​LACORDAIRE, JEAN BAPTISTE HENRI (1802–1861), Frenchecclesiastic and orator, was born at Recey-sur-Ource, Côte d’Or,on the 12th of March 1802. He was the second of a family offour, the eldest of whom, Jean Théodore (1801–1870), travelleda great deal in his youth, and was afterwards professor of comparativeanatomy at Liége. For several years Lacordaire studiedat Dijon, showing a marked talent for rhetoric; this led himto the pursuit of law, and in the local debates of the advocateshe attained a high celebrity. At Paris he thought of going onthe stage, but was induced to finish his legal training and beganto practise as an advocate (1817–1824). Meanwhile Lamennaishad published hisEssai sur l’Indifférence,—a passionate pleafor Christianity and in particular for Roman Catholicism asnecessary for the social progress of mankind. Lacordaire read,and his ardent and believing nature, weary of the theologicalnegations of the Encyclopaedists, was convinced. In 1823he became a theological student at the seminary of SaintSulpice; four years later he was ordained and became almonerof the college Henri IV. He was called from it to co-operatewith Lamennais in the editorship ofL’Avenir, a journal establishedto advocate the union of the democratic principle withultramontanism. Lacordaire strove to show that Catholicismwas not bound up with the idea of dynasty, and definitely alliedit with a well-defined liberty, equality and fraternity. But thenew propagandism was denounced from Rome in an encyclical.In the meantime Lacordaire and Montalembert, believing that,under the charter of 1830, they were entitled to liberty ofinstruction, opened an independent free school. It was closed intwo days, and the teachers fined before the court of peers.These reverses Lacordaire accepted with quiet dignity; butthey brought his relationship with Lamennais to a close. He nowbegan the course of Christianconférences at the Collége Stanislas,which attracted the art and intellect of Paris; thence he wentto Nôtre Dame, and for two years his sermons were the delightof the capital. His presence was dignified, his voice capable ofindefinite modulation, and his gestures animated and attractive.He still preached the gospel of the people’s sovereignty in civillife and the pope’s supremacy in religion, but brought to hispropagandism the full resources of a mind familiar with philosophy,history and literature, and indeed led the reaction againstVoltairean scepticism. He was asked to edit theUnivers, andto take a chair in the university of Louvain, but he declined bothappointments, and in 1838 set out for Rome, revolving a greatscheme for christianizing France by restoring the old order ofSt Dominic. At Rome he donned the habit of the preachingfriar and joined the monastery of Minerva. HisMémoire pourle rétablissement en France de l’ordre des frères prêcheurs was thenprepared and dedicated to his country; at the same time hecollected the materials for the life of St Dominic. When hereturned to France in 1841 he resumed his preaching at NôtreDame, but he had small success in re-establishing the order ofwhich he ever afterwards called himself monk. His funeralorations are the most notable in their kind of any deliveredduring his time, those devoted to Marshal Drouet and DanielO’Connell being especially marked by point and clearness. Henext thought that his presence in the National Assembly wouldbe of use to his cause; but being rebuked by his ecclesiasticalsuperiors for declaring himself a republican, he resigned his seatten days after his election. In 1850 he went back to Rome andwas made provincial of the order, and for four years labouredto make the Dominicans a religious power. In 1854 he retiredto Sorrèze to become director of a private lyceum, and remainedthere until he died on the 22nd of November 1861. He had beenelected to the Academy in the preceding year.