The celebration of Jeanne d’Arc’s festival as that of the great patron saint of modern France has been more remarkable than ever this year. It was only last year that the French Government decided for the first time to take part officially in the celebrations ; and those who now proudly claim the credit of having restored France’s national Saint to her due place of honour had for many years to contest even their right to display her banners in the streets. The huge procession that filed last month through all the principal thoroughfares of Paris, from the Place St. Augustin, past the Madeleine and all round the Place de la Concorde, to lay innumerable wreaths of flowers at the foot of the gilt equestrian statue which stands at the corner of the Tuileries, was even more enthusiastic and imposing in its dimensions than were the demonstrations of last year. The Fete Jeanne d’Arc has become perhaps the greatest national festival of France. Its procession is one of the most symbolic events of the year. But how much does the demonstration signify? Is it really the spontaneous homage of a modern and highly sophisticated city, not only to a great national saint, but to a mediaeval tradition which seems strangely remote from modern Paris? Or are the enemies of the Action Francaise justified, if only to some extent, in regarding it as a purely party demonstration by the extreme nationalists, exploiting for their own ends a national tradition which the leaders of the Action Francaise have undoubtedly revived? Does it in fact afford some reliable indication of how far the religious revival in France is genuine and how far political?