d to confession, which, during the second week of
the mission, increased to such an extent as to render access difficult.
The missionaries, unable to meet the wishes of all at once, gave an
obvious preference, not to the more habitually devout, but to those
classes of persons whose attendance was most unexpected. "Dissipated
young coxcombs, disabled soldiers, dragoon officers with fierce
mustaches, and worldly-wise men with formal wigs," says our author,
"met with attention and encouragement, to the exclusion of those whose
habits of piety deserved it better." The apparent injustice of this
procedure he excuses by the plea, "that it was necessary to quit the
regular fold in order to recover these lost sheep"--that "the stouter
and better worth catching the fish were, the more anxious should they be
to secure them in the net of the Prince of Apostles." When separated
from the figurative bombast by which a Frenchman frequently obscures a
sensible reason, this plea seems fair enough: provided that the motives
of the missionaries were unmixed with spiritual vanity, and the pride of
creating a strong sensation. It was no doubt most consonant to the
purposes of a special mission like this, to accomplish that which was
most difficult, and to make an impression, while the opportunity lasted,
on a class of persons least accessible to the usual means of religious
instruction. The example of such, if permanently reclaimed, would
naturally be more striking than that of others, and influence public
opinion more strongly, and this may furnish some excuse for a conduct
which, in the ordinary course of things, would have been unjust and out
of place.

A large part of the tract is occupied by accounts of several solemn
ceremonies which ensued, "for the purpose," says the author, "of
striking the senses of the lower orders, who are not sufficiently
affected by argument." These, as in the instance of the general
communion, were rendered more imposing by the attendance of the civil
and military authorities, and most persons of rank and wealth in the
vicinity. Nor did they degenerate into mere processions and pompous
forms, if the narrative is to be trusted. The missionaries appear on
every occasion to have availed themselves of the excitation of the
moment, in calling forth such feelings as must be approved by Christians
of every country and persuasion, and which, among Frenchmen, may not be
the less sincere for being expressed somewhat ex