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。