Besides this separation from the main body and this indifference， other signs denote disaffection and even hostility. - In Paris， at the height of the Revolution， in May and June 1793， the shopkeepers， artisans and market-women， the whole of the common people， were still religious，[58] "kneeling in the street" when the Host passed by， and before the relics of Saint Leu carried along in ceremonial procession， passionately fond of his worship， and suddenly melted， "ashamed， repentant and with tears in their eyes， when， inadvertently， their Jacobin rulers tolerated the publicity of a procession. Nowadays， among the craftsmen， shopkeepers and lower class of employees， there is nothing more unpopular than the Catholic Church. Twice， under the Restoration and the second Empire， she has joined hands with a repressive government， while its clergy has seemed to be not merely an efficient organ but， again， the central promoter of all repression. -Hence， accumulated bitterness that still survives. After 1830， the archbishopric of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois is sacked； in 1871 the archbishop and other ecclesiastical hostages are murdered. For two years after 1830 a priest in his cassock dared not show himself in public；[59] he ran the risk of being insulted in the streets； since 1871， the majority of the Parisian electors， through the interposition of the Municipal Council which they elect over and over again， persists in driving "Brethren" and "Sisters" from the schools and hospitals in order to put laymen in their places and pay twice as much for work not done as well.[60] - In the beginning， antipathy was confined to the clergy； through contamination， it reached the doctrine， to include the faith， the entire Catholicism and even Christianity itself. Under the Restoration， it was called， in provocative language， the priest party， and under the second Empire， the clericals. Afterwards， confronting the Church and under a contrary name， the anti-clerical league was formed by its adversaries， a sort of negative church which possessed， or tried to， its own dogmas and rites， its own assemblies and discipline： and for lack of something better， it has its own fanaticism， that of aversion； on the word being given， it marches， rank and file， against the other， its enemy， and manifests， if not its belief， at least its unbelief in refusing or in avoiding the ministration of the priest. In Paris， twenty funerals out of a hundred， purely civil， are not held in a church； out of one hundred marriages， twenty-five， purely civil， are not blessed by the Church； twenty-four infants out of a hundred are not baptized.[61]
And， from Paris to the provinces， both sentiment and example are propagated. For sixteen years， in our parliaments elected by universal suffrage， the majority maintains that party in power which wages war against the Church； which， systematically and on principle， is and remains hostile to the Catholic religion； which has its own religion for which it claims dominion； which is possessed by a doctrinal spirit， and， in the direction of intellects and souls， aims at substituting this new spirit for the old one； which， as far as it can， withdraws from the old one its influence， or its share in education and in charity； which breaks up the congregations of men， and overtaxes congregations of women； which enrolls seminarians in the army， and deprives suspect curés of their salaries； in short， which， through its acts collectively and in practice， proclaims itself anti-Catholic. Many of its acts certainly displease the peasant. He would prefer to retain the teaching "brother" in the public school and the "sister" in the hospital as nurse or as teacher in the school； both would cost less， and he is used to their dark dresses and their white caps； moreover， he is not ill-disposed towards his resident curé， who is a "good fellow." Nevertheless， in sum， the rule of the curé is not to his taste； he does not wish to have him back， and he distrusts priests， especially the aspect of their allies who now consist of the upper bourgeoisie and the nobles. Hence， out of ten million electors， five or six millions， entertaining partial dislikes and mute reservations， continue to vote， at least provisionally， for anti-Christian radicals. All this shows that， through an insensible and slow reaction， the great rural mass， following the example of the great urban mass， is again becoming pagan[62]； for one hundred years the wheel turns in this sense， without stopping， and this is serious， still more serious for the nation than for the Church.
In France， the inner Christianity， has， for all that， through the dual effect of its Catholic and French envelope， grown warmer among the clergy especially among the regular clergy， but is has cooled off among the people and it is especially here that it is needed.
____________________________________________________________________Post Scriptum：
Taine died in 1893 not long after having written this. Much has happened since and the struggle between "Lay Republicans" and the Catholic Church has continued. In "QUID 2000，" a French popular reference manual containing on page 515 some notes on the evolution of the Catholic religion in France， we can read the following：
