l and stout, and always forces his way through in defiance of
apparent impossibilities, a chorus of murmurs accompanies his progress.
The beadle is a very grand personage, and his appearance sufficiently
indicates this fact. He wears a cocked hat, covered with silver lace,
and decorated with nodding white plumes; a scarf of crimson velvet,
stiff with embroidery in silver thread, covers the upper part of his
person; black velvet smalls, fastened at the knee with silver buckles,
white silk stockings and gloves, and enormous buckles in his polished
shoes, complete his attire. He wears a massive silver chain round his
neck; and a sword hangs at his side to strike terror into the hearts of
all beholders. Besides the grand beadle, there are several minor ones,
dressed in black, but wearing heavy silver chains; _gens d'armes_ also
are always present, and often soldiers, who mount guard, musket in hand,
at all the doorways, and on the steps of the chancel.

When these sapient guardians of the peace perceive that as many have
been admitted as can possibly be squeezed into the building, they shut
the doors; and the process of distribution goes on until the mass is
equalized throughout the edifice; a task of no small difficulty, as the
portions of the building contiguous to the doors are always densely
packed at an early period, so that the greater number have to pass
through these crowded centres to gain the remoter parts of the church.
Meantime people chat, and look about them, amusing themselves as they
best can; and the sonorous edifice echoes with the footsteps of the
moving mass. But at length the noise subsides; the "organ utters its
voices," and a hush, intense, unbroken, falls on the vast assembly. The
glorious music peals through the vaulted aisles, and swells upward to
the arching roof, pervading every nook and corner of the fane; and so
perfect is the stillness that one would think the winged notes the only
living things within its precincts.

On Friday last this annual solemnity was celebrated as usual at St.
Eustache; the mass, composed by Adam, a very noble and beautiful
composition, was admirably executed by a choir of two hundred and fifty
singers, and a band of one hundred musicians, including the whole
orchestra of the _Opera Comique_, and the best performers from the
Italian opera. The solos were sung by Mesdames Grimm and Couraud, and by
Bassine and Chapuis, the latter being one of the best tenors in the
city