faithful to us . For those who know our principles , and who have known the illustrious deceased , in such perseverance there is nothing to be astonished at . Old age respected his
intelligence and kind-heartedness . " You have heard his talents praised ; we come to render homage to the right-mindedness of this conscience which remained pure , and obeyed only its own dictates —a rare virtue iu all ages , still moz-e so in ours . Neither his word nor his pen have known weakness ; he never wrote or said other thwi he thought . He never looked for
fortune , and when honours sought him he retained , even under their influence , his full and free independence of character . He shone in all his words , and our lodge will never forget the juvenile ardour with which he defended it some years ago . Besides , our institution with its grand principle of universal brotherhood , charmed his reason , and i _ was by it , much more than by virtue of
his powers , that he ruled us and deserved tho filial homage which ive take a pleasure in rendering him . More than once the proofs of our veneration have gently moved his heart , and we experience tho same sentiments even at this cold tomb . May it also receive our promises ! We shall never forget the honest teachings of his life , his respect for truth , the ardent love he professed for his country , his liberal doctrines which he considered an
honour to hare always defended . This is the inheritance he has left to his Masonic family ; it accepts it , it will preserve it fr . irkfiilly and his name ivill never be forgotten by us . "Adieu , most illustrious Master , calmly repose . Sleep in peace ; your sons will mourn for you , aud remember you , and will fight for justice and truth as
though you were still their chief . " Adieu , very illustrious Bro . E . Yiennet . Peace and honour to your ashes ! Masonry loses in you the best of its apostles , the most honoured one amongst its chiefs . " Adieu , good and excellent man . ' Soon , elsewhere , we shall render you the funeral honours that ive owe
you , and if our voice has been raised in this sad place , it is because we have been anxious that the world might know our mourning , and that it might be witness to our inconsolable grief . " Bro . Yieimet was originally destined to succeed one of his uncles , curate of Saint Mcry , which was at this period one of tho most , important pavishes of Paris .
The dignities and ecclesiastical benefices were at that time transmitted from uncle to nephew , cousin to cousin , sometimes from father to son , as the family patrimony . The revolution deprived Bro . Yien ' net of this portion of his inheritance , and the . future cure of Paris entered the Marine . Artillery in 1796 as lieutenant . Twice prisoner , in 1797 and in 1813 , he was only captain at the time of
the restoration , to ivhich ho gave his ardent support . " During the Hundred Days , " says one of his biographers , " M . Yiennet refused to vote for the additional act of tho Empire , and , unless a powerful intervention had been made , be would have paid for his opposition by transportation to Cayenne . " * At the very commencement of his career , Bro . Yiennet had voted against the consulate for life , and against the
Empire , which explains the fact of the lieutenant of 1796 being only captain at the second Restoration . In 1815 Captain Yiennet was admitted as c 7 te / d ' escadron in the royal bodyguard . But , in 1827 , after the publication of TUTS pitre aux clieffonier sur les crimes de la sresse ( The epistle to the rag collectors on the crimes of the press ) he was struck off the staff , and the same year nominated
deputy for the town of Sealers . He took his seat on the Opposition benches , and did not cease to oppose the government of Charles X . until the Revolution of 1830 . He entered the Academy in the month of November , 1830 , in the room of M . de Segur . His colleague was Benjamin Constant . Bro . Yiennet committed the error of not giving up the place , and the honourable body made
a still greater mistake in voting for him . His name was stamped with unpopularity aud ib never left him . In turn Minister , Peer of France , Academician , he became the mark for the criticism of the press for the Opposition ; and if it were possible to reproach him with a simplicity of life and manners , which in our eyes forms one of bis principal virtues , the accusations for the greater part of ivhich he ivas the object were justified by tbe violence of his attacks against the revolutionary party
and against romantic literature . Let us say , however , to the praise of Bro . Yiennet that his hatred against romances—a persistent hatred which we can still testify to in one of the last- numbers of Le Monde Maconniqiic—did not prevent him pronouncing in favour of tho admission of Bro . Victor Hugo to the French Academy , nor from voting for him ; it seems ,
at least from' the following letter of Beranger ( letter unedited ) and we owe the communication to the kindness of OUT F . aud friend , Eugene Despois : — "Hero you haro , my dearX , a little reply to our young compatriot . I wrr . e also to M , wishing him a good Minister of- Finance . The choice they will make troubles you not a little , Monsieur Philosopher .
What do you say to a refusal of the endowment ? We must never despair for anyone , not even for a bad Chamber . Who knows ? The Academy may one day wish to admit Hugo . Yiennet has at least had the good sense to express himself in favour of such admission . I should be still more obliged to him if he had no ill will against Doctor Flourant . " BEIUXGER . " ' " 26 th February ( 1840 ) . " Bro . Yiennet has described himself in the preface to his Fables after the folio wins- manner : —¦
" My character is a strange blending of kindness and causticity ; as a rule I distrust everything and everybody , and I put faith in the first comer . Constraint , twists and turns , ambiguities and grimaces fatigue and irritate me . I walk straight , and lame people do not suit me . Nature has caused to pass from the veins of my father to I know not what portion of my body a
conscious intuition which believes in a discriminative power as to what is true or false , just or unjust , and which will not permit my tongue to tamper with the truth , to disguise it , or to refuse it to any one in search , of it . It is the most terrible gift that heaven can make to man who is obliged to live with men . It is the surest guarantee that the possessor will be duped all his life ; in this respect my destiny has been accomplished , as Orestes says , but he adds that he is content , but I say not so . "
_ This last phrase is characteristic . It indicates sufficiently well the turn aud range of mind of Bro . Yiennet ; honest spirit , but of a limited power and unlimited vanity ; frank' character , a blending of giddiness and spontaneity and of a very dark deep susceptibility . Bro . Yiennet believed ho possessed an exact notion of the false and the realtho just and the unjust ; on this head
, , as on many others , he deceived himself ; his errors are numerous in literature as in politics ; and the pretension of judging everything thus by a natural gift , without method or reflection , to distinguish at first si ght the true and the false , explains precisely the weakness of his
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
colleagues of tha French Academy , F . Genovay spoke as follows : — '' After tho words you have just heard , a most imperious du : y must urge me on to trouble your feelings and to speak over this tomb ; but it is my duty , in the name of Scotch Masonry , to render a last tribute to its beloved chief .
"For many , ninny years he has been of our Order ; he has taken a generous share in all our labours ; he has loved and defended that which ive love and defend ; and , to his last hour , he remained faithful to us . For those who know our principles , and who have known the illustrious deceased , in such perseverance there is nothing to be astonished at . Old age respected his
intelligence and kind-heartedness . " You have heard his talents praised ; we come to render homage to the right-mindedness of this conscience which remained pure , and obeyed only its own dictates —a rare virtue iu all ages , still moz-e so in ours . Neither his word nor his pen have known weakness ; he never wrote or said other thwi he thought . He never looked for
fortune , and when honours sought him he retained , even under their influence , his full and free independence of character . He shone in all his words , and our lodge will never forget the juvenile ardour with which he defended it some years ago . Besides , our institution with its grand principle of universal brotherhood , charmed his reason , and i _ was by it , much more than by virtue of
his powers , that he ruled us and deserved tho filial homage which ive take a pleasure in rendering him . More than once the proofs of our veneration have gently moved his heart , and we experience tho same sentiments even at this cold tomb . May it also receive our promises ! We shall never forget the honest teachings of his life , his respect for truth , the ardent love he professed for his country , his liberal doctrines which he considered an
honour to hare always defended . This is the inheritance he has left to his Masonic family ; it accepts it , it will preserve it fr . irkfiilly and his name ivill never be forgotten by us . "Adieu , most illustrious Master , calmly repose . Sleep in peace ; your sons will mourn for you , aud remember you , and will fight for justice and truth as
though you were still their chief . " Adieu , very illustrious Bro . E . Yiennet . Peace and honour to your ashes ! Masonry loses in you the best of its apostles , the most honoured one amongst its chiefs . " Adieu , good and excellent man . ' Soon , elsewhere , we shall render you the funeral honours that ive owe
you , and if our voice has been raised in this sad place , it is because we have been anxious that the world might know our mourning , and that it might be witness to our inconsolable grief . " Bro . Yieimet was originally destined to succeed one of his uncles , curate of Saint Mcry , which was at this period one of tho most , important pavishes of Paris .
The dignities and ecclesiastical benefices were at that time transmitted from uncle to nephew , cousin to cousin , sometimes from father to son , as the family patrimony . The revolution deprived Bro . Yien ' net of this portion of his inheritance , and the . future cure of Paris entered the Marine . Artillery in 1796 as lieutenant . Twice prisoner , in 1797 and in 1813 , he was only captain at the time of
the restoration , to ivhich ho gave his ardent support . " During the Hundred Days , " says one of his biographers , " M . Yiennet refused to vote for the additional act of tho Empire , and , unless a powerful intervention had been made , be would have paid for his opposition by transportation to Cayenne . " * At the very commencement of his career , Bro . Yiennet had voted against the consulate for life , and against the
Empire , which explains the fact of the lieutenant of 1796 being only captain at the second Restoration . In 1815 Captain Yiennet was admitted as c 7 te / d ' escadron in the royal bodyguard . But , in 1827 , after the publication of TUTS pitre aux clieffonier sur les crimes de la sresse ( The epistle to the rag collectors on the crimes of the press ) he was struck off the staff , and the same year nominated
deputy for the town of Sealers . He took his seat on the Opposition benches , and did not cease to oppose the government of Charles X . until the Revolution of 1830 . He entered the Academy in the month of November , 1830 , in the room of M . de Segur . His colleague was Benjamin Constant . Bro . Yiennet committed the error of not giving up the place , and the honourable body made
a still greater mistake in voting for him . His name was stamped with unpopularity aud ib never left him . In turn Minister , Peer of France , Academician , he became the mark for the criticism of the press for the Opposition ; and if it were possible to reproach him with a simplicity of life and manners , which in our eyes forms one of bis principal virtues , the accusations for the greater part of ivhich he ivas the object were justified by tbe violence of his attacks against the revolutionary party
and against romantic literature . Let us say , however , to the praise of Bro . Yiennet that his hatred against romances—a persistent hatred which we can still testify to in one of the last- numbers of Le Monde Maconniqiic—did not prevent him pronouncing in favour of tho admission of Bro . Victor Hugo to the French Academy , nor from voting for him ; it seems ,
at least from' the following letter of Beranger ( letter unedited ) and we owe the communication to the kindness of OUT F . aud friend , Eugene Despois : — "Hero you haro , my dearX , a little reply to our young compatriot . I wrr . e also to M , wishing him a good Minister of- Finance . The choice they will make troubles you not a little , Monsieur Philosopher .
What do you say to a refusal of the endowment ? We must never despair for anyone , not even for a bad Chamber . Who knows ? The Academy may one day wish to admit Hugo . Yiennet has at least had the good sense to express himself in favour of such admission . I should be still more obliged to him if he had no ill will against Doctor Flourant . " BEIUXGER . " ' " 26 th February ( 1840 ) . " Bro . Yiennet has described himself in the preface to his Fables after the folio wins- manner : —¦
" My character is a strange blending of kindness and causticity ; as a rule I distrust everything and everybody , and I put faith in the first comer . Constraint , twists and turns , ambiguities and grimaces fatigue and irritate me . I walk straight , and lame people do not suit me . Nature has caused to pass from the veins of my father to I know not what portion of my body a
conscious intuition which believes in a discriminative power as to what is true or false , just or unjust , and which will not permit my tongue to tamper with the truth , to disguise it , or to refuse it to any one in search , of it . It is the most terrible gift that heaven can make to man who is obliged to live with men . It is the surest guarantee that the possessor will be duped all his life ; in this respect my destiny has been accomplished , as Orestes says , but he adds that he is content , but I say not so . "
_ This last phrase is characteristic . It indicates sufficiently well the turn aud range of mind of Bro . Yiennet ; honest spirit , but of a limited power and unlimited vanity ; frank' character , a blending of giddiness and spontaneity and of a very dark deep susceptibility . Bro . Yiennet believed ho possessed an exact notion of the false and the realtho just and the unjust ; on this head
, , as on many others , he deceived himself ; his errors are numerous in literature as in politics ; and the pretension of judging everything thus by a natural gift , without method or reflection , to distinguish at first si ght the true and the false , explains precisely the weakness of his