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CHAPTER II
PRUDENCE COUNSELLED
TO WISDOM.
That evening, the Bishop of D——, after his prome-
nade through the town, remained shut up rather late in his
room. He was busy over a great work on Duties, which was
never completed, unfortunately. He was carefully compil-
ing everything that the Fathers and the doctors have said
on this important subject. His book was divided into two
parts: firstly, the duties of all; secondly, the duties of each
individual, according to the class to which he belongs. The
duties of all are the great duties. There are four of these.
Saint Matthew points them out: duties towards God (Matt.
vi.); duties towards one’s self (Matt. v. 29, 30); duties to-
wards one’s neighbor (Matt. vii. 12); duties towards animals
(Matt. vi. 20, 25). As for the other duties the Bishop found
them pointed out and prescribed elsewhere: to sovereigns
and subjects, in the Epistle to the Romans; to magistrates,
to wives, to mothers, to young men, by Saint Peter; to hus-
bands, fathers, children and servants, in the Epistle to the
Ephesians; to the faithful, in the Epistle to the Hebrews; to
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