Possessing the heart, the intellect, and even the
senses, through fixed, immemorial traditions and habits, it had become
an unconscious, almost corporeal necessity, and the Catholic orthodox
cur?, in communion with the Pope, was about as indispensable to the
village as the public fountain; he also quenched thirst, the thirst of
the soul; without him, the inhabitants could find no drinkable water.
And, if we keep human weaknesses in mind, it may be said that
nobleness of character in the clergy corresponded with nobleness of
profession; in all points no one could dispute their capacity for
self-sacrifice, for they willingly suffered for what they believed to
be the truth. If, in 1790, a number of priests took the oath to the
civil constitution of the clergy, it was with reservations, or because
they deemed the oath licit; but, after the dismissal of the bishops
and the Pope's disapprobation, many of them withdrew it at the risk of
their lives, so as not to fall into schism; they fell back into the
ranks and gave themselves up voluntarily to the brutality of the crowd
and the rigors of the law. Moreover, and from the start,
notwithstanding threats and temptations, two-thirds of the clergy
would not take the oath; in the highest ranks, among the mundane
ecclesiastics whose skepticism and laxity were notorious, honor, in
default of faith, maintained the same spirit; nearly the whole of
them, great and small, had subordinated their interests, welfare and
security to the maintenance of their dignity or to scruples of
conscience.
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