The New York herald., 1873-08-23
NEW YORK HERALD SATURDAY AUGUST l87s-rRPLE SHEET

present large revenues made It so profitable call
ing that worldly men hocked into 1t from interest
rather than from conviction He was wise and
reasonable man, this vicar. ana so was the Cure Of
st. Malo, in Brittany, VINO presently joined us.
Between the eggs and the apples OF our breakfast
the Cure OF st. Ma0 spoke OF the necessity OF keep
lag the civil and ecclesiastical power quite distinct
In well-governed country "for." he observed,
"when they are joined together. as in Russia, the
civil power becomes too potent and may make
| terrible use OF its authority It II well that
the oppressed should have some refuge
and court OF appeal from It, and that
the terrors OF the Church should not be
used for political party purposes" Then
we talked Of the hierarchy Of the Roman Catholic
| Church in France; and he explained that the term
able Is the generic designation Of French priest
| and not title implying any ecclesiastical rank or
| functions. Young priests are educated at certain
religious seminaries. and unless they enter one OF
the monastic orders they begin their career as
vicaires curates, acting under the authority Of
| q superior. Alter a period, short or long, &C
cording to their chances they become cures, or
incumbents of some particular benehce.
OUR LADY OF LOURDEs.
In order to enable the public OF the United States
to form any sort OF opinion worthy of their nteIli-
gence touching the events which are now passing
at Lourdes, interrupt my narrative to give some
| account OF the place. Will endeav0r not to
| make that account very long, but l must make
| 1t comprehensive, or the cursory and untraveled
| reader-by the way, who Is an untravelled reader
| in the United Statcsf-might run away with false
ideas and form erroneous conclusions upon fnsuf-
fcient Information. "La 0Ierre," says French
proverb, "nest que Ia m6sintelltgence," and
take it that most differences Of opinion between
honest folk arise from ignorance on the one side or
tha Of ha nOt fact q wit Whi Wa
have to deal are these AN intermnable procession
Of pilgrims, men. women and children, actually
does come at this present writing to kneel before
grOttO In q wilderness entirely unknown to mos.
human beings few years ago; that the words
OF one little child have suddenly caused this
grOtt0 to be considered divine sanctuary, and
that popular faith among the most sceptical people
ip the world has raised above the grotto a vast
edifce which has cost 100000 OF francs.
Now how did this happen in an age OF enlghten-
ment and cheap educatons How did 1t come
about that the testimony OF an ignorant little girl
concerning an apparitiOn which nobody but herself
had seen found credit and brought forth such
strange sesultsS There Is peremptory way Of
dealing with such questions, and the word ''super-
stition" is convenient for that purpose. II is q
prudent and easy thing to give curt denial to
fact one cannot understand and Will not discuss.
1t Is the official or permanent-cierk method Of
getting out OF difficulty but it is not honest Let
us try what can be done with fact by meeting it
with just little candor and patience, It's
A NEW MODE OF TREATING FACTS,
and for that reason, II for no other is worth an
experiment. The little town OF Lourdes is stu-
atcd in the department OF the Hautes-Pyrenees, at
the juncture Of the seven valleys OF the Lavedan,
between the last hills which terminate the plain Of
Tarbes and the first abrupt rocks of the great
mountain. In form it resembles pigeon pie, made
in circular dish with the BIRDS feet sticking out
OF the upper crust, in accordance with Nine.
Cooks Idea OF Urnamentati0n, which usually con-
ssts in putting some piece OF rubbish in the wrong
place. The houses are grouped in dls0rdcrly man.
ner at the base OF large isolated rock. upon the
summit Of which has been erected strong for
tress. Beneath, amidst the shade OF poplar trees
runs the Gave, noisy river, always quarrelling
with flint stones and much used for the purpose
OF washing linen. The borders Of the Gave round
Lourdes have generally hard and savage aspect
with here and there charming bit Of landscape
let into them by some caprice of nature.
In the Middle Ages the Castle of Lourdes was held
now by the Saracens, now by the English and then
by the Counts OF Bgorre They seemed to have
perched upon 1t like birds OF prey and thence
swosped down upon travellers. In the eighteenth
century the fortress OF Lourdes became State
prison and was known the Bastile OF the
Pyrenees The Revolution burst open this Bastile,
it had done the other and set the prisoners In 1t
Tree to replace them with Others who were indeed
culpable in very different degree The local
records give list Of their crimes:-1. Incivic ~
2. Refusing the kiss OF peace to citizen N. "a very
ladyike CRIME this): g. Troublesomeness "a more
terrible sort OF guilt).4 d. Drunkenness s. Icy cold
ness OF feeling about the Revolution fDe glace pour
Ia RerOtuttOn). 9. Hypocritical and reserved dis
position. Z. A disposition as fond Of lying as a
dentist. 8. Sly and peaceful miscrness; indif.
ferent about the Revolution They were not very
easy masters these first republicans who upset
their locksmith king and his pretty wife, Under
the First Empire the fortress of Lourdes was main
tained as State prison. being some ten days Jour-
ney from the capital, so that o bawling patriot
could hardly make his voice heard from such a
distance. The Restoration converted 1t into forti
fed place OF the fifth order and put hundred Of
infantry under the command OF o major in it for
the sake OF appearances rather than defence.
Lourdes, nevertheless, continues to be the key OF
the Pyrenees though in different sense from that
understood by soldiers. 1t is in the MIDST OF the
hot springs resorted to for curative purposes, as
though all
MANKIND SHOULD BE BOILED WHEN TENDER.
Whether one wants to get to Barreges or to Sc.
Sauveur, to Cauterets or to Baguerre de Bigorre,
it is equally necessary to pass through Lourdes.
Ever since the baths OF the Pyrenees first into
fashion score Of diligences daily deposited their
passengers at the Hotel de la Poste, and allowed
them just time to dine and look about them, no
more. Thus for about century this little town, being
constantly traversed by strangers, picked up some
ideas from them, and its Inhabitants became
advanced thinkers, rather proud OF their civIza-
tion. In 1853, when Lourdes was about 10 obtain
a worldwide celebrity, most OF the Parsian re-
views and newspapers had readers there. The
Reuue des Dsasr Mondes, then at the head of French
literature, numbered several regular subscribers.
The coffee houses and wine shops took in the
steele, very unerthodox print The local gentry
and the clergy divided their attention between the
Journal des Debats (then admirably conducted by
an unequalled stan OF wfiters) and the Presse the
konite,,,, the Untrers and the Union. Lourdes had