A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume Two | Page 9

especially towards
the choir--the rising up and sitting down of the congregation, and the
yet more frequent movements of the priests--the swinging of the
censers--and the parade of the vergers, dressed in bag wigs, with broad
red sashes of silk, and silk stockings--but, above all, the most
scientifically touched, as well as the deepest and loudest toned, organ I
ever heard-- perfectly bewildered and amazed me! Upon the dispersion
of the congregation--which very shortly followed this religious
excitation--I had ample leisure to survey every part of this curious old
structure; which reminded me, although upon a much larger scale, of
the peculiarities of St. Georges de Bocherville, and Notre Dame at
Guibray. Certainly, very much of this church is of the twelfth
century--and as I am not writing to our friend P*** I will make bold to
say that some portions of it yet "smack strongly" of the eleventh.
Nearer to my residence, and of a kindred style of architecture, is the
church of ST. GERMAIN AUX AUXERROIS. The west front or porch
is yet sound and good. Nothing particularly strikes you on the entrance,
but there are some interesting specimens of rich old stained glass in the
windows of the transepts. The choir is completely and cruelly
modernised. In the side chapels are several good modern paintings; and
over an altar of twisted columns, round which ivy leaves, apparently
composed of ivory, are creeping, is a picture of three figures in the
flames of purgatory. This side-chapel is consecrated to the offering up
of orisons "for the souls in purgatory." It is gloomy and repulsive.
Death's heads and thigh bones are painted, in white colours, upon the
stained wall; and in the midst of all these fearful devices, I saw three
young ladies intensely occupied in their devotions at the railing facing
the altar. Here again, I observed priests examining young people in
their catechism; and others in confessionals, receiving the confessions
of the young of both sexes, previous to their taking the first sacrament

on the approaching _Fête-Dieu_.
Contiguous to the Sorbonne church, there stands, raising its neatly
constructed dome aloft in air, the _Nouvelle Eglise Ste. Geneviève_,
better known by the name of the PANTHEON. The interior presents to
my eye the most beautiful and perfect specimen of Grecian architecture
with which I am acquainted. In the crypt are seen the tombs of French
warriors; and upon the pavement above, is a white marble statue of
General Leclerc (brother in law of Bonaparte,) who died in the
expedition to St. Domingo. This, statue is too full of conceit and
affectation both in attitude and expression. The interior of the building
is about 370 English feet in length, by 270 in width; but it is said that
the foundation is too weak. From the gallery, running along the bottom
of the dome--the whole a miniature representation of our St.
Paul's--you have a sort of Panorama of Paris; but not, I think, a very
favourable one. The absence of sea-coal fume strikes you very
agreeably; but, for picturesque effect, I could not help thinking of the
superior beauty of the panorama of Rouen from the heights of Mont Ste.
Catharine. It appears to me that the small lantern on the top of the dome
wants a finishing apex.[10]
Yonder majestic portico forms the west front of the church called St.
SULPICE ... It is at once airy and grand. There are two tiers of pillars,
of which this front is composed: the lower is Doric; the upper Ionic:
and each row, as I am told, is nearly forty French feet in height,
exclusively of their entablatures, each of ten feet. We have nothing like
this, certainly, as the front of a parish church, in London. When I
except St. Paul's, such exception is made in reference to the most
majestic piece of architectural composition, which, to my eye, the wit
of man hath yet devised. The architect of the magnificent front of St.
Sulpice was SERVANDONI; and a street hard by (in which Dom Brial,
the father of French history, resides) takes its name from this architect.
There are two towers--one at each end of this front,--about two hundred
and twenty feet in height from the pavement: harmonising well with the
general style of architecture, but of which, that to the south (to the best
of my recollection) is left in an unaccountably, if not shamefully,
unfinished state.[11] These towers are said to be about one toise higher

than those of Notre Dame. The interior of this church is hardly less
imposing than its exterior. The vaulted roofs are exceedingly lofty; but
for the length of the nave, and more especially the choir, the transepts
are disproportionably short. Nor are there sufficiently prominent
ornaments to give relief to the massive appearance