Built by Jacques Lemercier, after the first-stone-laying by the Grand Monarque, this church became fashionable and much affected by the great ones of the City. Bossuet lived hard by in the Rue S. Anne, and was placed in the church he had often preached in, previously to being removed to his cathedral of Meaux. Another celebrity, Marie Anne de Bourbon, Princesse de Conti, daughter of Louis and his handmaiden La ValliÈre, was buried in the chapel of the Virgin; and the sculptors FranÇois and Michel Anguier also found their rest here.

The portico was commenced in 1736 from the designs of Robert de Cotte. It is in no wise beautiful; but it is celebrated as having been the scene of the terrible 13 VendÉmiaire An IV. (5 October, 1795). In the "cul-de-sac Dauphin" against the church walls the "young bronze Artillery Officer" set his guns. "The firing was with sharp and sharpest shot; to all men it was plain that there was no sport."[119] In a couple of hours it was all over; insurrection quelled; and the "Whiff of Grapeshot" proved so successful that it became the active power in subsequent doings of the dynasty of the "Man of bronze."

S. Roch is a vast edifice mainly conspicuous by its ugliness; but it contains much furniture that is worth noting. Over the altar is a fine crucifix by Michel Anguier, formerly in the Sorbonne. The group of the Nativity brought from Val de GrÂce is by FranÇois Anguier. Saint-Jean-en-GrÈve has contributed the Baptism of Our Lord, by Lemoine; the Latin Fathers were sculptured for the Dome of the Invalides; the figure of S. Roch on the right of the choir is by one of the Coustou brothers; a dying Christ by Falconet. The bust of LenÔtre, by Coyzevox, was part of a monument; so was the statue of Cardinal Dubois by Guillaume Coustou. Mignard was buried here and has a memorial bust by Desjardins. Medallions also abound: the MarÉchal d'Asfeld, the Duc de LesdigniÈres, the Comte d'Harcourt, and the Duc de CÉrqui; also a monument to Maupertius, l'abbÉ de l'EpÉe; and an epitaph to Pierre Corneille. Madame de FeuquiÈres, in white marble, was treated after the manner of the kings and queens at S. Denis. Lemoine made her kneeling at her father, Mignard's feet; some one improved upon this, and turned her into a Madeleine at the foot of the cross.

Behind the choir is the chapel of the Virgin, with the Crucifixion lighted up after the manner of that terrible tomb at Windsor erected to the memory of the Princess Charlotte; but they vie with each other in popularity from the many sightseers who pass by. There is also an entombment which, on Good Friday, is visited by thousands of people; and in the chapel of the S. Sacrament, a reproduction of the Ark of the Covenant with the Mercy Seat and the Cherubim—about the most interesting part of the church; it is I believe, used as the tabernacle. "S. Roche is doubtless a very fine building, with a well proportioned front and a noble flight of steps; but the interior is too plain and severe for my taste. The walls are decorated with unfluted pilasters, with capitals scarcely conformable to any one order of architecture. The choir, however, is lofty, and behind it, in Our Lady's chapel, if I remember accurately, there is a striking piece of sculpture of the Crucifixion, sunk into a rock, which receives the light from an invisible aperture, as at S. Sulpice. To the right, or rather behind this chapel, there is another—called the Chapel of Calvary—in which you observe a celebrated piece of sculpture, of rather colossal dimensions, of the entombment of Christ. The dead Saviour is borne to the sepulchre by Joseph of Arimathea, St. John, and the three Maries. The name of the sculptor is Deseine. Certainly you cannot but be struck with the effect of such representations—which accounts for these two chapels being a great deal more attended in general than the choir or the nave of the church. It is, right, however, to add, that the pictures here are preferable to those of S. Sulpice, and the series of bas-reliefs, descriptive of the principal events in the life of Christ, is among the very best specimens of art, of that species, which Paris can boast of."[120]

The music at S. Roch gained much renown some years ago, and although it is not now in any way remarkable, its reputation is still great. People assure you that the best music in Paris is at S. Roch. True, we may hear the masses of Haydn and Mozart very fairly performed there; but neither voices nor organ equal the refinement of the Madeleine. In one respect, however, we may prefer S. Roch. The boys sit upon their little stools in the choir, and when they have to sing, group themselves with the singing men round a huge lectern, which stands out in the centre of the chancel. Thus they stand before the old noted service book, and in their picturesque costume of red cassocks, white albs, and blue or red sashes, they form a most picturesque coup-d'oeil, very different from the other churches. At the Madeleine the choir sits behind the altar, and you hear the singing from invisible voices,—very charming if you did not see the boys in their collÉgien uniform pass round before the commencement of the service; but this gives a somewhat theatrical effect. At S. Roch the grouping of the men and boys and the double basses round the lectern gives the whole affair such a delightfully old-world appearance that it is most refreshing, and the effect of the huge service-book, with its plain-song notation up above the heads of the boys, takes one back hundreds of years. That S. Roch was much esteemed in the early years of the century our American's letter shows. His criticism of the sermon might apply very well to many a one in this year of grace, more especially here at home. The French preachers almost always speak well, and are eloquent, even if their matter be indifferent, dull, or twaddly. Englishmen unfortunately despise the manner, and think their hearers ought to be content with good matter only; and so it comes about that in a life-time only two or three great preachers stand out in one's memory—a Henry Parry Liddon and a Samuel Wilberforce. However, the "American," is of a diverse opinion. "Yesterday, being Sunday, I went to S. Roch's; I had the luck to hit upon the fashionable church; but the preacher was the god of dulness. The world, he says, is growing worse and worse; our roguish ancestors begot us bigger rogues, about to produce a worse set of rogues than ourselves. The Antichrist is already come. If he had said the antichrist of wit, anybody would have believed him, and yet this is the very pulpit from which the Bossuets and Bourdaloues used to preach. The church was filled almost entirely of women; one might think that none go to heaven in this country but the fair sex" (or perhaps the men require no help, he might have added). "The worshippers seem intent enough upon their devotions, but the wide avenues at the sides are filled with a crowd of idle, curious, and disorderly spectators. Give me a French church; one walks in here booted and spurred, looks at the pretty women and the pictures, whistles a tune if one chooses, and then walks out again. They have not spoilt the architectural beauty (!) of S. Roch's by pews and galleries. The walls are adorned splendidly with paintings; and here and there are groups of statuary, and the altar being finely gilt and illuminated, looks magnificently. When I build a church I shall decorate it somewhat in this manner. It is good to imitate nature as much as one can in all things; and she has set us the example in this. She has adorned her great temple, the world, with green fields, and fragrant flowers, and its superb dome the firmament with stars."[121] The trotting about at S. Roch is the same to this day, which makes it the least restful of churches.