seven to forty-nine years of age; all the others are fifty and over;
among the latter, three fourths of them are over sixty. As a general
rule, a priest cannot become a bishop short of twenty or twenty-five
years' service in lower or average grades; he must have remained in
each grade a longer or shorter period, in turn vicar, curé, vicar-
general, canon, head of a seminary, sometimes coadjutor, and almost
always have distinguished himself in some office, either as preacher
or catechist, professor or administrator, canonist or theologian. His
full competence cannot be contested, and he enjoys a right to exact
full obedience; he has himself rendered it up to his consecration; "he
boasts of it," and the example he proposes to his priests is the one
he has himself given.[49] On the other hand, his moderate way of
living excites but little envy; it is about like that of a general of
division, or of a prefect, or of a high civil functionary who, lacking
personal fortune, has nothing but his salary to live on. He does not
display, as formerly, confessionals lined with satin, kitchen utensil
of massive silver, hunting accoutrements, a hierarchical staff of
major-domos, ushers, valets, and liveried lackeys, stables and
carriages, lay grand-seigniors, vassals of his suzerainty and figuring
at his consecration, a princely ceremonial of parade and homage, a
pompous show of receptions and of hospitalities. There is nothing but
what is necessary, the indispensable instruments of his office: an
ordinary carriage for his episcopal journeys and town visits, three or
four domestics for manual service, three or four secretaries for
official writings, some old mansion or other, cheaply repaired and
refurnished without ostentation, its rooms and bureaus being those of
an administrator, business man, and responsible head of a numerous
staff; in effect, he is responsible for a good many subordinates, he
has a good deal to attend to; he works himself, looking after the
whole and in detail, keeping classified files by means of a