But  it  was  very  different  with  the  work  under-
taken by  St.  de  la  Salle.  He  had  to  begin  at  the
beginning.  He  had  to  find  schools  and  teachers;
and  he  had  to  interest  wealthy  people  in  the  work
in  order  that  the  schools  might  continue  and  the
teachers  might  not  starve.  He  had  to  overcome
the  opposition  that  always  arises  in  this  world  when
a  great  man  attempts  to  do  something  unusual,
especially  if  it  is  something  good.  He  had  to  teach
the  teachers — a  most  important  part  of  his  work
and  something  that  until  then  had  been  almost
entirely  neglected.  He  had  to  write  textbooks  and
organize  free  libraries  and  superintend  Sunday
schools  and  establish  technical  institutes  and  board-
ing colleges.  And  the  bulk  of  this  work  he  had  to  do
quite  by  himself;  he  had  no  capable  and  willing
statesmen,  as  the  Great  King  had,  to  do  the  work
for  him.  And  so  St.  de  la  Salle  did  the  work,  and
did  it  all,  and  did  it  well;  and  he  gave  the  glory  of
it  to  Almighty  God.
A  KING  AND  A  SAINT  7

Even  before  his  death  the  alleged  greatness  of
King  Louis  XIV  had  begun  to  crumble  and  crack;
not  without  reason  might  he  murmur:  "After  me,
the  Deluge!"  In  his  declining  years  the  Great
King  saw  his  once  powerful  army  routed  by  the
Duke  of  Marlborough  at  Blenheim  and  Ramillies;
and  in  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  in  1713,  he  was  obliged
to  cede  to  England  many  of  France's  American
possessions,  including  Acadia,  the  land  of  Long-
fellow's "  Evangeline."  Before  his  death  he  expressed
regret  for  his  pride  and  ambition  which  had  brought
affliction  and  misery  to  so  many  of  his  subjects,  and
with  contrition  he  confessed  his  more  personal  sins.
