These forces serve the papacy in various manners and degrees. The alms-houses and infirmaries are not directly religious establishments; but visited and beset as they are by monks, nuns, and priests, they are, for the most part, in each case a focus and workshop of proselytism. In general this vast army has but one object, namely, the occupation of the entire land in the name of the pope. With a view to that end the several bands, each one duly organised and disciplined, are distributed over the face of the country, with a special reference and adaptation in all instances to the special wants of each locality. The land is mapped out into districts. In the chief place of each district are the seminary or secular college, the ecclesiastical college, monasteries, convents. From the chief places and from the head establishments branches are propagated to the several towns of the district, and thence proceed into the villages and hamlets, minor colonies, or individuals. All these forces are under the hand of the bishop, by whom they have been organised and distributed, and the bishop with his clergy is under the control of the pope.

It may be added, that this vast army of spiritual force is nevertheless not so great as was that by which France was possessed immediately before the revolution, when (in 1757) there were in that country 40,000 curés, 60,000 other priests, 100,000 monks, 100,000 nuns; that is 300,000 persons, or 1 in 67 of the whole population. The actual amount shows however a very great and rapid increase, for in 1829 the clergy of France reckoned 108,000 members, or 1 in every 280 inhabitants. How far the augmentation of the material strength has brought a corresponding increase of spiritual and social influence, is a question which requires mature consideration.

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The metaphor of an army badly represents the action of the papal forces in France. Rather may these priests, friars, nuns, brethren, and sisters of all names and kinds be figured as a hive of bees, each employed in his own task; or, as scattered bodies of husbandmen, each tilling his own field and his own plot; or again, as a universal police, of which every individual watches with broad open to detect and apprehend all persons who misdemean themselves in act, in word, aye, even in thought or emotion. But it is only an enumeration of objects that can show how minute is the subdivision of labour, how efficient is the general operation. Nothing is more skilfully calculated and laid out than the entire task which Rome imposes. That task literally embraces the whole of human life; it takes human life in all its conditions and at all ages-the infant, the youth, the adult, the aged; whether sick or in health; whether poor or rich; whether coming into the world or leaving the world; whether in hope of heaven

or in fear of hell; whether in the enjoyment of the smile of the Church, or under the terror of its frown. By means of the wires which he has laid down, and which run like bodily fibres through the whole social frame, the priest, the bishop, the metropolitan, the pope, can at his will delight or terrify, arouse or soothe, forgive or condemn, pour forth airs from heaven,' or 'blasts from hell;' in a word, smite or heal a parish, a diocese, a province, a whole nation. First in the series of works performed by the French clergy, regular and secular, male and female, are their religious associations, having 'edification,' that is Romanism, for their aim. Thus, in the year 1848 there was formed with a special view to the extension of popery, what is termed a 'work of prayer,' the express purpose of which was to entreat the Almighty on behalf of the salvation of France. This society originated at Saint-Brieux (Côtes du Nord), numbers 40,000 members. In the same class may be placed the numerous brotherhoods attached to the different churches. In Paris almost every parish has its brotherhood. The most important is that of the Sacred Heart, which some years ago had 50,000 adherents.

Education is an object of special care with these associations. The work is commenced in the tender and impressible years of infancy. A very large number of schools are under the direction of the brethren and sisters of Christian Doctrine. To these must be added public nurseries and infant asylums. There are in all parts of France boarding-establishments for girls whose parents or guardians are possessed of property, such as the House of the Sacred Heart,' at Paris, or the Demoiselles d'Instruction,' at Puy. Small seminaries, free colleges have been multiplied on every side. They are still multiplying.

While the instruction of childhood and youth receives the greatest attention, the aged find asylums ready to give them welcome, and to stamp Romanism on their souls. An an example take the Infirmerie de Marie Thérèse,' at Angers. The Hospitalières nuns and the Sisters of Charity fill the poor-houses. A large number of houses of refuge belong not to the municipalities but specially to the Romish church. There the sick among the poor fall under the influence of its officials. For the sick among the wealthy it has the Institut des Sœurs de Notre Dame de Bon-Secours,' in Paris, where are trained nurses who attend invalids at their own homes, and minister at the same time bitter herbs and bitter doctrine; relieving the body while they enslave the soul. The House of the Good Saviour,' at Caen, may be taken as the model of the institutions which Catholicism has set up for the relief of mental maladies. Similar provision is made by it for the blind and for the deaf and dumb. There are few

prisons which have not their corps of Sisters of Charity.' To the service of captives the Sisters of Mary-Joseph' are specially devoted. Everywhere has Romanism opened places of refuge for women of impure life who are repentant. This branch of practical benevolence is specially in the hands of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd,' at Angers, who have affiliated institutions in all parts of France. Catholicism thinks not only of those who have fallen, but of those also who are in danger of falling. For their assistance workshops are set up and superintended by some of the very numerous class of 'Sisters.' Infants who are without parents receive a large share of their kind attention. There are even houses in which servants out of place find a home. Other establishments make it their business to procure situations for girls and young women.

Thus for all the needs and all the sufferings of social life a provision is secured. Equally is preparation made to welcome those who, under the influence of Catholicism, wish to quit the world and seek peace in seclusion; to them a refuge is offered by the 565 monasteries which rise on the soil of France. This is not all; those who desire to leave society without entering a monastery, are served agreeably to their wishes, in what are called 'houses of retirement,' such as that of Fontenay-le-Comte, in Vendée.

In a word, all the various works of benevolence which in England and other Protestant countries are undertaken and performed by the general spirit of Christian goodness, both lay and clerical, undertaken and performed by the Christian community in general, are in France in the hands of what may be called a special religious corporation; are almost exclusively ecclesiastical in character and object; are in aim, tendency, and result far more spiritual than temporal. This is only to say in other words that in France benevolence is polluted with sectarianism; that pure benevolence has scarcely any existence there; that the papacy turns to its own account all means of usefulness, and all the sympathies and charities of the human soul. 'Be a papist, and you shall want nothing; or if you are not a papist, I will minister to you in the hope of making you one.' The chief aim, the preponderating aim, almost the only aim of benevolence in France is conversion to popery or confirmation in popery; and did not its administrators hope by their charity to add something to the triumphs of their Church, the ignorant might remain in ignorance, the sick would suffer without alleviation, and the dying depart in drear solitude. Surpassingly fertile in resources is the Propaganda of Rome. No means does it leave untried. Its zeal is no less ardent than various.

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It has other arms. As yet we have spoken of what may in England be termed professional efforts, the efforts, that is, of sons who in some sense have entered into Holy Orders and belong to the clergy. There are other labours in which lay-power is put into requisition. Thus at Metz we find a Military Association,' whose office consists in giving religious instruction to soldiers; a brotherly society,' which provides the poor with warm clothing; a Society of Maternal Charity,' which assists women in child-birth. In most towns of France there are institutions with similar objects. Specially in Paris has this union of benevolence and proselytism grown into large dimensions. We mention as an instance the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul,' founded among young people. The society is divided into Conferences,' each Conference is composed of from 40 to 50 members. There are 50 Conferences in Paris, severally attached to the parishes of the city. The association is daily spreading over France: its object is to relieve the poor. The President of each Conference every year visits the poor of his parish or district. Garments are given away; linen is lent. If the poor man has a cause at law, he is furnished with advice and legal aid. The chief aim, however, is proselytism. The Society proclaims that while succouring the poor, its wish is to bring back men to Catholic piety; such is the final purpose of those visits, those gifts, those cares. With that view it receives into its arms children at the earliest age; it follows them with an attentive eye; it takes every means to inspire them with devotional sentiments. Of apprentices it becomes the patron; every Sunday they are gathered together and instructed. The whole day long suitable officials have apprentices under their care; in the morning they are conducted to mass; there they receive instruction specially fitted to their wants; nor is even recreation or amusement forgotten: morning schools, evening schools are opened where they are required. Another of the labours of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul' is the rectification of the illicit marriages so numerous in Paris. It has also a branch called the branch of the Holy Family,' whose office it is to collect together in families those who are visited, in order that as families the people may attend mass and receive religious admonition; here, too, interest is blended with instruction. The Society has moreover established 'Libraries for the Poor' it publishes religious books of various kinds. means is spared to raise the necessary funds; for that purpose private canvasses are made, charity sermons are preached, even lotteries are not disdained.

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The children of the world are still wiser than the children of the light. Books overthrew Popery in France; by books, its

advocates feel, Popery must be restored. Captain Sword' is, in his way, no less useful than necessary. Nevertheless the services of Captain Pen' cannot be safely dispensed with. Hence the zeal with which the production and the propagation of pamphlets and small books are carried on among the contrivances of Papal proselytism in France. Look at the Society of Saint Victor de Plancy, for the diffusion of good books.' Founded in 1846, in the diocese of Arras, after four years of preparation, it enjoyed special patronage from the Cardinal de Latour d'Auvergne. In March, 1847, it received the sanction of the Pope, who bestowed special indulgences on those who should labour for its advancement. At the present moment it has the patronage of 42 archbishops and bishops. The society commands the power which ensues from a capital of 600,000 francs. It has a vast workshop at Plancy. Its founder, M. Collin de Plancy, conceived the idea at the moment of his conversion in 1841. On that day, in order to repair the evil he had done while fighting on the side of the free-thinkers, he vowed to God to consecrate the rest of his days to the propagation of good books.' 'He has faithfully kept his word.' Two works by this gentleman stand at the head of this Article. Those two works circulate under all the sanction they can derive from episcopal authority. They certainly offer a curious contrast to the publications thought fit for the English people by the conductors of The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.' The very title of de Plancy's book suffices to excite a feeling of commiseration towards a people for whom such an intellectual diet is provided; and yet what diet so well fitted to imbue the heart with superstitious fears, to prepare the mind for any amount of credulity, and so serve the purpose of ecclesiastical and civil despots? We translate the title in full:

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'Infernal Dictionary, or Universal Repertory of the Beings, the Personages, the Books, the Facts, the Things which pertain to Apparitions; Divinations; Magic; Intercourse with Hell; to the Demons; to Sorcerers; to the Occult Sciences; to Magical Books; to the Cabbala; to the Spirits of the Elements; to the Great Work; to Prodigies; to Errors and Prejudices; to Impostures; to the Arts of the Gipsies; to Different Superstitions; to Popular Tales; to Prognostics; and generally to all False, Marvellous, Surprising, Mysterious and Supernatural Beliefs: by J. Collin de Plancy. 3rd Edition, with 250 new articles.'

The work of the Holy Infancy' is one of the most recent and one of the most flourishing of the means of internal proselytism which the papacy employs in France. On Sunday the 4th of Jan. 1852, a great festival of this society was held in the town of Nancy. All the children connected with the branches of the