Note 42 — LETTER XXXIX.
Reading edition
The Author does not say whither nor from whence those Sheep are stray’d. All those Sheep feed in the same Pasture, or at least, there are but few of ’em that feed in the Pastures to which M. de Vintimille could wish to bring the others. Some Slanderers don’t scruple to say, that this good Prelate gives himself more Uneasiness about the Excellency of the Dishes at his Table, than the Goodness of the Pasture for his Sheep: For he has been seen to give the same Welcome to the Jesuits, and the Fathers of the Oratory, to the Capuchins and the Benedictins, &c. For the Sake of such of our Readers as have a Taste for French Poetry, we insert the following Epigram; which was made upon this Prelate’s Mandate in Favour of the Constitution:
Le Public est un Sot, d’être scandalisé Du Mandement que Vintimille Vient de repandre dans la Ville, Me disoit ce Matin un Docteur avisé! Il est, dit il, d’Usage indispensable, Pour qu’un Saint soit canonisé, D’entendre l’Avocat du Diable.