Part 11

Thus the legend. But the chapel is mentioned for the first time in authentic documents of the year 1213, when it is described as situated on the vast territory belonging to S. Germain l'Auxerrois (the eldest daughter of Notre-Dame), at a little distance from the cemetery of the Holy Innocents, upon the road leading from the capital to Montmartre. Whoever may have been the founder, it is mentioned in this same year (1213) as a parish, for the _curé_ appealed to the abbot of S. Geneviève, and the dean of Notre-Dame de Chartres, in the matter of a squabble between himself and the dean of S. Germain l'Auxerrois. Ten years later, it is called the church of S. Eustache, in a charter giving the sentence delivered by the bishop of Paris and two of his canons in another squabble between Simon, _prestre de l'église Saint-Eustache_, and the dean of S. Germain, who seems to have been of a combative temperament. This _curé's_ name figures at the head of the list of rectors of the church, which ends with another of the same name, the grand abbé Simon who was seized by the Communists, and all but received martyrdom with Archbishop Darboy and the _curé_ of the Madeleine, Duguerry. L'abbé Le Beuf records the increase of population, and the necessary want of a larger church; consequently some relics of S. Eustache preserved at S. Denis were brought to Paris, and became the reason for the substitution of the Roman warrior for the gentle maiden Agnes as patron of the church. But later, the two Saints were combined in the patronage, probably from the crypt under the Lady Chapel bearing Agnes' name--a crypt that would be more truthfully called a cellar, from the use it is, or was, put to by a neighbouring fruiterer. The lease may have run out lately, in which case it now belongs to the church; as the clergy had determined to regain possession as soon as possible.

What appearance the first church presented, we know not, but in 1429 the high altar was advanced a foot into the chancel, and the altar of S. Gregory destroyed, to make a passage to the crypt of S. Agnes. In 1434, the church was enlarged "_pour la multiplication du peuple_"; and again in 1466, an addition required the demolition of the greater part of a house in the Rue de Séjour (now Rue du Jour), next to the Hôtel de Royaumont. Thirty years later the bishop gave the churchwardens a little piece of ground situated at the corner of Pont-Alais, in the Rue Montmartre, in order to extend the building still farther.

Here a slight digression may not be out of place to relate the legend of S. Eustache, whose _fête_ day occurs on September 20th, a day, among several others, when the church is visited by crowds, some of whom go to pray, and others to hear the exquisite music for which S. Eustache is famous. When the 20th falls on a weekday, the festival is transferred to the following Sunday.

S. Eustache was a Roman soldier and captain of the guards of the Emperor Trajan. His name in early life was Placidus, and he had a beautiful wife and two fine sons. He lived in great style, practised all the heathen virtues, notably those of charity and loyalty, and was not only a brave warrior, but withal, a great huntsman. Now it happened one day, while sporting in the forest, that a beautiful white stag appeared before him, having a cross of radiant light between its horns, and on the cross an image of the Redeemer. Being astonished and dazzled by the vision, he fell upon his knees, and lo! a voice came from the crucifix and cried to him: "Placidus, why pursuest thou Me? I am Christ, whom thou hast hitherto served without knowing Me? Dost thou now believe?" And Placidus fell with his face upon the ground and said, "Lord, I believe!" And the voice said: "Thou shalt suffer many tribulations for my sake, and shalt be tried by many temptations; but be strong and of good courage, I will not forsake thee." To which Placidus replied, "Lord, I am content. Give thou me but patience to suffer!" And when he looked up again, the wondrous vision had faded away. Then he arose and returned to his wife, and the next day the whole family was baptised, Placidus adopting the name of Eustatius.

But it came about as was foretold by the vision. All his possessions were spoiled by robbers, and his beautiful and loving wife was taken away by pirates; poverty stared him in the face, and affliction pursued him. Then one day, as he wandered forth with his children, he came to a swollen river which he was obliged to cross; and being troubled as to his means of fording the torrent, he took one child in his arms and swam across, leaving the other on the bank. Having placed the little one in a safe nook, he returned for the other; but when in mid-stream he saw a wolf come out of the forest, and carry off one child, while a lion appeared upon the opposite bank, and seizing the other babe, carried it off and made away with it! Then the wretched father tore his hair and gave way to weeping and lamentations; but remembering his promise to suffer for Christ's sake, he dried his tears and prayed for patience and resignation. So he came to a village where he lived peacefully for fifteen years by the labour of his hands; but at the end of that time, the Emperor Adrian being on the throne, sent out messengers to all parts of the Empire to seek for Placidus, as he had need of him; and at length they found him, and he was restored to his former position, and led his troops to victory. But although the Emperor loaded him with honours and wealth, his heart was sad for the loss of his wife and children. Meanwhile the latter had been rescued from the jaws of the wolf and the lion, and his wife had escaped from the hands of the pirates; so it came about, after many years, that they all met again and were re-united; and Eustace said in his heart: "Surely all my sorrows are now at an end." But it was not so; for the Emperor desiring to celebrate a mighty victory over the Barbarians by a great sacrifice to the gods, and Eustace and his family refusing to offer incense, they were shut up in a brazen bull, and a fire being kindled under it, they all perished together. Such is the legend, which, like all the stories of the lives of Saints and early martyrs, shows forth the steadfastness with which they clung to their faith, and the simplicity with which they practised the virtues of fortitude, patience, resignation, and courage. There is a certain similarity between the legend of S. Eustace and that of S. Hubert; but in art they are easily distinguished, as the former is in Classic or warrior costume, and the latter is represented either as a huntsman or a priest. Pictures of S. Eustace are not uncommon; in the Pitti Palace there is one by Soggi; and somewhere I have seen one by Domenichino. The traditional date of the martyrdom of S. Eustace is 118, which is much earlier than that of the other patron of the church, the simple maiden Agnes, who suffered in 304, and whose _fête_ day is January 21st. The legend of this Saint is one of the most authentic, and one of the oldest, being mentioned by S. Jerome, in the 4th century, as popular throughout the world. Hymns and homilies had been written in her honour from the earliest times; and her youth and beauty, added to her innocence, had combined to invest her person with a charm and a fascination which few of the Saints possess.

Agnes was a Roman maiden of thirteen, filled with all the good gifts of the Holy Spirit, having loved and followed Christ from her infancy, and being withal most beautiful, when the son of the Prefect passed her way. Whether the name was given to her because of her lamblike innocence or otherwise, is not recorded. The young man no sooner beheld her than he loved her passionately, and asked her in marriage. But Agnes repelled him, even though he came laden with gold and gems, and costly ornaments; and, unlike poor Gretchen, she cried: "Away from me, tempter! for I am already betrothed to a lover who is greater and fairer than any earthly suitor. To him I have pledged my faith, and he will crown me with jewels compared to which thy gifts are dross.... The music of His divine voice has sounded in mine ears; He is so fair that the sun and moon are ravished by His beauty, and so mighty is He that the Angels are but His servants."

Hearing these words the youth naturally felt consumed by jealousy and rage; and he went home, only to fall ill of a fever, and to be sick almost unto death. The wise medicine men immediately discovered the cause, and told the Prefect that the illness being unrequited love, their potions could avail nothing. Then the great man questioned his son, who replied: "My father, unless I can take me Agnes to wife, I die." Now the Prefect, Sempronius, loved his son tenderly, and so he went weeping to Agnes' parents, and besought them to intercede for the youth. But Agnes made the same answer, and Sempronius was much angered that she should prefer another to his son, and asked who this great prince might be to whom Agnes was betrothed. And some one said: "Knowest thou not that the maiden hath been a Christian from her infancy; and her husband of whom she speaks is none other than Jesus Christ?" When the Prefect heard this, he rejoiced greatly, for he knew he could force Agnes to marry his son, by threats of imprisonment; for an edict had gone forth against the Christians. And so he sent for Agnes, and told her that since she was resolved not to marry, she must enter the service of the goddess Vesta. But Agnes replied: "Thinkest thou that I, who would not listen to thy son, who is yet a man and can hear and see and move and speak, will bow down to vain images, which are but senseless wood and stone; or, what is worse, to the demons who inhabit them?"

When Sempronius heard this he fell into a fury; he loaded Agnes' limbs with chains, and threatened her with death; and as nothing would prevail, he ordered her to be exposed to the most degrading outrages; but being stripped of her garments, she fell on her knees and prayed, and immediately her hair became so thick and long that it formed a complete covering. Then, although the onlookers were dismayed, they shut her up in a chamber, and left her. And suddenly she saw a bright and glistening garment, with which she clothed herself, praising God and saying: "I thank thee, O Lord, that I am found worthy to put on the garment of Thine elect!" And the whole place was filled with miraculous light, brighter than the sun at noonday.

Then the young man thought that if he visited her, Agnes would give way; but as soon as he entered her chamber he was struck blind, and fell into convulsions. And the mother and father appearing, and falling into lamentations and weeping, Agnes was moved with compassion, and prayed that their son might be restored to health; and her prayer was granted. Then Sempronius would have saved Agnes; but the people caused a tumult, and cried out that the maid was a witch and a sorceress, and therefore worthy of death. And so she was judged and thrown into the fire; but the flames, refusing to touch her, severely scorched the executioners, which still more irritated Sempronius and the people. Then the wicked Prefect commanded the executioners to slay her; and she, looking up to Heaven, yielded up her pure spirit to her God. And it happened that when her friends were one day praying at her tomb, in the cemetery on the Via Nomentana, she appeared unto them arrayed in white, with a lamb whiter than snow. And she said: "Weep not, dry your tears, and rejoice with exceeding joy; for me a throne is prepared by the side of Him who on earth I preferred to all others, and to whom I am united for ever in Heaven." And having thus spoken, she vanished.

As we have seen, the devotion paid to S. Agnes is of so early a period that it is quite possible the first chapel in the Halles dedicated to her memory may date back to the 8th or 9th century; but nothing authentic is recorded before the 13th century, and no part of the present church of S. Eustache and S. Agnes is earlier than the 16th century, when it was commenced during the reign of François I^{er.} L'abbé Le Beuf gives the name of the architect as Charles David, and undoubtedly one of that name was attached to the church, as the fact is recorded upon an epitaph. But as he died in 1650, at the age of ninety-eight, he must have been born in 1552; and, the church having been commenced in 1532, this David could only have been a master of the works, carrying out the design of some predecessor. A theory has been propounded that this may have been Dominico da Cortona (Boccadoro), the architect of the Hôtel de Ville, or one of his pupils, who followed him from Italy; the evidence brought forward being the similarity of some of the details of the two buildings. S. Eustache was commenced, as we have seen, in 1532, the Hôtel de Ville in the following year; but beyond this and a resemblance between the niches for statues of the two edifices, there is absolutely no evidence for the supposition, and the name of the architect of S. Eustache remains a hidden mystery. That he was an accomplished artist, a man having an eye for great effects, with a first-rate sense of proportion, the church bears witness, although it has had its detractors ever since it was finished. Too Gothic for the men patronized by Louis XIV., its Renaissance element shocked the artistic taste of their successors; called a _barbarous style_ by the first, because of its Gothic plan, its Renaissance detail was _pernicious_ to the æsthetic instincts of the latter. It is amusing to read Mr. Dibden's opinion of the church in his _Picturesque Tour_,[66] as it is that of a cultured traveller, and probably is an example of the judgment passed upon S. Eustache by the artists of his day. "Next in importance to S. Gervais is the Gothic church of S. Eustache; a perfect specimen, throughout, of that adulterated style of Gothic architecture (called its restoration!) which prevailed at the commencement of the reign of Francis I. Faulty, and even meretricious, as is the whole of the interior, the choir will not fail to strike you with surprise and gratification. It is light, rich, and lofty. This church is very large, but not so capacious as S. Gervais, while its situation is, if possible, still more objectionable." How the good parson could compare the two churches, apparently to the advantage of S. Gervais, seems extraordinary; for no unbiassed person can fail to be impressed by the beauty of the proportions of S. Eustache, its length and height, its effective choir, and its grand, but simple, altar. With the exception of its glass chandeliers, all the furniture and accessories are in keeping with the building; there is nothing tawdry, nor in bad taste; and it lends itself more effectively than even Notre-Dame to processions and grand ceremonials.

After its commencement the building seems to have struggled on for eight years; when, for want of funds, it remained stationary until 1552, although some of the altars had been consecrated by the Bishop of Mégare sixteen years previously. In 1552 it was helped on again by Lenten offerings, in return for dispensations to consume butter and milk. How much these dispensations produced, and how long the funds lasted, we are not informed; but civil war and religious troubles stopped the works again, and it was not until 1624 that they were resumed. Both Sauval and du Breul speak of the choir having been commenced in that year, and the latter's description of it is interesting as showing its original form. "Le choeur est un des plus beaux et un des plus grands de Paris après celui de Notre-Dame, large, spacieux, garni de quatre rangées de chaises; l'autel est fort haut en forme de frontispice, enrichi de six colonnes de marbre, d'un riche tableau au fond et d'un tabernacle ample et grand de bois ciselé et doré. Toute la clôture de ce choeur est composée de piliers de cuivre et de marbre. Au derrière est un autre autel de bois où l'art de la menuiserie n'est pas épargné, non plus que l'or et le marbre, et dans cet autel est le sainct ciboire où repose le saint Sacrement." Of the west front, the destruction of which, with two chapels erected by Colbert and decorated by Mignard, is the cause of the disproportion of length to height, Du Breul thus speaks: "Le portail est fort massif, illustré d'ouvrages et ciselures de pierre. Au-dessus de la grande porte par dehors est une galerie environnée de balustres; au deux coings de ce portail sont commencées deux grosses tours. En celle de main droicte sont les cloches. Aux deux costés de devant sont les images de pierre de Saint Eustache et de Sainte Agnès, patrons de la dite église et au dehors un assez ample parvis entouré de piliers." Writing a century later Piganiol de la Force only speaks of this part of the church. "Il était formé par six piliers buttants d'environ trente pieds de saillie au delà du pignon, dont deux aux encoignures de dix pieds d'épaisseur; deux autres de treize pieds servaient à soutenir la poussée des arcades intérieures qui exigeait une grande solidité. Ces quatre piliers formaient trois travées; dans celle du milieu était la porte d'entrée; les deux autres avaient été construites pour porter deux tours, et dans leur intérieur M. Colbert avait fait construire deux chapelles, l'une pour les mariages et l'autre pour les fonts."

The church was finished and consecrated by Jean de Gondy, first archbishop of Paris, on the 26th April, 1637. Round the altar were ten statues, which, according to the taste of the day, were portraits of contemporaries, although representing sacred personages. They were by Jacques Sarrazin. Louis XIII. was the embodiment of S. Louis; Anne d'Autriche and the future _Grande monarque_ were allowed to represent the Blessed Virgin and her Child. Above these were the patron saints.

It must be remembered by critics who find fault with the disproportion between length and height of S. Eustache, that an entire bay of the nave and two chapels were demolished with the west front, thus reducing the length. One of the chapels, erected at Colbert's expense, must have been of value artistically, certainly more so than the present west front which was substituted; for Mignard's frescoes are immortalised by Molière in his _Gloire du Val-de-Grâce_. They represented the Heavens with the Almighty surrounded by Angels, the Circumcision, and the Baptism of Christ:

"Colbert, dont le bon goût suit celui de son maître, A senti même charme et nous le fait paraître. Ce vigoureux génie au travail si constant, Dont la vaste prudence à tous emplois s'étend, Qui du choix souverain tient par son haut mérite Du commerce et des arts la suprême conduite, A d'une noble idée enfanté le dessein, Qu'il confie au talent de cette docte main, Et dont il veut par elle attacher la richesse Aux sacrés murs du temple où son coeur s'intéresse (St-Eust.). La voilà cette main qui se met en chaleur; Elle prend les pinceaux, trace, étend la couleur; Empâte, adoucit, touche et ne fait nulle pose. Voilà qu'elle a fini: l'ouvrage aux yeux s'expose, Et nous y découvrons aux yeux des grands experts Trois miracles de l'art en trois tableaux divers."

The other chapel was decorated by Charles de Lafosse, a pupil of Lebrun, and the painter of the dome of the Invalides. The subjects were God, surrounded by the four Evangelists, blessing Adam and Eve, and the marriage of the Virgin and S. Joseph. These chapels were erected respectively for baptisms and marriages.

The present west front, ugly and lumbering though it be, with its Doric portal and Corinthian gallery, had a royal prince to usher it into the world, no less a personage than the Duc de Chartres, Philippe-Egalité. Had it been built up in front of S. Nicholas du Chardonnet, or any church of that period, it might have passed muster; but tacked on to S. Eustache, it is completely out of place. Were the _curé_ privileged to give the Papal benediction, said an 18th century critic, this porch might have some use; but its only merit is that it was built upon a sufficiently large scale to save it from insignificance. Let us turn to the south door, constructed under François I^{er,} but much restored since the last siege. Never completely finished, as regards statues and other ornament, it was so terribly knocked about by the Communists, that niches, tracery, corbels, and glass had to be renewed; but perhaps, had it not suffered so much destruction in 1871, we should never have had the opportunity of admiring it in its completed beauty.

The doors are divided by a pier surmounted by a figure of the Virgin and Child under an elaborately carved canopy, which stands out upon the plain, undecorated lintel. In three little niches under these figures are statuettes representing Faith, Hope, and Charity. In the _voussure_ above the window are niches for some fifty statuettes, which are still wanting; on either side are statues of Joachim, S. Anne and two Angels bearing censers. The niches are formed of pilasters with a pediment, and capitals composed of little canopies mixed with acanthus leaves. All the details, the fantastic figures upon the stylobate, the ornament of the pilasters, and the canopies, are in the best style of the Renaissance. Two rows of arcades lead up to the rose window, flanked on each side by graceful turrets. In the centre of the gable is a smaller rose, surmounted by a stag's head with a crucifix between the horns, emblem of the conversion of the warrior Saint. A curious sundial is fixed to the wall between the two arcades; and at the intersection of the transepts and nave is an open-work turret. Between the chapels are Composite pilasters supporting the cornice; the capitals are enriched with masks, Angel's heads, monograms, and divers emblems; in one case the double L L crowned, in another, foliage, animals, and Genii. Flying buttresses support the nave, choir, and transepts; and a multitude of gargoyles, fantastic in design, representing men, women, and children, with foliage terminations, and mostly winged, surround the pilasters of the aisles. On one of these is the date 1629.

The building, which blocks up a part of the chapel of Our Lady, was another excrescence of the reign of Louis XIV., and the work of Moreaux; it is used as a treasury and vestry. Above the chapel of the Virgin is a belfry erected in the 17th century, surmounted by a cross and the ship of the city of Paris. The bell weighs 2,500 kilogrammes. It was preserved by the Revolutionists in consequence of its usefulness; but a shell from Montmartre on the 25th of May, 1871 (during the Commune), set fire to the steeple. The blaze was soon extinguished, but not before it had done a considerable amount of harm. The north door is of later date, 1640. It has two turrets, in one of which is a staircase leading up to the presbytery. S. Eustache, costumed as a Roman warrior, guards the doorway upon the central pillar; while S. Denis bearing a palm, and S. Geneviève with a lamb at her feet, keep watch upon each side. The socles are ornamented with the Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Courage, Justice, and Temperance, which were discovered some years ago, hidden behind a shop for the sale of religious books and images which obstructed the entrance to the passage. The capital of one of the pilasters upon this side of the church is well worth attentive study. In the midst of some foliage is a child bearing a basket of fruit, and on each side are two young and beautiful Genii forming a sort of buttress to the abacus.