Onedoesnotseemuchofthisinfluenceandimportanceinsociety,andhowcanitbeacquiredwheretheyaresoseldomseenthemselves?Howcantwosermonsaweek,evensupposingthemworthhearing,supposingthepreachertohavethesensetopreferBlair’stohisown,doallthatyouspeakof?governtheconductandfashionthemannersofalargecongregationfortherestoftheweek?
  Onescarcelyseesaclergymanoutofhispulpit。“
  “_You_arespeakingofLondon,_I_amspeakingofthenationatlarge。“
  “Themetropolis,Iimagine,isaprettyfairsampleoftherest。“
  “Not,Ishouldhope,oftheproportionofvirtuetovicethroughoutthekingdom。Wedonotlookingreatcitiesforourbestmorality。Itisnottherethatrespectablepeopleofanydenominationcandomostgood;anditcertainlyisnottherethattheinfluenceoftheclergycanbemostfelt。Afinepreacherisfollowedandadmired;
  butitisnotinfinepreachingonlythatagoodclergymanwillbeusefulinhisparishandhisneighbourhood,wheretheparishandneighbourhoodareofasizecapableofknowinghisprivatecharacter,andobservinghisgeneralconduct,whichinLondoncanrarelybethecase。
  Theclergyarelostthereinthecrowdsoftheirparishioners。
  Theyareknowntothelargestpartonlyaspreachers。
  Andwithregardtotheirinfluencingpublicmanners,MissCrawfordmustnotmisunderstandme,orsupposeImeantocallthemthearbitersofgood-breeding,theregulatorsofrefinementandcourtesy,themastersoftheceremoniesoflife。The_manners_Ispeakofmightratherbecalled_conduct_,perhaps,theresultofgoodprinciples;
  theeffect,inshort,ofthosedoctrineswhichitistheirdutytoteachandrecommend;anditwill,Ibelieve,beeverywherefound,thatastheclergyare,orarenotwhattheyoughttobe,soaretherestofthenation。“
  “Certainly,“saidFanny,withgentleearnestness。
  “There,“criedMissCrawford,“youhavequiteconvincedMissPricealready。“
  “IwishIcouldconvinceMissCrawfordtoo。“
  “Idonotthinkyoueverwill,“saidshe,withanarchsmile;
  “IamjustasmuchsurprisednowasIwasatfirstthatyoushouldintendtotakeorders。Youreallyarefitforsomethingbetter。Come,dochangeyourmind。
  Itisnottoolate。Gointothelaw。“
  “Gointothelaw!WithasmucheaseasIwastoldtogointothiswilderness。“
  “Nowyouaregoingtosaysomethingaboutlawbeingtheworstwildernessofthetwo,butIforestallyou;
  remember,Ihaveforestalledyou。“
  “Youneednothurrywhentheobjectisonlytopreventmysayinga_bon__mot_,forthereisnottheleastwitinmynature。Iamaverymatter-of-fact,plain-spokenbeing,andmayblunderonthebordersofareparteeforhalfanhourtogetherwithoutstrikingitout。“
  Ageneralsilencesucceeded。Eachwasthoughtful。
  Fannymadethefirstinterruptionbysaying,“IwonderthatIshouldbetiredwithonlywalkinginthissweetwood;
  butthenexttimewecometoaseat,ifitisnotdisagreeabletoyou,Ishouldbegladtositdownforalittlewhile。“
  “MydearFanny,“criedEdmund,immediatelydrawingherarmwithinhis,“howthoughtlessIhavebeen!Ihopeyouarenotverytired。Perhaps,“turningtoMissCrawford,“myothercompanionmaydomethehonouroftakinganarm。“
  “Thankyou,butIamnotatalltired。“Shetookit,however,asshespoke,andthegratificationofhavingherdoso,offeelingsuchaconnexionforthefirsttime,madehimalittleforgetfulofFanny。“Youscarcelytouchme,“saidhe。“Youdonotmakemeofanyuse。
  Whatadifferenceintheweightofawoman’sarmfromthatofaman!AtOxfordIhavebeenagooddealusedtohaveamanleanonmeforthelengthofastreet,andyouareonlyaflyinthecomparison。“
  “Iamreallynottired,whichIalmostwonderat;
  forwemusthavewalkedatleastamileinthiswood。
  Donotyouthinkwehave?“
  “Nothalfamile,“washissturdyanswer;forhewasnotyetsomuchinloveastomeasuredistance,orreckontime,withfemininelawlessness。
  “Oh!youdonotconsiderhowmuchwehavewoundabout。
  Wehavetakensuchaveryserpentinecourse,andthewooditselfmustbehalfamilelonginastraightline,forwehaveneverseentheendofityetsinceweleftthefirstgreatpath。“
  “Butifyouremember,beforeweleftthatfirstgreatpath,wesawdirectlytotheendofit。Welookeddownthewholevista,andsawitclosedbyirongates,anditcouldnothavebeenmorethanafurlonginlength。“
  “Oh!Iknownothingofyourfurlongs,butIamsureitisaverylongwood,andthatwehavebeenwindinginandouteversincewecameintoit;andtherefore,whenIsaythatwehavewalkedamileinit,Imustspeakwithincompass。“
  “Wehavebeenexactlyaquarterofanhourhere,“
  saidEdmund,takingouthiswatch。“Doyouthinkwearewalkingfourmilesanhour?“
  “Oh!donotattackmewithyourwatch。Awatchisalwaystoofastortooslow。Icannotbedictatedtobyawatch。“
  Afewstepsfartherbroughtthemoutatthebottomoftheverywalktheyhadbeentalkingof;andstandingback,wellshadedandsheltered,andlookingoveraha-haintothepark,wasacomfortable-sizedbench,onwhichtheyallsatdown。
  “Iamafraidyouareverytired,Fanny,“saidEdmund,observingher;“whywouldnotyouspeaksooner?Thiswillbeabadday’samusementforyouifyouaretobeknockedup。
  Everysortofexercisefatigueshersosoon,MissCrawford,exceptriding。“
  “Howabominableinyou,then,toletmeengrossherhorseasIdidalllastweek!Iamashamedofyouandofmyself,butitshallneverhappenagain。“
  “_Your_attentivenessandconsiderationmakesmemoresensibleofmyownneglect。Fanny’sinterestseemsinsaferhandswithyouthanwithme。“
  “Thatsheshouldbetirednow,however,givesmenosurprise;
  forthereisnothinginthecourseofone’sdutiessofatiguingaswhatwehavebeendoingthismorning:
  seeingagreathouse,dawdlingfromoneroomtoanother,strainingone’seyesandone’sattention,hearingwhatonedoesnotunderstand,admiringwhatonedoesnotcarefor。
  Itisgenerallyallowedtobethegreatestboreintheworld,andMissPricehasfounditso,thoughshedidnotknowit。“
  “Ishallsoonberested,“saidFanny;“tositintheshadeonafineday,andlookuponverdure,isthemostperfectrefreshment。“
  AftersittingalittlewhileMissCrawfordwasupagain。
  “Imustmove,“saidshe;“restingfatiguesme。
  Ihavelookedacrosstheha-hatillIamweary。Imustgoandlookthroughthatirongateatthesameview,withoutbeingabletoseeitsowell。“
  Edmundlefttheseatlikewise。“Now,MissCrawford,ifyouwilllookupthewalk,youwillconvinceyourselfthatitcannotbehalfamilelong,orhalfhalfamile。“
  “Itisanimmensedistance,“saidshe;“Isee_that_
  withaglance。“
  Hestillreasonedwithher,butinvain。Shewouldnotcalculate,shewouldnotcompare。Shewouldonlysmileandassert。Thegreatestdegreeofrationalconsistencycouldnothavebeenmoreengaging,andtheytalkedwithmutualsatisfaction。Atlastitwasagreedthattheyshouldendeavourtodeterminethedimensionsofthewoodbywalkingalittlemoreaboutit。Theywouldgotooneendofit,inthelinetheywerethenin——
  fortherewasastraightgreenwalkalongthebottombythesideoftheha-ha——andperhapsturnalittlewayinsomeotherdirection,ifitseemedlikelytoassistthem,andbebackinafewminutes。Fannysaidshewasrested,andwouldhavemovedtoo,butthiswasnotsuffered。
  Edmundurgedherremainingwhereshewaswithanearnestnesswhichshecouldnotresist,andshewasleftonthebenchtothinkwithpleasureofhercousin’scare,butwithgreatregretthatshewasnotstronger。
  Shewatchedthemtilltheyhadturnedthecorner,andlistenedtillallsoundofthemhadceased。