OLD FRENCH CHURCHES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 27, 1 February 1913, Page 10

OLD FRENCH CHURCHES

THEIR PRESERVATION NOBODY'S BUSINESS. Maurico Barrcs, tho French Academician, has long bei>n carrying on a campaign for the preservation ol clmrclierf other than religious monumenfb from tln» ru\ti#os of time. Tho othur day ho eloquently pleaded in the Chamber of Deputies tho caU'-e of thousands of churches with their little Pfroy epircK so familiar to touri.sts, which constitute a national treasure, of artistic beauty. Since, the law of separation tho cure of churches, " Calvarias," and all religiotib monuments has been nobody's business. Each commune retains a certain measure, of liberty, but even if the faithful subscribe they arc at tho mercy of somo fierce Radical or Atheistical Mayor or municipality. M. Barroa mentioned _ a fow typical instances. At Moulins-lcs-Noyere, in tho Department of tho Yonno, a " Calvary," h perfect gem of eighteenth ceuturv art, is crumbling away because tho Municipal Council refuses money oti'crcd _by private individuals for its preservation. At Bornol a twelfth-century church is falling to rui/iK. Tho stun of £600 was collected, ftut, a freo thinking tradesman objected to its acceptance. The remedy proposed by M. Barres is that tho communes should bo freely permitted to subscribe- to keep up the churches without being obliged to do bo; that the faithful should bo allowed to collect separately, and the State should contributo n sum proportionate to the results. Of (ho 40,000 churches nfc the disposal of tho Government, only 4000 are under the protection of tho Ministry of Fine Arts.