The game was the first tie between them. Then Minoret
was charitable, and the abbe was the Fenelon of the Gatinais. Both had
had a wide and varied education; the man of God was the only person in
all Nemours who was fully capable of understanding the atheist. To be
able to argue, men must first understand each other. What pleasure is
there in saying sharp words to one who can't feel them? The doctor and
the priest had far too much taste and had seen too much of good
society not to practice its precepts; they were thus well-fitted for
the little warfare so essential to conversation. They hated each
other's opinions, but they valued each other's character. If such
conflicts and such sympathies are not true elements of intimacy we
must surely despair of society, which, especially in France, requires
some form of antagonism. It is from the shock of characters, and not
from the struggle of opinions, that antipathies are generated.
The Abbe Chaperon became, therefore, the doctor's chief friend. This
excellent ecclesiastic, then sixty years of age, had been curate of
Nemours ever since the re-establishment of Catholic worship.
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