章节正文
we must take care to be in time, or the other party will
forestall us.'
With all his admiration for Sir Abraham, the doctor seemed
to think it not impossible that that great man might be induced
to lend his gigantic powers to the side of the church's enemies.
Having settled this point to his satisfaction, the doctor
stepped down to the hospital, to learn how matters were going
on there; and as he walked across the hallowed close, and
looked up at the ravens who cawed with a peculiarreverence
as he wended his way, he thought with increased acerbity of
those whose impiety would venture to disturb the goodly grace
of cathedral institutions.
And who has not felt the same? We believe that Mr Horseman
himself would relent, and the spirit of Sir Benjamin Hall
give way, were those great reformers to allow themselves to
stroll by moonlight round the towers of some of our ancient
churches. Who would not feel charity for a prebendary when
walking the quiet length of that long aisle at Winchester, looking
at those decent houses, that trim grass-plat, and feeling, as
one must, the solemn, orderly comfort of the spot! Who could
be hard upon a dean while wandering round the sweet close
of Hereford, and owning that in that precinct, tone and colour,
design and form, solemn tower and storied window, are all in
unison, and all perfect! Who could lie basking in the cloisters
of Salisbury, and gaze on Jewel's library and that unequalled
spire, without feeling that bishops should sometimes be rich!
The tone of our archdeacon's mind must not astonish us;
it has been the growth of centuries of church ascendancy; and
though some fungi now disfigure the tree, though there be
much dead wood, for how much good fruit have not we to be
thankful? Who, without remorse, can batter down the dead
branches of an old oak, now useless, but, ah! still so beautiful,
or drag out the fragments of the ancient forest, without feeling
that they sheltered the younger plants, to which they are now
summoned to give way in a tone so peremptory and so harsh?
The archdeacon, with all his virtues, was not a man of
delicate feeling; and after having made his morning salutations
in the warden's drawing-room, he did not scruple to
commence an attack on 'pestilent' John Bold in the presence
of Miss Harding, though he rightly guessed that that lady was
not indifferent to the name of his enemy.
'Nelly, my dear, fetch me my spectacles from the back
room,' said her father, anxious to save both her blushes and
her feelings.
Eleanor brought the spectacles, while her father was trying,
in ambiguous phrases, to explain to her too-practical brother-
in-law that it might be as well not to say anything about Bold
before her, and then retreated. Nothing had been explained
to her about Bold and the hospital; but, with a woman's
instinct she knew that things were going wrong.
'We must soon be doing something,' commenced the archdeacon,
wiping his brows with a large, bright-coloured handkerchief,
for he had felt busy, and had walked quick, and it was a broiling
summer's day. 'Of course you have heard of the petition?'
Mr Harding owned, somewhat unwillingly, that he had
heard of it.
'Well'--the archdeacon looked for some expressions of
opinion, but none coming, he continued--' We must be doing
something, you know; we mustn't allow these people to cut the
ground from under us while we sit looking on.' The archdeacon,
who was a practical man, allowed himself the use of everyday
expressive modes of speech when among his closest intimates,
though no one could soar into a more intricatelabyrinth of
refined phraseology when the church was the subject, and his
lower brethren were his auditors.
The warden still looked mutely in his face, making the
slightest possible passes with an imaginaryfiddle bow, and
stopping, as he did so, sundryimaginary strings with the
fingers of his other hand. 'Twas his constantconsolation in
conversational troubles. While these vexed him sorely, the
passes would be short and slow, and the upper hand would not
be seen to work; nay, the strings on which it operated would
sometimes lie concealed in the musician's pocket, and the
instrument on which he played would be beneath his chair--
but as his spirit warmed to the subject--as his trusting heart
looking to the bottom of that which vexed him, would see its
clear way out--he would rise to a higher melody, sweep the
unseen strings with a bolder hand, and swiftly fingering the
cords from his neck, down along his waistcoat, and up again
to his very ear, create an ecstatic strain of perfect music,
audible to himself and to St Cecilia, and not without effect.
'I quite agree with Cox and Cummins,' continued the
archdeacon. 'They say we must secure Sir Abraham Haphazard.
I shall not have the slightest fear in leaving the case
in Sir Abraham's hands.'
The warden played the slowest and saddest of tunes. It was
but a dirge on one string.
'I think Sir Abraham will not be long in letting Master
Bold know what he's about. I fancy I hear Sir Abraham
cross-questioning him at the Common Pleas.'
The warden thought of his income being thus discussed, his
modest life, his daily habits, and his easy work; and nothing
issued from that single cord, but a low wail of sorrow. 'I
suppose they've sent this petition up to my father.' The
warden didn't know; he imagined they would do so this very day.
'What I can't understand is, how you let them do it, with
such a command as you have in the place, or should have with
such a man as Bunce. I cannot understand why you let them do it.'
'Do what?' asked the warden.
'Why, listen to this fellow Bold, and that other low pettifogger,
Finney--and get up this petition too. Why didn't you tell
Bunce to destroy the petition?'
'That would have been hardly wise,' said the warden.
'Wise--yes, it would have been very wise if they'd done it
among themselves. I must go up to the palace and answer it now,
I suppose. It's a very short answer they'll get, I can tell you.'
'But why shouldn't they petition, doctor?'
'Why shouldn't they!' responded the archdeacon, in a loud
brazen voice, as though all the men in the hospital were
expected to hear him through the walls; 'why shouldn't they?
I'll let them know why they shouldn't: by the bye, warden,
I'd like to say a few words to them all together.'
The warden's mind misgave him, and even for a moment he
forgot to play. He by no means wished to delegate to his
son-in-law his place and authority of warden; he had expressly
determined not to interfere in any step which the men might
wish to take in the matter under dispute; he was most
anxious neither to accuse them nor to defend himself. All
these things he was aware the archdeacon would do in his
behalf, and that not in the mildest manner; and yet he knew
not how to refuse the permission requested.
'I'd so much sooner remain quiet in the matter,' said he, in
an apologetic voice.
Quiet!' said the archdeacon, still speaking with his brazen
trumpet; 'do you wish to be ruined in quiet?'
'Why, if I am to be ruined, certainly.'
'Nonsense, warden; I tell you something must be done--
we must act; just let me ring the bell, and send the men word
that I'll speak to them in the quad.'
Mr Harding knew not how to resist, and the disagreeable
order was given. The quad, as it was familiarly called, was a
small quadrangle, open on one side to the river, and surrounded
on the others by the high wall of Mr Harding's garden, by one
gable end of Mr Harding's house, and by the end of the row of
buildings which formed the residences of the bedesmen. It was
flagged all round, and the centre was stoned; small stone
gutters ran from the four corners of the square to a grating in
the centre; and attached to the end of Mr Harding's house was a
conduit with four cocks covered over from the weather, at which
the old men got their water, and very generally performed their
morning toilet. It was a quiet, sombre place, shaded over by the
trees of the warden's garden. On the side towards the river,
there stood a row of stone seats, on which the old men would sit
and gaze at the little fish, as they flitted by in the running
stream. On the other side of the river was a rich, green meadow,
running up to and joining the deanery, and as little open to the
public as the garden of the dean itself. Nothing, therefore,
could be more private than the quad of the hospital; and it was
there that the archdeacon determined to convey to them his sense
of their refractory proceedings.
The servant soon brought in word that the men were
assembled in the quad, and the archdeacon, big with his
purpose, rose to address them.
'Well, warden, of course you're coming,' said he, seeing that
Mr Harding did not prepare to follow him.
'I wish you'd excuse me,' said Mr Harding.
'For heaven's sake, don't let us have division in the camp,'
replied the archdeacon: 'let us have a long pull and a strong
pull, but above all a pull all together; come warden, come;
don't be afraid of your duty.'
Mr Harding was afraid; he was afraid that he was being
led to do that which was not his duty: he was not, however,
strong enough to resist, so he got up and followed his son-in-law.
The old men were assembled in groups in the quadrangle--
eleven of them at least, for poor old Johnny Bell was bed-ridden,
and couldn't come; he had, however, put his mark to the
petition, as one of Handy's earliest followers. 'Tis true he
could not move from the bed where he lay; 'tis true he had
no friend on earth, but those whom the hospital contained;
and of those the warden and his daughter were the most constant
and most appreciated; 'tis true that everything was administered
to him which his failing body could require, or which his faint
appetite could enjoy; but still his dull eye had glistened for a
moment at the idea of possessing a hundred pounds a year 'to his
own cheek,' as Abel Handy had eloquently expressed it; and poor
old Johnny Bell had greedily put his mark to the petition.
When the two clergymen appeared, they all uncovered their
heads. Handy was slow to do it, and hesitated; but the black
coat and waistcoat of which he had spoken so irreverently in
Skulpit's room, had its effect even on him, and he too doffed
his hat. Bunce, advancing before the others, bowed lowly to
the archdeacon, and with affectionatereverence expressed his
wish, that the warden and Miss Eleanor were quite well; 'and
the doctor's lady,' he added, turning to the archdeacon, 'and
the children at Plumstead, and my lord'; and having made
his speech, he also retired among the others, and took his place
with the rest upon the stone benches.
As the archdeacon stood up to make his speech, erect in the
middle of that little square , he looked like an ecclesiastical
statue placed there, as a fitting impersonation of the church
militant here on earth; his shovel hat, large, new, and well-
pronounced, a churchman's hat in every inch, declared the
profession as plainly as does the Quaker's broad brim; his
heavy eyebrows, large open eyes, and full mouth and chin
expressed the solidity of his order; the broad chest, amply
covered with fine cloth, told how well to do was its estate; one
hand ensconced within his pocket, evinced the practical hold
which our mother church keeps on her temporal possessions;
and the other, loose for action, was ready to fight if need be in
her defence; and, below these, the decorous breeches, and
neat black gaiters showing so admirably that well-turned leg,
forestall us.'
With all his admiration for Sir Abraham, the doctor seemed
to think it not impossible that that great man might be induced
to lend his gigantic powers to the side of the church's enemies.
Having settled this point to his satisfaction, the doctor
stepped down to the hospital, to learn how matters were going
on there; and as he walked across the hallowed close, and
looked up at the ravens who cawed with a peculiarreverence
as he wended his way, he thought with increased acerbity of
those whose impiety would venture to disturb the goodly grace
of cathedral institutions.
And who has not felt the same? We believe that Mr Horseman
himself would relent, and the spirit of Sir Benjamin Hall
give way, were those great reformers to allow themselves to
stroll by moonlight round the towers of some of our ancient
churches. Who would not feel charity for a prebendary when
walking the quiet length of that long aisle at Winchester, looking
at those decent houses, that trim grass-plat, and feeling, as
one must, the solemn, orderly comfort of the spot! Who could
be hard upon a dean while wandering round the sweet close
of Hereford, and owning that in that precinct, tone and colour,
design and form, solemn tower and storied window, are all in
unison, and all perfect! Who could lie basking in the cloisters
of Salisbury, and gaze on Jewel's library and that unequalled
spire, without feeling that bishops should sometimes be rich!
The tone of our archdeacon's mind must not astonish us;
it has been the growth of centuries of church ascendancy; and
though some fungi now disfigure the tree, though there be
much dead wood, for how much good fruit have not we to be
thankful? Who, without remorse, can batter down the dead
branches of an old oak, now useless, but, ah! still so beautiful,
or drag out the fragments of the ancient forest, without feeling
that they sheltered the younger plants, to which they are now
summoned to give way in a tone so peremptory and so harsh?
The archdeacon, with all his virtues, was not a man of
delicate feeling; and after having made his morning salutations
in the warden's drawing-room, he did not scruple to
commence an attack on 'pestilent' John Bold in the presence
of Miss Harding, though he rightly guessed that that lady was
not indifferent to the name of his enemy.
'Nelly, my dear, fetch me my spectacles from the back
room,' said her father, anxious to save both her blushes and
her feelings.
Eleanor brought the spectacles, while her father was trying,
in ambiguous phrases, to explain to her too-practical brother-
in-law that it might be as well not to say anything about Bold
before her, and then retreated. Nothing had been explained
to her about Bold and the hospital; but, with a woman's
instinct she knew that things were going wrong.
'We must soon be doing something,' commenced the archdeacon,
wiping his brows with a large, bright-coloured handkerchief,
for he had felt busy, and had walked quick, and it was a broiling
summer's day. 'Of course you have heard of the petition?'
Mr Harding owned, somewhat unwillingly, that he had
heard of it.
'Well'--the archdeacon looked for some expressions of
opinion, but none coming, he continued--' We must be doing
something, you know; we mustn't allow these people to cut the
ground from under us while we sit looking on.' The archdeacon,
who was a practical man, allowed himself the use of everyday
expressive modes of speech when among his closest intimates,
though no one could soar into a more intricatelabyrinth of
refined phraseology when the church was the subject, and his
lower brethren were his auditors.
The warden still looked mutely in his face, making the
slightest possible passes with an imaginaryfiddle bow, and
stopping, as he did so, sundryimaginary strings with the
fingers of his other hand. 'Twas his constantconsolation in
conversational troubles. While these vexed him sorely, the
passes would be short and slow, and the upper hand would not
be seen to work; nay, the strings on which it operated would
sometimes lie concealed in the musician's pocket, and the
instrument on which he played would be beneath his chair--
but as his spirit warmed to the subject--as his trusting heart
looking to the bottom of that which vexed him, would see its
clear way out--he would rise to a higher melody, sweep the
unseen strings with a bolder hand, and swiftly fingering the
cords from his neck, down along his waistcoat, and up again
to his very ear, create an ecstatic strain of perfect music,
audible to himself and to St Cecilia, and not without effect.
'I quite agree with Cox and Cummins,' continued the
archdeacon. 'They say we must secure Sir Abraham Haphazard.
I shall not have the slightest fear in leaving the case
in Sir Abraham's hands.'
The warden played the slowest and saddest of tunes. It was
but a dirge on one string.
'I think Sir Abraham will not be long in letting Master
Bold know what he's about. I fancy I hear Sir Abraham
cross-questioning him at the Common Pleas.'
The warden thought of his income being thus discussed, his
modest life, his daily habits, and his easy work; and nothing
issued from that single cord, but a low wail of sorrow. 'I
suppose they've sent this petition up to my father.' The
warden didn't know; he imagined they would do so this very day.
'What I can't understand is, how you let them do it, with
such a command as you have in the place, or should have with
such a man as Bunce. I cannot understand why you let them do it.'
'Do what?' asked the warden.
'Why, listen to this fellow Bold, and that other low pettifogger,
Finney--and get up this petition too. Why didn't you tell
Bunce to destroy the petition?'
'That would have been hardly wise,' said the warden.
'Wise--yes, it would have been very wise if they'd done it
among themselves. I must go up to the palace and answer it now,
I suppose. It's a very short answer they'll get, I can tell you.'
'But why shouldn't they petition, doctor?'
'Why shouldn't they!' responded the archdeacon, in a loud
brazen voice, as though all the men in the hospital were
expected to hear him through the walls; 'why shouldn't they?
I'll let them know why they shouldn't: by the bye, warden,
I'd like to say a few words to them all together.'
The warden's mind misgave him, and even for a moment he
forgot to play. He by no means wished to delegate to his
son-in-law his place and authority of warden; he had expressly
determined not to interfere in any step which the men might
wish to take in the matter under dispute; he was most
anxious neither to accuse them nor to defend himself. All
these things he was aware the archdeacon would do in his
behalf, and that not in the mildest manner; and yet he knew
not how to refuse the permission requested.
'I'd so much sooner remain quiet in the matter,' said he, in
an apologetic voice.
Quiet!' said the archdeacon, still speaking with his brazen
trumpet; 'do you wish to be ruined in quiet?'
'Why, if I am to be ruined, certainly.'
'Nonsense, warden; I tell you something must be done--
we must act; just let me ring the bell, and send the men word
that I'll speak to them in the quad.'
Mr Harding knew not how to resist, and the disagreeable
order was given. The quad, as it was familiarly called, was a
small quadrangle, open on one side to the river, and surrounded
on the others by the high wall of Mr Harding's garden, by one
gable end of Mr Harding's house, and by the end of the row of
buildings which formed the residences of the bedesmen. It was
flagged all round, and the centre was stoned; small stone
gutters ran from the four corners of the square to a grating in
the centre; and attached to the end of Mr Harding's house was a
conduit with four cocks covered over from the weather, at which
the old men got their water, and very generally performed their
morning toilet. It was a quiet, sombre place, shaded over by the
trees of the warden's garden. On the side towards the river,
there stood a row of stone seats, on which the old men would sit
and gaze at the little fish, as they flitted by in the running
stream. On the other side of the river was a rich, green meadow,
running up to and joining the deanery, and as little open to the
public as the garden of the dean itself. Nothing, therefore,
could be more private than the quad of the hospital; and it was
there that the archdeacon determined to convey to them his sense
of their refractory proceedings.
The servant soon brought in word that the men were
assembled in the quad, and the archdeacon, big with his
purpose, rose to address them.
'Well, warden, of course you're coming,' said he, seeing that
Mr Harding did not prepare to follow him.
'I wish you'd excuse me,' said Mr Harding.
'For heaven's sake, don't let us have division in the camp,'
replied the archdeacon: 'let us have a long pull and a strong
pull, but above all a pull all together; come warden, come;
don't be afraid of your duty.'
Mr Harding was afraid; he was afraid that he was being
led to do that which was not his duty: he was not, however,
strong enough to resist, so he got up and followed his son-in-law.
The old men were assembled in groups in the quadrangle--
eleven of them at least, for poor old Johnny Bell was bed-ridden,
and couldn't come; he had, however, put his mark to the
petition, as one of Handy's earliest followers. 'Tis true he
could not move from the bed where he lay; 'tis true he had
no friend on earth, but those whom the hospital contained;
and of those the warden and his daughter were the most constant
and most appreciated; 'tis true that everything was administered
to him which his failing body could require, or which his faint
appetite could enjoy; but still his dull eye had glistened for a
moment at the idea of possessing a hundred pounds a year 'to his
own cheek,' as Abel Handy had eloquently expressed it; and poor
old Johnny Bell had greedily put his mark to the petition.
When the two clergymen appeared, they all uncovered their
heads. Handy was slow to do it, and hesitated; but the black
coat and waistcoat of which he had spoken so irreverently in
Skulpit's room, had its effect even on him, and he too doffed
his hat. Bunce, advancing before the others, bowed lowly to
the archdeacon, and with affectionatereverence expressed his
wish, that the warden and Miss Eleanor were quite well; 'and
the doctor's lady,' he added, turning to the archdeacon, 'and
the children at Plumstead, and my lord'; and having made
his speech, he also retired among the others, and took his place
with the rest upon the stone benches.
As the archdeacon stood up to make his speech, erect in the
middle of that little square , he looked like an ecclesiastical
statue placed there, as a fitting impersonation of the church
militant here on earth; his shovel hat, large, new, and well-
pronounced, a churchman's hat in every inch, declared the
profession as plainly as does the Quaker's broad brim; his
heavy eyebrows, large open eyes, and full mouth and chin
expressed the solidity of his order; the broad chest, amply
covered with fine cloth, told how well to do was its estate; one
hand ensconced within his pocket, evinced the practical hold
which our mother church keeps on her temporal possessions;
and the other, loose for action, was ready to fight if need be in
her defence; and, below these, the decorous breeches, and
neat black gaiters showing so admirably that well-turned leg,
- admiration [,ædmə´reiʃən]
n.赞赏，钦佩 (初中英语单词) - satisfaction [,sætis´fækʃən] n.满意；满足 (初中英语单词)
- peculiar [pi´kju:liə] a.特有的；奇异的 (初中英语单词)
- venture [´ventʃə] n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词)
- disturb [di´stə:b] vt.扰乱；使不安；打乱 (初中英语单词)
- cathedral [kə´θi:drəl] n.大教堂 (初中英语单词)
- moonlight [´mu:nlait] n.&a.月光(的) (初中英语单词)
- solemn [´sɔləm] a.严肃的；隆重的 (初中英语单词)
- orderly [´ɔ:dəli] a.整洁的 n.勤务兵 (初中英语单词)
- astonish [ə´stɔniʃ] vt.使惊讶；使惊异 (初中英语单词)
- useless [´ju:sləs] a.无用的，无价值的 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- constant [´kɔnstənt] a.坚定的；坚贞的 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)
- delegate [´deligət] vt.派...为代表 n.代表 (初中英语单词)
- interfere [,intə´fiə] vi.干涉；妨碍；打扰 (初中英语单词)
- dispute [di´spju:t] v.&n.争论，辩论；争吵 (初中英语单词)
- accuse [ə´kju:z] vt.谴责；控告，告发 (初中英语单词)
- permission [pə´miʃən] n.允许；同意；许可 (初中英语单词)
- resist [ri´zist] v.抵抗；对抗；抵制 (初中英语单词)
- convey [kən´vei] vt.运送；传达；转让 (初中英语单词)
- greedily [´gri:dili] ad.贪婪地 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)
- estate [i´steit] n.财产；庄园；等级 (初中英语单词)
- gigantic [dʒai´gæntik] a.巨大的 (高中英语单词)
- goodly [´gudli] a.适意的；漂亮的 (高中英语单词)
- charity [´tʃæriti] n.施舍；慈悲；博爱 (高中英语单词)
- decent [´di:sənt] a.体面的，正派的 (高中英语单词)
- batter [´bætə] v.乱轰；磨损(家具等) (高中英语单词)
- indifferent [in´difrənt] a.不关心的；中立的 (高中英语单词)
- imaginary [i´mædʒinəri] a.想象的；虚构的 (高中英语单词)
- melody [´melədi] n.悦耳的音调；乐曲 (高中英语单词)
- strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)
- petition [pi´tiʃən] n.请愿 vt.向...请愿 (高中英语单词)
- toilet [´tɔilit] n.梳妆(台)；卫生间 (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- affectionate [ə´fekʃənit] a.亲爱的 (高中英语单词)
- reverence [´revərəns] n.尊敬；敬畏；尊严 (高中英语单词)
- shovel [´ʃʌvəl] n.铲子；铁锹 (高中英语单词)
- hallowed [´hæləud] a.神圣的，崇高的 (英语四级单词)
- precinct [´pri:siŋkt] n.(教堂等的)围地 (英语四级单词)
- remorse [ri´mɔ:s] n.懊悔；自责；同情 (英语四级单词)
- rightly [´raitli] ad.正义地；正确地 (英语四级单词)
- intricate [´intrikit] a.错综复杂的；难懂的 (英语四级单词)
- warden [´wɔ:dn] n.看守人；监护人 (英语四级单词)
- fiddle [´fidl] n.小提琴 v.拉提琴 (英语四级单词)
- sundry [´sʌndri] a.各式各样的，各式的 (英语四级单词)
- consolation [,kɔnsə´leiʃən] n.安慰，慰问 (英语四级单词)
- grating [´greitiŋ] n.格栅 a.刺耳的 (英语四级单词)
- breeches [´britʃiz] n.裤子；马裤 (英语四级单词)
- relent [ri´lent] vi.发慈悲心；怜悯 (英语六级单词)
- disfigure [dis´figə] vt.损毁(外貌)；使丑陋 (英语六级单词)
- scruple [´skru:pəl] n.&v.犹豫；顾忌 (英语六级单词)
- labyrinth [´læbərinθ] 迷宫；错综复杂之事件 (英语六级单词)
- sorely [´sɔ:li] ad.痛苦地；剧烈地 (英语六级单词)
- trusting [´trʌstiŋ] a.信任的；相信的 (英语六级单词)
- waistcoat [´weskət, ´weiskəut] n.背心，马甲 (英语六级单词)
- speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)
- retired [ri´taiəd] a.退休的；通职的 (英语六级单词)
- fitting [´fitiŋ] a.适当的 n.试衣 (英语六级单词)
- admirably [´ædmərəbli] ad.令人钦佩地；极妙地 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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