The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1890-05-08
ALMOST FORGOTTEN.
The Vanished POpuI.rII of PSrs nyaetAtha
and His Doctrines.

To see Pere Hyacinthe at his best.
you must seek him In his Owl church:
and 70 know the real man. one mus,
hear him in his pu pit The road IL
long from the centers Of Paris where
Americans do congregate. His church
Is reached at last throu b a narrow
little pathway OF the Rue DArras.
Imagine an American country ban.
Take nut the hay. leave the girders
and the rude whitewash Of the roof:
leave the shabby windows and pre-
serve the general air Of crude arch =
lecture, and only mIddlIng care-tak.
ing. Put In galleries a small organ al
the e over the main entrance, rude
seats on the floor. and q little white
painted counterfeit presentment Of a
Roman Catholic altar at the end oppO-
sile the entrance and you have the
church Of Pere Hyacinthe. II Is
timber and whiteWash. artificial
lowers and bad music, except for one
baritone, a superb voice. 1t lie a
phantom cathedral. The powerful
and melancholy personality Of a great
in elect per, AIDES Its shabbiness, and
lends 10 Its p"verty Fnd meRnness at
least a human nobility. Its lack Of
every thing that renders ritual SPLEEN
did only brings into more distinct pro-
portions the strength and earnestness
Of a man who is a living sacrifice oiall
that Frenchmen hold dear-applause.
power. luxury. magniicence. That
such a preacher should occupy such
a pulpit, his polished eloquence
streaming from the tawdry cotton-lace
drapery Of an old Radical meeting
house, at once prociaims that the
icrmer mighty Su;pirian adheres to
the later religious dogmas Of his ma
turlty; that the Catholic world has all
but forgotten him; that the Protestant
world has never ~signalized his Access
sion; and that the world Of France,
which Is neither Catholic nor Prot
estant, but simply Paris, pays little
heed to his voice. and none to his
former glory or present needs. He is
simply ignored.
Acoly'es very like those n sees in
any Roman Catholic church. are
busily arranging the altar and put
ting the little sanctuary In order.
there r six tall lights, three on
either side OF the tabernacle crucihx
surmount. 1t. The ornaments on the
altar-shelves are poor and few. The
meanest little cha el In the slums Of
London, or in the mining regions Of
Colorado. is not more woe. BECOME.
Meanwhile the congregation is filling
the seats. Only in Paris al such a
human motley be discovered. French
men. small, swarthy. nervous. In
shiny brOadcloth, most OF them old. q
few Of them young and full Of verve;
Frenchwomen, all old, so far as one
9 poorly but neatly dressed, their
faces wrinkled and scanned. their ex-
preston anxious or cynical English
women. plump, oily. addressed. i'm
poriant in their self-consclouness. not
u pearing to be able c early TO follow
the preacher. but satisfied that he has
taken the right step. A few Italians.
Spaniards, Russians, In for sight-see-
ing, not caring a. all for the realities
Of the occasion. Americans who
smile at the poverty Of the church are
aghast at the uncanny elements in
the Heterogeneous congregation. The
actual membership Of the church can
not exceed $50 or 200. A friend says
that there is no stable congregation 70
speak Of; the seats are filled BY
transients. chiefly American and
English. Paris Cor. N. Y. Tribune.