Journal in France in 1845 and 1848 with Letters from Italy in 1847: Of Things and Persons Concerning the Church and EducationAllies, T. W. (Thomas William)
Religion
Journal in France in 1845 and 1848 with Letters from Italy in 1847: Of Things and Persons Concerning the Church and Education
Allies, T. W. (Thomas William)
France -- Church history -- 19th century; Italy -- Church history -- 19th century
The archbishop spoke in terms of great contempt of the ignorance of
the Greeks; and likewise anticipated a large conversion of the Turks,
whenever liberty of conscience is allowed. He had just sent out some
missionaries to Oceania.
Both going and returning, we passed the spot at the entrance of the
Rue du Faubourg S. Antoine where the late archbishop received his
death wound. The house near was severely battered, and in different
places along the Rue S. Antoine, and in the Faubourg, were the marks
of balls; but altogether the insurrection has left much fewer traces
behind than one could have expected.
Returning we looked into the Sainte Chapelle, S. Louis' peerless
offering in honour of the Crown of Thorns. It is a perfect gem of the
13th century, and the under chapel is almost as beautiful; but nothing
has been done since last year. All round works were going on in the
Palais de Justice, though it was Sunday. Indeed, in this respect, the
aspect of Paris generally is that of a heathen city.
At four we went to a Benediction at M. l'Abbé Ratisbonne's house, to
which he had invited us. His sisterhood of Converted Jewesses sung the
Psalms very nicely. Nothing, to my mind, can be more solemn or
touching than this ceremony, when the priest takes the ostensoire in
his hand, and blesses the people, Benedicat vos Omnipotens Deus,
Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus. One seems to hear the
words of God Himself.
We then adjourned to the parloir, with M. Ratisbonne, Lady ----, and
Mr. ----, a Scotch minister. Here we conversed about various matters;
magnetism, true and false miracles, &c. They asked about my visit to
the Tyrolese Stigmatisées. Lady ---- told a story, in one point of
which, in spite of its bizarrerie, I found something which strangely
takes hold of the mind. We had been talking of that Egyptian
witchcraft by which an unknown person is said to be seen in a child's
hand. She observed that M. Laborde had purchased this secret, and had
been able to do the thing;--having afterwards become a Christian, he
abstained from it. Lord ----, it seems, had told her respecting one of
the ---- family, that he had come back from Italy with the firm
persuasion that he should not survive a certain day: the source of
this persuasion was, a prophecy made to him by a Venetian sorceress,
and to two of his friends, who both died violent deaths at the time
specified. Lord ---- treated this notion of Mr. ---- as an
imagination; however, he made him promise that he would visit him on
the day he mentioned. After going to England, Mr. ---- returned to
Paris, and there Lord ---- met him again. One day the friends who were
with him told him that Mr. ---- was ill with a fever, and though he
thought himself better, and intended to go to a ball at Lady
Granville's, they thought ill of him. In a short time Mr. ---- died. A
few days after Lord ---- had been dining, and the dessert had just
been removed, when the door opened, and the figure of Mr.---- walked
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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