The Miserable World

Chapter 19 Part One (18)
When the Bishop raised his head again，the face of the conventionary had become august.
He had just expired.
The Bishop returned home，deeply absorbed in thoughts which cannot be known to us.
He passed the whole night in prayer.On the following morning some bold and curious persons attempted to speak to him about member of the Convention G——；he contented himself with pointing heavenward.
From that moment he redoubled his tenderness and brotherly feeling towards all children and sufferers.
Any allusion to'that old wretch of a G——'caused him to fall into a singular preoccupation.
No one could say that the passage of that soul before his，and the reflection of that grand conscience upon his，did not count for something in his approach to perfection.
This'pastoral visit'naturally furnished an occasion for a murmur of comment in all the little local coteries.
'Was the bedside of such a dying man as that the proper place for a bishop？

There was evidently no conversion to be expected.All those revolutionists are backsliders.
Then why go there？What was there to be seen there？

He must have been very curious indeed to see a soul carried off by the devil.'
One day a dowager of the impertinent variety who thinks herself spiritual，addressed this sally to him，'Monseigneur，people are inquiring when Your Greatness will receive the red cap！'——'Oh！oh！that's a coarse color，'replied the Bishop.'It is lucky that those who despise it in a cap revere it in a hat.'
Ⅺ　A RESTRICTION
We should incur a great risk of deceiving ourselves，were we to conclude from this that Monseigneur Welcome was'a philosophical bishop，'or a'patriotic cure.'
His meeting，which may almost be designated as his union，with conventionary G——，left behind it in his mind a sort of astonishment，which rendered him still more gentle.That is all.
Although Monseigneur Bienvenu was far from being a politician，this is，perhaps，the place to indicate very briefly what his attitude was in the events of that epoch，supposing that Monseigneur Bienvenu ever dreamed of having an attitude.
Let us，then，go back a few years.
Some time after the elevation of M.Myriel to the episcopate，the Emperor had made him a baron of the Empire，in company with many other bishops.
The arrest of the Pope took place，as every one knows，on the night of the 5th to the 6th of July，1809；on this occasion，M.Myriel was summoned by Napoleon to the synod of the bishops of France and Italy convened at Paris.
This synod was held at Notre-Dame，and assembled for the first time on the 15th of June，1811，under the presidency of Cardinal Fesch.
M.Myriel was one of the ninety-five bishops who attended it.
But he was present only at one sitting and at three or four private conferences.Bishop of a mountain diocese，living so very close to nature，in rusticity and deprivation，it appeared that he imported among these eminent personages，ideas which altered the temperature of the assembly.
He very soon returned to D——He was interrogated as to this speedy return，and he replied：

'I embarrassed them.The outside air penetrated to them through me.
I produced on them the effect of an open door.'
On another occasion he said，'What would you have？

Those gentlemen are princes.
I am only a poor peasant bishop.'
The fact is that he displeased them.
Among other strange things，it is said that he chanced to remark one evening，when he found himself at the house of one of his most notable colleagues：

'What beautiful clocks！

What beautiful carpets！

What beautiful liveries！They must be a great trouble.
I would not have all those superfluities，crying incessantly in my ears：

There are people who are hungry！There are people who are cold！

There are poor people！

There are poor people！

Let us remark，by the way，that the hatred of luxury is not an intelligent hatred.
This hatred would involve the hatred of the arts.
Nevertheless，in churchmen，luxury is wrong，except in connection with representations and ceremonies.
It seems to reveal habits which have very little that is charitable about them.An opulent priest is a contradiction.
The priest must keep close to the poor.
Now，can one come in contact incessantly night and day with all this distress，all these misfortunes，and this poverty，without having about one's own person a little of that misery，like the dust of labor？

Is it possible to imagine a man near a brazier who is not warm？

Can one imagine a workman who is working near a furnace，and who has neither a singed hair，nor blackened nails，nor a drop of sweat，nor a speck of ashes on his face？

The first proof of charity in the priest，in the bishop especially，is poverty.
This is，no doubt，what the Bishop of D——thought.
It must not be supposed，however，that he shared what we call the'ideas of the century'on certain delicate points.
He took very little part in the theological quarrels of the moment，and maintained silence on questions in which Church and State were implicated；but if he had been strongly pressed，it seems that he would have been found to be an ultramontane rather than a gallican.
Since we are making a portrait，and since we do not wish to conceal anything，we are forced to add that he was glacial towards Napoleon in his decline.Beginning with 1813，he gave in his adherence to or applauded all hostile manifestations.
He refused to see him，as he passed through on his return from the island of Elba，and he abstained from ordering public prayers for the Emperor in his diocese during the Hundred Days.
Besides his sister，Mademoiselle Baptistine，he had two brothers，one a general，the other a prefect.
He wrote to both with tolerable frequency.
He was harsh for a time towards the former，because，holding a command in Provence at the epoch of the disembarkation at Cannes，the general had put himself at the head of twelve hundred men and had pursued the Emperor as though the latter had been a person whom one is desirous of allowing to escape.
(End of this chapter)