Compare the authority of a bishop in his diocese in 1789 with that of a bishop sixty years later.

In 1789, the Archbishop of Besancon, out of fifteen hundred offices and benefices, had the patronage of one hundred, In ninety-three incumbencies the selections were made by the metropolitan chapter; in eighteen it was made by the chapter of the Madeleine; in seventy parishes by the noble founder or benefactor.

One abbe had thirteen incumbencies at his disposal, another thirty-four, another thirty-five, a prior nine, an abbess twenty; five communes directly nominated their own pastor, while abbeys, priories and canonries were in the hands of the King.[2269] At the present day (1880) in a diocese the bishop appoints all the cures or officiating priests, and may deprive nine out of ten of them; in the diocese above named, from 1850 to 1860, scarcely one lay functionary was nominated without the consent or intervention of the cardinal-archbishop.[2270] To comprehend the spirit, discipline, and influence of our contemporary clergy, go back to the source of it, and you will find it in the decree of the Constituent Assembly.

A natural organization cannot be broken up with impunity; it forms anew, adapting itself to circumstances, and closes up its ranks in proportion to its danger.
But even if, according to the maxims of the Assembly, faith and worship are free, as far as the sovereign State is concerned, the churches are subjects .-- For these are societies, administrations, and hierarchies, and no society, administration, or hierarchy may exist in the State without entering into its--departments under the title of subordinate, delegate, or employee.

A priest is now essentially a salaried officer like the rest, a functionary[2271] presiding over matters pertaining to worship and morality.