"Expenses of carriage?
What can be done with it in a town of less than four thousand inhabitants?
Expenses of journeys?
What is the use of these trips, in the first place?
Next, how can the posting be accomplished in these mountainous parts?
There are no roads. No one travels otherwise than on horseback.
Even the bridge between Durance and Chateau-Arnoux can barely support ox-teams. These priests are all thus, greedy and avaricious.
This man played the good priest when he first came.
Now he does like the rest; he must have a carriage and a posting-chaise, he must have luxuries, like the bishops of the olden days.
Oh, all this priesthood! Things will not go well, M. le Comte, until the Emperor has freed us from these black-capped rascals.
Down with the Pope!
[Matters were getting embroiled with Rome.] For my part, I am for Caesar alone." Etc., etc.
On the other hand, this affair afforded great delight to Madame Magloire. "Good," said she to Mademoiselle Baptistine; "Monseigneur began with other people, but he has had to wind up with himself, after all. He has regulated all his charities.
Now here are three thousand francs for us!
At last!"
That same evening the Bishop wrote out and handed to his sister a memorandum conceived in the following terms:--
EXPENSES OF CARRIAGE AND CIRCUIT.
For furnishing meat soup to the patients in the hospital. 1,500 livres
For the maternity charitable society of Aix . . . . . . . 250 "
For the maternity charitable society of Draguignan . . . 250 "