He attends their mass immediately on their return and will put up with no other. Brutalized as he may be， or indifferent and dull， and his mind filled with nothing but animal concerns， he needs them；[82] he misses their solemnities， the great festivals， the Sunday； and this privation is a periodical want both for eyes and ears； he misses the ceremonial， the lights， the chants， the ringing of the bells， the morning and evening Angelus. - Thus， whether he knows it or not， his heart and senses are Catholic[83] and he demands the old church back again. Before the Revolution， this church lived on its own revenues；70，000 priests， 37，000 nuns， 23，000 monks， supported by endowments， cost the State nothing， and scarcely anything to the tax-payer； at any rate， they cost nothing to the actual， existing tax-payer not even the tithes， for， established many centuries ago， the tithes were a tax on the soil， not on the owner in possession， nor on the farmer who tilled the ground， who has purchased or hired it with this tax deducted. In any case， the real property of the Church belonged to it， without prejudice to anybody， through the strongest legal and most legitimate of property titles， the last will and testament of thousands of the dead， its founders and benefactors. All is taken from it， even the houses of prayer which， in their use， disposition and architecture， were， in the most manifest manner， Christian works and ecclesiastical objects， 38，000 parsonages， 4000 convents， over 40，000 parochial churches， cathedrals and chapels. Every morning， the man or woman of the people， in whom the need of worship has revived， passes in front of one of these buildings robbed of its cult； these declare aloud to them through their form and name what they have been and what they should be to-day. This voice is heard by incredulous philosophers and former Conventionalists；[84] all Catholics hear it， and out of thirty-five millions of Frenchmen，[85] thirty-two millions are Catholics.
VII. The Confiscated Property.
Reasons for the concordat. - Napoleon's economical organization of the Church institution. - A good bargainer. - Compromise with the old state of things.
How withstand such a just complaint， the universal complaint of the destitute， of relatives， and of believers？ - The fundamental difficulty reappears， the nearly insurmountable dilemma into which the Revolution has plunged every steady government， that is to say the lasting effect of revolutionary confiscations and the conflict which sets two rights to the same property against each other， the right of the despoiled owner and the right of the owner in possession. This time， again the fault is on the side of the State， which has converted itself from a policeman into a brigand and violently appropriated to itself the fortune of the hospitals， schools， and churches； the State must return this in money or in kind. In kind， it is no longer able；everything has passed out of its hands； it has alienated what it could， and now holds on only to the leavings. In money， nothing more can be done； it is itself ruined， has just become bankrupt， lives on expedients from day to day and has neither funds nor credit. Nobody dreams of taking back property that is sold； nothing is more opposed to the spirit of the new Régime： not only would this be a robbery as before， since its buyers have paid for it and got their receipts， but again， in disputing their title the government would invalidate its own. For its authority is derived from the same source as their property： it is established on the same principle as their rights of possession and by virtue of the same accomplished facts* because things are as they are and could not be different， * because ten years of revolution and eight years of war bear down on the present with too heavy a weight， * because too many and too deep interests are involved and enlisted on the same side， * because the interests of twelve hundred thousand purchasers are incorporated with those of the thirty thousand officers to whom the Revolution has provided a rank， along with that of all the new functionaries and dignitaries， including the First Consul himself， who， in this universal transposition of fortunes and ranks， is the greatest of parvenus and who must maintain the others if he wants to be maintained by them.
