The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-08-16
FASHION AND RELIGION IN PARIS.

Harper in the rOto of panderlng TO anti
Catholic prejudice. In late number it
has an article ON " Fashion and Religion in
Paris" which is n droll compound of sense
and nonsense. With the first, the sub
Joined may be Chased:
| Another of the arts of living-dress-.
| is thoroughly exploited in Paris. 1t
mist lie borne in mind, tfst no creature of
Gods creating, except man, Is born naked,
and continues The energies OF man,
| therefore, are taxed (now to the ntmost)
to provide food and clothes. The supreme
| desire of man is for food; of woman, for
| clothes. She may endure the plivatiOn of
food; but, without clothes, she dies. The
| clothes one absolutely needs are such as
will protect one from the inclemency of the
| weather; what one sr0nts, pen cannot tell.
Fashion means business in Paris, aud it
| means nothing else. 1t is thoroughly sys-
temat;xed, it is powerful. and it has its finger
in the pocket of every woman of the civil
lied world. A little story will illustrate
earnest and gifted preacher appeared in
Paris. lie walked people from their world
linoee, and inspired n senso of duty but,
more than that, he became the fashion; SO
that women of the first rank hung upon
| his words and tried to follow his teachings.
They took the jewels from their hands and
laid them at his feet; they dressed simply
and plainly, and poured the money into his
treasury, or devoted it to works of charity
they wished to be humane, and they ceased
| to be vain and barbaric. Mark the sequel.
The traders and jewel makers and fashion
makers took an alarm; they appeared be-
| fore the Minister of State, and told him "tte
thing must be stopped! This preacher must
he silenced, or the people would suffer for
food, and would rise in mutiny-for it was
by these gods of fashion the city pros
pcrcd:" 1t 'ras stopped; the eloquent
preacher was permitted to leave the city.
That Louis Philippe was king of the
bourgeoisie, and that he interfered unjusti-
fiably in matters of education, is unques-
toned, therefore, the foregoing statement is
not at all improbable. So much for the SEN
sible part-now for the reverse. If by any
chance merited praise is awarded to any
thing Catholic, in this periodical, the writer
hastens to make his peace with the bigots
by mixture of atrocious misrepresenta-
lions, having just enough truth to give the
whole semblance of good faith. The
reader will find corroboration in the follow
ing extract:
There is one religion in Paris, and it is
called Roman Catholic. 1t is curious fact
that in this city, where the Calvinists once
drove out the Catholics, there exist to- day
but two Calvinistic houses of worship.
zot, there is not faith, or almost none.
Faith in the unseen, faith in virtue, faith
in an after-life, of which this is the mere
beginning, is rare, if it is to be found at all
in the Church. This religion, through two
thousand years, has become thoroughly sys-
tematized into a Church. This Church is a
perfect machine, which is indeed a power
in the State, but is controlled aud managed |
by the State. This perfect machine is in the !
hands of able men, and is an integral part
49, v,n III e. 1c& Al "a
at Notre-Dame is q superb spectacle; tho |
dresses are rich, the lights fine, the music
delightful, the audiences well-behavel |
Here, too, is applied that wonderful system |
and thoroughness which marks every thing |
In Paris. A high mass costs from fifty 20
with carpets, chairs, choir, ETC., costs some |
three hundred francs and blessed candles
for the poor to burn before the shrine of |
"Our Lady" can be had for o few sous. |
Death, too, pays. The business Of burying |
is in the hands Of the great company |
who furnishes funerals ut prices ranging I
from nineteen francs to seven thousand one |
hundred and eighty-four francs-of which |
the Church has its share. We must not for |
get, however, that in the bosom of this |
wonderful Church lives and acts o body of
Sisters OF Charity. Some of them are old,
many young, but all devoted. They spend
their lives in relieving distress and allaying
suffering. They do this not for money, but
for the love Of God and man. In the
Church, too, are to-day, as there always
nave been, honest, sincere, devoted men,
who work at the problem of human life,
and labor TO raise the souls OF men from the
temporal to the spiritual. just now the
most conspicuous of these are Father Felix
and Father Hyacinth. The first is Jesuit,
and most finished and cultivated preacher,
ia
nestness and intensity of feeling which in
spires Father Hyacinth. This last always
attracts crowds, and they are not only wo-
men. Grave men, ministers, artists, writer's,
hang upon his fiery words in rapt attention.
The Church is crowded hours before be