84 prodromus reginae artium the one who opens his heart to learning the principles of right conduct, and whose conscience will not disrupt his speech, if his deeds go before his statements” (Gregory the Great3). “People’s power is based on reason and eloquence. Nations cannot be ruled by intellect alone and eloquence is not worthy. Only both of them enable the ruler to cope with the problem of power. The only difference between the two is that certain things, that cannot be achieved by the intellect4 in the case of some people, should be forced on them by the use of eloquence” (Louis de Bourbon.5) Page 10 (without pagination) of the first edition (and of the second edition, respectively) displays the consent for printing granted on August 30, 1663, by James of St. Barbara, the Provincial Superior’s proxy, and by the Censor, Matthew Jagodowicz, Canon and Official of the Clergy Court in Warsaw. The full text of this consent reads as follows: “The Consent (facultas). James of St. Barbara, acting Superior of the Polish Province6 of the Congregation of Clerics [Regular] of the Poor Mother of God of the Pious Schools. By the authority vested in me by the Superior General, the Most Reverend Fr. Camile of St. Jerome, I give consent to send to print the books titled Messenger of the Queen of the Arts, written by a priest of our Congregation and highly praised by several of our Fathers, who were asked [to give an opinion about this book]. I testify the author of several ascetic works (including De institutis coengodum et de octo principalium vitiorum remediis, i.e., Institutes of the Coenobia and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults), the content of which he also delivered to his listeners in the form of conferences. For this reason, one may assume that Cassian also dealt with eloquence as such and that Fr. Papczyński found the quoted statement in his writings. 3 In editions I, II, and IV, the author attributes this statement to Pope Gregory the Great (ca. 540–604, who was the pope from 590 until his death), an outstanding moralist, catechist, homilist, and liturgist. He left behind a rich literary legacy. 4 Or rational argumentation. 5 Louis Bourbon is Louis II Prince of Condé, called le Grand Condé, for whose funeral Bossuet composed his famous Oraison funèbre. His brother Armand, Prince of Conti or Conty (1629–1668), was married to the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Condé’s pronouncement about eloquence from his letter to his brother Armand appeared in the first, second, and fourth editions. 6 This province was established in 1662.
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