Page 916 - les-miserables

‘But it is forbidden.’
‘Forbidden by men, enjoined by God.’
‘What if it became known?’
‘We have confidence in you.’
‘Oh! I am a stone in your walls.’
‘The chapter assembled. The vocal mothers, whom I have
just consulted again, and who are now deliberating, have
decided that Mother Crucifixion shall be buried, accord-
ing to her wish, in her own coffin, under our altar. Think,
Father Fauvent, if she were to work miracles here! What a
glory of God for the community! And miracles issue from
tombs.’
‘But, reverend Mother, if the agent of the sanitary com-
mission—‘
‘Saint Benoit II., in the matter of sepulture, resisted Con-
stantine Pogonatus.’
‘But the commissary of police—‘
‘Chonodemaire, one of the seven German kings who en-
tered among the Gauls under the Empire of Constantius,
expressly recognized the right of nuns to be buried in reli-
gion, that is to say, beneath the altar.’
‘But the inspector from the Prefecture—‘
‘The world is nothing in the presence of the cross. Mar-
tin, the eleventh general of the Carthusians, gave to his
order this device: Stat crux dum volvitur orbis.’
‘Amen,’ said Fauchelevent, who imperturbably extricat-
ed himself in this manner from the dilemma, whenever he
heard Latin.
Any audience suffices for a person who has held his peace

916 Les Miserables