arms.

He was right: in healing a great schism in France he was dealing a
deadly blow at the revolutionary feeling of which it was a prominent
manifestation. In the words of one of his Ministers, "The Concordat
was the most brilliant triumph over the genius of Revolution, and all
the following successes have without exception resulted from it."[159]

After this testimony it is needless to ask why Bonaparte did not take
up with Protestantism. At St. Helena, it is true, he asserted that the
choice of Catholicism or Protestantism was entirely open to him in
1801, and that the nation would have followed him in either direction:
but his religious policy, if carefully examined, shows no sign of
wavering on this subject, though he once or twice made a strategic
diversion towards Geneva, when Rome showed too firm a front. Is it
conceivable that a man who, as he informed Joseph, was systematically
working to found a dynasty, should hesitate in the choice of a
governmental creed? Is it possible to think of the great champion of
external control and State discipline as a defender of liberty of
conscience and the right of private judgment?

The regulation of the Protestant cult in France was a far less arduous
task. But as Bonaparte's aim was to attach all cults to the State, he
decided to recognize the two chief Protestant bodies in France,
Calvinists and Lutherans, allowing them to choose their own pastors
and to regulate their affairs in consistories. The pastors were to be
salaried by the State, but in return the Government not only reserved
its approval of every appointment, but required the Protestant bodies
to have no relations whatever with any foreign Power or authority. The
organic articles of 1802, which defined the position of the Protestant