Louis XI. made a donation to the Virgin Mary of the whole county of Boulogne, retaining, however, for his own use, the revenues thereof! A solemn deed was drawn up, signed, sealed, and delivered, and it bears date 1478. What a ridiculous farce! The instrument gives away just nothing at all. But are there no such farces among us? When men of mean and miserly dispositions sing certain of our hymns, are they not guilty of just such a pretence of generosity?
With abundance of goods in their power, they fumble for a threepenny-piece in their pockets, singing, meanwhile,
'Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.'