When asked by an ecclesiastic sent
expressly from the court of Florence to attend his death-bed, if he
'would be reconciled,' he answered, 'With all my heart; I would fain be
reconciled to my stomach, which no longer performs its usual
functions.' And his talk, we are told, during the fortnight that
preceded his death, was not regret for a life we should, in seriousness,
call misspent, but because partridges and pheasants no longer suited his
condition, and he was obliged to be reduced to boiled meats. No one,
however, could tell what might also be passing in his heart. We cannot
always judge of a life, any more than of a drama, by its last scene; but
this is certain, that in an age of blasphemy St. Evremond could not
endure to hear religion insulted by ridicule. 'Common decency,' said
this man of the world, 'and a due regard to our fellow-creatures, would
not permit it.' He did not, it seems, refer his displeasure to a higher
source--to the presence of the Omniscient,--who claims from us all not
alone the tribute of our poor frail hearts in serious moments, but the
deep reverence of every thought in the hours of careless pleasure.
It was now St. Evremond who taught De Grammont to collect around him the
wits of that court, so rich in attractions, so poor in honour and
morality.
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