e of a bow from the laborer in the street as well
as from the peasant in the country; he was on an equal footing with the
local bourgeoisie, almost one of the family, and among the first; he
could count on passing his life in a permanent situation, honorably and
serenely, in the midst of popular deference and enjoying the good will
of the public.--On the other hand, he was not bridled as in our day. A
priest was not a functionary salaried by the State; his pay, like his
private income, earmarked and put aside beforehand, furnished through
special appropriations, through local taxes, out of a distinct treasury,
could never be withheld on account of a prefect's report, or through
ministerial caprice, or be constantly menaced by budget difficulties
and the ill-will of the civil powers. In relation to his ecclesiastical
superiors he was respectful but independent. The bishop in his diocese
was not what he has become since the Concordat, an absolute sovereign
free to appoint and remove at will nine cures out of ten. In three
vacancies out of four, and often in fourteen out of fifteen,[4169]
it was not the bishop who made the appointment; the new incumbent was
designated sometimes by the cathedral chapter or corporation; again, by
a collegial church or corporation; again, by the metropolitan canon or
by the abbe or prior, the patron of the place; again, by the seignior
whose ancestors had founded or endowed the Church; in certain cases by
the Pope, and, occasionally, by the King or commune. Powers were limited
through this multiplicity and inter-crossing of authorities. Moreover,
the canon or cure being once appointed he possessed guarantees; he
could not be arbitrarily dismissed; in most cases, his removal
or suspension required a previous trial according to prescribed
formalities, accompanied with an examination, pleadings, and arguments
before the officialite or ecclesiastical court. He was, in fact,
permanently placed, and very generally his personal merit sufficed to
keep him in his place.--For, if the highest positions were bestowed
according to birth and favor, the intermediate positions were reserved
to correct habits and attainments. Many canons and vicars-general, and
almost all the cures in the towns were doctors of divinity or of canon
law, while ecclesiastical studies, very thorough, had occupied eight or
nine years of their youth.[4170] Although the method was out of date,
much was learned at the Sorbonne and St.