The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-09-28
Religion Declines in
Lard of the Angelus.
From the London N,,fI

rrom the London Mail
There is much in the Normandy country
TO bring to mind Millet's most famous pic
ture; much also to recall that other pic
ture OF hfS-lesS known. but no less loved
by those who do know 1.-THE woodcut-
ters-"
Around the seacoast country of which I
am writing stretch tier upon tier of hills,
yellow. when 1 first saw them last year,
with wheat or oats or barley. or green,
with clover and sugar beet: but wheat pre-
dominates The fields are not so much
separated by hedges as in England. and
one gets. therefore. more frequently upo11
q bigger scale the open-air feeling induced
by great expanses of earth and sky. whio
explains the charm Of Millet's "Angeius."
All the elements of that picture are here.
The horizon Is dotted throughout the long
days-and at harvest time they are very
| long days for the peasant-with silhou-
cites of the patient. hard-workins Norman
folk. Save that the men make sometimes
bright patches with blue shirts and trou-
sers and bright red sashes. there Is not
much gayety in this human addition to
the view. and there Is always a suggestion
| OF sadness in the women workers. Their
, dresses lack color. their faces and bent
shoulders are eloquent OF m~onotonous
! labor.
Particularly does one receive this impress
sion at the frequent sight upon the edge q
the forest of an old woman. wonderfully
\ wizened and hard of feature. bending. with
head almost upon a level with her knees.
| under the weight OF a huge bundle of faS-
COTS tied upon her back
REAL AND IDEAL
But-and here again one Is reminded II
Millets work-the somberness OF the in
habitants. though tinged with melancholy.
has none OF the gloom Of the factory or
the slum: there Is always the healthy nat
u~ralness OF tho countryside
To complete the resemblance. there II
mostly somewhere In view the village
church, showing a quaint, s~iate-covered
steeple through q clump Of trees. whence
twice or thrice a day the bell reminds the
faithful of the central fact Of their rehg-
lon
But I have not observed here the devout
picture Of the Angeius- Perhaps the folk
have preserved better the old spirit of de-
votion than seems to be the case In Nor.
mandy.
Engiishmen fall into error when they -
sumo devout Catholicism to be a essential
factor In the lives OF the French people. I
should say that q considerable majority Of
the inhabitants of the village from which
] am writing do not even trouble to go %
mass on Sundays. though their religion for
bids a~bstention under pain Of mortal sim
and the church would at least bring some
relief to the monotony Of their existence
II Is too generally assumed that the ire
ligfon Of France. the hatred OF the church
which has led to the new law cxpeiitng
the monks. Is a town product. and that the
ancient piety still obtains In the country
districts. I fear IL must be admitted tfaf In
rural France also the infection Of iuftdeaity
has spread widely.
The outcome Of IL all Win make an Inter.
esting chapter IN the future history d
France: but I am not . prophet, and %
will not essay to write an outline Of th0
chapter In advance The immediate outcome
Ca the a~fta Rrorn %Aol. -Au&
large numbers OF French MONKS and nunR
HATRED OF THE JESurTS.
Among the proclaimed orders are natural
ly the Jesuits. It Is. indeed. they and the As
sumptonists who have provided the prin-
cipal excuse for the new law; and there Is
q pretty general feeling Of regret that such
orders as the Benedictines. which were said
associations bin. saw BY the extreme anti
Ciericals. should have thrown IN their loe
with the Jesuits and the Assumptonists-
But for the Jesuits there Il. I fear. but
little popular pity. What friends they have
must be sought In the higher ranks Of
Mort aux Jesuits' chalked upon walls may
be taken as Historically representative Of
the democratic voice
VIII the dreaded and hated society, how.
ever. b got rid Oft Their churches and
houses VIII be oonfscated. but confiscatiou
oAo PCkh8A A1WS L1nIG aCvG yet 69lS6CL(Q III
n country proof against tho sons
OF St. Ignatiu. and I believe II IN already
understood hat the expulsion Of this order
will prove to be a driving downward Into
rather than outward across The
In a word. the French Government has
olundered- But there Il 50 far no sign Of
In its action On the contrary,
the vigorous enforcement OF the law stands
IN the programme Of the party
which now holds the reins Of political
The Government VIII not be able to re-
deem It's brfbe to the democracy Of old-ago
pensions out Of the confscated property Of
the monks and nuns After tho orderY have
got away with what they can. and the
maintenance provisions inserted In the law
have diminished the residue Of property
which Is subjected to forced sales, the sur.
plus VIII be found insufficient to provide the
nation with old-age pensions
The wealth OF the orders has been eng.
yerated: while Australasian experience and
hat Of our own royal commission show that
old-age pensions are a much moro e1pen-
i've AFFAIR than supporters Of such echemD
hitherto have barEained for.
PEACEFUL SCENES AND cOUrcD4
But I have wandered q long way from my
Normandy landscape In this DEPRESSION upou
he associations law. The interest Of the
must be my excuse. Its execution n.
IS / have said. In the front rank Of French
politics at the present time
And. though the bells which toll the an
selus about this Normandy country hang
n the churches Of the secular clergy rather
han In conventional buildings. the sound
suggests thoughts OF the monks
nd their fate.
1t suggests much else besides. The anre
as has little In common with the cianr Of
he church bells which make a London sun
ay hidsous. II mingies u~nobtrusiveiy with
he other sounds of the countryside. brings
note OF poetry into the humdrum life OF
ne Twentieth Century French village. ana
suggestion of peace and r~efreshment into
dusty, ~workaday world.
As the sound of the bell comes to you over
ne tops OF the poplars and along the rich
land. where at the foot OF the hills
on are. maybe. whipping a trout stream,
nd mingies Of II be the evening angelusl
nth the flood Of golden light from the
rays OF the sun. you forget for a mo-
rent 10 curse your lack of ~sport-forget
most that you are a worldly. modern Lon
oner. projected thither for a brief spell OF
elief from the noise Of the city. 4
France must never carry her =
to- the pitch Of abolishing the
ngelus-