of the massacre of 175 priests on September 2, 1792, among whom were
the Archbishop of Arles, and the Bishop of Saintes. The Supérieur
conducted us over the house and garden; he showed us the room in which
the revolutionary tribunal sat; the passage through which the victims
were hurried to be dispatched; and at the bottom of the garden the
orangery, now a chapel, into which they fled, and which retains
on its floor, and on the seat which runs along its inner wall,
numerous traces of blood. There is, especially, the mark of a head on
the bench, where the crown of hair is still visible, which must have
been dripping with blood to have left such a trace. No spot in Paris
has such interest for me as this: none is so glorious to the Church of
France: none carries such an omen of future triumphs. Between this
orangery and the house is a small circular piece of water, on the edge
of which several likewise were massacred. In a small vaulted chamber,
up stairs, are the marks of three rapiers against the wall, which the
assassins, sleeping there at night, seem to have put to stand there,
dropping with blood. And in this very room Madame Tallien, the Empress
Josephine, and the Duchess D'Aiguillon were confined seventeen days,
as appears by an inscription in pencil on the wall, asking how long
liberty should be a vain name, and signed "Citoyenne Tallien,
Josephine Beauharnais, D'Aiguillon." Even here the reminiscences of
this house do not stop;--in the garret many of the Girondins were
confined, and the walls are covered with their indignant remarks; many
from the Latin poets, in heathen style,--some written in pencil, some
in their blood. It is a curious contrast, as one turns away from this
chamber, to see over another door one of the old inscriptions of the
Carmelites remaining:--"Quod delectat, momentum est: quod
cruciat, æternum est." It is, as the late archbishop said, "le monde
Païen, and le monde Chrétien, vis-à-vis." He had purchased this house
as a place for the encouragement of the higher studies of theology
among the clergy; the design was not completed at his death, but there
are about forty here, of whom twelve are masters. He has added another
to the noble band of martyrs, the unequalled patrimony of this
building: his heart has just been carried to the chapel, where we saw
it in a glass case. Surely neither their blood, nor his, has been shed
in vain. He seems to me worthy to rank with the Archbishop of Arles,
who, when his name was called out by the murderers, stepped forth from
amid the priests seeking to shelter him, and said, "C'est moi. Je suis
celui que vous cherchez." He was struck down and massacred. The same
power enabled the late archbishop, not a man careless of his life, nor
of great physical courage, to present himself fearlessly among enraged
combatants, and when suffering extreme tortures from his wound not
even once to ask his physician for aid. If ever any sacrifice was
voluntary, it was his: and this notion of making expiation with his
blood for his flock seems to have given him supernatural force.
The Abbé des Billiers had got me a ticket for the distribution of
prizes at the Institution des Aveugles. The crowns and books
were almost as numerous as at the petit séminaire: here, however, the
ceremony had an especial interest, as all the scholars had to surmount
exceeding obstacles arising from their loss of sight. There were,
notwithstanding, a great number of subjects for which prizes were
given; and the whole was terminated by a concert, in which the boys
and girls were performers. Music is one of the things in which they
most excel, and the source, doubtless, to them of peculiar
enjoyment--the sensations it excites may replace to them, in some
degree which we cannot imagine, the loss of sight. This spectacle,
however, is not without pain, as well as interest, to the beholders,
as I experienced in going over the house itself a few days ago.
_Thursday, August 10._--M. Farel took me to the Dames de la
Visitation, Rue d'Enfer. As they are cloitrées, we could not see their
house, but we conversed a little with the Supérieure. M. Farel said
smilingly to her that they looked to the prayers and intercessions of
the visitandines for the maintenance of public tranquillity; and when
the affairs of the Church did not go well, it was because the
visitandines did not do their duty. Vraiment, the Supérieure replied,
not displeased at the remark; and then she sent for four English
sisters, with whom I had a long talk. Three of these English sisters
had been converted, one, eight years ago, from a state of utter
unbelief; the other two, six and three years ago, being members of the
Church of England. The fourth was born a Catholic. None had any
distinct idea of the Church of England. They all expressed themselves
delighted with their condition. There are several months of trial
before admission to the noviciate, which lasts at least a year and a
day, after which they may take the final vows. They told me it not
unfrequently happened that persons wishing to remain, and having
apparently all the dispositions suitable for the religious life, were
refused by the superiors, but that their judgment had never been known
to have been deceived in those whom they accepted: a special light was
given them to that end. The primary object of their order was prayer
and intercession, and they received among them persons labouring under
various bodily infirmities, who would not be accepted elsewhere; their
rule was not severe as to bodily austerities. Their founder,
S. François de Sales, had assured them that the number of infirm
persons they admitted would never be so large as to diminish the
efficacy of the order. They likewise had schools attached to their
houses; but no nun was occupied more than two hours a-day in school.
They have about 180 houses--one in England, at Westbury, near Bristol;
some in the United States. The number in each house was thirty-three,
but in the great towns they passed this number. Before the
events of February they had sixty pupils. I observed that the not
knowing or not considering the careful attention paid to the subject
of _vocation_ was the cause of many prejudices in England against the
religious orders. One of the four, a novice, said, when she came to
visit her sister, before her conversion, she had the greatest dread of
entering the house, but she had found it quite different from what she
expected. We had a great deal of conversation about late conversions,
that of Mr. Newman especially. I said, Roman Catholics in England
seemed to me to commit a great fault, and especially converts. The
moment they had left us, it seemed their object to depreciate to the
utmost the Church of England; instead of allowing what we undoubtedly
possessed, and pointing out with charity and kindness the particulars
in which they presume us to be deficient, they delight to condemn us
en masse, in the most harsh and insulting manner. I noticed the Tablet
as instinct with this spirit; and when this came from men who for
years had been fighting on our side, it was the more offensive. It was
in strong contrast with the charity and kindness one met with in Roman
Catholics abroad.
Called on Lady ----, who had asked me to dine with her to-morrow. She
spoke to me seriously on a subject which, she said, had been much upon
her mind. Living for a long time among Roman Catholics, she had
come to the knowledge of a vast number of answers to prayer addressed
through the Blessed Virgin to God. Without rejecting evidence which on
any other subject she should admit to be conclusive, she could not
refuse her belief to the efficacy of these prayers, and yet her whole
mind revolted from addressing an invocation to the Blessed Virgin.
Moreover, she believed that, in the minds of the ignorant and
superstitious in the Roman Communion, the Blessed Virgin was an
obstacle to their approaching God,--they stopped with her. And yet
these prayers were undoubtedly answered. Did God then vouchsafe a
reply to the love which evidently dictated these prayers? To her
Protestantism seemed to have called forth the manly virtues,
independence and self-possession; whereas Catholicism developed itself
in far greater tenderness of spirit and affection. She showed me a
passage from Padre Ventura, strongly setting forth the paternity of
God the Father and the maternity of the Blessed Virgin in parallelism,
and compassionating those who held either without the other. But to
Protestants the Blessed Virgin was a merely historical being, having
no present existence; they did not mean to dishonour her, but they
simply never thought about her.
I said it appeared to me that the Intercession of the Saints for the
Church on earth and its particular members could not but be an
essential part of the Communion of Saints, and this once being
granted, the pre-eminent position of the Blessed Virgin accounted for
the effects wrought by her intercession; that those who had carried
her power to the highest yet made it a simply intercessory power.
"Monstra te esse matrem" was the highest exhibition of her authority.
When the mind comes to reflect upon her, and the position she holds,
so unapproachable by any other creature, it can hardly fail to come to
these results. The greater tenderness and devotion of spirit
discernible among Roman Catholics must be on account of their so
vividly realising the Communion of Saints, and this specially in the
case of the Blessed Virgin. We must not reason from the ignorant and
superstitious members of the Roman Church, any more than from the
apathy and utter deadness of heart and irreverence apparent in so many
of our own people. The cultus of the saints may be idolatry to those
who do not realise the ineffably higher office of our Lord. I can
conceive their asking, What good can the bones of dead men do? But
when the reality of Christ's presence in the tabernacles of their
flesh is felt, I could not see how the grace and glory bestowed by the
Head upon his members detracted from Himself, as the source and giver
of it. The Communion of Saints, therefore, would account for the
answers given to prayers for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.
But how could the Saints know of the prayers made to them? I said I
saw no difficulty in the view of divines, that those who enjoyed
the vision of God, beheld in Him the needs and requests of their
brethren in the flesh.
Lady ---- has an odd notion of the soul slumbering till the
Resurrection, which, I said, she must allow me to say, was simply
false doctrine.
I took leave of M. Bonnetty afterwards. M. Farel took me to the
establishment of S. Nicolas, for the education of orphan and other
children, and their apprenticing to various trades, Rue Vaugirard, 98.
This has been set on foot and conducted for about twenty years by
Monsignor de Bervanger. He has collected out of the streets of Paris a
thousand gamins, whom he receives at a small pension--twenty francs a
month for orphans, twenty-five for other children; lodges, boards,
instructs, and teaches them a vast number of trades. Of these he has
even at present seven hundred: but the Revolution of February has cost
him a diminution of three hundred. Five hundred of the garde mobile,
who lately saved Paris, have been brought up by him. He observes that
the difficulty for children destined to live by manual labour is how
to join elementary studies, especially that of religion, with their
apprenticeship to a trade. Without religion a workman does not find in
all his life rule for his conduct, consolation in his toils, or hope
for the future. Thus establishments uniting these advantages answer a
deep need of society, and this has been the chief aim of the
Œuvre de S. Nicolas since its institution in 1827, _i.e._, to
succour orphans, to give them a love of virtue and labour, and prepare
them, by the practice of religious duties, to become not merely good
workmen, but good Christians. For this purpose an hour and a quarter
is given every day, except Thursday, to the study and explanation of
the Catechism, the Gospel, and Sacred History. The pupils are arranged
in fourteen divisions, according to their age and intelligence. They
are taught by priests approved by the archbishop--these are ever among
them, not only in their work and studies, but at their recreations,
instructing them to be content with the position assigned to them by
Providence, and to bless Him amid the most painful toils and
privations, out of regard to an eternal recompense--sentiments which
the example of these priests in surrendering themselves to so
charitable and self-denying a life must be very powerful in inspiring.
The children are specially instructed and prepared for their first
communion and confirmation.
The establishment has within it twenty-five ateliers for pupils whose
parents or guardians desire to leave their children till the end of
their apprenticeship; for the children only attend these workshops on
an express request. Care will be taken to put to good Christian
masters the children not able to profit by this advantage. A
great number of those brought up here are already set at the head of
these workshops. Their younger brethren will find with them the same
religious usages, and as it were the same family.
They are occupied in these workshops eight and a half hours a day.
They have a class two hours every day, except their friends desire
them to pass this time in the workshop, to perfect themselves in their
employment. If their work should be suspended, they attend the classes.
The apprenticeship lasts two, three, or four years, according to the
trade. When finished they may remain in the establishment; and what
they earn beyond their maintenance may be deposited in a savings'
bank. The parents can select for their children what trade they like,
after considering their tastes, physical powers, and intelligence.
Though these workshops are an increase of charge to the establishment,
yet, as it does not seek to make a pecuniary speculation, the payment
for the children in them is no larger than for the youngest, though
their board is more expensive. Moreover, those who work require a
larger amount of food.
All the earnings of the apprentices belong to the masters of the
workshops, who have thus an interest in their progress, and in
conforming themselves to the rules of the house, from which they are
liable to be dismissed. On their side, they provide the tools.
They have no power to inflict punishments, but report to the brethren.
The studies comprehend reading, writing, arithmetic, and orthography;
the elements of French grammar, geography, and history; analysis of
grammar and logic; book-keeping, linear-drawing, practical geometry,
vocal music, the most complete instrumental music, gymnastics, and
swimming; such primary instructions in natural philosophy, chemistry,
and natural history, as are applicable to daily life; mensuration and
horticulture.
The children do not remain in study more than two hours and a half
following, nor occupied on the same subject more than from half an
hour to an hour and a half. Those not in the workshops have eight
hours of class and study, excepting the youngest, who have only six,
as they rise later. Each class has from fifty to seventy scholars at
most.
There is a small examination several times a year.
The food is prepared by sisters of charity. It is wholesome and
plentiful, and shared by the masters. There is breakfast, dinner, and
supper, besides the goûter.
Sisters of charity take charge of the infirmary, kitchens, refectory,
linen, and washing: "they know that all holiness which isolates us
from those who have need of our assistance is false."
Most careful provision is made for the cleanliness of the
children. Warm water is supplied in winter; baths at all times. Every
child is supplied yearly with a pair of summer and winter pantaloons
new; those of the year preceding become every day's clothing.
House-work, in which the brethren have aid from the children out of
class time, is paid to them. Long experience shows how much better for
the children this is than when it is made a punishment. Moreover, some
children have such need of motion, that great harm may be done them if
it be refused them.
"All which appears low to the eyes of men, is an object of emulation
among _religious_, whose vocation aims at the most perfect conformity
with the counsels and example of our divine Saviour. Like Him, they
dare to touch the Leper banished from man's society; like Him, they
despise Pharisaic censure. They would deem themselves unworthy to
belong in so privileged a manner to the service of a crucified God, if
their heart was under the influence of human opinion, if regards even
to their health, which a sensitive conscience often shows them to be
superfluous, could arrest them in the accomplishment of their labours."
The brethren sleep in the dormitories among the children. One of them
invariable keeps watch in these dormitories, which are lighted. The
most careful and rigorous surveillance is exercised. The eldest rise at
5½; the youngest at 7. In winter they go to bed at 8; in summer at 8¾.
Good marks are given to the children, which three times a year are
exchanged for books, &c. Marks of conduct, work, and application, for
each week, are hung up in the parloir. So likewise the places obtained
in the compositions of the week; and the notes of three months, which
are sent to friends. Pupils who constantly maintain themselves on the
table of good conduct for three months are entitled to a reward. There
is a solemn distribution of prizes every year before the short
vacation, on the Sunday following 15th of August.
Extraordinary recreations are provided at times; as in summer a long
promenade, in which the pupils take with them a day's provisions.
During the recreations of each day, the brethren make themselves
children with their pupils, authority disguising itself under the
shape of affection. This is the most favourable moment for studying
character. They endeavour to gain the confidence of those in whom they
have observed bad dispositions by employing the most attractive means
of religion, and they have often the consolation of making them
teachable and happy.
It is a great point to occupy the children during their recreation,
and so to brace the body by exercise, that their nights may be sound
and their health good.
Parents can see their children any day, but only at play time,
and when they are not in disgrace. They cannot take their children out
but on a few particular days.
Punishments are inflicted as sparingly as possible. No master may
strike a child.
Children are received from eight to twelve years old. Those under ten
are sent in general to the Maison succursale, at Issy. Twenty francs'
entrance are paid besides the pension. The number is limited to 1000.
We had first an interview with Monsignor de Bervanger, the founder of
this work, to whom, I should think, it must supply perpetual
occupation. He sent a most pleasing boy round with us to the different
parts of the establishment. In many of the various ateliers work has
been suspended; this is an effect of the revolution: in many we saw
the pupils at work under their 'chef.' They reach such perfection in
their work, as to obtain an easy sale for it, and to gain their
subsistence. A large number were playing in high spirits. The premises
are necessarily of great extent, and certainly it is a bold and
immense experiment, and most interesting. It is not the least
astonishing that Monsignor de Bervanger set it on foot without private
funds: but its maintenance involves a large degree of ever active
charity, both in the brothers of S. Nicolas, who teach these boys,
that would otherwise be the refuse of Paris, and who eat and
sleep in the midst of them, and in the Sisters of Charity, by whom the
kitchen, infirmary, refectory, &c. are served. Thus without the
'celibat' in both sexes, this and every other work of high charity
falls to the ground. Not only on the score of expense would it be
impossible to conduct such a house without the aid of those who
disregard money altogether as a remuneration; not only would it be
difficult to find so total a surrender of time and of the whole man in
any who had household ties to bind them: but as certain devils cannot
be cast out "save by prayer and fasting," so there would seem to be a
like proportion of means to end in particular applications of the
Cross's healing power. It would appear to be a necessary condition for
the restoration of the suffering masses of society, that the highest
blessing of the natural man--family life--should be voluntarily
surrendered by those who are to be God's instruments in this special
work. They who are seen amid the toil and sweat of every day's task to
be living a supernatural life of charity,--they, and they alone, can
gain the affection of the world's outcasts, and lighten the burden of
the Cross which they have first themselves so borne. As I went over
this house, and saw its inmates, I comprehended in some faint degree
the amount of charity which such a life must require. The musical
service, performed by these children themselves on Sunday, is
described as very well done, and very interesting. Many of their
friends come to hear. I thought their chapel confined for so large a
number.
A little book which Monsignor de Bervanger gave us contains a pretty
full account of this institution, from which I have taken many
particulars given above. He observed that an Englishman not long
before had paid them several visits. He was most struck by the terms
of intimacy in which the masters lived with the pupils. This has also
struck me pointedly wherever I have seen educational institutions in
France. There the wall of separation does not seem to exist, which
shuts out the English tutor or master from the real state of his
pupil's mind, from his prevailing habits, and natural tone of thought.
With us, the boy before his master, and the boy by himself or with his
schoolfellows, are two beings wholly distinct. Seldom, indeed, can the
tutor get at the real living soul with whom he has to deal; still
seldomer mould and direct the development of his moral powers. It is,
to the best of my belief, a _generic_ difference between Anglican and
Roman Catholic education.
As we were walking home, M. Farel told me that in the diocese of
Langres alone there were five hundred institutions of Sisters of
Charity. "Do you not mean," I said, "five hundred Sisters?" "No," he
replied; "not a commune is without them." I asked to how many
several parent houses they might belong: he said, to about five. Thus
the Sisters of S. Vincent de Paul only form a portion of those
dedicated to this work.
_Friday, Aug. 11._--I copied the rest of the account of the cure
which happened to the novice at the Rue du Bac. The Sisters asked me
if I had seen the child who was cured of blindness. I said I had, and
that she seemed to me of very limited intelligence, and extremely
simple. One of them answered, "Yes; I asked her what she thought when
she recovered her sight, to which she replied, 'C'était drôle à
voir.'" While I was sitting among a number of the Sisters of Charity
transcribing the account, their great cheerfulness--one might almost
call it merriment--of tone was remarkable; they were those engaged in
the general management of the house at the Secrétariat. There is
something too in their faces which indicates inward peace. They look
happy. I took the opportunity of reading the pastoral letter of the
Abbé Etienne, their superior general, in which the account of the
cures was contained. It was written to encourage them amid the
unsettled state of public affairs. He reminded them that the
Revolution of 1830 opened with a much more threatening aspect towards
religion; and yet the period of eighteen years which they had since
passed through had been one of unexampled progress and prosperity to
their Institution. The times in which their founder S. Vincent
de Paul lived were likewise most unsettled, but he only saw in that a
larger opportunity for charitable exertions; he had promised his
children, that so long as they were faithful to their rules the Divine
protection should never fail them, and God had, beyond doubt, granted
these two miraculous cures to the intercessions of S. Vincent at the
opening of another momentous crisis to assure them that their Saint
had not lost his power with God. He felt the greatest confidence in
their zeal and charity and spirit of union, which made his own task
light. Before leaving the house I visited their chapel again, which
has to me a peculiar interest, on account of what is said to have
taken place there.