As Pithou was the legal pillar of Gallicanism, so Bossuet became its ecclesiastical champion. Under his guidance, the Assemblee du clerge of 1682 asserted the Galilean liberties, in the celebrated Declaration du clerge de France, which was upheld by the monarch and b}' all the state authorities. It runs as follows : " I. St. Peter and his successors, vicars of Jesus Christ, and the whole Church itself, have recei%'od power from God only over things spiritual, and which concern sal- vation, and not over things temporal and civil ; .Jesus Christ teaching us himself that his kingdom is not of
this world ; and in another place, that we must render to Cifsar the things of Cfesar, and to God the things of God ; and thus that precept of St. Paul can in noth- ing be altered or overthrown. Let every person be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but comes from God, and it is he who ordains those tliat are on the earth. He, then, who opposes himself to the powers, resists the order of God. We, in conse- quence, declare that kings and sovereigns are not sub- ject to anj- ecclesiastical power by the order of God in temporal matters ; that they cannot be deposed, di- rectly or indirecth', bj' the authority of the kejs of the Church ; that their sul)jects cannot be dispensed from the submission and obedience which they owe them, and absolved from the oath of fidelity ; and that this doctrine, necessary for the public peace, and not less advantageous to the Church than the state, ought to be inviolably followed, as conformable to the word of God, the tradition of the holy fathers, and the exam- ples of the saints. II. The plenitude of power which the holy apostolic see and the successors of St. Peter, vicars of Jesus Christ, have over spiritual is such, that nevei-thelcss the decrees of the hoi}'' General Council of Constance, contained in the fourth and fifth sessions, approved by the holy apostolic see, confirmed by the practice of all the Church and the Eoman pontiffs, and religioush' observed at all times b}' the Gallican Church, remain in all their force and virtue ; and that the Church of France does not approve the opinion of those who attack these decrees, or who enfeel)le them by saying that their authoritj^ is not well established, that they are not approved, or that they are in force only in time of schism. III. That thus the use of the apostolic power must be regulated in following the canons made by the Spirit of God, and consecrated by the general respect of all the world ; that the rules, the manners, and the constitutions received in the kingdom and in the Gallican Church ought to be main- tained, and the usages of our fathers remain unassaila- ble ; and that the greatness of the holj' apostolic see itself requires that the laws and customs established with the consent of that respectable see and the churches remain invariable. IV. Although the pope has the chief post in the questions of faith, and his de- crees regard all the churches, and each church in par- ticular, j'et his judgment is still not unalterable, until the consent of the Church intervene. We have re- solved to send to all tlie churches of France, and to the bishops who preside in them b}' the autliority of the Holy Ghost, these maxims which we have received from our fathers, in order that we may all say the same thing, and that we may all be in the same mind, and that we may all follow the same doctrine."
The Declaration du clerge de France was sent to the pope, with an address from Bossuet. Alexander VIII annulled the declaration, but the clergy maintained their ground, although Louis XIV himself condescend- ed to a step which was by some considered as a retrac- tion. In consequence of this difhculty with Home, the French Church found itself in 1691 with thirt}--five bishoprics vacant ; the king allowed the twelve signers of the declaration, whom he had nominated as bishops, but whom the pope had for ten years refused to recog- nise as such, to retract all which had displeased the pontiff. The king himself stated that he had given orders so that Iiis edict of IMarch 22, 1682, which had been promulgated in view of the then existing circum- stances, should no longer have effect. But that he did not abandon the Gallican maxims is proved in his letter of July 7, 1713, directed to cardinal La Tremou- ille, and addressed to the See of Rome, wherein he en- forced the recognition, as bishop of Beauvais, of the al)bot of St. Aignan, who had defended the four prop- ositions in a thesis in 1705. The position of the ques- tion was still more clearly defined by the decision of the Con^eil de Regence of 1718, that the bishops could dispense with the papal inauguration bull, as, " the Sor-
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tionne having so decided, the national churches could a<;ain avail themselves of tlie right susjiendcd by the Concordat."
Gallicanism fell into disgrace through the political events of 1790 to 1800, and particular!}^ through the Conslilution civile du ckrge^ which was by many consid- ered as a revolutionary triumph of Gallicanism over I'ltramontanism, and wliich resulted in the sjnods of 17;)o and 1797 suliniitting themselves to the pap:il au- thority. Stanch Galileans, on the other hand, found that the concordat of 1801 did not do justice to Galli- canism, and they regretted still more the forcible re- jection of the Concordat of 1813, which would have somewhat restored their position. This led to a fierce internal conflict during the following years, in which .Joseiih de Maistre, Louis de Bonald, and Francois de Laniennais stand forth as the most prominent charac- ters. Yet the four "principles'' of 1G82 have kept thoir f.uthorit}' under all the forms of government, re- public, empire, and restored monarchy; they are re- ceived by the now university as they were by the old, and, whenever occasion demands it, are immedi- ately brought forth. See Fkance. They were rec- ognised as law by the imperial ordinance of Feb. 25, 1810, and there is no likelihood of their being ever abrogated. In the present altered state of things there is no occasion for upholding or enforcing them, but should at anj' day a reactionarj' tendency l)e man- ifested, the state councils would again bring the Gal- ilean doctrine forward as emjihatically as did the de- cree of 17G(J (jtrrit du conseil d'etat du 21 Mai), which stated that the rights and privileges enjoyed by the ecclesiastical body in the kingdom "so»< des- conces- sions des souverains dent V Eefise ne peut faire iisage S'cns lem- autorite,'''' which is also stated in the Constitu- tion civile du clerge (1790).