The Church of France has ceased to exist as one corps， while its members， carefully detached from each other and from their Roman head， are no longer united， but juxtaposed. Confined to a circumscription， like the prefect， the bishop himself is simply an ecclesiastical prefect， a little less uncertain of his tenure of office； undoubtedly， his removal will not be effected by order， but he can be forced to send in his resignation. Thus， in his case， as well as for the prefect， his first care will be not to excite displeasure， and the next one， to please. To stand well at court， with the minister and with the sovereign， is a positive command， not only on personal grounds， but for the sake of Catholic interests. To obtain scholarships for the pupils of his seminary，[99] to appoint the teachers and the director that suits him， to insure the acceptance of his canons， cantonal curés， and candidates for the priesthood， to exempt his sub-deacons from military service， to establish and to defray the expenses of the chapels of his diocese， to provide parishes with the indispensable priest， with regular services and the sacraments， requires favors， which favors cannot be enjoyed without an affectation of obedience and zeal and， more important still， devotion.
Moreover， he is only a human being. If Napoleon has selected him， it is on account of his intelligence， knowing what he is about， open to human motives， not too rigid and of too easy conscience； in the eyes of the master， the first quality is an obedient personality attached to his system and person.[100] Moreover， with his candidates， he has always taken into consideration the hold they give him through their weaknesses， vanity and needs， their ostentatious ways and expenditure， their love of money， titles and precedence， their ambition， desire for promotion， enjoyment of credit， and right of obtaining places for protégés and relations. He avails himself of all these advantages and finds that they answer his purpose. With the exception of three or four saints， like Monsignor d'Aviau[101] or Monsignor Dessolles， who he has inadvertently put into the episcopate， the bishops are content to be barons， and the archbishops counts. They are glad to rank higher and higher in the Legion of Honor； they loudly assert， in praise of the new order of things， the honors and dignities it confers on these or those prelates who have become members of the legislative corps or been made senators.[102] Many of them receive secret pay for secret services， pecuniary incentives in the shape of this or that amount in ready money. In sum， Napoleon has judged accurately； with hesitation and remorse， nearly the whole of his episcopal staff， Italian and French， 66 prelates out of 80， are open to "temporal influences". They yield to seductions and threats； they accept or submit， even in spiritual matters， to his positive ascendancy.[103]
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 CatechismPolitical use of the episcopacy. - The imperial catechism. - Pastoral letters.
From the first year the effect arrived at is better than could be expected. "Look at the clergy，"[107] said the First Consul to Roederer； "every day shows that in spite of themselves their devotion to the government is increasing， and much beyond their anticipation.
Have you seen the pastoral declaration of Boisgelin， archbishop of Tours？ . . . He says that the actual government is the legitimate government， that God disposes of thrones and kings as he pleases and that he adopts the chiefs whom the people prefer. Your yourself could not have said that better." But notwithstanding that this is said in the pastoral letter， it is again said in the catechism. No ecclesiastical publication is more important： all Catholic children are to learn this by heart， for the phrases they recite will be firmly fixed in their memories. Bossuet's catechism is good enough， but it may be improved， - there is nothing that time， reflection， emulation， and administrative zeal cannot render perfect！ Bossuet teaches children "to respect all superiors， pastors， kings， magistrates， and the rest." "But these generalities，" says Portalis，[108] "no longer suffice. They do not give the proper tendency to the subject's submission. The object is to center the popular conscience on the person of Your Majesty." Accordingly， let us be precise， make appointments and secure support.
The imperial catechism， a great deal more explicit than the royal catechism， adds significant development to the old one， along with extra motives：