PARIS
BY
EMILE ZOLA
TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY
BOOK I
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
WITH the present work M. Zola completes the "Trilogy of the ThreeCities," which he began with "Lourdes" and continued with "Rome"; andthus the adventures and experiences of Abbe Pierre Froment, the doubtingCatholic priest who failed to find faith at the miraculous grotto by theCave, and hope amidst the crumbling theocracy of the Vatican, are herebrought to what, from M. Zola's point of view, is their logicalconclusion. From the first pages of "Lourdes," many readers will havedivined that Abbe Froment was bound to finish as he does, for, frankly,no other finish was possible from a writer of M. Zola's opinions.
Taking the Trilogy as a whole, one will find that it is essentiallysymbolical. Abbe Froment is Man, and his struggles are the strugglesbetween Religion, as personified by the Roman Catholic Church, on the onehand, and Reason and Life on the other. In the Abbe's case the victoryultimately rests with the latter; and we may take it as being M. Zola'sopinion that the same will eventually be the case with the great bulk ofmankind. English writers are often accused of treating subjects from aninsular point of view, and certainly there may be good ground for such acharge. But they are not the only writers guilty of the practice. Thepurview of French authors is often quite as limited: they regard Frenchopinion as the only good opinion, and judge the rest of the world bytheir own standard. In the present case, if we leave the world andmankind generally on one side, and apply M. Zola's facts and theories toFrance alone, it will be found, I think, that he has made out aremarkably good case for himself. For it is certain that Catholicism, Imay say Christianity, is fast crumbling in France. There may be revivalsin certain limited circles, efforts of the greatest energy to prop up thetottering edifice by a "rallying" of believers to the democratic cause,and by a kindling of the most bitter anti-Semitic warfare; but all theserevivals and efforts, although they are extremely well-advertised andcreate no little stir, produce very little impression on the bulk of thepopulation. So far as France is concerned, the policy of Leo XIII. seemsto have come too late. The French masses regard Catholicism orChristianity, whichever one pleases, as a religion of death,—a religionwhich, taking its stand on the text "There shall always be poor amongyou," condemns them to toil and moil in poverty and distress their wholelife long, with no other consolation than the promise of happiness inheaven. And, on the other hand, they see the ministers of the Deity,"whose kingdom is not of this world," supporting the wealthy andpowerful, and striving to secure wealth and power for themselves. Charityexists, of course, but the masses declare that it is no remedy; they donot ask for doles, they ask for Justice. It is largely by reason of allthis that Socialism and Anarchism have made such great strides in Franceof recent years. Robespierre, as will be remembered, once tried tosuppress Christianity altogether, and for a time certainly there was avirtually general cessation of religious observances in France. But nosuch Reign of Terror prevails there to-day. Men are perfectly free tobelieve if they are inclined to do so; and yet never were there fewerreligious marriages, fewer baptisms or smaller congregati