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
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
r?gime, 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.
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