me when the burdens destroy the
foundation and the superstructure comes tumbling down.

_The Church_.--The church earned an important position in France soon
after the conquest by the Romans; seizing opportunities, it came into
power by right of service. It brought the softening influences of
religion; it established government where there was no government; it
furnished a home for the vanquished and the oppressed; it preserved
learning from the barbarians; it conquered and controlled the warlike
spirit of the Germans; it provided the hungry with food, and by
teaching agriculture added to the economic wealth of the community; and
finally, it became learned, and thus brought order out of chaos.
Surely the church earned its great position, and reaped its reward.
Taine says:

"Its popes for two hundred years were the dictators of Europe. It
organized crusades, dethroned monarchs, and distributed kingdoms. Its
bishops and abbots became here sovereign princes and there veritable
founders of dynasties. It held in its grasp a third of the territory,
one-half the revenue, and two-thirds of the capital of Europe."

The church was especially strong in France. It was closely allied to
the state, and opposed everything that opposed the state. When the
king became the state, the church upheld the king. The church of
France, prior to the revolution, was rich and aristocratic. In 1789
its property was valued at 4,000,000,000 francs, and its income at
200,000,000 francs; to obtain a correct estimate according to our
modern measure of value, these amounts should be doubled. In some
territories the clergy owned one-half the soil, in others
three-fourths, and in one, at least, fourteen-seventeenths of the land.
The Abbey of St.-Germain-des-Pres possessed 900,000 acres. Yet within
the church were found both the wealthy and the poverty-stricken. In
one community was a bishop rolling in luxury {403} and ease, in another
a wretched, half-starved country curate trying to carry the gospel to
half-starved people. Such extremes were shocking commentaries upon a
church founded on democracy.

The church persecuted the literary men who expressed freedom of thought
and opinion. It ignored facts and the people distrusted it. The
religious reformation in France became identified with political
factions, which brought the church into a prominent place in the
government and made it take an important place in the revolution. It
had suc