Books and objects of piety were the toys of his childhood, and his youth
was passed in solitude, and in the practices of the ascetic life. His
physical strength as it increased with his years, seemed only to serve to
assist him in curbing and restraining a somewhat fiery temperament. His
wish, which at one time was very strong, to become a Carthusian, was not
indeed fulfilled, it being evident from the many impediments put in its
way, that it was not a call from God.

Nevertheless, this desire of self-sacrifice in a cloistered life was only
thwarted in order that he might sacrifice himself in another way, namely,
by becoming a Bishop, which state, if its functions are rightly discharged,
assuredly demands greater self-immolation than does that of a monk, and is
indeed a martyrdom that ceases only with life itself.

If he did not submit himself to the Rule of the Carthusians by entering
their Order, he nevertheless adopted all its severity, and to the very end
of his life kept his body in the most stern and rigorous subjection.

This, and his early inclination towards the religious life, will not a
little astonish his detractors, if any such still exist, for it is surely
a convincing proof that he was not the radical enemy of monasticism they
pretend. In his studies he displayed great brilliancy, being especially
distinguished in theology and canon law, to the study of which he
consecrated four years of his life.

After he had become a Priest his learning, piety, and eloquence not only
established his reputation as a preacher in the pulpits of Paris, but soon
even crossed the threshold of the Louvre and reached the ears of Henry IV.
That monarch, moved by the hope of the great services which a prelate might