chronological and systematic collection,[50] like the general director
of a vast company; if he enjoys greater honors, he is subject to
greater exigencies; assuredly, his predecessors under the ancient
régime, delicate Epicureans, would not have wished for such a life;
they would not have considered the benefit worth the effort.

Even when old, he draws on his energies; he officiates, he preaches,
he presides at long ceremonies, he ordains seminarians, he confirms
thousands of children,[51] he visits one after another the parishes in
his diocese; often, at the end of his administration, he has visited
them all and many times. Meanwhile, shut up in his episcopal cabinet,
he is constantly inspecting these four or five hundred parishes; he
reads or listens to reports, informs himself on the number of
communicants, on what is required in worship, on the financial state
of the fabrique, on the attitude of the inhabitants, on the good or
bad dispositions of municipal counselors and mayors, on the local
cause of dissension and conflict, on the conduct and character of the
curé or vicar; each resident ecclesiastic needs guidance or
maintenance between intemperate zeal and inert lukewarmness, evenly
balanced according as parishes and circumstances vary, but always in a
way to prevent false steps, to turn aside mistakes, to humor opinion,
to stop scandals. For the entire life of the clergyman, not only his
public life but again his personal, domestic, private life, belongs to
and concerns the Church:[52] there must be no evil reports, even
without foundation, on his account; if these occur, the bishop summons
him to headquarters, warns him, admonishes him, and, without
unburdening himself by handing the matter over to a responsible
tribunal, he alone passes judgment after personally conducting the
investigations, suffering the worries, and carrying out the painful,
painstaking labor always attendant on direct absolute power. Likewise,