the mission cross. He was also on a shortlist of three clergymen for the post of the preceptor of King Louis XV in 1714 but he did not get the post. In his youth, before he became famous as an orator, Michel devoted himself to poetry with some success. As an orator, he was considered to be one of the best, along with Jean Baptiste Massillon and Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet. He earned great praise for two speeches he made at the Court – one of them in 1715 during Lent and the other in 1722 for the coronation of King Louis XV – but Saint-Simon felt that La Rivière's skills as an orator were not the equal of these important occasions. A year later, in 1723, his fortunes came to a sudden end. Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the Regent of France, had just died. His death caused the clergy considerable distress because, in spite his notoriously dissolute lifestyle, his funeral oration would have to be delivered to the pleasure and satisfaction of the King and his Court. La Rivière was chosen for this job. But, during the funeral, when he came to the matter of the salvation of the Duke’s soul, the Bishop blurted, "Je crains; mais j'espere [ I fear but I hope ]". These words were enough to banish him from the Court. However, his oration remains as one of the best funeral sermons ever written in the French language. In fact, d'Alembert declared, "Quand l'évêque d'Angers n'eût écrit que ce peu de mots en toute sa vie, il ne devrait pas être placé dans la classe des orateurs ordinaires [ If the Bishop of Angers had not written these few words, he would be counted only among the ordinary orators ]." It is notable for the following passage: "Du pied du plus beau trône du monde il tombe ... dans l'éternité. Mais pourquoi, mon Dieu, après en avoir fait un prodige de talents, n'en feriez-vous pas un prodige de miséricorde?" "From the foot of the most beautiful throne of the world he falls ... in eternity. But why, my God, after having made a miracle of talent, have You not done a miracle of mercy?" Last years In his retirement, La Rivière was rewarded with the esteem of the men of letters when he was elected as a member of the Académie française in 1728. He was