Les Miserables

surplice,
God sends an archbishop's cope."
"Monseigneur," murmured the cure, with a shake of the head and a
smile, "God- or the devil."
The bishop looked steadily upon the cure, and replied with
authority: "God!"
When he returned to Chastelar, all along the road, the people came
with curiosity to see him. At the parsonage in Chastelar he found
Mademoiselle Baptistine and Madame Magloire waiting for him, and he
said to his sister, "Well, was I not right? the poor priest went among
those poor mountaineers with empty hands; he comes back with hands
filled. I went forth placing my trust in God alone; I bring back the
treasures of a cathedral."
In the evening before going to bed he said further: "Have no fear of
robbers or murderers. Such dangers are without, and are but petty.
We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the
real murderers. The great dangers are within us. What matters it
what threatens our heads or our purses? Let us think only of what
threatens our souls."
{FANTINE|BOOK_1ST|VII ^paragraph 35}
Then turning to his sister: "My sister, a priest should never take
any precaution against a neighbour. What his neighbour does, God
permits. Let us confine ourselves to prayer to God when we think
that danger hangs over us. Let us beseech him, not for ourselves,
but that our brother may not fall into crime on our account."
To sum up, events were rare in his life. We relate those we know of;
but usually he passed his life in always doing the same things at
the same hours. A month of his year was like an hour of his day.
As to what became of the "treasures" of the Cathedral of Embrun,
it would embarrass us to be questioned on that point. There were among
them very fine things, and very tempting, and very good to steal for
the benefit of the unfortunate. Stolen they had already been by
others. Half the work was done; it only remained to change the
course of the theft, and to make it turn to the side of the poor. We
can say nothing more on the subject. Except that, there was found
among the bishop's papers a rather obscure note, which is possibly
connected with this affair, that reads as follows: "The question
is, whether this ought to be returned to the cathedral or to the
hospital."

{FANTINE|BOOK_1ST|VIII
VIII
AFTER DINNER PHILOSOPHY
-
THE senator heretofore referred to was an intelligent man, who had
made his way in life with a directness of purpose which paid no
attention to all those stumbling-blocks which constitute obstacles
in men's path, known as conscience, sworn faith, justice, and duty; he
had advanced straight to his object without once swerving in the
line of his advancement and his interest. He had been formerly a
procureur, mollified by success, and was not a bad man at all, doing
all the little kindnesses that he could to his sons,