If the monks were still found to be too numerous, too wealthy, and too indolent, it was merely necessary to keep on in this way; before the end of the century, merely by the application of the edict, the institution would be brought back, without brutality or injustice, within the scope of the development, the limitations of fortune, and the class of functions acceptable to a modern State.
But, because these ecclesiastical bodies stood in need of reform it does not follow that it was necessary to destroy them, nor, in general, that independent institutions are detrimental to a nation.

Organized purposely for a public service, and possessing, nearly or remotely under the supervision of the State, the faculty of self-administration, these bodies are valuable organs and not malign tumors.
In the first place, through their institution, a great public benefit is secured without any cost to the government--worship, scientific research, primary or higher education, help for the poor, care of the sick--all set apart and sheltered from the cuts which public financial difficulties might make necessary, and supported by the private generosity which, finding a ready receptacle at hand, gathers together, century after century, its thousands of scattered springs: as an example, note the wealth, stability, and usefulness of the English and German universities.
In the second place, their institution furnishes an obstacle to the omnipotence of the State; their walls provide a protection against the leveling standardization of absolute monarchy or of pure democracy.

A man can here freely develop himself without donning the livery of either courtier or demagogue, he can acquire wealth, consideration and authority, without being indebted to the caprices of either royal or popular favor; he can stand firm against established or prevailing opinions sheltered by associates bound by their esprit de corps.

Such, at the present day (1885), is the situation of a professor at Oxford, Goettingen, and Harvard Such, under the Ancient Regime, were a bishop, a member of the French Parliaments, and even a plain attorney.

What can be worse than universal bureaucracy, producing a mechanical and servile uniformity! Those who serve the public need not all be Government clerks; in countries where an aristocracy has perished, bodies of this kind are their last place of refuge.
In the third place, through such institutions, distinct original societies may come to be inside the great commonplace world.