" RELIGION IN FRANCE."
[To THE EDITOR OF TUN "SPUCTATOR.") have talked with intelligent men of the middle classes in France, and have not found, as a rule, that they deny the Christian faith. Many of them do not go to church because the ritual wearies them. Its mystical meaning appeals to the very poor, to women, and to a rarer type of man—often highly refined and cultivated. But the great mass of men appear to be untouched. A difficulty lies in the discrepancy between the lives of the priests and the very high ideal at which they are expected to aim. A Catholic priest claims great powers and authority, and the people naturally expect from him a sanctity above that of ordinary men. This sanctity is not always found, though it is found more often than is generally supposed. Frenchmen complain, further, of the complexity of their religion. It is true that many of the services and ceremonies are not obli- gatory, but many people feel overwhelmed by the mass of material presented to them. It is reported that the Vatican
is contemplating a simplification of the breviary. If this is so, many Frenchmen may be induced to return to religion without abandoning their historic faith.—I am, Sir, &c., A. WARREN Dow.
17 Rue Racine, Qaartier Latin, Paris.
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