This chapter is primarily Hugo’s Opinions, but some of them are interesting, so I want to try to comment on them.
The chapter as a whole is a criticism of corruption/a focus on status in the Catholic Church (which the bishop is outside of and is, consequently, unpopular with many other churchmen). This section summarizes much of his critique:
“The priest is nowadays the only man who can become a king in a regular manner; and what a king! the supreme king. Then what a nursery of aspirations is a seminary! How many blushing choristers, how many youthful abbés bear on their heads Perrette’s pot of milk! Who knows how easy it is for ambition to call itself vocation? in good faith, perchance, and deceiving itself, devotee that it is.”
On the one hand, Hugo recognizes that the Church can seem to be the only legitimate avenue of social advancement, as anyone can theoretically rise to prominence within it. (Of course, given the emphasis that Hugo places on priests in court, those from a wealthy background were probably more likely to succeed in this; I don’t know a lot about the Church in this time, but I’d imagine that “advancement” is less likely to be “peasant to pope” and more “minor noble or well-off bourgeois to pope”). At the same time, entering a profession like the priesthood – which is supposed to be about serving God – for these reasons is inherently suspect, as it trains one’s focus on the material over the spiritual. As many churchmen retain this focus, it isn’t something initiates learn to reject, but rather something that’s encouraged as they learn to flatter others for better positions.
However, Hugo expands his criticism to a broader social phenomenon: equating success (high social status) with merit.
“Be it said in passing, that success is a very hideous thing. Its false resemblance to merit deceives men.”
Success does not inherently equal merit, but Hugo points out a more insidious aspect of this equation:
“Prosperity argues capacity. Win in the lottery, and behold! you are a clever man. He who triumphs is venerated. Be born with a silver spoon in your mouth! everything lies in that.”
While it’s true that an ordinary person can become “successful” (i.e. wealthy) through a stroke of luck (the lottery), the luck that determines success typically happens much earlier: at birth. Someone born with that “silver spoon” will already have a respected position (whether as a noble, a merchant, etc), but will also have the resources to change their position (for example, leisure time to study, a social network that fosters business connections, and so on). Even without doing so, they’re respected, because they’ve already inherited their wealth/title. Thus, praising one’s “success” could merely be admiring material things that one has possessed since birth, not through anything innate to them.