Reason

The Goddess of Reason, November 10th, 1793. Mlle. Candeille, of the Opéra, was one of the earliest of these goddesses, but Mme. Momoro, wife of the printer, the Goddess of Liberty, was the most celebrated. On November 10th a festival was held in Notre Dame de Paris in honour of Reason and Liberty, when women represented these “goddesses.” Mlle. Candeille wore a red Phrygian cap, a white frock, a blue mantle, and tricolour ribbons. Her head was filleted with oak-leaves, and in her hand she carried the pike of Jupiter-Peuple. In the cathedral a sort of temple was erected on a mound, and in this “Temple of Philosophy” Mlle. Candeille was installed. Young girls crowned with oak-leaves were her attendants, and sang hymns in her honour. Similar installations were repeated at Lyons and other places. (See Liberty, Goddess of.)