Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/548

FRANCE [RELIGION. not read, and 2160 could road and write but imperfectly. The jurors found 1056 prisoners not guilty ; 31 were condemned to death, lf>l to hard labour for life, 972 to hard labour for a limited time, 1 to transportation ; 29, who were under sixteen years of age, were sent to houses of correction ; sentences of imprisonment for various periods were passed on the others, except two, who were fined. Four women were among the prisoners condemned to death ; the sentence was carried out in the case of 13 of the convicts; the others, including one of the women, had their sentences commuted. Besides these criminal cases, the coursd assise had to decide on 20 alleged infring- nients of the laws and regulations affecting the liberty of the press, jind on 10 political oli enees, consisting of speeches, cries, or display ing of emblems considered as seditious. The accused were 52 in number, of whom 28 were acquitted, 4 fined, and 20 sent to prison. There were 1100 criminal cases brought before the cour de cassation, which has the same jurisdiction in criminal matters as in civil. In a large majority of cases it confirmed the decrees of the tribunals, only 103 having been sent back for a new trial. Prisons. Prisons. Although the prisons are attached to the min istry of the interior, it is impossible to treat of the adminis tration of justice without saying a word about them. The convicts who have to serve more than one year are distri buted into 24 central prisons (maisons cent rales). Depart mental prisons receive those whose sentence does not exceed one year. Political convicts are kept in custody in the two maisons de detention of Doullens (Somme) and Belle-lie (Morbihan). Two places of transportation, Cayenne and New Caledonia, receive those who were formerly confined in lagnes, or convict prisons. The population of these penal colonies is considerably increased by the victims of internal discord; for in France it seems as if the victorious party thought that by banishing its opponents from their native l.md it could eradicate the ideas for which they unsuccess fully fought. The expenses of these different penitentiary establishments amount to about 18,500,000 francs. On the other hand, the produce of prison labour has a value of 2,800,000 francs. Police. Police. The public peace is maintained by an armed police or gendarmerie, partly on foot and partly mounted ; and in all emergencies, when this force is found insufficient for the preservation or execution of the laws, the troops may be called in to assist, subject, however, to the orders of the police. About 7000 yardiens de la paix, formerly seryents de ville (policemen), under the orders of the prefect of police, form in Paris an additional police force; and similar organizations exist in all the larger towns. V. Religion. Three churches are recognized and supported by the state in France, the Roman Catholic, the Protestant (sub divided into Calvinist and Lutheran), and the Hebrew. In Algeria the Mussulman creed is equally recognized. Roman Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church is much Catholics, stronger than the others. It may perhaps be said that France is the country where this church is the most power ful ; at any rate, it has there its most perfect organiza tion, and raises the largest sums of money ; and it is to France that, directly or indirectly, the Holy See appeals in all its difficulties. Most of the provisions of the "con cordat" concluded in 1801 between the first consul Bona parte and Pope Pius VII. are still in force. France is divided into dioceses, each governed by an archbishop or a bishop, and the dioceses into parishes, each of which lias at its head a cure, or parish priest. Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the head of the Government and confirmed by the pope; the archbishop of Paris receives a salary of 50,000 francs, and the others are paid 20,000 francs a year. The stipend of the bishops is 15,000 francs per an num. In 1789 France contained 135 dioceses, 18 of which were archbishoprics. The Constituent Assembly made the dioceses correspond exactly with the departments; but this was changed by the concordat of 1815. The archbishop rics and bishoprics now existing in France are as follows : Archbishoprics. Bishoprics. PAIUS Chartres, Mcanx, Orleans, Blois, Versailles. Aix. AKLES, AND EMBRUN... Marseilles, FrdjusandToulon,Digne,Gap,Nlce,Ajacdo. ALBI Uudez, Caliors, Mende, Perpignan. Aut H Airc and Dux, Turbos, liayonne. AVIGNON Nimes, Valence, Viviers, Montpellier. BH:SAN<;ON Verdun, Belley, St Die, Nancy. BORDEAUX Agen, Angouleme, Poitiers, Perigueux, La Ilochcllc, LuQOn. BOI-RGES Clcrmont, Limoges, Le Puy, Tulle, St Flour. CAMBKAI Arras. CHAMBER? Annecy, Tarentaisc, Maurienne. LYONS AND YIENNE Autun, Langres, Dijon, St Claude, Grenoble. HIIEIMS Soissons, Chalons-sur-Murne, Beauvais, Amiens. KENNES Quimper, Vannes, St Brieuc. ROUEN Bayeux, Evreux, Se"cs, Coutances. SKNS AND AUXKIUU; Troyes, Ncvers, Moulins. TOULOISE AND NAHBONNK..Montauban, Pamiers, Carcassonne. TOCKS Le Mans, Angers, Nantes, Laval. Every archbishop has three vicars-general, and every bishop two, making a total of 190. They are assisted by a chapter attached to each cathedral church, and presided over by the bishop. The cures have a minimum salary which varies from 1500 to 1200 francs, but additional money may be allowed by the municipal councils. They also receive the fees charged for baptisms, marriage?, funerals, and extra masses, and have the benefit of a free house called a fwesbytcre. The cures are about 3500 in number, and are assisted by curates (vicaires), and by des- servants, the latter being priests attached to succursales or chapels-of-ease in large parishes. In 1873 the sums paid to the prelates and priests of France by the Government amounted to 39,382,495 francs about two and a half millions more than in 1859. The Roman Catholic Church possesses in France 89 grands seminaires, in which special instruction is given to young men who intend to enter the church, and 150 pet its seminaires, or establishments of secondary education, by which the clergy endeavour to rival the lycces of Govern ment. There are besides a number of schools and colleges kept by the Jesuits and other religious bodies. A recent law has even allowed the clergy to found independent uni versities, which will be noticed in the chapter on education. Convents are very numerous in France, especially for females. They are inhabited by about 140,000 persons (including 120,000 women), whose property is worth more than a thousand millions of francs. Protestants. The Eylise Eeformee (Calvinist Church) has p r stj about one million of members in France, distributed into an parishes, which form 103 consistories, and 21 synodal dis tricts, including Algeria. The Lutheran Church (Eylise de la Confession d Augsbourg) is far inferior in number. It is ruled by a directory, now sitting in Paris, instead of Strasburg as formerly. Sixty-one pastors compose the staff of this Church, whilst the Calvinist Church has 600. The seminary of the latter is at Montauban, and that of the former at Paris since the loss of Strasburg. J ews . The Hebrew Church is administered by a central Jo consistory presided over by the chief rabbi. It is subdi vided into eight provincial consistories, sitting respectively at Paris, Lyons, Bordeaux, Nancy, Marseilles, Bayonne, Lille, and Vesoul. Their seminary used to be at Metz, but has been transferred to Paris. VI. Education. The National Convention laid the foundation of the- M system of public instruction that is still in force in France ; ^ the Government of the first Napoleon developed and com- pleted it. At the head of public instruction is a minister, - who has the title of grand-master of the university, this term describing, not an institution for liberal education as in Great Britain and Germany, but the branch of adminis- trition under which public instruction in its universality is placed. The minister appoints all the officers of university administration, and fills up all the vacancies in colleges and schools. He is assisted by the superior council of public instruction, which has to examine the books adopted in