which invented and practiced dictatorship had to be employed for the
affirmation of dictatorship with that precision and that copiousness,
with that excess of energy and of conviction.



II. The Bishops and their new Situation.

The bishop in his diocese. - Change of situation and rôle. -
Depreciation of other local authorities. - Diminution of other
ecclesiastical authorities. - Decline of the chapter and the
jurisdiction. - The bishop alone dispenses rigors and favors. - Use of
displacement. - Second-class clergy subject to military discipline. -
Why it submits to this.

The change brought about in the condition and role of the bishop was
not less grave. Along with the court noblesse and great ecclesiastical
property, we see the prelate of the old régime disappearing by
degrees, the younger son of a noble family, promoted by favor and very
young, endowed with a large income and much more a man of the world
than of the Church. In 1789, out of 134 bishops or archbishops, only 5
were of plebeian origin; in 1889, out of 90 bishops or archbishops
there are only 4 of them nobles;[21] previous to the Revolution, the
titular of an Episcopal see enjoyed, on the average, a revenue of
100,000 francs; at the present day, he receives only a salary of from
10,000 to 15,000 francs.[22] In place of the grand seignior, an
amiable and magnificent host, given to display and to entertaining the
best company, keeping an open table in his diocese when he happens to
be there, but generally absent, an habitué of Paris or a courtier at
Versailles, we see another stepping forward to take his seat He is