who succeeded to the worship of Isis, replaced
by the Goddess of Reason. All these things are
old; the adoration and the indignation, the
superstition and the scepticism. During the
lifetime of Généviève, there were folks who
wished to swim the witch, or burn the visionary,
and ever since her death they have had
successors who have occasionally destroyed
her churches, scattered her relics, slain her
votaries, and cried, "Down with the
goddess!" When Généviève was alive, there
were crowds who deemed her a sainte, and
ever since her death they have had successors
who have adored her image, invoked her
prayers, besought her miracles, rebuilt her
churches, redecked her shrines, regathered
her relics, and increased the number, wealth,
and magnificence of the institutions raised in
honour of her name.

Volumes might be filled with the histories
and descriptions of the abbey and library,
of the churches and colleges, which attest the
power of the spell of enchantment she has
thrown over the Parisians. During the
twelfth century, the abbot of Sainte
Généviève wore the mitre, crozier and pastoral
ring; and the abbey, depending directly on
the pope, was independent of the bishop of
the diocese. The abbey possessed the privileges
of an asylum, and the criminal, who
managed to catch hold of a large iron ring
in the principal door of it, enjoyed thenceforth
security from the pursuits and chastisements
of the law.

The Généviévians obtained some renown
for theological learning during the middle
ages. The library of the abbey, which is
now public property, was the nucleus of one
of the finest and largest libraries in Paris,
which is said to contain two hundred and
fifty thousand volumes. Towards the end
of the fifteenth century, the celebrated Erasmus
was a student in one of the Généviévian
colleges, the college Montaigne, which is now
called the Lycée Napoléon. This vast old odd
and gloomy building stands to the left of the
church of Saint-Etienne du Mont, and behind
the church of Sainte Généviève. "The very
walls," said Erasmus, "were theological,"
and if they were, they certainly held by an
old dark and dismal theology. He told the
world subsequently, right wittily, what he
thought of the theology; and he says, he
found the diet deadly. The governor was as
hard as the rocks of the desert, and starved
his pupils upon dried fish and tainted eggs,
They were forced to sleep by night in damp
chambers, and they were forced during the
day to wear the monk's gown and cowl. Some
of the youths died, and many became blind,
leprous and mad. Having become dangerously
ill, Erasmus says, he would have lost
his life but for the protection of Sainte
Généviève! Literature is certainly much
indebted to the sainte, whatever the Latin
church may happen to be, for graciously
preserving the life of the learned and sarcastic
author of the Colloquies and the Praise of
Folly.

The history of the mountain of Sainte
Généviève is, in deed, the history of the French
mind. From Julian the apostate to Jean-
Louis Verger—from Généviève to BabÅ“uf
—the representatives of every opinion have
associated their names with this classic
locality. Pascal and Bemardin de Saint
Pierre lived in the Rue Sainte Etienne du
Mont, and Boileau and Pascal are buried in
the church of this saint. The ecclesiastics
having been dispersed, and the abbey abolished
in seventeen hundred and ninety, Gracchus
Babceuf, the tribine of the people, formed
in it the club of the Pantheon in seventeen
hundred and ninety-six, the object of which
was to sally forth in arms from the temple
of reason, and, seizing the government from
the directory by a nocturnal surprise,
establish the reign of general happiness. Solemn
services in honour of Généviève are performed
four times a year. Her shrine is taken from
her chapel to her church, every January.
Every time her shrine is taken from her
chapel to her church it is set upon a floor,
which covers vaults containing a tomb in
honour of Voltaire, who smiles from his
pedestal, and a tomb in honour of Rousseau,
from which his hand is represented as issuing
while holding the torch of science. For nine
days every year, and from morning to evening
each day, the votaries flock to present different
articles sheets, handkerchiefs, rings,
anything, everything, to receive virtue from the
shrine by touching it. Children are held up
to kiss the shrine in great numbers. The
young priests who have to hold up the
children and approach the objects are
required to be exceedingly active, and every
votary pays for the virtue received by giving
a piece of solid silver to the priest who keeps
the money-box.

The whole locality of the Holy Mountain
is, indeed, a Pantheon, a spot
dedicated to all the gods, but Généviève is
there the presiding goddess. The spot is,
indeed, consecrated to the illustrious dead,
the manes, the phantoms, the disembodied
spirits. There is an admirable frontispiece
by David over the porch of the church
representing hero worship, and displaying altars,
upon which incense is burning to military
and civil heroes, such as Bonaparte, Cuvier,
and La Place. The outside walls of the
library are covered with inscriptions of the
names of men of genius of all nations and
all ages. Names of sages, bards, artists,
heroes will certainly be found in the
Généviève Pantheon of the most varied
descriptions, and suitable to the tastes of all
sorts of ghost worshippers. There are names
and images to be seen as high up as you can
look, or as deep down as you can descend,
belonging to men who shone in arts, arms,
letters, and sciences; but, it is always before
the statue of Sainte Généviève that the