It is also remarkable, and speaks volumes in their favour, that the bishops are almost always at war with these poor and self-denying _curés_, and would wish to see them take more interest in temporal affairs, which they do not in the least understand; they would fain put into their mouths the language of anger and bitter feeling, alike foreign to their natures and the religion of their Divine master. The large proprietors also, those who live on their estates and do not press hard upon their dependants, enjoy great consideration, and share largely with the _curés_ the hold they have on the affections of the people. They frequently direct the opinions of the masses, and, with the exception of their pastors, are the only class our rural population know and revere. As to the generality of our statesmen, good, bad, or indifferent, their names, brilliant as they may be, are not half so well known in our villages as that of the most obscure labourer, the humble artizan who knows how to file a saw or make a wheel. "Who is that gentleman, sir?" said a Morvinian of the plain to me one day, pointing to a tall thin man, with a bald head, and a pair of gold spectacles on his nose,--a notability of the legislative assembly who was going to step into the village tribune. "That gentleman?" I replied; "he is an orator." "Ah! an orator: and pray what sort of a bird is that? what is he going to chirrup about?" "An orator is not a bird, my good fellow; he does not sing, he makes very fine speeches." "And what of them?" "What of them? why they teach men their duty." "Their duty in what?" continued the peasant, with his pinching logic. "Is it the duty of a father, of a son, of a soldier, of a baker?" "Not at all; the duty of a citizen." "Citizen? I don't understand, sir," said the peasant. "Well, your political duties, if you like it better." "I am still none the wiser. And so this fine gentleman, with his yellow spectacles and bald head, is not going to tell us anything about crops, vineyards, planting, or sowing?" "No; but he will teach you your duty as a man, as a Frenchman, a citizen--a member of the great human family; he will teach you your rights; what you can and should demand of your government under the articles 199, 305, 1202, 9999 of the charter--the last charter." "Sir, I am ashamed to have troubled you; I thank you much for your explanation; I wish you a very good morning; for mathematics you see, sir, do send me to sleep, and our _curé_ will tell me all about it on Sunday. I shall go back to the forest, and finish my job of yesterday."