But to return to the Madeleine. This magnificent fresco is a public exhibition of the humiliation to which the Church, both Gallican and Papal, was reduced by the French Emperor; and it seems like an act of divine retribution upon France, that this display, so degrading to all the parties concerned, should be blazoned forth with such pomp in this the greatest and most recent edifice which the French nation has erected, nominally, in honour of the Christian religion. In the upper part of the painting are the most sacred objects of the Christian faith. This church was recently consecrated by the Archbishop of Paris.

At three o'clock, when we entered it, we found a respectable congregation, though small for the size of the building, seated upon chairs, listening to the preacher, Mon. le Vicaire Vidal, who had just commenced his discourse. He was dressed in a white tunic, with a black round cape thrown over it, so that he united both the black of the gown and the white of the surplice in his preaching attire. Running across the church, not far from the entrance, was a wooden barrier, through which an entrance was obtained by paying a toll of three sous, which entitled the payer also to the use of a chair. The sermon,

civil condition of France without constant reference to the Gallican Articles of 1682, the Concordat and Organic Law of 1802, and the Charte of 1830, I have printed them below in the notes (at end of volume) to p. 8.

delivered entirely without book, was pronounced with a distinct, slow, and emphatic voice, with a good deal of easy action. The preacher held his black cap in one hand. His subject was the simplicity, dignity, and authority of our Lord's character and mission. There was nothing like argumentative reason, or of powerful eloquence. The sermon consisted of a series of reflections expressed in polished and harmonious language; it seemed to be designed for an audience which required to be taught the vanity of philosophical scepticism.

On coming out of the division of the church where the audience was, I met an English damsel who could not speak French, and was very much puzzled when the huissier asked her for the three sous entrance money; and in reply, she held out her hand with one sou in it, which seemed to be all she had : happening to have two sous at hand, I had the pleasure of making the way easy to her through the barrière into the centre of the church. There is what they call an instruction in this church at halfpast six o'clock in the morning, and at eight in the evening, on Sundays and feast-days. The huissier said, that the preacher whom we heard was not one of their first-rate orators, that this was not la belle saison for pulpit eloquence, but that we should probably hear something good if we came to this church on the fifteenth of this month, which is the Feast of the Assumption. On going out I observed a notice

attached to the wall, requesting all persons de ne pas crácher sur le pavé et sur les marbres de l'église.

After the English service, walked to Bishop Luscombe's, No. 19, Rue des Vignes, Champs Elysées. The Bishop spoke with great interest of Bishops Gleig and Jolly, whose portraits he has, and also many of their letters. It is to be hoped, that the materials he possesses for the biography of Bishop Jolly, whose history belongs to the records of primitive Christianity, on account of the devout simplicity of his character, may not be lost.

Heard it stated of the French servants of an English family, that when told that they might have fish, &c., instead of meat, on their jours maigres, they had, with one exception, always declined to avail themselves of the privilege, alleging that, Lorsqu'on est chez les hérétiques, il faut faire comme les hérétiques.

Walked home to our hotel (Hôtel de Tours, Place de la Bourse), through the Champs Elysées, at about ten o'clock in the evening; found the people amusing themselves there among the trees with a great variety of diversions, riding on wooden horses and roundabouts, darting at rings with a foil as they rode (like the figures in the Etruscan tombs); even women were so engaged, and swinging in the air in painted ships, &c. Indeed, if there existed a law enjoining the Sunday to be celebrated with all kinds of sports and gaieties, the Parisian population would be one of

the most obedient in the world. It must, however, be said, that the churches are much better attended, especially by the middle classes, than they were ten years ago; but it is said, on the other hand, that shops are more rarely closed on that day now than formerly. We saw very little difference in this respect between Saturday and Sunday.

On Monday went to the other, the south side of the Seine, with the intention in the first instance of being present at a séance of the Chamber of Deputies, but on arriving half-an-hour after the session. had commenced, we found that the parliament had just been prorogued for the present year. The question which occupied it for this half-hour, was that which now agitates the minds of all the journalists of France and their readers, viz. the treatment which an English consul, Mr. Pritchard, has received from two French officers at the antipodes. It is clearly evident that the wounded pride and jealousy of France with respect to England is only very thinly scarred over, and that it would take very little to re-open the wound in its most aggravated form:hæret lateri lethalis arundo.

After a walk along the Quai de Voltaire eastward, we took a cabriolet à l'heure (the price per hour is a franc and a half for the first hour, and for the following hours a franc and a quarter, and the fractions of the last hour are calculated at this latter rate); we here began a course in this quartier, viz. :

that of the Faubourg St. Germain, where many of the literati, professors, and old aristocracy reside, for the purpose of delivering some letters of introduction. We called in the first instance on Monsieur Auguste Bonnetty, 24, Rue St. Guillaume; he is a Directeur of the Université Catholique, a religious periodical, and of another called Annales de Philosophie Chrétienne, which are supported by contributors among the leading ecclesiastics and religious laity of France; he has also literary correspondence at Rome, and among the Roman Catholic clergy of England; he has passed some time at Rome, and also at Oscott. We found him at home, in a room well furnished with books, (which I observed to be editions of the Fathers of the Church, and other ecclesiastical works. There was a new, and apparently elaborate edition of Tertullian, with notes and various readings,) and a crucifix: I have since observed the crucifix as the companion of private study in another place. Monsieur Bonnetty kindly offered to call upon me the next day, and introduce me to the keepers of the MSS. at the royal library. I next called upon the Abbé Jager, who is professor of ecclesiastical history at the Sorbonne, and who had a theological controversy ten years ago with Mr. Newman, which was printed in the Univers, the leading religious newspaper of France. He was, unfortunately, in the country, but will probably return to Paris before we leave it. The same was the case with Monsieur Martin