fluids the positive containing the principle of oxygen, and the negative that of phlogiston. These united to water constitute the two kinds of air, viz. dephiogisticated and infiammable. He says they tend likewise to confirm a conjecture advanced by himself many years ago, respecting the similarity of the

electric matter and phlogiston, and, together with proper galvanic experiments, shew that the same substance elaborated from the aliment by the brain is the cause of muscular motion, the nerves being the most sensible of all electrometers.

FRANCE.

Re-establishment of the Catholic Religion.

LEGISLATIVE BODY.

to the intelligent as to the physical world. It is very necessary to be cautious of separating a people from every thing that is a guide to men. Law, without morality, cannot subsist; law applies only to a single action; religion em

CONCORDAT.

THE Counsellors of State, Portalis, Regnier, and Regnaud (de Saint Jean d'Angely,) were introduced into the Hall with music playing and military honours.

After reading the decree by which the Government charged these three orators to present to the Legislative Body the CONVENTION made between the French Republic and the Holy See;

Portalis mounted the Tribune. France, said he, has been great in war; she has been great in peace; she ought now to consecrate the salutary institutions which are to secure it to her. He reminded the Legislative body that the Catholic religion was at one time the prevailing religion in France, the Constituent Assembly wished to reform its discipline; it placed its property at the disposal of the nation, and prescribed to its priests an oath which produced a schism. From that period the French priests were divided into two classes, those who took the oath, and those who refused it The minds of men were irritated, theological dissentions increased: from this confusion originated laws which bore the marks of the circumstances that had produced them, and in which conscience was more or less oppressed.

It was in this state that things were, when the Government undertook to re-establish the peace of religion. A primary question presented itself: is religion in general necessary to bodies of people? is it necessary to men? Whatever may be the degree of perfection to which we are arrived, the multitude is more struck with what is imposed on it by order, than what is proved to it to be right The idea of a universal legislator is as necessary

need of ceremonies, of practices that speak to the eyes. There are forms which true philosophy respects as much as pride disdains them; it is by these forms that a religion addressing itself to the senses is popular. Religion has moreover need of discipline, for without rules what is there to hinder those who profess the same principles from separating and forming a multitude of separate systems of religion. It is by positive religions that men were induced to quit the forests, to unite and become civilized. It is religion alone that affords a consolation for the inequality of rank, for chagrin and affliction, that collects, and relieves from their fatigues, the inhabitants of an immense territory The Government could not, therefore, hesitate to adopt an institution which makes the most essential truths the domains of the public conscience, which calms every mind, which calls all men to justice and humanity, and establishes equality among all ranks.

Some persons would have wished for a religion more conformable to our manners and to our ideas of liberty. If the strength of the law consists in its being feared, the strength of religion consists in its being believed, and belief is greater in proportion as the origin of the dogma is more remote. Christianity has the sanction of time and the respect of nations, and though it is distinguished into Catholic and Protestant, these are only two branches from the same trunk. Christianity has civilized Europe; it has created a social disposition in the countries where it has penetrated; it connects itself with the progress of the Arts and Sciences.

It is connected with no form of government: it is the religion not of one state, but of the world. It is hoped that its abuses will be pre

vented by establishing the priesthood without leaving it any power of nomination, and by leaving it no other care than that of preaching morality and religion.

In order to terminate the schism that reigned in the church of France, it was necessary either to declare the chief of the state the chief of its religion--to create a national patriarch; and then it would be necessary to change the religious system, which could not be done at all in the present circumstances, and could be done at no time without much danger; or to recur to the chief of the universal church, whose authority may be regulated by the law of nations, without the necessity of war or scandal among ourselves. It would be silly to fear the renewal of the ancient pretensions of the Court of Rome. Its chief, as a sovereign has only the respect, that weakness and religion inspire, to support him As head of the church, the clergy of France have frequently contended with him, and we still recollect the declaration of 1632, which denied all temporal influence of the Pope. The clergy are to be paid: the Constituent Assembly had consecrated that principle. In declaring that the Catholic religion is that of the three Consuls, it is not said that it shall become the governing religion; but only that it shall be the religion of those who govern, and who ought to have a religion In Saxony the chief of the estate is Catholic, and the inhabitants are Lutherans. By a provision of the convention the Pope regards the purchasers of national property as indefeasible proprietors, not that the Roman Pontiff is supposed more than any other pontiff to possess the right of dissolving contracts, but to remove even the smallest inquietude. The prohibition of marriage to the Clergy will, perhaps, raise objections. Men consecrated to the divinity ought to be honoured, and to abstain from every thing that may subject them to the suspicion of wanting corporal purity. The Catholic worship requires a constant labour and attention, and it was thought necessary to spare them the embarrassments of a family. It has been said, that the Catholic religion has too many rights and ceremonies: these rites are the sanction and preservation of its doctrine. The Catholic Religion is reproached with cursing all those that are without its bosom, and of being intolerant and unsociable. Montesquieu saw in this principle only a motive for being attached to the religion which teaches it; for, says he, when a religion gives us the idea of a choice made by the divinity, that must attach us very strongly to the religion so chosen.

Regnauld (de St Jean d'Angely,) then read the following Plan and Convention:

PLAN OF A LAW.

The formal agreements made at Faris, the 26th Messidor, an. 9, between the Pope and the French Government, (the Ratifications of which were exchanged at Paris, the 10th of September 1801,) the Organic Articles of said

agreement, and the Organic Articles of the Protestant forms of Worship, the tenor of which is herein aftermentioned, shall be promulgated and executed as laws of the Republic.

Convention between the French Government, and his Holiness Pope Pius VII exchanged the 23d Fructidor, an 9, (September 10, 1801.) The First Consul of the French Republic, and his Holiness the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VIlth, have named for their respective plenipotentiaries:

The First Consul, the Citizens Joseph Bonaparte, Counsellor of State; Cretet, Counsellor of State; and Bernier, Doctor of Theology, Curé of St. Laud d'Angers; having full

powers.

His Holiness appoints his Eminence, Signor Hercules Gonsalvi, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Dean of St. Agatha, ad Suburram, his Secretary of State; Joseph Spina, Archbishop of Corinth, Domestic Prelate of his Holiness, Assistant of the Pontifical Throne; and Father Coselli, Theologist of the Counsel of his Holiness, who have received full powers for the purpose.

Who, having exchanged their full powers, have executed the following Convention: Convention between the French Government, and bis Holiness, Pius VII.

The Government of the Republic acknowledges, that the Catholic Religion, Apostolic and Roman, is the Religion of the great majority of French citizens.

His Holiness also acknowledges, that this religion has derived, and is likely to derive, the greatest advantages and lustre from the establishment of the Catholic Faith in France, and from the particular profession of it, by the Consuls of the Republic.

They, therefore, after this mutual acknowledgment, made as well for the interest of religion, as for the support of the internal tranquillity of their respective states, have agreed

as follows:

Art. 1. The Catholic Religion, Apostolic and Roman, shall be freely exercised in France. Its worship shall be public, but in conformity to such regulations of police as Government shall judge necessary for the public tranquillity.

2. There shall be made by the Holy See, in concert with the Government, a new division of French dioceses.

3. His Holiness shall declare to those who have now the rank of French Bishops, that he confidently expects from them all manner of sacrifices, even that of their Sees, for the sake of peace and unity. After this exhortation, if they shall refuse to make this sacrifice, which the interest of the Church requires (a refusal, which, however, his Holiness does not expect,) other persons shall be provided for the government of the Bishoprics, constituted by the new division of Sees, in the following man

ner:

5. The nomination to the Bishoprics which shall afterwards become vacant, shall be also made by the First Consul; and the canonical institution shall be confirmed by the Holy See, as in the foregoing article.

govern

6. The Bishops, before they enter upon their functions, shall take before the First Consul in person, the oath of fidelity, which was in use before the change of government, expressed in the following terms: "I swear and promise to God, upon the Holy Evangelists, to preserve obedience and fidelity to the ment established by the Constitution of the French Republic. I also promise to have no correspondence, nor to assist at any council or cabal, either within the country or out of it, that shall be contrary to the cause of the public tranquillity; and if in my diocese, or elsewhere, I shall learn of any plots or machinations prejudicial to the state I shall inform the government of it."

7. The clergy of the second order shall take the same oath before the civil authorities appointed by the Government.

8. The following prayer shall be recited, at the end of divine service, in all the Catholic churches of France,

Domine, salvam fac Republicam !
Domine, salvos fac Consules!

9. The Bishops shall make a new division of parishes in their dioceses, which shall however not be conclusive till it has received the consent of the Government.

10. The Bishops shall name the Curés. Their choice must however be agreed to by the Government.

11. The Bishops may have a chapter in their Cathedral, and a seminary for their diocese, without the Government being bound to endow them.

12 All the Metropolitan, cathedral, parochial, and other churches, that have not yet been disposed of, shall be placed at the disposal of the Bishops.

13 His Holiness, for the sake of peace, and the happy re-establishment of the Catholic religion, declares that neither he nor his successors shall trouble in any manner the possessors of ecclesiastical property that has been alienated, and that consequently the ownership of the said property, together with all the revenues and rights attached to it, shall remain with the said possessors or those to whom they have transferred it.

14. The Government will secure a suitable provision to the Bishops and Curés whose dioceses and parishes shall be marked out by the new division

15. The Government shall take measures to permit those French Catholics, who shall

16. His Holiness acknowledges in the First Consul of the French Republic the same rights and prerogatives which the ancient Government possessed with him.

17. It is agreed between the contracting parties, that in case any of the successors of the First Consul, now being, should not be a Catholic, the rights and prerogatives mentioned in the above article, as well as the nomination of the bishoprics, shall be regulated with respect to him by a new convention.

t

The ratifications shall be exchanged at Paris in the space of forty days.

Done at Paris the 26th Messidor, of the 9th year of the Republic.

(Signed)

No bull, brief, &c. of the court of Rome, shall have any effect in France without the consent of the Government.

No individual apostolic nuncio, legate, &c. shall be permitted to exercise their functions in France but with the consent of the Government, and in a manner conformable to the liberties of the Gallican Church.

The National Council, or Diocesan Synod, shall not take place without the consent of Government.

The Council of State shall take cognizance of disturbances caused by the ministers in the execution of their functions, or of other persons against them.

Bishops may add to their titles the qualifi cation of Citoyen, or Monsieur.

No man can be named a Bishop but a Frenchman, aged at least thirty years, having an attestation of his morals delivered by a Bishop, and after an examination of his doctrine by a Bishop and two Priests.

Bishops may not quit their Sees without permission of the First Consul.

The Clergy in general shall wear black clothes, the Bishops violet coloured stockings.

There shall be a Liturgy and a Catechism for the French Church.

The new Calendar, which begins at the Autumnal Equinox, is preserved. The names of the days shall be as in the ancient calendar. Sunday shall be the day of rest for the Public Functionaries.

There shall be ten Archbishoprics, and fifty Bishoprics.

The allowance of the Archbishops shall be fifteen thousand livres annually, of the Bishops, ten thousand.

No Clergyman shall be ordained as Priest,

The Curés shall reside in their parishes. Priests, who do not regularly belong to any diocese, shall not officiate.

No other holydays, except Sundays, shall be kept without the consent of the Govern

ment.

The bells shall only be rung for divine service.

The Bishops shall visit every year a part of their diocese; the whole every five years.

No religious ceremony shall take place out of the temples, in those towns, where there are temples dedicated to the different forms of worship. The same temple shall be consecrated only to one form of worship. The nuptial benedictions shall be only given by the clergy to those who have been married by the civil officers.

France is divided into ten Archbishoprics; that of Paris containing eight Bishoprics; that of Malines containing seven; Besancon, five; Lyons, four; Aix, four; Toulouse, five; Bourdeaux, three; Bourges, three; Tours, seven; and Rouen, four. Making, in the whole, ten Archbishoprics, and fifty Bishoprics.

Substance of the Organic Articles of the Protestant Religion-First Chapter.

No person shall exercise the ministerial functions but a Frenchman.

The Protestant churches and their ministers shall have no connection with any foreign power.

The ministers and their communities shall pray for the prosperity of the French Republic, and the Consuls.

No doctrine, nor alteration of doctrine, shall be published or taught, without being first authorized by the Government.

The Council of State will take cognizance of the designs of Ministers, and all dissensions that may arise among them.

The maintenance of the Ministers shall be provided for, wherever the property and oblations of the communities fall short.

The articles for the liberty of foundations, in the organic laws of the Catholic worship, shall be common to the Protestant churches.

There are to be two seminaries, one in the East of France, for the instruction of Ministers of the Confession of Augsbourg; and the other at Geneva, for the reformed churches. The professors are to be named by the First Consul, and no Minister to be appointed withof a certificate of his having studied in the semary of his religion. The rules for the government of these seminaries to be also settled by the Government.

Second Chapter-Reformed Churches.

e Reformed Churches of France shall Pastors, local Consistories, and Synods. We shall be a Consistorial Church for every 6000 souls of the same communion. Five

The number of the Ministers, or Pastors, in the same Consistorial Church, cannot be increased without the authority of government.

The Pastors cannot resign without stating their motives to Government, which shall approve or reject them.

The title of election shall be presented to the First Consul for his approbation.

All the Pastors now in exercise are provisionally confirmed.

Each Synod shall be composed of a Pastor and a Notable of each church. The Synods shall superintend the celebration of worship, and conduct of ecclesiastical affairs, and all their decisions shall be submitted for the approbation of Government. The Synods cannot assemble until they shall have received the permission of Government, and no Synodal Assembly shall last more than six days.

Substance of the Organization of the Churches of the Confession of Augsbourg.

The churches of this confession shall have Pastors, local Consistories, Inspections, and General Consistories.

The Pastors and Consistorial churches shall be subject to the regulations prescribed for the reformed Pastors and churches last mentioned. The churches of the Confession of Augsbourg shall be subordinate to the Inspections. Five consistorial churches shall form an inspection, which is to assemble only by permission of Government. Each Inspection to choose an Inspector, and two Lay men of such choice to be confirmed by the First Consul.

There are to be three General Consistories: one at Strasburgh, for the Protestants of Augsbourg, of the departments of the Upper and Lower Rhine; a second at Mentz, for those of the departments of the Sarre and Mont-Tommere; and the third at Cologne, for those of the departments of the Rhine, Moselle, and Roer.

Such are the principal laws which regulate the re-establishment of Christianity in France. We shall offer a few brief remarks upon this new religious constitution.

The first impression which it must undoubtedly make upon every serious mind will be that of joy. No person, who venerates the holy name by which we are called, will hear without exultation that at length the Lord's Day is to be again honoured as a day of rest, and the religion of Christ, though under an imperfect form, acknowledged as the public religion of France. It has been

indeed an affecting and melancholy spectacle to the Christian world; it has been an example, pregnant with dreadful consequences to mankind, to behold one of the principal nations of Europe deliberately casting off the yoke of religion, and by a public act renouncing the authority of Jesus Christ as its Lord. Had such an apostate nation established itself in tranquillity, and flourished in prosperity, this event would, though without any just reason, have shaken the attachment of many of the present friends of Christianity, and given occasion to her enemies to blaspheme. We may remark however, that hitherto the cause of infidelity has had little reason to triumph, or that of Christianity to be ashamed. For the act of renouncing the Christian faith has been succeeded by crimes and vices, cruelties and massacres, prostitution of public principle, and general profligacy of manners, hitherto unexampled in the civilized world. It was a tribute of respect paid to Christianity to extinguish her light before such deeds of darkness were committed, as have since polluted France. Future legis lators will learn upon political grounds to reverence an institution, the destruction of which has been so dreadfully injurious to civil society. The experiment has been solemnly made of substituting philosophy in the room of religion, and such have been the consequences, that in the short space of eight years it has been judged, even by philosophers themselves, absolutely necessary for the happiness of mankind to dethrone the idol they had erected, and to re-establish that religion which they had abolished. The return of order, of public tranquillity, of reason, in France, is accompanied by the return of religion as their natural ally.

But while we rejoice in this public honour paid to Christianity, we cannot fail to observe the characters of the men who pay it, and remark the motives by which they are influenced; and our satisfaction is not a little damped by this circumstance. For who are the men who now stand forward as the Christ. Observ. No. 4.

panegyrists of religion, and propose to re-establish Christianity? Are they sincere disciples of Jesus Christ? Are they influenced by a love of the truth? Have they renounced their infidelity? Do they acknowledge the divine origin of Christianity? No, it is but too evident that the principal actors in this drama are mere statesmen, who regard religion only as a political engine. Their orator seems anxious to discover, through the flimsy veil of respect he casts over Christianity, the reasons upon which alone he recommends it. It teaches men to respect the laws; for without morality law cannot subsist. It promotes civilization-it affords a consolation for the inequality of ranks

it connects itself with the progress of the arts and sciences. On these accounts its forms are to be respected even by philosophy; for it is by forms religion, addressing itself to the senses, becomes popular. The Christian system is to be preferred to others, because it has the sanction of time, and the respect of nations. Belief is stronger in proportion as the origin of the dogma is more remote. From such men, and upon such grounds, what can be expected! When infidelity becomes the patron of Christianity, what may not be feared!

Throughout the whole of this political establishment, a jealousy of the instrument which it is necessary to employ, and an endeavour to use it as an engine to strengthen the state, are strikingly apparent. All the power is most cautiously lodged in the hands of government. The Chief Consul is to appoint the Bishops and Archbishops; and though these are to nominate the inferior Clergy, yet their nomination must be approved by Government. The salaries of all ecclesiastics are to be paid by the state-so entirely will the Ministers of religion be the creatures of Government. Nay, the Bishops and Clergy are retained by an oath to inform their rulers of any plot or machination against the state, of which they may hear. Should auricular confession be still practised, it may be found a very convenient political instrument. It is not difficult to con

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