Once he was begging for the poor in a drawing-room of the town；there was present the Marquis de Champtercier，a wealthy and avaricious old man，who contrived to be，at one and the same time，an ultra-royalist and an ultra-Voltairian.This variety of man has actually existed.
When the Bishop came to him，he touched his arm，'You must give me something，M.le Marquis.'The Marquis turned round and answered dryly，'I have poor people of my own，Monseigneur.'
'Give them to me，'replied the Bishop.
One day he preached the following sermon in the cathedral：——
'My very dear brethren，my good friends，there are thirteen hundred and twenty thousand peasants'dwellings in France which have but three openings；eighteen hundred and seventeen thousand hovels which have but two openings，the door and one window；and three hundred and forty-six thousand cabins besides which have but one opening，the door.
And this arises from a thing which is called the tax on doors and windows.
Just put poor families，old women and little children，in those buildings，and behold the fevers and maladies which result！
Alas！
God gives air to men；the law sells it to them.I do not blame the law，but I bless God.
In the department of the Isere，in the Var，in the two departments of the Alpes，the Hautes，and the Basses，the peasants have not even wheelbarrows；they transport their manure on the backs of men；they have no candles，and they burn resinous sticks，and bits of rope dipped in pitch.That is the state of affairs throughout the whole of the hilly country of Dauphine.
They make bread for six months at one time；they bake it with dried cow-dung.In the winter they break this bread up with an axe，and they soak it for twenty-four hours，in order to render it eatable.
My brethren，have pity！behold the suffering on all sides of you！
Born a Provencal，he easily familiarized himself with the dialect of the south.
He said，'En be！moussu，ses sage？'as in lower Languedoc；'Onte anaras passa？'as in the Basses-Alpes；'Puerte un bouen moutu embe un bouen fromage grase，'as in upper Dauphine.
This pleased the people extremely，and contributed not a little to win him access to all spirits.
He was perfectly at home in the thatched cottage and in the mountains.
He understood how to say the grandest things in the most vulgar of idioms.
As he spoke all tongues，he entered into all hearts.
Moreover，he was the same towards people of the world and towards the lower classes.
He condemned nothing in haste and without taking circumstances into account.
He said，'Examine the road over which the fault has passed.'
Being，as he described himself with a smile，an ex-sinner，he had none of the asperities of austerity，and he professed，with a good deal of distinctness，and without the frown of the ferociously virtuous，a doctrine which may be summed up as follows：——
'Man has upon him his flesh，which is at once his burden and his temptation.
He drags it with him and yields to it.He must watch it，cheek it，repress it，and obey it only at the last extremity.
There may be some fault even in this obedience；but the fault thus committed is venial；it is a fall，but a fall on the knees which may terminate in prayer.
'To be a saint is the exception；to be an upright man is the rule.Err，fall，sin if you will，but be upright.
'The least possible sin is the law of man.
No sin at all is the dream of the angel.
All which is terrestrial is subject to sin.Sin is a gravitation.'
When he saw everyone exclaiming very loudly，and growing angry very quickly，'Oh！oh！'he said，with a smile；'to all appearance，this is a great crime which all the world commits.
These are hypocrisies which have taken fright，and are in haste to make protest and to put themselves under shelter.'
He was indulgent towards women and poor people，on whom the burden of human society rest.
He said，'The faults of women，of children，of the feeble，the indigent，and the ignorant，are the fault of the husbands，the fathers，the masters，the strong，the rich，and the wise.'
He said，moreover，'Teach those who are ignorant as many things as possible；society is culpable，in that it does not afford instruction gratis；it is responsible for the night which it produces.This soul is full of shadow；sin is therein committed.
The guilty one is not the person who has committed the sin，but the person who has created the shadow.'
It will be perceived that he had a peculiar manner of his own of judging things：
I suspect that he obtained it from the Gospel.
One day he heard a criminal case，which was in preparation and on the point of trial，discussed in a drawing-room.A wretched man，being at the end of his resources，had coined counterfeit money，out of love for a woman，and for the child which he had had by her.Counterfeiting was still punishable with death at that epoch.The woman had been arrested in the act of passing the first false piece made by the man.
She was held，but there were no proofs except against her.
She alone could accuse her lover，and destroy him by her confession.
She denied；they insisted.
She persisted in her denial.
Thereupon an idea occurred to the attorney for the crown.He invented an infidelity on the part of the lover，and succeeded，by means of fragments of letters cunningly presented，in persuading the unfortunate woman that she had a rival，and that the man was deceiving her.
Thereupon，exasperated by jealousy，she denounced her lover，confessed all，proved all.
The man was ruined.
He was shortly to be tried at Aix with his accomplice.
They were relating the matter，and each one was expressing enthusiasm over the cleverness of the magistrate.By bringing jealousy into play，he had caused the truth to burst forth in wrath，he had educed the justice of revenge.
The Bishop listened to all this in silence.
When they had finished，he inquired，——
'Where are this man and woman to be tried？'
'At the Court of Assizes.'
He went on，'And where will the advocate of the crown be tried？'
A tragic event occurred at D——A man was condemned to death for murder.
