ority with
what they call the temporal power, reserve to themselves all action on
the mind, the noblest part of man, and take it on themselves to reduce
my part merely to physical action. They retain the soul and fling me the
corpse!"

In antiquity, things were much better done, and are still better done
now in Moslem countries.

"In the Roman republic,[5121] the senate was the interpreter of heaven,
and this was the incentive of the force and strength of that government.
In Turkey, and throughout the Orient, the Koran serves as both a civil
and religious bible. Only in Christianity do we find the pontificate
distinct from the civil government."

And even this has occurred only in one branch of Christianity.
Everywhere, except in Catholic countries,

"in England,[5122] in Russia, in the northern monarchies, in one part of
Germany, the legal union of the two powers, the religious control in
the hands of the sovereign, 'is an accomplished fact.' One cannot govern
without it; otherwise, the repose, dignity, and independence of a nation
are disturbed at every moment."

It is a pity that "the difficulty[5123] cannot be overcome as with
Henry VIII. in England. The head of the French government would then, by
legislative statute, be the supreme head of the French Church."

Unfortunately, this is repugnant to France. Napoleon often tries to
bring it about, but is satisfied that in this matter "he would never
obtain national cooperation"; once embarked," fully engaged in the
enterprise, "the nation would have abandoned him." Unable to take this
road, he takes another, which leads to the same result. As he himself
afterwards states, this result "was, for a long time and always, the
object of his wishes and mediations.... It is not his aim[5124] to
change the faith of his people; he respects spiritual objects and wants
to rule them without meddling with them; his aim is to make these square
with his views, with his policy, but only through the influence of
temporal concerns." That spiritual authority should remain intact; that
it should operate on its own speculative domain, that it to say, on
dogmas, and on its practical domain, namely, on the sacraments and on
worship; that is should be sovereign on this limited territory, Napoleon
admits, for such is the fact. We have only to open our eyes to see
it; right or wrong, spiritual authority on this distinct domain is
recognized sovereign, obeyed, effective through the persist