1828.] Singular Religious Ceremony in France. 479 



weight, and its bearers consequently requiring to rest from their burthen 

 every five or ten minutes. These arches are more or less curious and 

 recherches in their ornaments and devices, according to the zeal and devo- 

 tion of the party who happens to be favoured, by the relative position of 

 his house, with the honour of erecting them. On the apex of each there 

 is a cross, and on each the words " Vive la Croix !" are inscribed in one 

 or more places. 



One thing more should be looked upon previous to the commencement 

 of the procession namely, the grand object of its attraction, the cross 

 itself. This is placed in the open air, in the centre of the cathedral 

 close, where we have supposed the spectator to be standing to witness the 

 procession. The cross itself is temporary, and merely for the use of the 

 day. The figure which is lying on it is of colossal size, and extremely 

 well executed so well, indeed, that it is difficult to look upon it without 

 feelings which must not be referred to in this place. The cross and its 

 burthen rests in an inclined position, upon a sort of cradle or frame-work, 

 consisting of a vast number of pieces, very like the frame-work of a ship 

 about to be launched. There is a sort of imaginary temple formed round 

 the whole, by the erection of four lofty detached pillars, one at each cor- 

 ner of a square space, each wrapped up in white calico, and wreathed 

 round, spirally, with bundles of coloured paper, to represent flowers. 



It should seem, from all this, that it is a mistake to suppose the French 

 people have no imagination. On the contrary, it is obvious that they can 

 imagine any one thing into any other, at the pleasure of those who cater 

 for their religious appetites. To them, these four fragile pillars form a 

 religious temple, at least as sacred and as impressive as the noble pile of 

 gothic architecture, in the presence of which they have sprung up since 

 the last night, and will disappear before the next. 



Let us now turn at once to the procession. At a certain signal from 

 within, the great doors of the cathedral yawn open slowly, and there 

 issues forth a somewhat discordant din of voices, chaunting a canticle. 

 The next moment, this is followed by the head of the procession itself, 

 which consists of all the little children belonging to the various parish 

 schools of the place. Lest our imaginary spectator should look for any- 

 thing like uniformity of appearance in this throng of perhaps a thousand 

 boys, and as many girls, he must be told that the French philanthropists 

 think they do quite enough in ornamenting the minds of their little pro- 

 teges ; the beautifying of their bodies is left to the discretion of those 

 whom it more nearly concerns. The consequence is, that a charity- 

 school here presents an appearance as motley, and almost as meagre, as 

 Falstaff's ragged regiment did. There is, however, a sort of approach 

 to uniformity given to the appearance of these little vagabonds, by each 

 holding in its hand a flag, made out of half a sheet of dirty writing 

 paper, pasted upon a twig of willow, with a bit of darker coloured paper 

 cut into a cross, and pasted upon the middle of it. They also wear each 

 a little gilt crucifix round their neck, tied by a bit of red or blue ribbon. 

 As they leave the door of the cathedral, they form themselves into two 

 double files ; and each file takes an opposite side of the street, leaving 

 the middle vacant. In this middle space walks at intervals a priest, or 

 some other official person, to direct, and keep in due order and decorum, 

 the movements of the little rabble. Immediately after the parish schools, 

 come a company of two hundred " virgins, clothed in white raiment," 

 and wearing on their unbonnetted heads white lace veils. Each of these 

 also bears a flag, similar in size and form to those carried by the little 



