The bishop alone has
maintained himself intact and erect, a dignitary for life, the
conductor, by title and in fact, of a good many persons, the
stationary and patient undertaker of a great service, the unique
general and undisputed commander of a special militia which, through
conscience and professions, gathers close around him and, every
morning, awaits his orders. Because in his essence, he is a governor
of souls. Revolution and centralization have not encroached on his
ecclesiastical prerogative. Thanks to this indelible quality he has
been able to endure the suppression of the others; these have come
back to him of themselves and with others added, comprising local
superiority, real importance and local ascendancy; including the
various honorable appellations which, under the ancient r?gime,
denoted his rank and preeminence; at the present day, under the modern
r?gime, they are no longer in use for a layman and even for a minister
of state; after 1802, one of the articles of the Organic Laws,[24]
interdicts them to bishops and archbishops; they are "allowed to add
to their name only the title of citizen and monsieur.
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