A MONUMENT TO MGR. DARBOY LATE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 180, 8 September 1876, Page 13

A MONUMENT TO MGR. DARBOY LATE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS.

Translated for the ' Freeman's Journal. [Fob an excellent account of the murder of Mgr. Darboy and the hostages, see ' Freeman's Journal' of March 29, 1873.] It was on the 24th of May, 1871, at seven o'clock in the evening, that Mgr. Darboy fell riddled with bullets from the murderers of La Roquette, and tins event is now commemorated by the religious authorities of France, by the erection of a monument to the distinguished victim, in the Cathedral of Paris, This monument ordered by the State, is a marble statue, above life size, representing the Prelate at the very moment of the execution of the hostages. It is to the chisel of M. Bonnassieux, author of the Lacordaire of Flavigny, and of the Notre Dame de France of Puy, that the work has been entrusted, and never, perhaps, has that skilful artist performed a more touching and more complete work of art. The Archbishop is standing with the Cross upon hia breast, close to the fatal wall along which the prisoners were ranged. At the first fire all "the hostages fell except the Archbishop, who remained standing with the bullets in his side. It is this supreme moment, between life and death, or rather when the hand of death was already upon him, that the artist has seized for his statue. The head is superb in Christian expression and ideal. One detects the paleness, and the contractions of suffering, controlled by a loftier and melancholy serenity which overspreads the whole countenance. On the right side, and just above the waist, is seen the wound made by the ball which has already struck the victim. The Archbishop droops, but before receiving the last shot, he raises his right hand, bearing the ring of his union with the Church of Paris, to bless his murderers. This is not, as might be supposed, a mere inspiration of the artist, it is the precise expression of the Archbishop's last gesture. He raises his mutilated right hand, two fingers of which had been broken by the first discharge, and with a sublime expression of countenance forgives and blesses his assassins. The situation is extremely dramatic, a.nd it is impossible to contemplate it without being deeply affected. The exalted sentiments which light up the Prelate's countenance give him an incomparable moral beauty. From the mild, sad look of the Archbishop to the superhuman calmness which pervades his features, we can understand that the sacrifice of life is accomplished, and that there now remains nothing of him but the martyr. The soul beams forth from this marble, it enlarges and idealises it. It is a transfigured Darboy that meets the gaze of the spectator, such as he must have been at that supreme moment, detached from all earthly illusions and resigned to the divine will. Born on the 16bh of January, at Fays-Billot, in the HauteMarne, Mgr. Darboy was fifty-eight years of age when his earthly career came; to a close. After having performed the duties of Professor in the Grand Seminaire of Langres, he went to Paris in 1845, where he waa summoned by Mgr. Affre. Mgr. Affre and Mgr. l>arboy ! What a mysterious affinity ! — what a strange coincidence ! One was doomed to the barricades of June, 1848, the other to the massacre of la Roquette in 1871 ; both victims of civil strife. Here is another curious and truly characteristic incident. Mgr. Darboy had written a history of St. Thomas of Canterbury, which is a beautiful specimen of style and erudition. Some time after the publication of this work, and being already invested with the episcopal dignity, he received a precious gift ; he was presented with the pastoral cross of the holy Pontiff, whose combats and heroic death he had described in his work. On receiving this relic of St. Thomas of Canterbury, he said with deep emotion : " I accept the augury as Archbishop and as martyr 1 " The augury was realised on the evening of May 24, 1871, when after fifty days of suffering and imprisonment, Mgr. Darboy, arm in arm with President Bonjean, walked calmly to the place of execution. Justice leaning upon Religion, the Law leaning upon Mercy !