516 THE ST. SIMONIAXS, AND 



from his father ; but whether it be free from mortgage, or whether the 

 family be bourgeois or gcntilhomme, I have not been informed. 



The two hours we had to spare were occupied in visiting the fortifi- 

 cations of Belleville, which are in the immediate neighbourhood of Me- 

 nilmontant, and which form part of the lines of defence, which, during 

 the last two years, have been forming on this side of Paris, including 

 St. Denis, Montmartre, and the castle of Vincennes, and extending from 

 the bridge of Neuilly to a point on the river above Paris, near the junc- 

 tion of the Maine with the Seine. This side of the city is certainly most 

 capable of defence ; and it is probably because the attack which it sus- 

 tained in the month of March, 1814, was made in this direction, that the 

 labours of the engineer have hitherto been confined to the right bank of 

 the river. In modern warfare, however, a stream like the Seine is 

 easily crossed by means of the pontoons with which every army is pro- 

 vided, as a part of its baggage. The numerous windings of the Seine 

 would facilitate this operation, by concealing the precise point at which 

 it was to be effected ; so that an invading army would reach the defence- 

 less side of the capital only a day or two later than the north side, 

 which is already bristling with fortifications. Within these eight days 

 there were at least four hundred men employed in forming covered 

 ways, and throwing up embankments at the single point of Belleville, 

 immediately under the station of the telegraph. 



On our return to Menilmontant, rather before the hour appointed, we 

 found no difficulty in obtaining admittance. Beyond the given point of 

 the house, a considerable space has been laid out in the form of an am- 

 phitheatre, as if to enable the apostles of the new religion to address a 

 very numerous audience. For some time, however, they have been 

 closely observed by the police, who, on Sunday and Monday, the two 

 days of the week when the gardens would be most frequented, have 

 latterly interdicted the entrance to all but the habitual occupants of the 

 mansion. The friend who was with me inquired, after we had got into 

 the garden, for a young man of a respectable family at Nantes, who had 

 lately joined the association, bringing with him a fortune of 250,000 

 francs. The answer to the inquiry was, " Dans un moment, monsieur, 

 il esl a son service;" leaving us to conjecture the nature of his employ- 

 ment. The sky was clear, although the day was cold ; and in various 

 parts of the garden the younger members of the fraternity might be seen 

 walking rapidly up and down, as if to keep themselves in heat; while 

 those whp call themselves the apostles, remained in the terrace near the 

 house, ready to enter into conversation with any one who chose to ad- 

 dress them. Without beginning a set speech, I could observe that dis- 

 cussion was distinctly encouraged, and that answers to inquiries were 

 always given in an argumentative form. The great majority of the 

 visitors were attracted, like myself, by mere motives of curiosity; but 

 there were others who discovered, by the questions they put, that a 

 favourable impression had already been created, and that they w r ould 

 not be unwilling to join the fraternity, should they be thought worthy 

 of admission. Whether these were mere decoy ducks, I cannot tell 

 you ; but it was easy to see, that while a civil answer was given to 

 every inquirer, the apostle would turn round to the quarter whence 

 he felt himself to be hardest pressed, and would prepare to meet the 

 difficulty proposed to him with all the skill he could command. 



The group to which I particularly attached myself, was formed round 



