The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-26 00:00:00

11fit rRENCII CHURCH.

The history of the Church of France, wince the
period of the great Revolution to the present day, is
fraught with instruction to all who would learn by
what huniari the rower of religion may most
effectually be extended and established. Its various
vicissitudes, whether of deep depression or transitory
influence, alike impress on us a conviction of the deep
m and aestrtiale influence of Christian faith, when
left to its own unaided operation on the hill-Ilan heart.
But they also show us that the most effectual ob-
stacle to this good influence is generally created by
the ambition and errors 6f tilt clergy, and by their
being permitted to interfere in political conceriiS.
The vitality of Christianity was never more signally
exhibited than in the stronghold which it was found
to have on the French natidti after the long proscrip-
tion and complete spoliation to which it had been sub-
jected during the Revolution. After its churches had
for ten years been desecrated, its priesthood driven
into eiild, its r,dftices discontinued,, its holy days
blotted out of the calendar, the French peasant was
still found retaining the faith of his fathers and his
childhood. A deep sense of this fact induced
Napoleon to re-,ostablih the Catholic Church as one
of the institutions of the Cdtintry, But it suited
neither his love of power nor his deference for the
feelings of revolutionary France, to restore to the
priesthood the splendour or power which they had
enjdydd timid the old regime. During his. reign,
therefore, their lot was one of modest competence and
political obscurity. In retirement they devoted them-
selves to the labours of their sacred calling ; and, in
spite of the force of recent prejudices and recollections,
they succeeded in recovering a considerable amount
of influence over the national mind.
The Restoration came, and the first act of the re-
stored Bourbons was to re-establish the ancient con-
nexion between the altar and the throne. 'Wealth
and honours were heaped do the clergy of the Estab-
lished Church ; and they were not only called upon
to bear an ostgnsible part in the ceremonies of the
Court and the councils of the State, but a more substan-
tial authority was secured to them by the secret in-
fluence which they were allowed to exercise it, all politi-
cal matters. From the bishops:and confessors who guided
the eccrrt deliberations of the " Pavillon Marsan,"
down to the curate of the remotest village, the clergy
became the chief agents of polical intrigue, and
distributed almost the entire patronage of the Crown.
From the hour in which power and importance were
thus conferred on them, is to be dated the total
and almost immediate loss of all hold on the na-
tional mind. Thoughout France the clergy be-
came the objects of general distrust and hatred ; and,
what was worse, the obloquy which they had called
down on their own heads was extended to
the religion which they taught. From 1815 to 1830
a feeling of irreligion or deism pervaded France; and
while the higher literature of the country exhibited
the most marked re-action against the philosophy of
the eighteenth century, the creed of the people ex-
hibited the fanatical infidelity of the period of the
Revolution.
The Revolution of 1830 was celebrated throughout
France as a triumph of the people, not less over
priestly influence than over arbitrary power. The
very existence of the national church was for some
time in danger ; and it purchased its safety only by
the abandonment of all political power, and of a
considerable portion of its income. The priests, ter-
- rifled by the ill-will of the people, and opposed to