Whately never wasted a thought upon his dignity. If he had, the dignity would have been an unwelcome weight; but, without any intentional arrogance, he was accustomed to assume the intellectual dictatorship of every company in which he found himself. There could be no greater mistake than to infer from this that there was any tincture in him of ecclesiastical intolerance. He was in reality intolerant of intolerance, and of not many things beside. He lived upon easy terms with the young men about the Viceregal Court, and one of them, a young nobleman who was Aide-de-camp to the Lord Lieutenant, made a little mistake in assuming that a scoff at the Roman Catholic Bishops would be acceptable:
'My Lord Archbishop,' said the Aide-de-camp, 'do you know what is the difference between a Roman Catholic Bishop and a donkey?'
'No,' said the Archbishop.
'The one has a cross on his breast and the other on his back,' said the Aide-de-camp.
'Ha!' said the Archbishop; 'do you know the difference between an Aide-de-camp and a donkey?'
'No,' said the Aide-de-camp.
'Neither do I', said the Archbishop.
From Taylor, Autobiography, i. 322-323.