章节正文
precentorship. The income of this office will now be necessary to
me; indeed, I do not know why I should be ashamed to say
that I should have difficulty in supporting myself without it.
'Your Lordship, and such others as you may please to
consult on the matter, will at once see that my resignation" target="_blank" title="n.辞职(书)；放弃；顺从">resignation of the
wardenship need offer not the slightest bar to its occupation
by another person. I am thought in the wrong by all those
whom I have consulted in the matter; I have very little but
an inward and an unguided conviction of my own to bring me
to this step, and I shall, indeed, be hurt to find that any slur
is thrown on the preferment which your kindness bestowed
on me, by my resignation" target="_blank" title="n.辞职(书)；放弃；顺从">resignation of it. I, at any rate for one, shall
look on any successor whom you may appoint as enjoying a
clerical situation of the highest respectability, and one to
which your Lordship's nomination gives an indefeasible right.
'I cannot finish this official letter without again thanking
your Lordship for all your great kindness, and I beg to
subscribe myself- -Your Lordship's most obedient servant
'SEPTIMUS HARDING,
'Warden of Barchester Hospital,
and Precentor of the Cathedral.'
He then wrote the following private note:
'My DEAR BISHOP,
'I cannot send you the accompanying official letter without
a warmer expression of thanks for all your kindness than would
befit a document which may to a certain degree be made
public. You, I know, will understand the feeling, and, perhaps,
pity the weakness which makes me resign the hospital. I am not
made of calibre strong enough to withstand public attack. Were
I convinced that I stood on ground perfectly firm, that I was
certainly justified in taking eight hundred a year under Hiram's
will, I should feel bound by duty to retain the position, however
unendurable might be the nature of the assault; but, as I do
not feel this conviction, I cannot believe that you will think me
wrong in what I am doing.
'I had at one time an idea of keeping only some moderate
portion of the income; perhaps three hundred a year, and of
remitting the remainder to the trustees; but it occurred to
me, and I think with reason, that by so doing I should place
my successors in an invidious position, and greatly damage
your patronage.
'My dear friend, let me have a line from you to say that you
do not blame me for what I am doing, and that the officiating
vicar of Crabtree Parva will be the same to you as the warden
of the hospital.
'I am very anxious about the precentorship: the archdeacon
thinks it must go with the wardenship; I think not, and, that,
having it, I cannot be ousted. I will, however, be guided
by you and the dean. No other duty will suit me so well,
or come so much within my power of adequate performance.
'I thank you from my heart for the preferment which I am
now giving up, and for all your kindness, and am, dear bishop,
now as always-- Yours most sincerely,
'SEPTIMUS HARDING
'LONDON, - AUGUST, 18--'
Having written these letters and made a copy of the former
one for the benefit of the archdeacon, Mr Harding, whom we
must now cease to call the warden, he having designated himself
so for the last time, found that it was nearly two o'clock,
and that he must prepare for his journey. Yes, from this time
he never again admitted the name by which he had been so
familiarly known, and in which, to tell the truth, he had
rejoiced. The love of titles is common to all men, and a vicar
or fellow is as pleased at becoming Mr Archdeacon or Mr
Provost, as a lieutenant at getting his captaincy, or a city
tallow-chandler in becoming Sir John on the occasion of a
Queen's visit to a new bridge. But warden he was no longer,
and the name of precentor, though the office was to him so
dear, confers in itself no sufficient distinction; our friend,
therefore, again became Mr Harding.
Mrs Grantly had gone out; he had, therefore, no one to
delay him by further entreaties to postpone his journey; he
had soon arranged his bag, and paid his bill, and, leaving a
note for his daughter, in which he put the copy of his official
letter, he got into a cab and drove away to the station with
something of triumph in his heart.
Had he not cause for triumph? Had he not been supremely
successful? Had he not for the first time in his life held his
own purpose against that of his son-in-law, and manfully combated
against great odds--against the archdeacon's wife as well
as the archdeacon? Had he not gained a great victory, and
was it not fit that he should step into his cab with triumph?
He had not told Eleanor when he would return, but she was
on the look-out for him by every train by which he could
arrive, and the pony-carriage was at the Barchester station
when the train drew up at the platform.
'My dear,' said he, sitting beside her, as she steered her
little vessel to one side of the road to make room for the
clattering omnibus as they passed from the station into the town,
'I hope you'll be able to feel a proper degree of respect for the
vicar of Crabtree.'
'Dear papa,' said she, 'I am so glad.'
There was great comfort in returning home to that pleasant
house, though he was to leave it so soon, and in discussing with
his daughter all that he had done, and all that he had to do.
It must take some time to get out of one house into another;
the curate at Crabtree could not be abolished under six
months, that is, unless other provision could be made for him;
and then the furniture--the most of that must be sold to pay
Sir Abraham Haphazard for sitting up till twelve at night.
Mr Harding was strangelyignorant as to lawyers' bills; he
had no idea, from twenty pounds to two thousand, as to the
sum in which he was indebted for legal assistance. True, he
had called in no lawyer himself; true, he had been no consenting
party to the employment of either Cox and Cummins,
or Sir Abraham; he had never been consulted on such
matters;--the archdeacon had managed all this himself, never
for a moment suspecting that Mr Harding would take upon
him to end the matter in a way of his own. Had the lawyers'
bills been ten thousand pounds, Mr Harding could not have
helped it; but he was not on that account disposed to dispute
his own liability. The question never occurred to him; but it
did occur to him that he had very little money at his banker's,
that he could receive nothing further from the hospital, and
that the sale of the furniture was his only resource.
'Not all, papa,' said Eleanor pleadingly.
'Not quite all, my dear,' said he; 'that is, if we can help it.
We must have a little at Crabtree--but it can only be a little;
we must put a bold front on it, Nelly; it isn't easy to come
down from affluence to poverty.'
And so they planned their future mode of life; the father
taking comfort from the reflection that his daughter would
soon be freed from it, and she resolving that her father would
soon have in her own house a ready means of escape from the
solitude of the Crabtree vicarage.
When the archdeacon left his wife and father-in-law at the
Chapter Coffee House to go to Messrs Cox and Cummins, he
had no very defined idea of what he had to do when he got
there. Gentlemen when at law, or in any way engaged in
matters requiring legal assistance, are very apt to go to their
lawyers without much absolute necessity;--gentlemen when
doing so, are apt to describe such attendance as quite
compulsory, and very disagreeable. The lawyers, on the other
hand, do not at all see the necessity, though they quite agree as
to the disagreeable nature of the visit;--gentlemen when so
engaged are usually somewhat gravelled at finding nothing to
say to their learned friends; they generally talk a little politics,
a little weather, ask some few foolish questions about their suit,
and then withdraw, having passed half an hour in a small
dingy waiting-room, in company with some junior assistant-
clerk, and ten minutes with the members of the firm; the
business is then over for which the gentleman has come up to
London, probably a distance of a hundred and fifty miles.
To be sure he goes to the play, and dines at his friend's club,
and has a bachelor's liberty and bachelor's recreation for three
or four days; and he could not probably plead the desire of such
gratifications as a reason to his wife for a trip to London.
Married ladies, when your husbands find they are positively
obliged to attend their legal advisers, the nature of the duty
to be performed is generally of this description.
The archdeacon would not have dreamt of leaving London
without going to Cox and Cummins; and yet he had nothing
to say to them. The game was up; he plainly saw that Mr
Harding in this matter was not to be moved; his only remaining
business on this head was to pay the bill and have done
with it; and I think it may be taken for granted, that whatever
the cause may be that takes a gentleman to a lawyer's chambers,
he never goes there to pay his bill.
Dr Grantly, however, in the eyes of Messrs Cox and Cummins,
represented the spiritualities of the diocese of Barchester,
as Mr Chadwick did the temporalities, and was, therefore, too
great a man to undergo the half-hour in the clerk's room. It
will not be necessary that we should listen to the notes of
sorrow in which the archdeacon bewailed to Mr Cox the weakness
of his father-in-law, and the end of all their hopes of
triumph; nor need we repeat the various exclamations of
surprise with which the mournfulintelligence was received.
No tragedy occurred, though Mr Cox, a short and somewhat
bull-necked man, was very near a fit of apoplexy when he first
attempted to ejaculate that fatal word--resign!
Over and over again did Mr Cox attempt to enforce on the
archdeacon the propriety of urging on Mr Warden the madness
of the deed he was about to do.
'Eight hundred a year!' said Mr Cox.
'And nothing whatever to do!' said Mr Cummins, who had
joined the conference.
'No private fortune, I believe,' said Mr Cox.
'Not a shilling,' said Mr Cummins, in a very low voice,
shaking his head.
'I never heard of such a case in all my experience,' said
Mr Cox.
'Eight hundred a year, and as nice a house as any gentleman
could wish to hang up his hat in,' said Mr Cummins.
'And an unmarried daughter, I believe,' said Mr Cox, with
much moral seriousness in his tone. The archdeacon only
sighed as each separate wail was uttered, and shook his head,
signifying that the fatuity of some people was past belief.
'I'll tell you what he might do,' said Mr Cummins, brightening
up. 'I'll tell you how you might save it--let him exchange.'
'Exchange where?' said the archdeacon.
'Exchange for a living. There's Quiverful, of Puddingdale
--he has twelve children, and would be delighted to get the
hospital. To be sure Puddingdale is only four hundred, but
that would be saving something out of the fire: Mr Harding
would have a curate, and still keep three hundred or three
hundred and fifty.'
The archdeacon opened his ears and listened; he really
thought the scheme might do.
'The newspapers,' continued Mr Cummins, 'might hammer
away at Quiverful every day for the next six months without
his minding them.'
me; indeed, I do not know why I should be ashamed to say
that I should have difficulty in supporting myself without it.
'Your Lordship, and such others as you may please to
consult on the matter, will at once see that my resignation" target="_blank" title="n.辞职(书)；放弃；顺从">resignation of the
wardenship need offer not the slightest bar to its occupation
by another person. I am thought in the wrong by all those
whom I have consulted in the matter; I have very little but
an inward and an unguided conviction of my own to bring me
to this step, and I shall, indeed, be hurt to find that any slur
is thrown on the preferment which your kindness bestowed
on me, by my resignation" target="_blank" title="n.辞职(书)；放弃；顺从">resignation of it. I, at any rate for one, shall
look on any successor whom you may appoint as enjoying a
clerical situation of the highest respectability, and one to
which your Lordship's nomination gives an indefeasible right.
'I cannot finish this official letter without again thanking
your Lordship for all your great kindness, and I beg to
subscribe myself- -Your Lordship's most obedient servant
'SEPTIMUS HARDING,
'Warden of Barchester Hospital,
and Precentor of the Cathedral.'
He then wrote the following private note:
'My DEAR BISHOP,
'I cannot send you the accompanying official letter without
a warmer expression of thanks for all your kindness than would
befit a document which may to a certain degree be made
public. You, I know, will understand the feeling, and, perhaps,
pity the weakness which makes me resign the hospital. I am not
made of calibre strong enough to withstand public attack. Were
I convinced that I stood on ground perfectly firm, that I was
certainly justified in taking eight hundred a year under Hiram's
will, I should feel bound by duty to retain the position, however
unendurable might be the nature of the assault; but, as I do
not feel this conviction, I cannot believe that you will think me
wrong in what I am doing.
'I had at one time an idea of keeping only some moderate
portion of the income; perhaps three hundred a year, and of
remitting the remainder to the trustees; but it occurred to
me, and I think with reason, that by so doing I should place
my successors in an invidious position, and greatly damage
your patronage.
'My dear friend, let me have a line from you to say that you
do not blame me for what I am doing, and that the officiating
vicar of Crabtree Parva will be the same to you as the warden
of the hospital.
'I am very anxious about the precentorship: the archdeacon
thinks it must go with the wardenship; I think not, and, that,
having it, I cannot be ousted. I will, however, be guided
by you and the dean. No other duty will suit me so well,
or come so much within my power of adequate performance.
'I thank you from my heart for the preferment which I am
now giving up, and for all your kindness, and am, dear bishop,
now as always-- Yours most sincerely,
'SEPTIMUS HARDING
'LONDON, - AUGUST, 18--'
Having written these letters and made a copy of the former
one for the benefit of the archdeacon, Mr Harding, whom we
must now cease to call the warden, he having designated himself
so for the last time, found that it was nearly two o'clock,
and that he must prepare for his journey. Yes, from this time
he never again admitted the name by which he had been so
familiarly known, and in which, to tell the truth, he had
rejoiced. The love of titles is common to all men, and a vicar
or fellow is as pleased at becoming Mr Archdeacon or Mr
Provost, as a lieutenant at getting his captaincy, or a city
tallow-chandler in becoming Sir John on the occasion of a
Queen's visit to a new bridge. But warden he was no longer,
and the name of precentor, though the office was to him so
dear, confers in itself no sufficient distinction; our friend,
therefore, again became Mr Harding.
Mrs Grantly had gone out; he had, therefore, no one to
delay him by further entreaties to postpone his journey; he
had soon arranged his bag, and paid his bill, and, leaving a
note for his daughter, in which he put the copy of his official
letter, he got into a cab and drove away to the station with
something of triumph in his heart.
Had he not cause for triumph? Had he not been supremely
successful? Had he not for the first time in his life held his
own purpose against that of his son-in-law, and manfully combated
against great odds--against the archdeacon's wife as well
as the archdeacon? Had he not gained a great victory, and
was it not fit that he should step into his cab with triumph?
He had not told Eleanor when he would return, but she was
on the look-out for him by every train by which he could
arrive, and the pony-carriage was at the Barchester station
when the train drew up at the platform.
'My dear,' said he, sitting beside her, as she steered her
little vessel to one side of the road to make room for the
clattering omnibus as they passed from the station into the town,
'I hope you'll be able to feel a proper degree of respect for the
vicar of Crabtree.'
'Dear papa,' said she, 'I am so glad.'
There was great comfort in returning home to that pleasant
house, though he was to leave it so soon, and in discussing with
his daughter all that he had done, and all that he had to do.
It must take some time to get out of one house into another;
the curate at Crabtree could not be abolished under six
months, that is, unless other provision could be made for him;
and then the furniture--the most of that must be sold to pay
Sir Abraham Haphazard for sitting up till twelve at night.
Mr Harding was strangelyignorant as to lawyers' bills; he
had no idea, from twenty pounds to two thousand, as to the
sum in which he was indebted for legal assistance. True, he
had called in no lawyer himself; true, he had been no consenting
party to the employment of either Cox and Cummins,
or Sir Abraham; he had never been consulted on such
matters;--the archdeacon had managed all this himself, never
for a moment suspecting that Mr Harding would take upon
him to end the matter in a way of his own. Had the lawyers'
bills been ten thousand pounds, Mr Harding could not have
helped it; but he was not on that account disposed to dispute
his own liability. The question never occurred to him; but it
did occur to him that he had very little money at his banker's,
that he could receive nothing further from the hospital, and
that the sale of the furniture was his only resource.
'Not all, papa,' said Eleanor pleadingly.
'Not quite all, my dear,' said he; 'that is, if we can help it.
We must have a little at Crabtree--but it can only be a little;
we must put a bold front on it, Nelly; it isn't easy to come
down from affluence to poverty.'
And so they planned their future mode of life; the father
taking comfort from the reflection that his daughter would
soon be freed from it, and she resolving that her father would
soon have in her own house a ready means of escape from the
solitude of the Crabtree vicarage.
When the archdeacon left his wife and father-in-law at the
Chapter Coffee House to go to Messrs Cox and Cummins, he
had no very defined idea of what he had to do when he got
there. Gentlemen when at law, or in any way engaged in
matters requiring legal assistance, are very apt to go to their
lawyers without much absolute necessity;--gentlemen when
doing so, are apt to describe such attendance as quite
compulsory, and very disagreeable. The lawyers, on the other
hand, do not at all see the necessity, though they quite agree as
to the disagreeable nature of the visit;--gentlemen when so
engaged are usually somewhat gravelled at finding nothing to
say to their learned friends; they generally talk a little politics,
a little weather, ask some few foolish questions about their suit,
and then withdraw, having passed half an hour in a small
dingy waiting-room, in company with some junior assistant-
clerk, and ten minutes with the members of the firm; the
business is then over for which the gentleman has come up to
London, probably a distance of a hundred and fifty miles.
To be sure he goes to the play, and dines at his friend's club,
and has a bachelor's liberty and bachelor's recreation for three
or four days; and he could not probably plead the desire of such
gratifications as a reason to his wife for a trip to London.
Married ladies, when your husbands find they are positively
obliged to attend their legal advisers, the nature of the duty
to be performed is generally of this description.
The archdeacon would not have dreamt of leaving London
without going to Cox and Cummins; and yet he had nothing
to say to them. The game was up; he plainly saw that Mr
Harding in this matter was not to be moved; his only remaining
business on this head was to pay the bill and have done
with it; and I think it may be taken for granted, that whatever
the cause may be that takes a gentleman to a lawyer's chambers,
he never goes there to pay his bill.
Dr Grantly, however, in the eyes of Messrs Cox and Cummins,
represented the spiritualities of the diocese of Barchester,
as Mr Chadwick did the temporalities, and was, therefore, too
great a man to undergo the half-hour in the clerk's room. It
will not be necessary that we should listen to the notes of
sorrow in which the archdeacon bewailed to Mr Cox the weakness
of his father-in-law, and the end of all their hopes of
triumph; nor need we repeat the various exclamations of
surprise with which the mournfulintelligence was received.
No tragedy occurred, though Mr Cox, a short and somewhat
bull-necked man, was very near a fit of apoplexy when he first
attempted to ejaculate that fatal word--resign!
Over and over again did Mr Cox attempt to enforce on the
archdeacon the propriety of urging on Mr Warden the madness
of the deed he was about to do.
'Eight hundred a year!' said Mr Cox.
'And nothing whatever to do!' said Mr Cummins, who had
joined the conference.
'No private fortune, I believe,' said Mr Cox.
'Not a shilling,' said Mr Cummins, in a very low voice,
shaking his head.
'I never heard of such a case in all my experience,' said
Mr Cox.
'Eight hundred a year, and as nice a house as any gentleman
could wish to hang up his hat in,' said Mr Cummins.
'And an unmarried daughter, I believe,' said Mr Cox, with
much moral seriousness in his tone. The archdeacon only
sighed as each separate wail was uttered, and shook his head,
signifying that the fatuity of some people was past belief.
'I'll tell you what he might do,' said Mr Cummins, brightening
up. 'I'll tell you how you might save it--let him exchange.'
'Exchange where?' said the archdeacon.
'Exchange for a living. There's Quiverful, of Puddingdale
--he has twelve children, and would be delighted to get the
hospital. To be sure Puddingdale is only four hundred, but
that would be saving something out of the fire: Mr Harding
would have a curate, and still keep three hundred or three
hundred and fifty.'
The archdeacon opened his ears and listened; he really
thought the scheme might do.
'The newspapers,' continued Mr Cummins, 'might hammer
away at Quiverful every day for the next six months without
his minding them.'
- income [´inkʌm]
n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词) - ashamed [ə´ʃeimd] a.惭愧；不好意思 (初中英语单词)
- conviction [kən´vikʃən] n.定罪；确信，信服 (初中英语单词)
- appoint [ə´pɔint] vt.安排；委派；任命 (初中英语单词)
- weakness [´wi:knis] n.虚弱；弱点，缺点 (初中英语单词)
- resign [ri´zain] v.辞职；放弃；委托 (初中英语单词)
- retain [ri´tein] vt.保持；保留；留住 (初中英语单词)
- assault [ə´sɔ:lt] vt.袭击；殴打 n.攻击 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- adequate [´ædikwit] a.足够的；适当的 (初中英语单词)
- lieutenant [lef´tenənt] n.陆军中尉；代理；副手 (初中英语单词)
- distinction [di´stiŋkʃən] n.差别；特征；卓越 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- postpone [pəust´pəun] v.延迟；搁置；延缓发作 (初中英语单词)
- triumph [´traiəmf] n.胜利 vi.得胜，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- vessel [´vesəl] n.容器；船；脉管 (初中英语单词)
- provision [prə´viʒən] n.供应；规定；条款 (初中英语单词)
- strangely [´streindʒli] ad.奇怪地；陌生地 (初中英语单词)
- ignorant [´ignərənt] a.无知的，愚昧的 (初中英语单词)
- assistance [ə´sistəns] n.协作；援助；帮助 (初中英语单词)
- lawyer [´lɔ:jə] n.律师；法学家 (初中英语单词)
- employment [im´plɔimənt] n.工作；职业；雇用 (初中英语单词)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
- reflection [ri´flekʃən] n.反射；映象；想法 (初中英语单词)
- absolute [´æbsəlu:t] a.绝对的 n.绝对 (初中英语单词)
- withdraw [wið´drɔ:] v.收回；撤销；撤退 (初中英语单词)
- junior [´dʒu:niə] a.年少的 n.年少者 (初中英语单词)
- plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)
- undergo [,ʌndə´gəu] vt.经历(受)；遭受 (初中英语单词)
- intelligence [in´telidʒəns] n.智力；消息 (初中英语单词)
- tragedy [´trædʒidi] n.悲剧；惨案；灾难 (初中英语单词)
- enforce [in´fɔ:s] vt.执行；强迫；加强 (初中英语单词)
- whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
- scheme [ski:m] n.计划；阴谋，诡计 (初中英语单词)
- lordship [´lɔ:dʃip] n.贵族权力；阁下 (高中英语单词)
- resignation [,rezig´neiʃən] n.辞职(书)；放弃；顺从 (高中英语单词)
- inward [´inwəd] a.向内的；心灵上的 (高中英语单词)
- successor [sək´sesə] n.继承人，接班人 (高中英语单词)
- nomination [,nɔmi´neiʃən] n.提名(权)；任命(权) (高中英语单词)
- document [´dɔkjumənt] n.公文；文件；证件 (高中英语单词)
- perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)
- remainder [ri´meində] n.剩余物；残余部分 (高中英语单词)
- disagreeable [,disə´gri:əbl] a.令人不悦的 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- recreation [,rekri´eiʃən] n.消遣；休养 (高中英语单词)
- obedient [ə´bi:djənt] a.服从的，恭顺的 (英语四级单词)
- withstand [wið´stænd] vt.抵抗，经得起 (英语四级单词)
- warden [´wɔ:dn] n.看守人；监护人 (英语四级单词)
- bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
- liability [,laiə´biliti] n.责任 负债 (英语四级单词)
- mournful [´mɔ:nful] a.令人沮丧的 (英语四级单词)
- unmarried [,ʌn´mærid] a.未婚的，独身的 (英语四级单词)
- delighted [di´laitid] a.高兴的；喜欢的 (英语四级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
- indebted [in´detid] a.负债的；感恩的 (英语六级单词)
- half-hour [´hɑ:f-auə] n.&a.(每)三十分钟的 (英语六级单词)
- propriety [prə´praiəti] n.正当；合适；礼貌 (英语六级单词)
- seriousness [´siəriəsnis] n.严肃，认真；重要性 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
