world, and
that is quite a recommendation.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL.

In my enumeration of the splendid churches of Paris, it would never do
to omit that of St. Vincent de Paul. It is in the Rue Lafayette, and is
now a Protestant church.

The approaches to the building are fine, and the structure forms a
parallelogram of two hundred and forty-three feet by one hundred and
eighty. At the southern end, there are two large towers with Corinthian
pilasters. The church stands upon the brow of a hill, and presents a
striking appearance from the streets Lafayette or Hauteville.

The interior of this church is profusely decorated, and is, in fact, so
richly ornamented as to detract from its beauty. Over the portal, there
is a stained window representing St. Paul surrounded by the sisters of
charity. The choir is semi-circular, and has a fine skylight. A richly
sculptured arch, over sixty feet in height, gives access to it. The
altar-piece is a crucifix on wood. Behind it is a stained window,
representing the Virgin and the Savior. The chapels have also
beautifully stained windows. There are no oil-paintings in St. Vincent
de Paul, but in other respects it is as faulty as the Madeleine. It may
be the result of early education, but I sickened of this excess of
ornament. It was too forced--too unnatural. If I had never entered the
church I should have received a good impression, for its exterior is
everything of which the Ionic order is capable, and its situation is the
finest of any church in Paris.

I will simply allude to a few of the other churches in Paris. The _Notre
Dame de Lorette_, is a very beautiful church in the street _Fountain
St. George_. It is built in the renaissance style, and the sculptures of
the interior are of the highest order. The gorgeous decorations of the
church are unsurpassed. The interior is one blaze of splendor, and the
feelings inspired by a contemplation of it, are not the ones appropriate
for a place of worship. The choir of the church is fitted up with
stalls, a gilt balustrade separating it from the rest of the nave. The
walls are adorned with rich marbles. The altar is executed in the
highest style of magnificence. Behind it is a piece entitled "The
Crowning of the Virgin," wrought on a background of pure gold. The
Parisians boast a great deal of this church, as a gem of the renaissance
style, and with reason, when it is regarded simply as a work of art, but
the less they boast of i