either in the subject or the sculpture, and hastens away! Napoleon attempted to thwart the purposes for which this building was erected,- -a Cathedral church, by converting it into a "Temple of Glory," but the extinguisher that came down so suddenly upon his own glory, had a like effect upon the projected scheme, and the edifice reverted to its original design, and was honoured with a magnificent completion. The interior, like most Romish churches of note, is encumbered and disfigured by the childish " trinkets and trumpery" of popery,-gaudy in the extreme, and presents a wide contrast to the beauty and simple majesty of the exterior.

*

*

*

*

*

Yesterday noon, we attended divine service in the Wesleyan chapel, which is situated within a few yards of the Madeleine. It is quite an unpretending little building, hemmed in from the street by great houses, so that a stranger might search half a day before he could find it. What a contrast when compared with the magnificent Madeleine! But the truth, the whole truth of the gospel is preached in that same little chapel, while the architectural splendour of the other, serves but to shelter a system of error that must be finally overthrown. The stable in the city of Bethlehem, and the "coarse accommodation of a manger," and the Temple at Jerusalem, presented a far wider contrast than do the Wesleyan chapel and the Madeleine in the city of Paris. Yet the Lord Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, whose name was yet to be adored, and whose religion was decreed finally to be the religion of all the nations of the earth, chose the stable and the manger, instead of the superb temple; prefiguring thereby, that it, and all the splendid services of Judaism, were destined to be swept away, and to perish amidst the ruins of the Jewish nation.

The interior of the chapel is neatly fitted up, and

There was

affords a delicious seclusion to the pious Protestant, and a refreshing retreat to the stranger in Paris, from the follies and dissipations of this great capital. It is capable of seating about three hundred people, and it was nearly full. The Rev. Mr. Thompson, a Wesleyan minister from England, officiated. Text: "Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 1 John iii. 3. It was a plain, faithful sermon, rich in evangelical truth, and well delivered. We spent the afternoon at our hotel, reading and praying; and in the evening I preached in the same chapel, with considerable liberty. In the concluding prayer, the Lord assisted me. a shaking among the dry bones; some were glad to escape, but many remained to pray, when a scene was presented which surpassed in grandeur all the "sights" that Paris could present:-a number of awakened sinners around the communion rail, pleading for mercy, through the Saviour of the world, several of whom were enabled, at the conclusion of the service, to rejoice in a sin-pardoning God. Hallelujah! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and shall reign, even in Paris, till every sinner shall be subdued and saved, till the errors which reign in high and low places, shall be banished to the hell from whence they sprang. The housekeeper of the late prince Tallyrand was, I informed, among am the penitents.

The Rev. Mr. Toase having returned from preaching in another part of the city, sent us a note of invitation to take supper, and to spend an hour in company with a few friends; but, feeling exhausted, and the night being rainy withal, we preferred the quiet of our lodgings, and sent an apology.

To-day we walked through the Cathedral of NotreDâme. It is a heavy Gothic structure, with little, in general, to recommend it, except its antiquity. The principal front, which faces the west, has two massive

towers, each more than two hundred feet high. There is an extraordinary profusion of florid sculpture spread over this front. The interior presents a vast but gloomy area; but the presence of three hundred noble columns, each a single block of stone, render it imposing. We noticed a few good paintings, by French artists. From the top of one of the towers we had a fine view of Paris and the country around. The edifice is well adapted for such a prospect, as it stands nearly in the centre of the city. The eras of ancient and modern architecture are very distinctly marked upon the walls of Notre Dâme and the Madeleine.

In haste, your affectionate friend,

J. C.

LETTER XXXII.

MY DEAR SIR,

TO THE SAME.

Avignon, September, 1844.

WE left Paris, by railway, last Thursday morning, for Orleans, where we arrived about noon, seventy miles from Paris. A machine similar to that which lifted the body of our carriage off its wheels, and placed it on the railway car at Paris, raised it again at Orleans, and lowered it again upon the wheels, without giving us the trouble to alight. Horses were attached immediately, and we rattled forward through the old city towards Lyons on the Rhone, where we arrived in thirtyfour hours; by which time we were glad of a comfortable bed at our hotel, I forget the name,-having continued "on the wheels" day and night till our arrival at Lyons. The country through which we passed was

tame and uninteresting. The farming interest, if one might judge by the appearance of the houses, fences, and general aspect of the fields, appeared as if conducted upon a poor and unproductive scale. The last fifty miles of our route lay over a mountainous country, which served, in some measure, bleak as it appeared, to break the dull monotony with which we had been so long encompassed. When about half-way up a ridge of mountains, from the summit of which we had hoped to enjoy a view of a large portion of France, an envious fog" came down and enveloped us; nor did we get out of it till we had almost descended the opposite side. We put up at a very large and very dirty hotel, at Lyons, but arriving late we had no opportunity to choose. After enjoying two or three hours sleep we hastened down to a steamer, and sailed for this city about five o'clock in the morning.

Who that is at all familiar with the history of the dreadful scenes enacted in France, during the revolution, in favour of infidelity, could fail to remember "the sufferings of Lyons ?" Here it was that an infidel club was formed, the members of which bound themselves in a series of fearful oaths; one of which was: "We swear to exterminate all the rich aristocrats; their bloody corpses thrown into the Rhone shall bear our terrors to the affrighted sea.' This plot was discovered just in time to prevent this frightful butchery; but the second infidel plot succeeded fatally. Thousands of the inhabitants of Lyons were butchered in "cold blood;"" the square where the guillotine stood was reddened with blood like a slaughter-house," and Lyons was converted into a heap of ruins. Three times, it is said, did the monsters change the place of the guillotine; and, although pits were dug to receive the blood, it flowed into the gutters, and made its way into the Rhone. But this instrument of death was unable, eventually, to satisfy their thirst

for blood, which became more intense as they proceeded. Noblemen, priests, lawyers, merchants, and honest men, all were involved in the proscription, were led out of the city in companies of hundreds at a time, and were despatched by shooting or stabbing, whichever was found most convenient. "The infidel philosophers of France," says one who wrote not long after the revolution. in question, "who are evermore charging the Gospel with cruelty and murder, though it prohibits everything of the kind under the most awful sanctions, by a most tremendous retaliation, have turned their arms one against another, and have murdered upwards of two millions of their own countrymen in the course of seven years. Hence it appears, that your vainglorious philosophers have been, and are now, at least as bloody, illiberal, and intolerant, as the most bloody, illiberal, and intolerant of us parsons. What has the rejection of Christianity and the introduction of infidel philosophy done for France ?" Infidels are fierce disputers; as unmerciful to their own brotherhood as to their opponents, when once they have power, and their ire is excited. "If you continue to dispute at this rate you will infallibly make me a Christian," was the exclamation of one of their fraternity, on beholding the savage manner in which his brethren disputed among themselves.

The morning was foggy when we left Lyons; and one hour had scarcely elapsed, from the time we departed from the quay, and were dashing down the river, the current of which is rapid and powerful,—

"For like an arrow from the cord we flew,"

before the vessel ran against a bold and jutting shore. The shock was tremendous. Several were knocked down flat upon deck, in a moment, among whom was your correspondent. The crash of wine bottles and crockery, the groaning of machinery beneath, with the