.“
Who
was
he
?
”
“
Oh
!
a
dreadful
man
!
A
Scotchman
,
richer
than
Croesus
,
one
McDruggy
,
fresh
from
Canton
,
with
a
million
of
opium
in
each
pocket
,
denouncing
corruption
,
and
bellowing
free
trade
.
”
“
But
they
do
not
care
much
for
free
trade
in
the
old
borough
?
”
said
Lord
Marney
.
“
No
,
it
was
a
mistake
,
”
said
Egremont
,
“
and
the
cry
was
changed
the
moment
my
opponent
was
on
the
ground
.
Then
all
the
town
was
placarded
with
‘Vote
for
McDruggy
and
our
young
Queen
,
’
as
if
he
had
coalesced
with
her
Majesty
.
”
“
My
mother
must
have
been
in
despair
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
.
“
We
issued
our
placard
instantly
of
‘Vote
for
our
young
Queen
and
Egremont
,
’
which
was
at
least
more
modest
,
and
turned
out
more
popular
.
”
“
That
I
am
sure
was
my
mother
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
.
“
No
,
”
said
Egremont
;
“
it
was
the
effusion
of
a
far
more
experienced
mind
.
My
mother
was
in
hourly
communication
with
head
quarters
,
and
Mr
Taper
sent
down
the
cry
by
express
.
”
“
Peel
,
in
or
out
,
will
support
the
Poor
Law
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
,
rather
audaciously
,
as
he
reseated
himself
after
the
ladies
had
retired
.
“
He
must
;
”
and
he
looked
at
his
brother
,
whose
return
had
in
a
great
degree
been
secured
by
crying
that
Poor
Law
down
.
“
It
is
impossible
,
”
said
Charles
,
fresh
from
the
hustings
,
and
speaking
from
the
card
of
Taper
,
for
the
condition
of
the
people
was
a
subject
of
which
he
knew
nothing
.
“
He
will
carry
it
out
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
,
“
you’ll
see
,
or
the
land
will
not
support
him
.
”
“
I
wish
,
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
,
“
we
could
manage
some
modification
about
out-door
relief
.
”
“
Modification
!
”
said
Lord
Marney
;
“
why
there
has
been
nothing
but
modification
.
What
we
want
is
stringency
.
”
“
The
people
will
never
bear
it
,
”
said
Egremont
;
“
there
must
be
some
change
.
”
“
You
cannot
go
back
to
the
abuses
of
the
old
system
,
”
said
Captain
Grouse
,
making
,
as
he
thought
,
a
safe
observation
.
“
Better
go
back
to
the
old
system
,
than
modify
the
new
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
.
“
I
wish
the
people
would
take
to
it
a
little
more
,
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
;
“
they
certainly
do
not
like
it
in
our
parish
.
”
“
The
people
are
very
contented
here
,
eh
Slimsey
?
”
said
Lord
Marney
.
“
Very
,
”
said
the
vicar
.
Hereupon
a
conversation
took
place
,
principally
sustained
by
the
earl
and
the
baronet
,
which
developed
all
the
resources
of
the
great
parochial
mind
.
Dietaries
,
bastardy
,
gaol
regulations
,
game
laws
,
were
amply
discussed
;
and
Lord
Marney
wound
up
with
a
declaration
of
the
means
by
which
the
country
might
be
saved
,
and
which
seemed
principally
to
consist
of
high
prices
and
low
church
.
“
If
the
sovereign
could
only
know
her
best
friends
,
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
,
with
a
sigh
.
Lord
Marney
seemed
to
get
uneasy
.
“
And
avoid
the
fatal
mistakes
of
her
predecessor
,
”
continued
the
baronet
.
“
Charles
,
another
glass
of
claret
,
”
said
the
earl
.
“
She
might
yet
rally
round
the
throne
a
body
of
men
”
—
“
Then
we
will
go
to
the
ladies
,
”
said
the
earl
,
abruptly
disturbing
his
guest
.
CHAPTER
II
.
There
was
music
as
they
re-entered
the
drawing-room
.
Sir
Vavasour
attached
himself
to
Egremont
.
“
It
is
a
great
pleasure
for
me
to
see
you
again
,
Mr
Egremont
;
”
said
the
worthy
baronet
.
“
Your
father
was
my
earliest
and
kindest
friend
.
I
remember
you
at
Firebrace
,
a
very
little
boy
.
Happy
to
see
you
again
,
Sir
,
in
so
eminent
a
position
;
a
legislator
—
one
of
our
legislators
.
It
gave
me
a
sincere
satisfaction
to
observe
your
return
.
”
“
You
are
very
kind
,
Sir
Vavasour
.
”
“
But
it
is
a
responsible
position
,
”
continued
the
baronet
.
“
Think
you
they’ll
stand
?
A
majority
.
I
suppose
,
they
have
;
but
,
I
conclude
,
in
time
;
Sir
Robert
will
have
it
in
time
?
We
must
not
be
in
a
hurry
;
‘the
more
haste’
—
you
know
the
rest
.
The
country
is
decidedly
conservative
.
All
that
we
want
now
is
a
strong
government
,
that
will
put
all
things
to
rights
.
If
the
poor
king
had
lived
—
”
“
He
would
have
sent
these
men
to
the
right-abouts
;
”
said
Egremont
,
a
young
politician
,
proud
of
his
secret
intelligence
.
“
Ah
!
the
poor
king
!
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
,
shaking
his
head
.
“
He
was
entirely
with
us
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
Poor
man
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
.
“
You
think
it
was
too
late
,
then
?
”
said
his
companion
.
“
You
are
a
young
man
entering
political
life
,
”
said
the
baronet
,
taking
Egremont
kindly
by
the
arm
,
and
leading
him
to
a
sofa
;
“
everything
depends
on
the
first
step
.
You
have
a
great
opportunity
.
Nothing
can
be
done
by
a
mere
individual
.
The
most
powerful
body
in
this
country
wants
a
champion
.
”
“
But
you
can
depend
on
Peel
?
”
said
Egremont
.
“
He
is
one
of
us
:
we
ought
to
be
able
to
depend
on
him
.
But
I
have
spoken
to
him
for
an
hour
,
and
could
get
nothing
out
of
him
.
”
“
He
is
cautious
;
but
depend
upon
it
,
he
will
stand
or
fall
by
the
land
.
”
“
I
am
not
thinking
of
the
land
,
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
;
“
of
something
much
more
important
;
with
all
the
influence
of
the
land
,
and
a
great
deal
more
besides
;
of
an
order
of
men
who
are
ready
to
rally
round
the
throne
,
and
are
,
indeed
,
if
justice
were
done
to
them
,
its
natural
and
hereditary
champions
(
Egremont
looked
perplexity
)
;
I
am
speaking
,
”
added
Sir
Vavasour
,
in
a
solemn
voice
,
“
I
am
speaking
of
the
baronets
.
”
“
The
baronets
!
And
what
do
they
want
?
”
“
Their
rights
;
their
long
withheld
rights
.
The
poor
king
was
with
us
.
He
has
frequently
expressed
to
me
and
other
deputies
,
his
determination
to
do
us
justice
;
but
he
was
not
a
strong-minded
man
,
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
,
with
a
sigh
;
“
and
in
these
revolutionary
and
levelling
times
,
he
had
a
hard
task
perhaps
.
And
the
peers
,
who
are
our
brethren
,
they
were
,
I
fear
,
against
us
.
But
in
spite
of
the
ministers
,
and
in
spite
of
the
peers
,
had
the
poor
king
lived
,
we
should
at
least
have
had
the
badge
,
”
added
Sir
Vavasour
mournfully
.
“
The
badge
!
”
“
It
would
have
satisfied
Sir
Grosvenor
le
Draughte
,
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
;
“
and
he
had
a
strong
party
with
him
;
he
was
for
compromise
,
but
d
—
him
,
his
father
was
only
an
accoucheur
.
”
“
And
you
wanted
more
?
”
inquired
Egremont
,
with
a
demure
look
.
“
All
,
or
nothing
,
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
;
“
principle
is
ever
my
motto
—
no
expediency
.
I
made
a
speech
to
the
order
at
the
Clarendon
;
there
were
four
hundred
of
us
;
the
feeling
was
very
strong
.
”
“
A
powerful
party
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
And
a
military
order
,
sir
,
if
properly
understood
.
What
could
stand
against
us
?
The
Reform
Bill
could
never
have
passed
if
the
baronets
had
been
organized
.
”
“
I
have
no
doubt
you
could
bring
us
in
now
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
That
is
exactly
what
I
told
Sir
Robert
.
I
want
him
to
be
brought
in
by
his
own
order
.
It
would
be
a
grand
thing
.
”
“
There
is
nothing
like
esprit
de
corps
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
And
such
a
body
!
”
exclaimed
Sir
Vavasour
,
with
animation
.
“
Picture
us
for
a
moment
,
to
yourself
going
down
in
procession
to
Westminster
for
example
to
hold
a
chapter
.
Five
or
six
hundred
baronets
in
dark
green
costume
,
—
the
appropriate
dress
of
equites
aurati
;
each
not
only
with
his
badge
,
but
with
his
collar
of
S.S.
;
belted
and
scarfed
;
his
star
glittering
;
his
pennon
flying
;
his
hat
white
with
a
plume
of
white
feathers
;
of
course
the
sword
and
the
gilt
spurs
.
In
our
hand
,
the
thumb
ring
and
signet
not
forgotten
,
we
hold
our
coronet
of
two
balls
!
”
Egremont
stared
with
irrepressible
astonishment
at
the
excited
being
,
who
unconsciously
pressed
his
companion’s
arm
,
as
he
drew
this
rapid
sketch
of
the
glories
so
unconstitutionally
withheld
from
him
.
“
A
magnificent
spectacle
!
”
said
Egremont
.
“
Evidently
the
body
destined
to
save
this
country
,
”
eagerly
continued
Sir
Vavasour
.
“
Blending
all
sympathies
:
the
crown
of
which
they
are
the
peculiar
champions
;
the
nobles
of
whom
they
are
the
popular
branch
;
the
people
who
recognize
in
them
their
natural
leaders
.
But
the
picture
is
not
complete
.
We
should
be
accompanied
by
an
equal
number
of
gallant
knights
,
our
elder
sons
,
who
,
the
moment
they
come
of
age
,
have
the
right
to
claim
knighthood
of
their
sovereign
,
while
their
mothers
and
wives
,
no
longer
degraded
to
the
nomenclature
of
a
sheriff’s
lady
,
but
resuming
their
legal
or
analogical
dignities
,
and
styled
the
‘honourable
baronetess
,
’
with
her
coronet
and
robe
,
or
the
‘honourable
knightess
,
’
with
her
golden
collar
of
S.S.
,
and
chaplet
or
cap
of
dignity
,
may
either
accompany
the
procession
,
or
ranged
in
galleries
in
a
becoming
situation
,
rain
influence
from
above
.
”
“
I
am
all
for
their
going
in
the
procession
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
The
point
is
not
so
clear
,
”
said
Sir
Vavasour
solemnly
;
“
and
indeed
,
although
we
have
been
firm
in
defining
our
rightful
claims
in
our
petitions
,
as
for
‘honorary
epithets
,
secondary
titles
,
personal
decorations
,
and
augmented
heraldic
bearings.’
I
am
not
clear
if
the
government
evinced
a
disposition
for
a
liberal
settlement
of
the
question
,
I
would
not
urge
a
too
stringent
adherence
to
every
point
.
For
instance
,
I
am
prepared
myself
,
great
as
would
be
the
sacrifice
,
even
to
renounce
the
claim
of
secondary
titles
for
our
eldest
sons
,
if
for
instance
they
would
secure
us
our
coronet
.
”
“
Fie
,
fie
,
Sir
Vavasour
,
”
said
Egremont
very
seriously
,
“
remember
principle
:
no
expediency
,
no
compromise
.
”
“
You
are
right
,
”
said
the
baronet
,
colouring
a
little
;
“
and
do
you
know
,
Mr
Egremont
,
you
are
the
only
individual
I
have
yet
met
out
of
the
Order
,
who
has
taken
a
sensible
view
of
this
great
question
,
which
,
after
all
,
is
the
question
of
the
day
.
”
CHAPTER
III
.
The
situation
of
the
rural
town
of
Marney
was
one
of
the
most
delightful
easily
to
be
imagined
.
In
a
spreading
dale
,
contiguous
to
the
margin
of
a
clear
and
lively
stream
,
surrounded
by
meadows
and
gardens
,
and
backed
by
lofty
hills
,
undulating
and
richly
wooded
,
the
traveller
on
the
opposite
heights
of
the
dale
would
often
stop
to
admire
the
merry
prospect
,
that
recalled
to
him
the
traditional
epithet
of
his
country
.
Beautiful
illusion
!
For
behind
that
laughing
landscape
,
penury
and
disease
fed
upon
the
vitals
of
a
miserable
population
!
The
contrast
between
the
interior
of
the
town
and
its
external
aspect
,
was
as
striking
as
it
was
full
of
pain
.
With
the
exception
of
the
dull
high
street
,
which
had
the
usual
characteristics
of
a
small
agricultural
market
town
,
some
sombre
mansions
,
a
dingy
inn
,
and
a
petty
bourse
,
Marney
mainly
consisted
of
a
variety
of
narrow
and
crowded
lanes
formed
by
cottages
built
of
rubble
,
or
unhewn
stones
without
cement
,
and
from
age
,
or
badness
of
the
material
,
looking
as
if
they
could
scarcely
hold
together
.
The
gaping
chinks
admitted
every
blast
;
the
leaning
chimneys
had
lost
half
their
original
height
;
the
rotten
rafters
were
evidently
misplaced
;
while
in
many
instances
the
thatch
,
yawning
in
some
parts
to
admit
the
wind
and
wet
,
and
in
all
utterly
unfit
for
its
original
purpose
of
giving
protection
from
the
weather
,
looked
more
like
the
top
of
a
dunghill
than
a
cottage
.
Before
the
doors
of
these
dwellings
,
and
often
surrounding
them
,
ran
open
drains
full
of
animal
and
vegetable
refuse
,
decomposing
into
disease
,
or
sometimes
in
their
imperfect
course
filling
foul
pits
or
spreading
into
stagnant
pools
,
while
a
concentrated
solution
of
every
species
of
dissolving
filth
was
allowed
to
soak
through
and
thoroughly
impregnate
the
walls
and
ground
adjoining
.
These
wretched
tenements
seldom
consisted
of
more
than
two
rooms
,
in
one
of
which
the
whole
family
,
however
numerous
,
were
obliged
to
sleep
,
without
distinction
of
age
,
or
sex
,
or
suffering
.
With
the
water
streaming
down
the
walls
,
the
light
distinguished
through
the
roof
,
with
no
hearth
even
in
winter
,
the
virtuous
mother
in
the
sacred
pangs
of
childbirth
,
gives
forth
another
victim
to
our
thoughtless
civilization
;
surrounded
by
three
generations
whose
inevitable
presence
is
more
painful
than
her
sufferings
in
that
hour
of
travail
;
while
the
father
of
her
coming
child
,
in
another
corner
of
the
sordid
chamber
,
lies
stricken
by
that
typhus
which
his
contaminating
dwelling
has
breathed
into
his
veins
,
and
for
whose
next
prey
is
perhaps
destined
,
his
new-born
child
.
These
swarming
walls
had
neither
windows
nor
doors
sufficient
to
keep
out
the
weather
,
or
admit
the
sun
or
supply
the
means
of
ventilation
;
the
humid
and
putrid
roof
of
thatch
exhaling
malaria
like
all
other
decaying
vegetable
matter
.
The
dwelling
rooms
were
neither
boarded
nor
paved
;
and
whether
it
were
that
some
were
situate
in
low
and
damp
places
,
occasionally
flooded
by
the
river
,
and
usually
much
below
the
level
of
the
road
;
or
that
the
springs
,
as
was
often
the
case
,
would
burst
through
the
mud
floor
;
the
ground
was
at
no
time
better
than
so
much
clay
,
while
sometimes
you
might
see
little
channels
cut
from
the
centre
under
the
doorways
to
carry
off
the
water
,
the
door
itself
removed
from
its
hinges
:
a
resting
place
for
infancy
in
its
deluged
home
.
These
hovels
were
in
many
instances
not
provided
with
the
commonest
conveniences
of
the
rudest
police
;
contiguous
to
every
door
might
be
observed
the
dung-heap
on
which
every
kind
of
filth
was
accumulated
,
for
the
purpose
of
being
disposed
of
for
manure
,
so
that
,
when
the
poor
man
opened
his
narrow
habitation
in
the
hope
of
refreshing
it
with
the
breeze
of
summer
,
he
was
met
with
a
mixture
of
gases
from
reeking
dunghills
.
This
town
of
Marney
was
a
metropolis
of
agricultural
labour
,
for
the
proprietors
of
the
neighbourhood
having
for
the
last
half
century
acted
on
the
system
of
destroying
the
cottages
on
their
estates
,
in
order
to
become
exempted
from
the
maintenance
of
the
population
,
the
expelled
people
had
flocked
to
Marney
,
where
,
during
the
war
,
a
manufactory
had
afforded
them
some
relief
,
though
its
wheels
had
long
ceased
to
disturb
the
waters
of
the
Mar
.
Deprived
of
this
resource
,
they
had
again
gradually
spread
themselves
over
that
land
which
had
as
it
were
rejected
them
;
and
obtained
from
its
churlish
breast
a
niggardly
subsistence
.
Their
re-entrance
into
the
surrounding
parishes
was
viewed
with
great
suspicion
;
their
renewed
settlement
opposed
by
every
ingenious
contrivance
;
those
who
availed
themselves
of
their
labour
were
careful
that
they
should
not
become
dwellers
on
the
soil
;
and
though
,
from
the
excessive
competition
,
there
were
few
districts
in
the
kingdom
where
the
rate
of
wages
was
more
depressed
,
those
who
were
fortunate
enough
to
obtain
the
scant
remuneration
,
had
,
in
addition
to
their
toil
,
to
endure
each
morn
and
even
a
weary
journey
before
they
could
reach
the
scene
of
their
labour
,
or
return
to
the
squalid
hovel
which
profaned
the
name
of
home
.
To
that
home
,
over
which
Malaria
hovered
,
and
round
whose
shivering
hearth
were
clustered
other
guests
besides
the
exhausted
family
of
toil
—
Fever
,
in
every
form
,
pale
Consumption
,
exhausting
Synochus
,
and
trembling
Ague
,
—
returned
after
cultivating
the
broad
fields
of
merry
England
the
bold
British
peasant
,
returned
to
encounter
the
worst
of
diseases
with
a
frame
the
least
qualified
to
oppose
them
;
a
frame
that
subdued
by
toil
was
never
sustained
by
animal
food
;
drenched
by
the
tempest
could
not
change
its
dripping
rags
;
and
was
indebted
for
its
scanty
fuel
to
the
windfalls
of
the
woods
.
The
eyes
of
this
unhappy
race
might
have
been
raised
to
the
solitary
spire
that
sprang
up
in
the
midst
of
them
,
the
bearer
of
present
consolation
,
the
harbinger
of
future
equality
;
but
Holy
Church
at
Marney
had
forgotten
her
sacred
mission
.
We
have
introduced
the
reader
to
the
vicar
,
an
orderly
man
who
deemed
he
did
his
duty
if
he
preached
each
week
two
sermons
,
and
enforced
humility
on
his
congregation
and
gratitude
for
the
blessings
of
this
life
.
The
high
Street
and
some
neighbouring
gentry
were
the
staple
of
his
hearers
.
Lord
and
Lady
Marney
came
,
attended
by
Captain
Grouse
,
every
Sunday
morning
with
commendable
regularity
,
and
were
ushered
into
the
invisible
interior
of
a
vast
pew
,
that
occupied
half
of
the
gallery
,
was
lined
with
crimson
damask
,
and
furnished
with
easy
chairs
,
and
,
for
those
who
chose
them
,
well-padded
stools
of
prayer
.
The
people
of
Marney
took
refuge
in
conventicles
,
which
abounded
;
little
plain
buildings
of
pale
brick
with
the
names
painted
on
them
,
of
Sion
,
Bethel
,
Bethesda
:
names
of
a
distant
land
,
and
the
language
of
a
persecuted
and
ancient
race
:
yet
,
such
is
the
mysterious
power
of
their
divine
quality
,
breathing
consolation
in
the
nineteenth
century
to
the
harassed
forms
and
the
harrowed
souls
of
a
Saxon
peasantry
.
But
however
devoted
to
his
flock
might
have
been
the
Vicar
of
Marney
,
his
exertions
for
their
well
being
,
under
any
circumstances
,
must
have
been
mainly
limited
to
spiritual
consolation
.
Married
and
a
father
he
received
for
his
labours
the
small
tithes
of
the
parish
,
which
secured
to
him
an
income
by
no
means
equal
to
that
of
a
superior
banker’s
clerk
,
or
the
cook
of
a
great
loanmonger
.
The
great
tithes
of
Marney
,
which
might
be
counted
by
thousands
,
swelled
the
vast
rental
which
was
drawn
from
this
district
by
the
fortunate
earls
that
bore
its
name
.
The
morning
after
the
arrival
of
Egremont
at
the
Abbey
,
an
unusual
stir
might
have
been
observed
in
the
high
Street
of
the
town
.
Round
the
portico
of
the
Green
Dragon
hotel
and
commercial
inn
,
a
knot
of
principal
personages
,
the
chief
lawyer
,
the
brewer
,
the
vicar
himself
,
and
several
of
those
easy
quidnuncs
who
abound
in
country
towns
,
and
who
rank
under
the
designation
of
retired
gentlemen
,
were
in
close
and
very
earnest
converse
.
In
a
short
time
a
servant
on
horseback
in
the
Abbey
livery
galloped
up
to
the
portico
,
and
delivered
a
letter
to
the
vicar
.
The
excitement
apparently
had
now
greatly
increased
.
On
the
opposite
side
of
the
way
to
the
important
group
,
a
knot
,
larger
in
numbers
but
very
deficient
in
quality
,
had
formed
themselves
,
and
remained
transfixed
with
gaping
mouths
and
a
Curious
not
to
say
alarmed
air
.
The
head
constable
walked
up
to
the
door
of
the
Green
Dragon
,
and
though
he
did
not
presume
to
join
the
principal
group
,
was
evidently
in
attendance
,
if
required
.
The
clock
struck
eleven
;
a
cart
had
stopped
to
watch
events
,
and
a
gentleman’s
coachman
riding
home
with
a
led
horse
.
“
Here
they
are
!
”
said
the
brewer
.
“
Lord
Marney
himself
,
”
said
the
lawyer
.
“
And
Sir
Vavasour
Firebrace
,
I
declare
.
I
wonder
how
he
came
here
,
”
said
a
retired
gentleman
,
who
had
been
a
tallow-chandler
on
Holborn
Hill
.
The
vicar
took
off
his
hat
,
and
all
uncovered
.
Lord
Marney
and
his
brother
magistrate
rode
briskly
up
to
the
inn
and
rapidly
dismounted
.
“
Well
,
Snigford
,
”
said
his
lordship
,
in
a
peremptory
tone
,
“
this
is
a
pretty
business
;
I’ll
have
this
stopped
directly
.
”
Fortunate
man
if
he
succeed
in
doing
so
!
The
torch
of
the
incendiary
had
for
the
first
time
been
introduced
into
the
parish
of
Marney
;
and
last
night
the
primest
stacks
of
the
Abbey
farm
had
blazed
a
beacon
to
the
agitated
neighbourhood
.
CHAPTER
IV
.
“
It
is
not
so
much
the
fire
,
sir
,
”
said
Mr
Bingley
of
the
Abbey
farm
to
Egremont
,
“
but
the
temper
of
the
people
that
alarms
me
.
Do
you
know
,
sir
,
there
were
two
or
three
score
of
them
here
,
and
,
except
my
own
farm
servants
,
not
one
of
them
would
lend
a
helping
hand
to
put
out
the
flames
,
though
,
with
water
so
near
,
they
might
have
been
of
great
service
.
”
“
You
told
my
brother
,
Lord
Marney
,
this
?
”
“
Oh
!
it’s
Mr
Charles
I’m
speaking
to
!
My
service
to
you
,
sir
;
I’m
glad
to
see
you
in
these
parts
again
.
It’s
a
long
time
that
we
have
had
that
pleasure
,
sir
.
Travelling
in
foreign
parts
,
as
I
have
heard
say
?
”
“
Something
of
that
;
but
very
glad
to
find
myself
at
home
once
more
,
Mr
Bingley
,
though
very
sorry
to
have
such
a
welcome
as
a
blazing
rick
at
the
Abbey
farm
.
”
“
Well
,
do
you
know
,
Mr
Charles
,
between
ourselves
,
”
and
Mr
Bingley
lowered
his
tone
,
and
looked
around
him
,
“
Things
is
very
bad
here
;
I
can’t
make
out
,
for
my
part
,
what
has
become
of
the
country
.
Tayn’t
the
same
land
to
live
in
as
it
was
when
you
used
to
come
to
our
moor
coursing
,
with
the
old
lord
;
you
remember
that
,
I
be
sure
,
Mr
Charles
?
”
“
‘Tis
not
easy
to
forget
good
sport
,
Mr
Bingley
.
With
your
permission
,
I
will
put
my
horse
up
here
for
half
an
hour
.
I
have
a
fancy
to
stroll
to
the
ruins
.
”
“
You
wunna
find
them
much
changed
,
”
said
the
farmer
,
smiling
.
“
They
have
seen
a
deal
of
different
things
in
their
time
!
But
you
will
taste
our
ale
,
Mr
Charles
?
”
“
When
I
return
.
”
But
the
hospitable
Bingley
would
take
no
denial
,
and
as
his
companion
waived
on
the
present
occasion
entering
his
house
,
for
the
sun
had
been
some
time
declining
,
the
farmer
,
calling
one
of
his
labourers
to
take
Egremont’s
horse
,
hastened
into
the
house
to
fill
the
brimming
cup
.
“
And
what
do
you
think
of
this
fire
?
”
said
Egremont
to
the
hind
.
“
I
think
‘tis
hard
times
for
the
poor
,
sir
.
”
“
But
rick-burning
will
not
make
the
times
easier
,
my
good
man
.
”
The
man
made
no
reply
,
but
with
a
dogged
look
led
away
the
horse
to
his
stable
.
About
half
a
mile
from
Marney
,
the
dale
narrowed
,
and
the
river
took
a
winding
course
.
It
ran
through
meads
,
soft
and
vivid
with
luxuriant
vegetation
,
bounded
on
either
side
by
rich
hanging
woods
,
save
where
occasionally
a
quarry
broke
the
verdant
bosom
of
the
heights
with
its
rugged
and
tawny
form
.
Fair
stone
and
plenteous
timber
,
and
the
current
of
fresh
waters
,
combined
,
with
the
silent
and
secluded
scene
screened
from
every
harsh
and
angry
wind
,
to
form
the
sacred
spot
that
in
old
days
Holy
Church
loved
to
hallow
with
its
beauteous
and
enduring
structures
.
Even
the
stranger
therefore
when
he
had
left
the
town
about
two
miles
behind
him
,
and
had
heard
the
farm
and
mill
which
he
had
since
passed
,
called
the
Abbey
farm
and
the
Abbey
mill
,
might
have
been
prepared
for
the
grateful
vision
of
some
monastic
remains
.
As
for
Egremont
,
he
had
been
almost
born
amid
the
ruins
of
Marney
Abbey
;
its
solemn
relics
were
associated
with
his
first
and
freshest
fancies
;
every
footstep
was
as
familiar
to
him
as
it
could
have
been
to
one
of
the
old
monks
;
yet
never
without
emotion
could
he
behold
these
unrivalled
remains
of
one
of
the
greatest
of
the
great
religious
houses
of
the
North
.
Over
a
space
of
not
less
than
ten
acres
might
still
be
observed
the
fragments
of
the
great
abbey
:
these
were
,
towards
their
limit
,
in
general
moss-grown
and
mouldering
memorials
that
told
where
once
rose
the
offices
and
spread
the
terraced
gardens
of
the
old
proprietors
;
here
might
still
be
traced
the
dwelling
of
the
lord
abbot
;
and
there
,
still
more
distinctly
,
because
built
on
a
greater
scale
and
of
materials
still
more
intended
for
perpetuity
,
the
capacious
hospital
,
a
name
that
did
not
then
denote
the
dwelling
of
disease
,
but
a
place
where
all
the
rights
of
hospitality
were
practised
;
where
the
traveller
from
the
proud
baron
to
the
lonely
pilgrim
asked
the
shelter
and
the
succour
that
never
were
denied
,
and
at
whose
gate
,
called
the
Portal
of
the
Poor
,
the
peasants
on
the
Abbey
lands
,
if
in
want
,
might
appeal
each
morn
and
night
for
raiment
and
for
food
.
But
it
was
in
the
centre
of
this
tract
of
ruins
,
occupying
a
space
of
not
less
than
two
acres
,
that
,
with
a
strength
that
had
defied
time
,
and
with
a
beauty
that
had
at
last
turned
away
the
wrath
of
man
,
still
rose
if
not
in
perfect
,
yet
admirable
,
form
and
state
,
one
of
the
noblest
achievements
of
Christian
art
,
—
the
Abbey
church
.
The
summer
vault
was
now
its
only
roof
,
and
all
that
remained
of
its
gorgeous
windows
was
the
vastness
of
their
arched
symmetry
,
and
some
wreathed
relics
of
their
fantastic
frame-work
,
but
the
rest
was
uninjured
.
From
the
west
window
,
looking
over
the
transept
chapel
of
the
Virgin
,
still
adorned
with
pillars
of
marble
and
alabaster
,
the
eye
wandered
down
the
nave
to
the
great
orient
light
,
a
length
of
nearly
three
hundred
feet
,
through
a
gorgeous
avenue
of
unshaken
walls
and
columns
that
clustered
to
the
skies
,
On
each
side
of
the
Lady’s
chapel
rose
a
tower
.
One
which
was
of
great
antiquity
,
being
of
that
style
which
is
commonly
called
Norman
,
short
and
very
thick
and
square
,
did
not
mount
much
above
the
height
of
the
western
front
;
but
the
other
tower
was
of
a
character
very
different
,
It
was
tall
and
light
,
and
of
a
Gothic
style
most
pure
and
graceful
;
the
stone
of
which
it
was
built
,
of
a
bright
and
even
sparkling
colour
,
and
looking
as
if
it
were
hewn
but
yesterday
.
At
first
,
its
turretted
crest
seemed
injured
;
but
the
truth
is
,
it
was
unfinished
;
the
workmen
were
busied
on
this
very
tower
the
day
that
old
Baldwin
Greymount
came
as
the
king’s
commissioner
to
inquire
into
the
conduct
of
this
religious
house
.
The
abbots
loved
to
memorise
their
reigns
by
some
public
work
,
which
should
add
to
the
beauty
of
their
buildings
or
the
convenience
of
their
subjects
;
and
the
last
of
the
ecclesiastical
lords
of
Marney
,
a
man
of
fine
taste
and
a
skilful
architect
,
was
raising
this
new
belfry
for
his
brethren
when
the
stern
decree
arrived
that
the
bells
should
no
more
sound
.
And
the
hymn
was
no
more
to
be
chaunted
in
the
Lady’s
chapel
;
and
the
candles
were
no
more
to
be
lit
on
the
high
altar
;
and
the
gate
of
the
poor
was
to
be
closed
for
ever
;
and
the
wanderer
was
no
more
to
find
a
home
.
The
body
of
the
church
was
in
many
parts
overgrown
with
brambles
and
in
all
covered
with
a
rank
vegetation
.
It
had
been
a
very
sultry
day
,
and
the
blaze
of
the
meridian
heat
still
inflamed
the
air
;
the
kine
for
shelter
,
rather
than
for
sustenance
,
had
wandered
through
some
broken
arches
,
and
were
lying
in
the
shadow
of
the
nave
.
This
desecration
of
a
spot
,
once
sacred
,
still
beautiful
and
solemn
,
jarred
on
the
feelings
of
Egremont
.
He
sighed
and
turning
away
,
followed
a
path
that
after
a
few
paces
led
him
into
the
cloister
garden
.
This
was
a
considerable
quadrangle
;
once
surrounding
the
garden
of
the
monks
,
but
all
that
remained
of
that
fair
pleasaunce
was
a
solitary
yew
in
its
centre
,
that
seemed
the
oldest
tree
that
could
well
live
,
and
was
,
according
to
tradition
,
more
ancient
than
the
most
venerable
walls
of
the
Abbey
.
Round
this
quadrangle
was
the
refectory
,
the
library
and
the
kitchen
,
and
above
them
the
cells
and
dormitory
of
the
brethren
.
An
imperfect
staircase
,
not
without
danger
,
led
to
these
unroofed
chambers
;
but
Egremont
familiar
with
the
way
did
not
hesitate
to
pursue
it
,
so
that
he
soon
found
himself
on
an
elevation
overlooking
the
garden
,
while
further
on
extended
the
vast
cloisters
of
the
monks
,
and
adjoining
was
a
cemetery
,
that
had
once
been
enclosed
,
and
communicated
with
the
cloister
garden
.
It
was
one
of
those
summer
days
that
are
so
still
,
that
they
seem
as
it
were
a
holiday
of
nature
.
The
weary
wind
was
sleeping
in
some
grateful
cavern
,
and
the
sunbeams
basking
on
some
fervent
knoll
;
the
river
floated
with
a
drowsy
unconscious
course
:
there
was
no
wave
in
the
grass
,
no
stir
in
the
branches
.
A
silence
so
profound
amid
these
solemn
ruins
,
offered
the
perfection
of
solitude
;
and
there
was
that
stirring
in
the
mind
of
Egremont
which
rendered
him
far
from
indisposed
for
this
loneliness
.
The
slight
words
that
he
had
exchanged
with
the
farmer
and
the
hind
had
left
him
musing
.
Why
was
England
not
the
same
land
as
in
the
days
of
his
light-hearted
youth
?
Why
were
these
hard
times
for
the
poor
?
He
stood
among
the
ruins
that
,
as
the
farmer
had
well
observed
,
had
seen
many
changes
:
changes
of
creeds
,
of
dynasties
,
of
laws
,
of
manners
.
New
orders
of
men
had
arisen
in
the
country
,
new
sources
of
wealth
had
opened
,
new
dispositions
of
power
to
which
that
wealth
had
necessarily
led
.
His
own
house
,
his
own
order
,
had
established
themselves
on
the
ruins
of
that
great
body
,
the
emblems
of
whose
ancient
magnificence
and
strength
surrounded
him
.
And
now
his
order
was
in
turn
menaced
.
And
the
People
—
the
millions
of
Toil
,
on
whose
unconscious
energies
during
these
changeful
centuries
all
rested
—
what
changes
had
these
centuries
brought
to
them
?
Had
their
advance
in
the
national
scale
borne
a
due
relation
to
that
progress
of
their
rulers
,
which
had
accumulated
in
the
treasuries
of
a
limited
class
the
riches
of
the
world
;
and
made
their
possessors
boast
that
they
were
the
first
of
nations
;
the
most
powerful
and
the
most
free
,
the
most
enlightened
,
the
most
moral
,
and
the
most
religious
?
Were
there
any
rick-burners
in
the
times
of
the
lord
abbots
?
And
if
not
,
why
not
?
And
why
should
the
stacks
of
the
Earls
of
Marney
be
destroyed
,
and
those
of
the
Abbots
of
Marney
spared
?
Brooding
over
these
suggestions
,
some
voices
disturbed
him
,
and
looking
round
,
he
observed
in
the
cemetery
two
men
:
one
was
standing
beside
a
tomb
which
his
companion
was
apparently
examining
.
The
first
was
of
lofty
stature
,
and
though
dressed
with
simplicity
,
had
nothing
sordid
in
his
appearance
.
His
garments
gave
no
clue
to
his
position
in
life
:
they
might
have
been
worn
by
a
squire
or
by
his
gamekeeper
;
a
dark
velveteen
dress
and
leathern
gaiters
.
As
Egremont
caught
his
form
,
he
threw
his
broad-brimmed
country
hat
upon
the
ground
and
showed
a
frank
and
manly
countenance
.
His
complexion
might
in
youth
have
been
ruddy
,
but
time
and
time’s
attendants
,
thought
and
passion
,
had
paled
it
:
his
chesnut
hair
,
faded
,
but
not
grey
,
still
clustered
over
a
noble
brow
;
his
features
were
regular
and
handsome
,
a
well-formed
nose
,
the
square
mouth
and
its
white
teeth
,
and
the
clear
grey
eye
which
befitted
such
an
idiosyncracy
.
His
time
of
vigorous
manhood
,
for
he
was
much
nearer
forty
than
fifty
years
of
age
,
perhaps
better
suited
his
athletic
form
,
than
the
more
supple
and
graceful
season
of
youth
.
Stretching
his
powerful
arms
in
the
air
,
and
delivering
himself
of
an
exclamation
which
denoted
his
weariness
,
and
which
had
broken
the
silence
,
he
expressed
to
his
companion
his
determination
to
rest
himself
under
the
shade
of
the
yew
in
the
contiguous
garden
,
and
inviting
his
friend
to
follow
him
,
he
took
up
his
hat
and
moved
away
.
There
was
something
in
the
appearance
of
the
stranger
that
interested
Egremont
;
and
waiting
till
he
had
established
himself
in
his
pleasant
resting
place
,
Egremont
descended
into
the
cloister
garden
and
determined
to
address
him
.
CHAPTER
V.
“
You
lean
against
an
ancient
trunk
,
”
said
Egremont
,
carelessly
advancing
to
the
stranger
,
who
looked
up
at
him
without
any
expression
of
surprise
,
and
then
replied
.
“
They
say
‘tis
the
trunk
beneath
whose
branches
the
monks
encamped
when
they
came
to
this
valley
to
raise
their
building
.
It
was
their
house
,
till
with
the
wood
and
stone
around
them
,
their
labour
and
their
fine
art
,
they
piled
up
their
abbey
.
And
then
they
were
driven
out
of
it
,
and
it
came
to
this
.
Poor
men
!
poor
men
!
”
“
They
would
hardly
have
forfeited
their
resting-place
had
they
deserved
to
retain
it
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
They
were
rich
.
I
thought
it
was
poverty
that
was
a
crime
,
”
replied
the
stranger
in
a
tone
of
simplicity
.
“
But
they
had
committed
other
crimes
.
”
“
It
may
be
so
;
we
are
very
frail
.
But
their
history
has
been
written
by
their
enemies
;
they
were
condemned
without
a
hearing
;
the
people
rose
oftentimes
in
their
behalf
;
and
their
property
was
divided
with
those
on
whose
reports
it
was
forfeited
.
”
“
At
any
rate
,
it
was
a
forfeiture
which
gave
life
to
the
community
,
”
said
Egremont
;
“
the
lands
are
held
by
active
men
and
not
by
drones
.
”
“
A
drone
is
one
who
does
not
labour
,
”
said
the
stranger
;
“
whether
he
wear
a
cowl
or
a
coronet
,
‘tis
the
same
to
me
.
Somebody
I
suppose
must
own
the
land
;
though
I
have
heard
say
that
this
individual
tenure
is
not
a
necessity
;
but
however
this
may
be
,
I
am
not
one
who
would
object
to
the
lord
,
provided
he
were
a
gentle
one
.
All
agree
the
Monastics
were
easy
landlords
;
their
rents
were
low
;
they
granted
leases
in
those
days
.
Their
tenants
too
might
renew
their
term
before
their
tenure
ran
out
:
so
they
were
men
of
spirit
and
property
.
There
were
yeomen
then
,
sir
:
the
country
was
not
divided
into
two
classes
,
masters
and
slaves
;
there
was
some
resting-place
between
luxury
and
misery
.
Comfort
was
an
English
habit
then
,
not
merely
an
English
word
.
”
“
And
do
you
really
think
they
were
easier
landlords
than
our
present
ones
?
”
said
Egremont
,
inquiringly
.
“
Human
nature
would
tell
us
that
,
even
if
history
did
not
confess
it
.
The
Monastics
could
possess
no
private
property
;
they
could
save
no
money
;
they
could
bequeath
nothing
.
They
lived
,
received
,
and
expended
in
common
.
The
monastery
too
was
a
proprietor
that
never
died
and
never
wasted
.
The
farmer
had
a
deathless
landlord
then
;
not
a
harsh
guardian
,
or
a
grinding
mortgagee
,
or
a
dilatory
master
in
chancery
,
all
was
certain
;
the
manor
had
not
to
dread
a
change
of
lords
,
or
the
oaks
to
tremble
at
the
axe
of
the
squandering
heir
.
How
proud
we
are
still
in
England
of
an
old
family
,
though
,
God
knows
,
‘tis
rare
to
see
one
now
.
Yet
the
people
like
to
say
,
We
held
under
him
,
and
his
father
and
his
grandfather
before
him
:
they
know
that
such
a
tenure
is
a
benefit
.
The
abbot
was
ever
the
same
.
The
monks
were
in
short
in
every
district
a
point
of
refuge
for
all
who
needed
succour
,
counsel
,
and
protection
;
a
body
of
individuals
having
no
cares
of
their
own
,
with
wisdom
to
guide
the
inexperienced
,
with
wealth
to
relieve
the
suffering
,
and
often
with
power
to
protect
the
oppressed
.
”
“
You
plead
their
cause
with
feeling
,
”
said
Egremont
,
not
unmoved
.
“
It
is
my
own
;
they
were
the
sons
of
the
People
,
like
myself
.
”
“
I
had
thought
rather
these
monasteries
were
the
resort
of
the
younger
branches
of
the
aristocracy
?
”
said
Egremont
.
“
Instead
of
the
pension
list
;
”
replied
his
companion
,
smiling
,
but
not
with
bitterness
.
“
Well
,
if
we
must
have
an
aristocracy
,
I
would
sooner
that
its
younger
branches
should
be
monks
and
nuns
,
than
colonels
without
regiments
,
or
housekeepers
of
royal
palaces
that
exist
only
in
name
.
Besides
see
what
advantage
to
a
minister
if
the
unendowed
aristocracy
were
thus
provided
for
now
.
He
need
not
,
like
a
minister
in
these
days
,
entrust
the
conduct
of
public
affairs
to
individuals
notoriously
incompetent
,
appoint
to
the
command
of
expeditions
generals
who
never
saw
a
field
,
make
governors
of
colonies
out
of
men
who
never
could
govern
themselves
,
or
find
an
ambassador
in
a
broken
dandy
or
a
blasted
favourite
.
It
is
true
that
many
of
the
monks
and
nuns
were
persons
of
noble
birth
.
Why
should
they
not
have
been
?
The
aristocracy
had
their
share
;
no
more
.
They
,
like
all
other
classes
,
were
benefitted
by
the
monasteries
:
but
the
list
of
the
mitred
abbots
when
they
were
suppressed
,
shows
that
the
great
majority
of
the
heads
of
houses
were
of
the
people
.
”
“
Well
,
whatever
difference
of
opinion
may
exist
on
these
points
,
”
said
Egremont
,
“
there
is
one
on
which
there
can
be
no
controversy
:
the
monks
were
great
architects
.
”
“
Ah
!
there
it
is
,
”
said
the
stranger
,
in
a
tone
of
plaintiveness
;
“
if
the
world
but
only
knew
what
they
had
lost
!
I
am
sure
that
not
the
faintest
idea
is
generally
prevalent
of
the
appearance
of
England
before
and
since
the
dissolution
.
Why
,
sir
,
in
England
and
Wales
alone
,
there
were
of
these
institutions
of
different
sizes
;
I
mean
monasteries
,
and
chantries
and
chapels
,
and
great
hospitals
;
considerably
upwards
of
three
thousand
;
all
of
them
fair
buildings
,
many
of
them
of
exquisite
beauty
.
There
were
on
an
average
in
every
shire
at
least
twenty
structures
such
as
this
was
;
in
this
great
county
double
that
number
:
establishments
that
were
as
vast
and
as
magnificent
and
as
beautiful
as
your
Belvoirs
and
your
Chatsworths
,
your
Wentworths
and
your
Stowes
.
Try
to
imagine
the
effect
of
thirty
or
forty
Chatsworths
in
this
county
the
proprietors
of
which
were
never
absent
.
You
complain
enough
now
of
absentees
.
The
monks
were
never
non-resident
.
They
expended
their
revenue
among
those
whose
labour
had
produced
it
.
These
holy
men
too
built
and
planted
as
they
did
everything
else
for
posterity
:
their
churches
were
cathedrals
;
their
schools
colleges
;
their
halls
and
libraries
the
muniment
rooms
of
kingdoms
;
their
woods
and
waters
,
their
farms
and
gardens
,
were
laid
out
and
disposed
on
a
scale
and
in
a
spirit
that
are
now
extinct
:
they
made
the
country
beautiful
,
and
the
people
proud
of
their
country
.
”
“
Yet
if
the
monks
were
such
public
benefactors
,
why
did
not
the
people
rise
in
their
favour
?
”
“
They
did
,
but
too
late
.
They
struggled
for
a
century
,
but
they
struggled
against
property
and
they
were
beat
.
As
long
as
the
monks
existed
,
the
people
,
when
aggrieved
,
had
property
on
their
side
.
And
now
‘tis
all
over
,
”
said
the
stranger
;
“
and
travellers
come
and
stare
at
these
ruins
,
and
think
themselves
very
wise
to
moralize
over
time
.
They
are
the
children
of
violence
,
not
of
time
.
It
is
war
that
created
these
ruins
,
civil
war
,
of
all
our
civil
wars
the
most
inhuman
,
for
it
was
waged
with
the
unresisting
.
The
monasteries
were
taken
by
storm
,
they
were
sacked
,
gutted
,
battered
with
warlike
instruments
,
blown
up
with
gunpowder
;
you
may
see
the
marks
of
the
blast
against
the
new
tower
here
.
Never
was
such
a
plunder
.
The
whole
face
of
the
country
for
a
century
was
that
of
a
land
recently
invaded
by
a
ruthless
enemy
;
it
was
worse
than
the
Norman
conquest
;
nor
has
England
ever
lost
this
character
of
ravage
.
I
don’t
know
whether
the
union
workhouses
will
remove
it
.
They
are
building
something
for
the
people
at
last
.
After
an
experiment
of
three
centuries
,
your
gaols
being
full
,
and
your
treadmills
losing
something
of
their
virtue
,
you
have
given
us
a
substitute
for
the
monasteries
.
”
“
You
lament
the
old
faith
,
”
said
Egremont
,
in
a
tone
of
respect
.
“
I
am
not
viewing
the
question
as
one
of
faith
,
”
said
the
stranger
.
“
It
is
not
as
a
matter
of
religion
,
but
as
a
matter
of
right
,
that
I
am
considering
it
:
as
a
matter
,
I
should
say
,
of
private
right
and
public
happiness
.
You
might
have
changed
if
you
thought
fit
the
religion
of
the
abbots
as
you
changed
the
religion
of
the
bishops
:
but
you
had
no
right
to
deprive
men
of
their
property
,
and
property
moreover
which
under
their
administration
so
mainly
contributed
to
the
welfare
of
the
community
.
”
“
As
for
community
,
”
said
a
voice
which
proceeded
neither
from
Egremont
nor
the
stranger
,
“
with
the
monasteries
expired
the
only
type
that
we
ever
had
in
England
of
such
an
intercourse
.
There
is
no
community
in
England
;
there
is
aggregation
,
but
aggregation
under
circumstances
which
make
it
rather
a
dissociating
,
than
an
uniting
,
principle
.
”
It
was
a
still
voice
that
uttered
these
words
,
yet
one
of
a
peculiar
character
;
one
of
those
voices
that
instantly
arrest
attention
:
gentle
and
yet
solemn
,
earnest
yet
unimpassioned
.
With
a
step
as
whispering
as
his
tone
,
the
man
who
had
been
kneeling
by
the
tomb
,
had
unobserved
joined
his
associate
and
Egremont
.
He
hardly
reached
the
middle
height
;
his
form
slender
,
but
well
proportioned
;
his
pale
countenance
,
slightly
marked
with
the
small
pox
,
was
redeemed
from
absolute
ugliness
by
a
highly-intellectual
brow
,
and
large
dark
eyes
that
indicated
deep
sensibility
and
great
quickness
of
apprehension
.
Though
young
,
he
was
already
a
little
bald
;
he
was
dressed
entirely
in
black
;
the
fairness
of
his
linen
,
the
neatness
of
his
beard
,
his
gloves
much
worn
,
yet
carefully
mended
,
intimated
that
his
very
faded
garments
were
the
result
of
necessity
rather
than
of
negligence
.
“
You
also
lament
the
dissolution
of
these
bodies
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
There
is
so
much
to
lament
in
the
world
in
which
we
live
,
”
said
the
younger
of
the
strangers
,
“
that
I
can
spare
no
pang
for
the
past
.
”
“
Yet
you
approve
of
the
principle
of
their
society
;
you
prefer
it
,
you
say
,
to
our
existing
life
.
”
“
Yes
;
I
prefer
association
to
gregariousness
.
”
“
That
is
a
distinction
,
”
said
Egremont
,
musingly
.
“
It
is
a
community
of
purpose
that
constitutes
society
,
”
continued
the
younger
stranger
;
“
without
that
,
men
may
be
drawn
into
contiguity
,
but
they
still
continue
virtually
isolated
.
”
“
And
is
that
their
condition
in
cities
?
”
“
It
is
their
condition
everywhere
;
but
in
cities
that
condition
is
aggravated
.
A
density
of
population
implies
a
severer
struggle
for
existence
,
and
a
consequent
repulsion
of
elements
brought
into
too
close
contact
.
In
great
cities
men
are
brought
together
by
the
desire
of
gain
.
They
are
not
in
a
state
of
co-operation
,
but
of
isolation
,
as
to
the
making
of
fortunes
;
and
for
all
the
rest
they
are
careless
of
neighbours
.
Christianity
teaches
us
to
love
our
neighbour
as
ourself
;
modern
society
acknowledges
no
neighbour
.
”
“
Well
,
we
live
in
strange
times
,
”
said
Egremont
,
struck
by
the
observation
of
his
companion
,
and
relieving
a
perplexed
spirit
by
an
ordinary
exclamation
,
which
often
denotes
that
the
mind
is
more
stirring
than
it
cares
to
acknowledge
,
or
at
the
moment
is
capable
to
express
.
“
When
the
infant
begins
to
walk
,
it
also
thinks
that
it
lives
in
strange
times
,
”
said
his
companion
.
“
Your
inference
?
”
asked
Egremont
.
“
That
society
,
still
in
its
infancy
,
is
beginning
to
feel
its
way
.
”
“
This
is
a
new
reign
,
”
said
Egremont
,
“
perhaps
it
is
a
new
era
.
”
“
I
think
so
,
”
said
the
younger
stranger
.
“
I
hope
so
,
”
said
the
elder
one
.
“
Well
,
society
may
be
in
its
infancy
,
”
said
Egremont
slightly
smiling
;
“
but
,
say
what
you
like
,
our
Queen
reigns
over
the
greatest
nation
that
ever
existed
.
”
“
Which
nation
?
”
asked
the
younger
stranger
,
“
for
she
reigns
over
two
.
”
The
stranger
paused
;
Egremont
was
silent
,
but
looked
inquiringly
.
“
Yes
,
”
resumed
the
younger
stranger
after
a
moment’s
interval
.
“
Two
nations
;
between
whom
there
is
no
intercourse
and
no
sympathy
;
who
are
as
ignorant
of
each
other’s
habits
,
thoughts
,
and
feelings
,
as
if
they
were
dwellers
in
different
zones
,
or
inhabitants
of
different
planets
;
who
are
formed
by
a
different
breeding
,
are
fed
by
a
different
food
,
are
ordered
by
different
manners
,
and
are
not
governed
by
the
same
laws
.
”
“
You
speak
of
—
”
said
Egremont
,
hesitatingly
.
“
THE
RICH
AND
THE
POOR
.
”
At
this
moment
a
sudden
flush
of
rosy
light
,
suffusing
the
grey
ruins
,
indicated
that
the
sun
had
just
fallen
;
and
through
a
vacant
arch
that
overlooked
them
,
alone
in
the
resplendent
sky
,
glittered
the
twilight
star
.
The
hour
,
the
scene
,
the
solemn
stillness
and
the
softening
beauty
,
repressed
controversy
,
induced
even
silence
.
The
last
words
of
the
stranger
lingered
in
the
ear
of
Egremont
;
his
musing
spirit
was
teeming
with
many
thoughts
,
many
emotions
;
when
from
the
Lady
Chapel
there
rose
the
evening
hymn
to
the
Virgin
.
A
single
voice
;
but
tones
of
almost
supernatural
sweetness
;
tender
and
solemn
,
yet
flexible
and
thrilling
.
Egremont
started
from
his
reverie
.
He
would
have
spoken
,
but
he
perceived
that
the
elder
of
the
strangers
had
risen
from
his
resting-place
,
and
with
downcast
eyes
and
crossed
arms
,
was
on
his
knees
.
The
other
remained
standing
in
his
former
posture
.
The
divine
melody
ceased
;
the
elder
stranger
rose
;
the
words
were
on
the
lips
of
Egremont
,
that
would
have
asked
some
explanation
of
this
sweet
and
holy
mystery
,
when
in
the
vacant
and
star-lit
arch
on
which
his
glance
was
fixed
,
he
beheld
a
female
form
.
She
was
apparently
in
the
habit
of
a
Religious
,
yet
scarcely
could
be
a
nun
,
for
her
veil
,
if
indeed
it
were
a
veil
,
had
fallen
on
her
shoulders
,
and
revealed
her
thick
tresses
of
long
fair
hair
.
The
blush
of
deep
emotion
lingered
on
a
countenance
,
which
though
extremely
young
,
was
impressed
with
a
character
of
almost
divine
majesty
;
while
her
dark
eyes
and
long
dark
lashes
,
contrasting
with
the
brightness
of
her
complexion
and
the
luxuriance
of
her
radiant
locks
,
combined
to
produce
a
beauty
as
rare
as
it
is
choice
;
and
so
strange
,
that
Egremont
might
for
a
moment
have
been
pardoned
for
believing
her
a
seraph
,
that
had
lighted
on
this
sphere
,
or
the
fair
phantom
of
some
saint
haunting
the
sacred
ruins
of
her
desecrated
fane
.
CHAPTER
VI
.
“
I
understand
,
then
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
to
his
brother
,
as
on
the
evening
of
the
same
day
they
were
seated
together
in
the
drawing-room
,
in
close
converse
“
I
understand
then
,
that
you
have
in
fact
paid
nothing
,
and
that
my
mother
will
give
you
a
thousand
pounds
.
That
won’t
go
very
far
.
”
“
It
will
hardly
pay
for
the
chairing
,
”
said
Egremont
;
“
the
restoration
of
the
family
influence
was
celebrated
on
so
great
a
scale
.
”
“
The
family
influence
must
be
supported
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
,
“
and
my
mother
will
give
you
a
thousand
pounds
;
as
I
said
,
that
will
not
do
much
for
you
,
but
I
like
her
spirit
.
Contests
are
very
expensive
things
,
yet
I
quite
approve
of
what
you
have
done
,
especially
as
you
won
.
It
is
a
great
thing
in
these
ten
pound
days
to
win
your
first
contest
,
and
shows
powers
of
calculation
which
I
respect
.
Everything
in
this
world
is
calculation
;
there
is
no
such
thing
as
luck
,
depend
upon
it
;
and
if
you
go
on
calculating
with
equal
exactness
,
you
must
succeed
in
life
.
Now
the
question
is
,
what
is
to
be
done
with
your
election
bills
?
”
“
Exactly
.
”
“
You
want
to
know
what
I
will
do
for
you
,
or
rather
what
I
can
do
for
you
;
that
is
the
point
.
My
inclination
of
course
is
to
do
everything
for
you
;
but
when
I
calculate
my
resources
,
I
may
find
that
they
are
not
equal
to
my
inclination
.
”
“
I
am
sure
,
George
,
you
will
do
everything
,
and
more
than
everything
you
ought
.
”
“
I
am
extremely
pleased
about
this
thousand
pounds
of
my
mother
,
Charles
.
”
“
Most
admirable
of
her
!
But
she
always
is
so
generous
!
”
“
Her
jointure
has
been
most
regularly
paid
,
”
continued
Lord
Marney
.
“
Always
be
exact
in
your
payments
,
Charles
.
There
is
no
end
to
the
good
it
produces
.
Now
if
I
had
not
been
so
regular
in
paying
my
mother
her
jointure
,
she
would
not
in
all
probability
have
been
able
to
have
given
you
this
thousand
pounds
;
and
,
therefore
,
to
a
certain
extent
,
you
are
indebted
for
this
thousand
pounds
to
me
.
”
Egremont
drew
up
a
little
,
but
said
nothing
.
“
I
am
obliged
to
pay
my
mother
her
jointure
,
whether
ricks
are
burnt
or
not
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
.
“
It’s
very
hard
,
don’t
you
think
so
?
”
“
But
these
ricks
were
Bingley’s
?
”
“
But
he
was
not
insured
,
and
he
will
want
some
reduction
in
his
rent
,
and
if
I
do
not
see
fit
to
allow
it
him
,
which
I
probably
shall
not
,
for
he
ought
to
have
calculated
on
these
things
,
I
have
ricks
of
my
own
,
and
they
may
be
burnt
any
night
.
”
“
But
you
,
of
course
,
are
insured
?
”
“
No
,
I
am
not
;
I
calculate
‘tis
better
to
run
the
risk
.
”
“
I
wonder
why
ricks
are
burnt
now
,
and
were
not
in
old
days
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
Because
there
is
a
surplus
population
in
the
kingdom
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
,
“
and
no
rural
police
in
the
county
.
”
“
You
were
speaking
of
the
election
,
George
,
”
said
Egremont
,
not
without
reluctance
,
yet
anxious
,
as
the
ice
had
been
broken
,
to
bring
the
matter
to
a
result
.
Lord
Marney
,
before
the
election
,
had
written
,
in
reply
to
his
mother
consulting
him
on
the
step
a
letter
with
which
she
was
delighted
,
but
which
Egremont
at
the
time
could
have
wished
to
have
been
more
explicit
.
However
in
the
excitement
attendant
on
a
first
contest
,
and
influenced
by
the
person
whose
judgment
always
swayed
,
and
,
in
the
present
case
,
was
peculiarly
entitled
to
sway
him
,
he
stifled
his
scruples
,
and
persuaded
himself
that
he
was
a
candidate
not
only
with
the
sanction
,
but
at
the
instance
,
of
his
brother
.
“
You
were
speaking
of
the
election
,
George
,
”
said
Egremont
.
“
About
the
election
,
Charles
.
Well
,
the
long
and
short
of
it
is
this
:
that
I
wish
to
see
you
comfortable
.
To
be
harassed
about
money
is
one
of
the
most
disagreeable
incidents
of
life
.
It
ruffles
the
temper
,
lowers
the
spirits
,
disturbs
the
rest
,
and
finally
breaks
up
one’s
health
.
Always
,
if
you
possibly
can
,
keep
square
.
And
if
by
any
chance
you
do
find
yourself
in
a
scrape
,
come
to
me
.
There
is
nothing
under
those
circumstances
like
the
advice
of
a
cool-headed
friend
.
”
“
As
valuable
as
the
assistance
of
a
cold-hearted
one
,
”
thought
Egremont
,
who
did
not
fancy
too
much
the
tone
of
this
conversation
.
“
But
there
is
one
thing
of
which
you
must
particularly
beware
,
”
continued
Lord
Marney
,
“
there
is
one
thing
worse
even
than
getting
into
difficulties
—
patching
them
up
.
The
patching-up
system
is
fatal
;
it
is
sure
to
break
down
;
you
never
get
clear
.
Now
,
what
I
want
to
do
for
you
,
Charles
,
is
to
put
you
right
altogether
.
I
want
to
see
you
square
and
more
than
square
,
in
a
position
which
will
for
ever
guarantee
you
from
any
annoyance
of
this
kind
.
”
“
He
is
a
good
fellow
after
all
,
”
thought
Egremont
.
“
That
thousand
pounds
of
my
mother
was
very
a
propos
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
;
“
I
suppose
it
was
a
sop
that
will
keep
them
all
right
till
we
have
made
our
arrangements
.
”
“
Oh
!
there
is
no
pressure
of
that
kind
,
”
said
Egremont
;
“
if
I
see
my
way
,
and
write
to
them
,
of
course
they
will
be
quite
satisfied
.
”
“
Excellent
,
”
said
Lord
Marney
;
“
and
nothing
could
be
more
convenient
to
