The nomination of all clergymen, whether Catholic or Protestant, is vested in the crown. As to pole tical feeling, the Catholic clergy are, almost with out exception, hostile to the interests produced by the Revolution, and attached to the Bourbons.
Female convents have, all along, existed in France, with the exception of a few years of the worst part of the Revolution, when their inmates were obliged to forsake their establishment, and to seek an abode with their relations. Monasteries are, with very few exceptions, abolished, and no idea is entertained of re-establishing the abbeys, priories, and other en dowed establishments ; the Bourbons and the court of Rome having repeatedly pledged themselves not to disturb the revolutionary purchasers of the church lands, and to appropriate to ecclesiastical purpose' only that proportion of these lands that remains un sold.
What, it may be asked, have been the effects of the Revolution on the state of religion in France ? It has subverted the power of the church, and, what is much more serious, the belief of Christianity in the minds of the young and the middle-aged of the male part of the population; but, with the elders of that sex, and with almost all females, the Catholic creed preserves undiminished sway,—a sway that extends much farther than can readily be conceiv ed by Protestants. The extent of this influence is owing to various causes ; in part to commendable conduct in the clergy, who, in general, act the part of careful pastors, and attentive visitors in sickness or distress ; but, in part also, to that blind credulity with which the tenets of the church are received both by the hearers and their spiritual guides, whose education has, by no means, kept pace with the ge neral progress of knowledge ; for it does not embrace the philosophical course of the universities of France, but is conducted in separate seminaries, and on a much more confined plan.
The Protestants in France amount to above 2,000,000, and are most numerous in the south, particularly at Nimes and its vicinity. They are almost all adherents of the Revolution, and a politi cal change, such as that which twice took place in 1815, could not be accomplished in a divided com munity without a contest; but the alarm then so loudly raised in England in their behalf was found ed on exaggeration. The Bourbon government re
ceive with attention the applications of the Protest ants, whether for increase of pastors or repair of churches. On the whole, the Protestants of France form an industrious and valuable portion of the po pulation, but they are animated by a strong esprit de sect e, by a feeling approaching to animosity towards the Catholics, and, till of late, by a considerable dis trust of the reinstated government.
Before the Revolution the poor in France, as in Italy and other Catholic countries, were supported chiefly by the abbeys, priories, or other beneficed establishments. On the absorption of these sources of income by the revolutionary government, a pro vision for the poor became a subject of legislative inquiry, and, after long investigation, it was decided ly determined to avoid a poor-rate on the English plan, but to provide for the aged and helpless an annual fund to the proposed amount of L.2,000,000 Sterling. Several years elapsed before this was acted on, and the fund eventually provided consist ed of a revival of part of the old octrois, or dues le vied on wine, cyder, spirits, and other articles of consumption, on their entrance into towna—a tax from which the Revolution had lately relieved the public, and which was now disguised under the spe cious name of octroi de bienfaisance. These dues,. however, were soon extended and applied to the general expenditure of the government, after retain ing a portion which at present constitutes the only regular fund for the poor. Farther sums are col lected by subscription in the depth of winter, or on the occurrence of extraordinary distress. From the public treasury, likewise, there are made occasional issues, in a season of hardship, on the application of the mayors or local magistrates. There are at Paris a number of hospitals, of which by far the largest is the Hotel Dieu. In the provincial cities there are, in general, two hospitals for the poor, one for the sick, the other for the aged. Of other charitable institutions, the principal are the Societh de charite maternelle, or associations on a large scale, at Paris and some of the chief towns, for the aid of indigent women in childbed. Mendicity is not restricted in France, and prevails in many places to a repre hensible degree.