Enfantin was, indeed, a strange man. It is scarcely comprehensible what could have given him such power over men of ability, learning, wealth, and shrewd business capacity. In commenting upon this circumstance, Mr. Booth says: “He ruled despotically over their lives and thoughts; he induced them ... to lead an ascetic life; he withdrew them from refined society, and forced them to share in the coarsest toil; he compelled them to undergo the humiliation of public confessions, and he received from them the honors and the reverence accorded to a divine teacher. Yet his intellectual powers were inferior to those possessed by some of his disciples.” ... However, “his views were noble and generous and he advocated them with all the sincerity of genuine enthusiasm and the boldness of matchless self-confidence. It was natural that they should fascinate young men of an ardent temperament, who burned with a chivalrous desire to redress the evils of the world. They were readily charmed by a prophet whose countenance was remarkable for its dignity and repose, and whose affectionate disposition inspired them with boundless confidence and fervor. It must be admitted also that both his religious and political opinions contained a large amount of truth; but his vanity has invested them with an appearance of absurdity, for he delighted in fantastic dresses, in solemn processions, and imposing ceremonies; and he exposed himself to the ridicule of the world by permitting his disciples to speak to him of the majesty of his countenance and the divine brightness of his smile.”[58] An absent follower writes to the father, le Père, as they called him, from Corsica: “The kiss of my father will give me power, and his eloquent voice; I have every confidence in my father, for I am sure that he knows his children better than they know themselves; why do I, nevertheless, tremble in going to him?” Other expressions addressed to the father are too absurd, extravagant, and impious to be quoted. Once, indeed, Enfantin rebuked the homage of his disciples with the words: “No one of us is God: I am only a man.” The Saint-Simonians in an early stage of their proselytism formed a “Sacred College of Apostles,” consisting of six leaders. These chiefs were Enfantin, Bazard, Buchez, Rodrigues, Laurent, and Rouen. The younger and less influential disciples were organized as a subordinate order. They established missions and bishoprics in Toulouse, Montpellier, Sorèze, Lyons, in fact, in all parts of France, and also carried the new gospel to foreign lands, as Belgium and Algeria. Paris was divided into twelve districts and a male and a female missionary sent into each part. They propagated their faith by numerous lectures and by the press. One of their organs was called the _Globe_; its mottoes were: “Religion, Science, Industry, Universal Association.