518 THE ST. SIMONIANS, AND 



procession, and entered a sort of gallery on a level with the garden, the 

 windows of which were overlooked by the terrace to which I have 

 already alluded. On this terrace seats had been laid out for the visitors ; 

 and as soon as the procession had entered, the windows were thrown 

 open, discovering a long line of tables on which dinner had been served, 

 and the members of the fraternity standing round a piano, at which one 

 of their number was seated. The visitors were requested to uncover 

 during prayers ; on which a sort of chaunt was performed by the whole 

 brotherhood, in honour, apparently, not of God, but of their chief, 

 which served as a substitute for grace. Father Enfantin, as he is 

 called, then led the way to a small table in the middle of the room, 

 which was separated by short intervals, but without being distinguished 

 by any difference of height from the long ranges to the right and left. 

 At this centre table three chairs were placed ; that on the left remained 

 unoccupied ; the centre one was filled by Enfantin, supported on his 

 right by Michel Chevalier, who was editor of the Globe, as long as it 

 was the organ of the St. Simonians. The other seats were occupied, 

 without any apparent distinction of ranks, by the rest of the fraternity, 

 with the exception of such as were doing duty in the kitchen, or were 

 attending the company in the capacity of waiters. Among this last 

 number, the friend who was with me discovered his acquaintance from 

 Nantes, who had lately brought his 250,000 francs into the society. On 

 speaking to him after dinner, he assured us, in a very woe-begone style, 

 that he was quite at his ease, and did not at all regret the step he had 

 taken. It was clear, however, that he did not fully coincide in the 

 judgment which Father Enfantin, or the apostles behind the curtain, 

 had formed of his capacity, and that he would gladly have spared the 

 exhibition which had that day taken place. 



The feast was far from being a luxurious one. The whole dinner 

 consisted of two tureens of soup, a large joint of roasted meat, a single 

 dish of dried beans called haricots, a basket for a dessert, two bottles of 

 wine among forty people, and bread apparently at discretion. The 

 meat was placed on the centre table, and carved by one of the attend- 

 ants. The wine was also under the immediate control of Enfantin, who 

 sent the bottles from time to time to chosen individuals j but I was as- 

 sured by a lady who sat next to me, that, in the course of the dinner, 

 not one had been forgotten. You will judge of their abstinence, how- 

 ever, when I tell you, that, when they rose from table, at least a fourth 

 part of the wine remained in the decanters. 



In the selection of candidates for admission into the society, the three 

 great requisites appear to be, the possession of fortune, talents, and good 

 looks. In this last respect, with the exception of our new acquaintance, 

 M. Lambert, and two or three others, the whole fraternity may be dis- 

 tinguished as a set of very fine-looking men. At the late trial, Father 

 Enfantin declared himself to be but five-and-thirty, but he appears to 

 me to be at least ten years older. He looked better, I think, when 

 dressed as a man of the world, and before he allowed his beard to grow, 

 than he does at present. He is considerably above the middle height, 

 and of a figure which will probably degenerate into corpulency. During 

 the dinner he was almost the only individual who seemed to feel that he 

 was under the observation of a considerable body of spectators from 

 without. He cast many a scrutinizing glance towards the terrace, and 

 never seemed to forget that it was his duty to 



