r the abbey
of Saint-Martin and after the chapter of the cathedral. At Troyes, he
could dispose only of 197 curacies out of 372; at Boulogne, out of 180,
he had only 80, and this again because the chapter voluntarily abandoned
to him 16. Naturally, the eyes of all candidates turned towards the
collator; and, among the highest and most lucrative places, those
which gave the least trouble and afforded the most satisfaction,
all sinecures, ranks, simple benefices and large urban curacies,
probendaries and canonicates, most of the offices, titles, and incomes
that might tempt human ambition, were in the hands, not of the bishop,
but of the king or of the Pope, of an abbot or prior, of an abbess,
or of a certain university,[5226] of this or that cathedral or
college-body, of a lay seignior, of a patentee, or of an indultaire,
and often of the titulary himself. Thus, the hold of the bishop on his
clercs was feeble; he did not hold them through the hope of a favor.
And, on the other hand, he had still less hold on them, no hold at
all, through fear of losing favor. They might displease him almost with
impunity; his faculty for punishment was much more restricted than his
means of recompense. His subordinates could find shelter and refuge
against his displeasure, and even against his hostility. In the first
place, and as a principle, a titulary, whether ecclesiastic or secular,
owned his office and hence was irremovable; they themselves, plain
vicar-curates, the humble desservans[5227] of a rural parish, had
acquired this privilege through the declarations of 1726 and 1731.[5228]
Moreover, in case of interdiction, suspension or of censure, a titulary
could always recur to the courts against episcopal judgment and any
other, against all encroachment on spiritual or temporal prerogatives,
or on those which were useful or honorary belonging to his charge.

These courts were of two kinds, one ecclesiastical and the other
secular, and in each an appeal could be made from a lower to a higher
court, from the diocesan official to the metropolitan official, and from
the presidial to the parliament, with a complete judicial staff,
judge, assessors, public ministry, prosecutors, advocates and clerks,
restricted to the observing of all judicial formalities, authentic
papers, citations of witnesses and challenges of testimony,
interrogatories and pleadings, allegation of canons, laws and
precedents, presence of the defendant, opposing argum