THE EGLISE CATHOLIftUE FRANCAISE. 519 



Assume the god, 

 Affect to nod, 

 And seem to shake the spheres. 



Two of the brethren stood behind Enfantin's chair, as special atten- 

 dants on their chief, without extending their services to the rest of the 

 company; and during the dinner, several of the members relieved each 

 other at the piano, round which the whole body again assembled, on 

 their rising from table, and performed another chaunt in honour of their 

 chief; after which they walked out as they had entered, in processional 

 order, and marching round the extremity of the building, retired into 

 the interior of the mansion on the opposite side. 



Another of the excrescences thrown out on the surface of society, by 

 the revolution of 1830, is the sect which would be considered as the 

 national church, and which, having thrown off all allegiance to the Pope, 

 calls itself the " Eglise Catholique Francaise." The Abbe Chatel, who 

 may be regarded as the founder of this new reformation, held the office 

 of chaplain to a regiment of the guards of Charles X. before the revo- 

 lution, and seeing, probably, no great prospect of promotion in his 

 original career, he resolved on the more adventurous course in which he 

 is now engaged. On my proposing a visit to the new establishment, 

 my friend, after some hesitation, consented, saying, " Aliens done ! 

 mais vous allez de folie en folie !" 



The temporary building in the Fauxbourg St. Martin, where the 

 Abbe Chatel preaches, is so crowded on Sundays, that seats cannot be 

 obtained without great inconvenience He has, in consequence, begun 

 to perform high mass and to preach 011 Friday morning ; and as on 

 those days two francs are charged for admission, by means of tickets, 

 which must be purchased in advance, you are sure to obtain a seat, 

 although you do not go till the hour appointed. On Friday last I am 

 sure there were not less than 1200 persons present, and all of a class 

 attracted more, apparently by a wish to promote the cause of religion, 

 than to gratify an idle curiosity. 



As to the Abbe Chatel himself, I confess that my opinion of him has 

 considerably changed since his recent assumption, first of the title of 

 Bishop, and afterwards that of Primate of the French Catholic Church. 

 This assumption has produced a division among his flock, part of whom 

 have withdrawn from him, and created independent churches in other 

 parts of the capital. His great talents, however, as a preacher, have 

 secured him the full attendance I have described ; but the ambitious 

 views he has discovered, will, probably, in these days of equality, 

 deprive him of the rank he aspires to, of a great reformer of ecclesias- 

 tical abuses. 



The service was begun by a solemn mass in music, in which the 

 chaunting was decidedly inferior to the instrumental performances. 

 The organ is indifferent, but the band of wind instruments is perhaps 

 one of the best which Paris could produce. The liturgy has evidently 

 been contrived to court popularity. " Conserves notre liberte ! con- 

 serves notre gloria ! " are prayers introduced still more frequently than 

 those for the health of the king or the prosperity, of the church. They 

 are listened to, however, with an air of reverence and attention, by 

 numbers far exceeding what you are accustomed to see in Paris within 

 the walls of a place of worship. 



When the Abbe ascends the pulpit, after the conclusion of the mass, 



