Louis Veuillot

Louis Veuillot (Boynes, October 11th 1813 - Paris, April 7th 1883), was a Journaliste and French man of letters.

Biography

Modest origins

It was wire of a wet cooper and Victor Hugo, wire of a general count of the Empire, scoffed his modest origins:

This Zoïle canting hypocrite was born from Javotte ( the Punishments )

At thirteen years it was obliged to give up the school to earn its living; it then obtained a small employment in a lawyer of Paris, the brother of the poet Casimir Delavigne. Friends of the poet attended the cabinet of this lawyer, and among them of the ecclesiastics; all were pricked more or less of literature, and in this environment the Veuillot young person became aware of his vocation of author. He was encouraged by some friends, of which some gave him councils and lessons. He devoted to the study all his moments of freedom and at seventeen years he was already writer of a newspaper with Rouen, and little time after another with Périgueux.

The attention having been attracted soon on its talent, it was destined for Paris to make journalism there, and successes then were connected. A friend who had just poured in the devotion took along it to Rome where he discovered splendors of the faith. When it went back to Paris it had sworn to be devoted entirely to the cause of the Catholicisme.

The catholic polemist

It was there a cause which, at this time, hardly had in France of active and solved partisans; the government was declared in theory favorable to the religion, but it as feared to displease with the public opinion, always more or less penetrated of the ideas as had spread Voltaire and the Revolution. Veuillot wrote several works entirely devoted to show the beauty of the doctrines and the life Christian women. It started to collaborate in the Universe , daily catholic founded by the abbot Migne, then became editor association, and accentuated his ultramontane orientation about it. At the same time of the friends placed well of Veuillot offered a station of most interesting to him. It did not have any fortune yet, being satisfied to earn its living and to help its family, but it refused all the advantages offered and became a catholic journalist, determined never not to be other thing.

The great question that one discussed then (1843-1850) was that of the Liberté of teaching, which certain catholics directed by Montalembert asserted. the Universe of Louis Veuillot, polemist violent and talented, became the body of the cause and contributed in the forefront with its final success. This fight long and was impassioned. The press in general was opposed with passion to the catholic journalist. The campaign conducted by Veuillot, the virulence of its ceaseless attacks, were worth a certain fame, but also pitiless hatreds to him. In 1844, he was condemned to one month of prison to have in the Universe taken the defense of the Combalot abbot, a preacher whom the government had just condemned because of its controversy on the University.

Even among catholics there was a fringe which remained always hostile in Veuillot. Moreover, after the success of the catholics in 1850 on the Freedom of teaching (Law Falloux), Veuillot was in conflict with Montalembert, bishops (in particular Mgr Dupanloup) and other people who reproached him for pushing too much far the intransigence.

Under the Second Empire, after having vigorously supported the mode, it withdrew its support to him when Napoleon III started to support the ideas liberal or favorable to the revolutionary heritage. He violently criticized in the Universe the Italian political of Napoleon III, favorable to the Italian reunification at the expense of the Papal States. This was worth its prohibition with the newspaper, the January 30th 1860.

It made reappear again the Universe starting from the April 15th 1867, and published the entirety of the Encyclique of Pie IX, very hostile with Napoleon III: the pope refused to obey the emperor, which asked him to give up the additional territories of the the Holy See to preserve only Rome.

Pontifical infallibility

He took then party in favor of the pontifical Infaillibilité, which was finally proclaimed at the time of the first council of the Vatican, in 1870.

During the council, Veuillot maintained as well the long and many polemics with the liberals, as had exasperated the advertisement of the council, than with the catholic adversaries of the Dogme of the pontifical Infaillibilité. Several times during this quarrel where L' Univers was plunged, Pie IX declared itself in favor of this newspaper, which several bishops attacked vigorously while a great number of others defended it.

Veuillot abstained from any alliance with some political party that it was. The code of conduct which he had formulated in 1842 was: “Avoid the factions of all kinds; we belong exclusively to our Church and our country. ” It supported the successive governments or was opposed to them according to the way in which they behaved towards the Church. After 1871, and the introduction of the IIIe Republic in France, it became legitimist, supporting the cause of the count de Chambord, in order to restore a “Christian monarchy”.

Works of Louis Veuillot

Veuillot is the author of several works, like Rome and Lorette (1841), the Perfume of Rome (1851), the Odors of Paris (1866), Paris during the two seats (1871), Rome during the council 1872.

The work of Veuillot journalist fills twenty-two (!)volumes entitled Mixtures religious, historical, political and literary . This collection represents one forty years period the political and religious history. In addition to what he wrote as journalist, and who is already enormous, he also left novels and poetries, inspired by his religious beliefs. Its bulky correspondence, published in twelve volumes per François Veuillot, led the critic Jules Lemaître to see in it, with equal of that of Voltaire, but for reasons how much different! what a man of letters left of more extraordinary. The same critic adds as among the authors who count, Veuillot seems to him that which forms part best of the tradition of the language, while it is at the same time one of freest and most personal. He does not hesitate to arrange it among the half-dozen of very large prosateurs of the century.

The brother of Louis Veuillot, Eugene Veuillot, who closely shared his life, his work and his combat, was itself a brilliant polemist and until its death at the 87 years age (1905) it continued to publish the Universe ; he told in four volumes the career and the life of his brother.

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