which remains invincibly distinct. The temporal sovereign, in a
spiritual society, especially such a sovereign as he is, - nominally
Catholic, scarcely Christian, at best a deist and from time to time as
it suits, - will never be other than an external suzerain and a
foreign prince. To become and remain master in such an annexed
country it is always advisable to exhibit the sword. Nevertheless, it
would not be wise to strike incessantly; the blade, used too often,
would wear out; it is better to utilize the constitution of the annex,
rule over it indirectly, not by an administrative bureau (régie), but
by a protectorate, in which all indigenous authorities can be employed
and be made responsible for the necessary rigors. Now, by virtue of
the indigenous constitution, the governors of the Catholic annex - all
designated beforehand by their suitable and indelible character, all
tonsured, robed in black, celibates and speaking Latin - form two
orders, unequal in dignity and in number; one inferior, comprising
myriads of curés and vicars, and the other superior, comprising some
dozens of prelates.

Let us turn this ready-made hierarchy to account; and, the better to
use it, let us tighten the strings. In agreement with the upper clergy
and the Pope, we will increase the subjection of the lower clergy; we
will govern the inferiors through the superiors; whoever has the head
has the body; it is much easier to handle sixty bishops and
archbishops than forty thousand vicars and curés; in this particular
we need not undertake to restore primitive discipline; we must not be
either antiquaries or Gallicans. Let us be careful not to give back
to the second-class clergy the independence and stability they enjoyed
before 1789, the canonical guarantees which protected them against
episcopal despotism, the institution of competition, the rights
conferred by theological grades, the bestowal of the best places on