[Footnote 31115: Opinion of the Council of State, January 22, 1805, on the question whether the communes have become owners of the churches and parsonages abandoned to them by the law of Germinal 18, year X (articles organiques).--The Council of State is of the opinion that "the said churches and parsonages must be considered as communal property." If the State renounces ownership in these buildings it is not in favor of the fabrique, curé or bishop, but in favor of the commune.] [Footnote 31116: In 1790 and 1791 a number of communes had made offers for national property with a view to re-sell it afterwards, and much of this, remaining unsold, was on their hands.] [Footnote 31117: Articles organiques, 26. "The bishops will make no ordination before submitting the number of persons to the government for its acceptance."] [Footnote 31118: "Archives de Grenoble." (Documents communicated by Mdlle. de Franclieu.) Letter of the bishop, Monseigneur Claude Simon, to the Minister of Worship, April 18, 1809. "For seven years that I have been bishop of Grenoble, I have ordained thus far only eight priests; during this period I have lost at least one hundred and fifty. The survivors threaten me with a more rapid gap; either they are infirm, bent with the weight of years, or wearied or overworked. It is therefore urgent that I be authorized to confer sacred orders on those who are old enough and have the necessary instruction. Meanwhile, you are limited to asking authorization for the first eight on the aforesaid list, of whom the youngest is twenty-four.... I beg Your Excellency to present the others on this list for the authorization of His Imperial Majesty."--Ibid., October 6, 1811. "I have only one deacon and one subdeacon, whilst I am losing three or four priests monthly."] [Footnote 31119: Articles organiques, 68, 69. "The pensions enjoyed by the curés by virtue of the laws of the constituent assembly shall be deducted from their salary. The vicars and assistants shall be taken from the pensioned ecclesiastics according to the laws of the constituent assembly. The amount of these pensions and the product of oblations shall constitute their salary."] [Footnote 31120: Laws of Vendémiaire 16, year V, and Ventôse 20, year V..] [Footnote 31121: Decree of Nov. 6, 1800.] [Footnote 31122: Decisions of February 23, 1801, and June 26, 1801. (We find, through subsequent decisions, that these recoveries were frequently effected.)]