ect, demeaned, a
vagabond in the great lay world whose ways are unknown to him and whose
careers are closed to him. Henceforth, and forever, bread is taken out
of his mouth; if he has it to-day, it is lacking on the morrow. Now,
every three months, the list of succursalists at five hundred francs
drawn up by the bishop, must be countersigned by the prefect. In his
upper cabinet, near the mantelpiece on which the visiting-cards of
every considerable personage in the department are displayed, facing the
emperor's bust, the two delegates of the emperor, his two responsible
and judicial managers, the two superintended overseers of the
conscription, confer together on the ecclesiastical staff of the
department. In this as in other matters, they are and feel themselves
kept in check from on high, curbed and forced, willingly or not, to
come to some agreement. Compulsory collaborators by institution, each
an auxiliary of the other in the maintenance of public order, they
read over article by article the list of appointments of their common
subordinates; should any name have bad notes, should any succursalist
be marked as noisy, undesirable, or suspect, should there be any
unfavorable report by the mayor, gendarmerie or upper police, the
prefect, about to sign, lays down his pen, quotes his instructions and
demands of the bishop against the delinquent some repressive measure,
either destitution, suspension or displacement, removal to an inferior
parish, or, at least, a comminatory reprimand, while the bishop, whom
the prefect may denounce to the minister, does not refuse to the prefect
this act of complacency.

Some months after the publication of the Concordat,[5197] Mademoiselle
Chameron, an opera-dancer, dies, and her friends bear her remains to the
church of Saint-Roch for internment. They are refused admittance, and
the cure, very rigid, "in a fit of ill-humor," orders the doors of the
church to be shut; a crowd gathers around, shouts and launches threats
at the cure; an actor makes a speech to appease the tumult, and finally
the coffin is borne off to the church of Les Filles-Saint-Thomas, where
the assistant priest, "familiar with the moral of the gospel," performs
the funeral service. Incidents of this kind disturb the tranquility
of the streets and denote a relaxation of administrative discipline.
Consequently the government, doctor in theology and canon law,
intervenes and calls the ecclesiastical superior to account.