第306章

Meanwhile， we can demonstrate， from the first few months， what use the administrators will be able to make of it， and the manner in which they will endow the service to which it binds them. -- No portion of this confiscated property is reserved for the maintenance of public worship， or to keep up the hospitals， asylums， and schools. Not only do all obligations and all productive real property find their way into the great national crucible to be converted into assignats[61]， but a number of special buildings， all monastic real estate and a portion of the ecclesiastical real estate， diverted from its natural course， becomes swallowed up in the same gulf. At Besan？on，[62] three churches out of eight， with their land and treasure， the funds of the chapter， all the money of the monastic churches， the sacred vessels， shrines， crosses， reliquaries， votive offerings， ivories， statues， pictures， tapestry， sacerdotal dresses and ornaments， plate， jewels and precious furniture， libraries， railings， bells， masterpieces of art and of piety， all are broken up and melted in the Mint， or sold by auction for almost nothing. This is the way in which the intentions of the founders and donors are carried out. -- How are so many communities， which are deprived of their rentals， to support their schools， hospices， and asylums？ Even after the decree[63] which， exceptionally and provisionally， orders the whole of their revenue to be accounted for to them， will it be paid over now that it is collected by a local administration whose coffers are always empty， and whose intentions are almost always hostile？ Every establishment for benevolent and educational purposes is evidently sinking， now that the special streams which nourished them run into and are lost in the dry bed of the public treasury.[64] Already， in 1790， there are no funds with which to pay the monks and nuns their small pensions for their maintenance. In Franche-Comté the Capuchins of Baume have no bread， and， to live， they are obliged to re-sell， with the consent of the district， a portion of the stores of their monastery which had been confiscated. The Ursuline nuns of Ornans live on the means furnished them by private individuals in order to keep up the only school which the town possesses. The Bernardine nuns of Pontarlier are reduced to the lowest stage of want： "We are satisfied，" the district reports， "that they have nothing to put into their mouths. We have to contribute something every day amongst ourselves to keep them from starving."[65] Only too thankful are they when the local administration gives them something to eat， or allows others to give them something. In many places it strives to famish them， or takes delight in annoying them. In March， 1791， the department of Doubs， in spite of the entreaties of the district， reduces the pension of the Visitant nuns to one hundred and one livres for the choristers， and fifty for the lay-sisters. Two months before this， the municipality of Besan？on， putting its own interpretation on the decree which allowed nuns to dress as they pleased， enjoins them all， including even the sisters of charity， to abandon their old costume， which few among them had the means of replacing. -- Helplessness， indifference， or malevolence， such are the various dispositions which are encountered among the new authorities whose duty it is to support and protect them. To let loose persecution there is now only needed a decree which puts the civil power in conflict with religious convictions.

That decree is promulgated， and， on the 12th of July， 1790， the Assembly establishes the civil constitution of the clergy.

Notwithstanding the confiscation of ecclesiastical property， and the dispersion of the monastic communities， the main body of the ecclesiastical corps remains intact： seventy thousand priests ranged under the bishops， with the Pope in the center as the commander-in-chief. There is no corporation more solid， more incompatible， or more attacked. For， against it are opposed implacable hatreds and fixed opinions： the Gallicanism of the jurists who， from St. Louis downwards， are the adversaries of ecclesiastical power； the doctrine of the Jansenists who， since Louis XIII.， desire to bring back the Church to its primitive form； and the theory of the philosophers who， for sixty years， have considered Christianity as a mistake and Catholicism as a scourge. At the very least the institution of a clergy in Catholicism is condemned， and they think that they are moderate if they respect the rest.

"WE MIGHT CHANGE THE RELIGION，"

say the deputies in the tribune.[66] Now， the decree affects neither dogma nor worship； it is confined to a revision of matters of discipline， and on this particular domain which is claimed for the civil power， it is pretended that demolition and re-construction may be effected at discretion without the concurrence of the ecclesiastical power.