“Ay,” said the priest, “see what it is to be a bishop in any church! The moment a man becomes a bishop, he fastens tooth and nail upon luxury, as if a mitre was a dispensation for enjoying the world that they have sworn to renounce. Dionysius, look about you! Isn't this worth studying for?”
“Yes,” replied the hitherto silent candidate, “if it was perusal on the part of his lordship that got it.”
“Upon my credit, a shrewd observation! Ah, Dionysius, merit is overlooked in every church, and in every profession; or perhaps—hem!—ehem!—perhaps some of your reverend friends might be higher up! I mean nobody; but if sound learning, and wit, and humor, together with several other virtues which I decline enumerating, could secure a mitre, why mitres might be on other brows.”
“This is surely great state,” observed the candidate; “and if it be a thing that I matriculate—”
“And yet,” said the priest, interrupting him, “this same bishop—who is, no doubt, a worthy man, but who has no natural ear for a jest—was once upon a time the priest of an indifferent good parish, like myself; ay, and a poor, cowardly, culprit-looking candidate, ready to sink into the earth, before his bishop, like you.”
“Me cowardly!” said the candidate: “I decline the insinuation altogether. It was nothing but veneration and respect, which you know we should entertain for all our spiritual superiors.”
“That's truth decidedly; though, at the same time, your nerves were certainly rather entangled, like a ravelled hank. But no matter, man; we have all felt the same in our time. Did you observe how I managed the bishop?”
“I can't say I did,” replied the candidate, who felt hurt at the imputation of cowardice before his father; “but I saw, sir, that the bishop managed you.”
“Pray for a longer vision, Dionysius. I tell you that no other priest in the diocese could have got both you and me out of the dilemma in which we stood but myself. He has taken to the study of weeds and plants in his old days; and I, who have a natural taste for botany, know it is his weak side. I tell you, he would give the right of filling a vacancy in Maynooth, any day in the year, for a rare plant or flower. So much for your knowledge of human nature. You'll grant I managed the Counsellor?”
“Between my father and you, sir, things look well. We have not, however, got a certificate of success yet.”