condition, exacted that he should have unconditional authority or carte blanche in directing the hospital. But it was deemed too dangerous an experiment to intrust the souls of the poor patients, whose bodies were already suffering terribly, to the tortures of attempted salvation, which the Archbishop and his familiars intended to inflict. It was thought better to let the hardened Revolutionary sinners die simply of the cholera, without threats of eternal damnation and hell-fire, without confession or extreme unction. For though it is declared that the Catholic is a religion perfectly adapted to the unhappy time through which we are now passing, the French will have none of it for fear lest they should be obliged to keep on with this epidemic faith (Krankheitsreligion) when better days shall come.
Many disguised priests are now gliding and sliding here and there among the people, persuading them that a rosary which has been consecrated is a perfect preservative against the cholera.[1] The Saint-Simonists regard it as an
- ↑ We are not as yet so far advanced in physiology as to understand the causes, but it is quite certain that those who have no fear of a disease or who boldly affront it often escape contagion. This saving confidence is often the result of a man's bearing something which he firmly believes protects him, be it a rabbit's paw, a blessed rosary, a relic of a saint, or any other kind of "hand"' or "charm." The antiquities and illustrations of this
