Moreover, among these dignitaries, nearly all of whom are blameless,
or, at least, who behave well and are generally honorable,
Napoleon[104] finds a few whose servility is perfect, unscrupulous
individuals ready for anything that an absolute prince could desire,
like Bishops Bernier and De Pancemont, one accepting a reward of
30,000 francs and the other the sum of 50,000 francs[105] for the vile
part they have played in the negotiations for the Concordat; a
miserly, brutal cynic like Maury, archbishop of Paris, or an
intriguing, mercenary skeptic like De Pradt, archbishop of Malines; or
an old imbecile, falling on his knees before the civil power, like
Rousseau, bishop of Orleans, who writes a pastoral letter declaring
that the Pope is as free in his Savona prison as on his throne at
Rome. After 1806,[106] Napoleon, that he may control men of greater
suppleness, prefers to take his prelates from old noble families - the
frequenters of Versailles, who regard the episcopate as a gift
bestowed by the prince and not by the Pope, a lay favor reserved for
younger sons, a present made by the sovereign to those around his
person, on the understood condition that the partisan courtier who is
promoted shall remain a courtier of the master. Henceforth nearly all
his episcopal recruits are derived from "members of the old noble
stock." "Only these," says Napoleon, "know how to serve well."



IX. The Imperial Catechism

Political use of the episcopacy. - The imperial catechism. - Pastoral
letters.

From the first year the effect arrived at is better than could be