Where Republicanism is strong, the
mayor's party is often at bitter feud with those who share the views
and uphold the authority of _M. le cure_. The sign that the 'advanced'
Republicans give of their political faith is never to set foot inside the
church unless it be at a wedding or a funeral. But what is especially
worth the attention of the philosophical observer is the extent to which
prevailing ideas in politics and religion differ in the same district.
Within a few miles of a commune where Republicans and Freethinkers have
complete control of local affairs, may be another that is altogether
Royalist or Bonapartist, and where the cure is both popular and powerful.
There is, moreover, a very marked difference in the character of the
inhabitants of neighbouring places. In one the prevailing characteristic
may be mildness and affability of manners, whereas in another it may
be truculence and incivility. Neither the influence of politics nor of
religion sufficiently accounts for these differences in character. They
seem to rest rather upon obscure and remote causes, such as racial and
congenital tendencies. All this is especially observable in the South of
France, where the present population has been formed from the blood of so
many races, which is very unequally mixed even to this day.
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