When the bishop,
once invested and consecrated, enters the choir of his cathedral to
the reverberations of the organ, lighted with wax candles amidst
clouds of incense, and seats himself in solemn pomp[32] "on his
throne," he is a prince who takes possession of his government, which
possession is not nominal or partial, but real and complete. He holds
in his hand "the splendid cross which the priests of his diocese have
presented to him," in witness of and symbolizing their voluntary,
eager and full obedience; and this pastoral baton is larger than the
old one. In the ecclesiastical herd, no head browses at a distance or
under cover; high or low, all are within reach, all eyes are turned
towards the episcopal crook; at a sign made by the crook, and
according to the signal, each head forthwith stands, advances or
recedes: it knows too well that the shepherd's hands are free and that
it is subject to its will. Napoleon, in his reconstruction of the
diocese, made additions to only one of the diocesan powers, that of
the bishop; he suffered the others to remain low down, on the ground.
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