HENRI-MARIE-GASTON DE BONNECHOSE. Cardinal, b. in Paris on 30 May 1800, d. in Rouen on 28 Oct. 1883. He first pursued a legal career, but the July Revolution (1830), which forced him to resign, provided him with the opportunity to follow his religious vocation. Ordained priest in 1834, he was elected superior of S. Luigi dei Francesi in Rome in 1844. Bishop of Carcassonne in 1847, of Évreux in 1855, of Rouen in 1858, and cardinal in 1863. In assenting to the coup d’état of 2 Dec., he became a trusted counsellor of Napoleon III, who appointed him senator in 1863. A skilled diplomat and prudent administrator, he was also a zealous pastor and staunch defender of ecclesiastical rights.
An admirer of Bautain, he remained close to him even when the latter had to clear himself in Rome; indeed, he joined the Société de St-Louis that his friend had founded. The fruit of this intimacy was the publication of Bautain’s religious correspondence, printed by Bonnechose under the title Philosophie du christianisme (Paris 1835).