《the origins of contemporary france-4》

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and serenely; in the midst of popular deference and enjoying the good

will of the public。  … On the other hand; he was not bridled as in our

day。  A priest was not a functionary salaried by the State; his pay;

like his private income; earmarked and put aside beforehand; furnished

through special appropriations; through local taxes; out of a distinct

treasury; could never be withheld on account of a préfect's report; or

through ministerial caprice; or be constantly menaced by budget

difficulties and the ill…will of the civil powers。  In relation to his

ecclesiastical superiors he was respectful but independent。  The

bishop in his diocese was not what he has become since the Concordat;

an absolute sovereign free to appoint and remove at will nine curés

out of ten。  In three vacancies out of four; and often in fourteen out

of fifteen;'69' it was not the bishop who made the appointment; the

new incumbent was designated sometimes by the cathedral chapter or

corporation; again; by a collegial church or corporation; again; by

the metropolitan canon or by the abbé or prior; the patron of the

place; again; by the seignior whose ancestors had founded or endowed

the Church; in certain cases by the Pope; and; occasionally; by the

King or commune。  Powers were limited through this multiplicity and

inter…crossing of authorities。  Moreover; the; canon or curé being

once appointed he possessed guarantees; he could not be arbitrarily

dismissed; in most cases; his removal or suspension required a

previous trial according to prescribed formalities; accompanied with

an examination; pleadings; and arguments before the officialité or

ecclesiastical court。  He was; in fact; permanently placed; and very

generally his personal merit sufficed to keep him in his place。  …

For; if the highest positions were bestowed according to birth and

favor; the intermediate positions were reserved to correct habits and

attainments。  Many canons and vicars…general; and almost all the curés

in the towns were doctors of divinity or of canon law; while

ecclesiastical studies; very thorough; had occupied eight or nine

years of their youth。'70'  Although the method was out of date; much

was learned at the Sorbonne and St。  Sulpice; at the very least; one

became a good logician through prolonged and scientific intellectual

gymnastics。  〃My dear Abbé;〃 said Turgot; smiling; to Morellet; 〃it is

only you and I who have taken our degree who can reason closely。〃

Their theological drill; indeed; was about as valuable as our

philosophical drill; if it expanded the mind less; it supplied this

better with applicable concepts; less exciting; it was more fruitful。

In the Sorbonne of the nineteenth century; the studies consist of the

speculative systems of a few isolated; divergent intellects who have

exercised no authority over the multitude; while in the Sorbonne of

the eighteenth century; the studies consisted of the creed; morality;

discipline; history and canons of a Church which had already existed

seventeen centuries and which; comprising one hundred and fifty

millions of souls; still sways one…half of the civilized world。  … To

a theoretical education add practical education。  A curé and with

still more reason; a canon; an archdeacon; a bishop; was not a passing

stranger; endowed by the State; wearing a surplice; as little

belonging to his age through his ministry as through his dress; and

wholly confined to his spiritual functions: he managed the revenues of

his dotation; he granted leases; made repairs; built; and interested

himself in the probabilities of the crops; in the construction of a

highway or canal; while his experiences in these matters were equal to

those of any lay proprietor。  Moreover; being one of a small

proprietary corporation; that is to say; a chapter or local vestry;

and one of a great proprietary corporation of the diocese and Church

of France; he took part directly or indirectly in important temporal

affairs; in assemblies; in deliberations; in collective expenditures;

in the establishment of a local budget and of a general budget; and

hence; in public and administrative matters; his competence was

analogous and almost equal to that of a mayor; sub…delegate; farmer…

general or intendant。  In addition to this he was liberal: never has

the French clergy been more earnestly so; from the latest curés back

to the first archbishops。'71' … Lastly; remark the distribution of the

clergy over the territory。  There was a curé or vicar in the smallest

of the forty thousand villages。  In thousands of small; poor; remote

communes; he was the only man who could readily read and write; none

other than he in many of the larger rural communes;'72' except the

resident seignior and some man of the law or half…way schoolmaster;

was at all learned。'73'  Actually; for a man who had finished his

studies and knowing Latin; to consent; for six hundred francs or three

hundred francs a year; to live isolated; and a celibate; almost in

indigence; amongst rustics and the poor; he must be a priest; the

quality of his office makes him resigned to the discomforts of his

situation。  A preacher of the Word; a professor of morality; a

minister of Charity; a guide and dispenser of spiritual life; he

taught a theory of the world; at once consoling and self…denying;

which he enforced with a cult; and this cult was the only one adapted

to his flock; manifestly; the French; especially those devoted to

manual and hard labor; could not regard this world as ideal; except

through his formulas; history; the supreme judge; had on this point

rendered its verdict without appeal; no heresy; no schism; not the

Reformation nor Jansenism; had prevailed against hereditary faith;

through infinitely multiplied and deeply penetrating roots this faith

suited national customs; temperament; and peculiar social imagination

and sensibility。  Possessing the heart; the intellect; and even the

senses; through fixed; immemorial traditions and habits; it had become

an unconscious; almost corporeal necessity; and the Catholic orthodox

curé; in communion with the Pope; was about as indispensable to the

village as the public fountain; he also quenched thirst; the thirst of

the soul; without him; the inhabitants could find no drinkable water。

And; if we keep human weaknesses in mind; it may be said that

nobleness of character in the clergy corresponded with nobleness of

profession; in all points no one could dispute their capacity for

self…sacrifice; for they willingly suffered for what they believed to

be the truth。  If; in 1790; a number of priests took the oath to the

civil constitution of the clergy; it was with reservations; or because

they deemed the oath licit; but; after the dismissal of the bishops

and the Pope's disapprobation; many of them withdrew it at the risk of

their lives; so as not to fall into schism; they fell back into the

ranks and gave themselves up voluntarily to the brutality of the crowd

and the rigors of the law。  Moreover; and from the start;

notwithstanding threats and temptations; two…thirds of the clergy

would not take the oath; in the highest ranks; among the mundane

ecclesiastics whose skepticism and laxity were notorious; honor; in

default of faith; maintained the same spirit; nearly the whole of

them; great and small; had subordinated their interests; welfare and

security to the maintenance of their dignity or to scruples of

conscience。  They had allowed themselves to be stripped of everything;

they let themselves be exiled; imprisoned; tortured and made martyrs

of; like the Christians of the primitive church; through their

invincible meekness; they were going; like the primitive Christians;

to exhaust the rage of their executioners; wear out persecutions;

transform opinion and compel the admission; even with those who

survived in the eighteenth century; that they were true; deserving and

courageous men。



V。    The Bourgeoisie。



Where recruited。  … Difference between the functionary of the ancient

regime and the modern functionary。  … Appointments seen as Property。

… Guilds。  … Independence and security of office…holders。  … Their

ambitions are limited and satisfied。  … Fixed habits; seriousness and

integrity。  … Ambition to secure esteem。  … Intellectual culture。  …

Liberal ideas。  … Respectability and public zeal。  … Conduct of the

bourgeoisie in 1789…1791。



Below the nobles and the clergy; a third class of notables; the

bourgeoisie; almost entirely confined to the towns;'74' verged on the

former classes through its upper circles; while its diverse groups;

ranging from the parliamentarian to the rich merchant or manufacturer;

comprised the remainder of those who were tolerably well educated; say

100 000 families; recruited on the same conditions as the bourgeoisie

of the present day: they were 〃bourgeois living nobly;〃 meaning by

this; living on their incomes; large manufacturers and traders;

engaged in liberal pursuits…lawyers; notaries; procureurs; physicians;

architects; engineers; artists; professors; and especially the

government officials; the latter; however; very numerous; differed

from ours in two essential points。  On the one hand; their office; as

nowadays with the notaries' étude; or a membership of the stock…board;

was personal property。  Their places; and many others; such as posts

in the judiciary; in the finances; in bailiwicks; in the Présidial; in

the Election;'75' in the salt…department; in the customs; in the Mint;

in the department of forests and streams; in presidencies; in

councils; as procureurs du roi in various civil; administrative and

criminal courts; holding places in the treasury; auditors and

collectors of the various branches of the revenue … all of which

offices; and many others; had been alienated for more than a century

by the State in return for specified sums of ready money; thenceforth;

they fell into the ha
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