[31]
When, from time to time, he made his appearance there, the bells were
rung; deputations from all bodies hurried to his antechambers; each
authority in turn, and according to the order of precedence, paid him
its little compliment, which compliment he graciously returned and
then, the homage being over, he distributed among them benedictions
and smiles. After this, with equal dignity and still more graciously
throughout his sojourn, he invited the most eligible to his table and,
in his episcopal palace or in his country-house, he treated them as
guests. This done, he had performed his duty; the rest was left to his
secretaries, ecclesiastical officials and clerks, men of the bureaux,
specialists and "plodders." "Did you read my pastoral letter?" said a
bishop to Piron. And Piron, who was very outspoken, dared reply,
"Yes, my lord. And yourself?"
Under the modern r?gime, this suzerain for show, negligent and
intermittent, is succeeded by an active sovereign whose reign is
personal and constant; the limited and easy monarchy of the diocese is
converted into an universal and absolute monarchy.
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