第19章

Onedoesnotseemuchofthisinfluenceandimportanceinsociety，andhowcanitbeacquiredwheretheyaresoseldomseenthemselves？Howcantwosermonsaweek，evensupposingthemworthhearing，supposingthepreachertohavethesensetopreferBlair’stohisown，doallthatyouspeakof？governtheconductandfashionthemannersofalargecongregationfortherestoftheweek？

Onescarcelyseesaclergymanoutofhispulpit。“

“_You_arespeakingofLondon，_I_amspeakingofthenationatlarge。“

“Themetropolis，Iimagine，isaprettyfairsampleoftherest。“

“Not，Ishouldhope，oftheproportionofvirtuetovicethroughoutthekingdom。Wedonotlookingreatcitiesforourbestmorality。Itisnottherethatrespectablepeopleofanydenominationcandomostgood；anditcertainlyisnottherethattheinfluenceoftheclergycanbemostfelt。Afinepreacherisfollowedandadmired；

butitisnotinfinepreachingonlythatagoodclergymanwillbeusefulinhisparishandhisneighbourhood，wheretheparishandneighbourhoodareofasizecapableofknowinghisprivatecharacter，andobservinghisgeneralconduct，whichinLondoncanrarelybethecase。

Theclergyarelostthereinthecrowdsoftheirparishioners。

Theyareknowntothelargestpartonlyaspreachers。

Andwithregardtotheirinfluencingpublicmanners，MissCrawfordmustnotmisunderstandme，orsupposeImeantocallthemthearbitersofgood-breeding，theregulatorsofrefinementandcourtesy，themastersoftheceremoniesoflife。The_manners_Ispeakofmightratherbecalled_conduct_，perhaps，theresultofgoodprinciples；

theeffect，inshort，ofthosedoctrineswhichitistheirdutytoteachandrecommend；anditwill，Ibelieve，beeverywherefound，thatastheclergyare，orarenotwhattheyoughttobe，soaretherestofthenation。“

“Certainly，“saidFanny，withgentleearnestness。

“There，“criedMissCrawford，“youhavequiteconvincedMissPricealready。“

“IwishIcouldconvinceMissCrawfordtoo。“

“Idonotthinkyoueverwill，“saidshe，withanarchsmile；

“IamjustasmuchsurprisednowasIwasatfirstthatyoushouldintendtotakeorders。Youreallyarefitforsomethingbetter。Come，dochangeyourmind。

Itisnottoolate。Gointothelaw。“

“Gointothelaw!WithasmucheaseasIwastoldtogointothiswilderness。“

“Nowyouaregoingtosaysomethingaboutlawbeingtheworstwildernessofthetwo，butIforestallyou；

remember，Ihaveforestalledyou。“

“Youneednothurrywhentheobjectisonlytopreventmysayinga_bon__mot_，forthereisnottheleastwitinmynature。Iamaverymatter-of-fact，plain-spokenbeing，andmayblunderonthebordersofareparteeforhalfanhourtogetherwithoutstrikingitout。“

Ageneralsilencesucceeded。Eachwasthoughtful。

Fannymadethefirstinterruptionbysaying，“IwonderthatIshouldbetiredwithonlywalkinginthissweetwood；

butthenexttimewecometoaseat，ifitisnotdisagreeabletoyou，Ishouldbegladtositdownforalittlewhile。“

“MydearFanny，“criedEdmund，immediatelydrawingherarmwithinhis，“howthoughtlessIhavebeen!Ihopeyouarenotverytired。Perhaps，“turningtoMissCrawford，“myothercompanionmaydomethehonouroftakinganarm。“

“Thankyou，butIamnotatalltired。“Shetookit，however，asshespoke，andthegratificationofhavingherdoso，offeelingsuchaconnexionforthefirsttime，madehimalittleforgetfulofFanny。“Youscarcelytouchme，“saidhe。“Youdonotmakemeofanyuse。

Whatadifferenceintheweightofawoman’sarmfromthatofaman!AtOxfordIhavebeenagooddealusedtohaveamanleanonmeforthelengthofastreet，andyouareonlyaflyinthecomparison。“

“Iamreallynottired，whichIalmostwonderat；

forwemusthavewalkedatleastamileinthiswood。

Donotyouthinkwehave？“

“Nothalfamile，“washissturdyanswer；forhewasnotyetsomuchinloveastomeasuredistance，orreckontime，withfemininelawlessness。

“Oh!youdonotconsiderhowmuchwehavewoundabout。

Wehavetakensuchaveryserpentinecourse，andthewooditselfmustbehalfamilelonginastraightline，forwehaveneverseentheendofityetsinceweleftthefirstgreatpath。“

“Butifyouremember，beforeweleftthatfirstgreatpath，wesawdirectlytotheendofit。Welookeddownthewholevista，andsawitclosedbyirongates，anditcouldnothavebeenmorethanafurlonginlength。“

“Oh!Iknownothingofyourfurlongs，butIamsureitisaverylongwood，andthatwehavebeenwindinginandouteversincewecameintoit；andtherefore，whenIsaythatwehavewalkedamileinit，Imustspeakwithincompass。“

“Wehavebeenexactlyaquarterofanhourhere，“

saidEdmund，takingouthiswatch。“Doyouthinkwearewalkingfourmilesanhour？“

“Oh!donotattackmewithyourwatch。Awatchisalwaystoofastortooslow。Icannotbedictatedtobyawatch。“

Afewstepsfartherbroughtthemoutatthebottomoftheverywalktheyhadbeentalkingof；andstandingback，wellshadedandsheltered，andlookingoveraha-haintothepark，wasacomfortable-sizedbench，onwhichtheyallsatdown。

“Iamafraidyouareverytired，Fanny，“saidEdmund，observingher；“whywouldnotyouspeaksooner？Thiswillbeabadday’samusementforyouifyouaretobeknockedup。

Everysortofexercisefatigueshersosoon，MissCrawford，exceptriding。“

“Howabominableinyou，then，toletmeengrossherhorseasIdidalllastweek!Iamashamedofyouandofmyself，butitshallneverhappenagain。“

“_Your_attentivenessandconsiderationmakesmemoresensibleofmyownneglect。Fanny’sinterestseemsinsaferhandswithyouthanwithme。“

“Thatsheshouldbetirednow，however，givesmenosurprise；

forthereisnothinginthecourseofone’sdutiessofatiguingaswhatwehavebeendoingthismorning：

seeingagreathouse，dawdlingfromoneroomtoanother，strainingone’seyesandone’sattention，hearingwhatonedoesnotunderstand，admiringwhatonedoesnotcarefor。

Itisgenerallyallowedtobethegreatestboreintheworld，andMissPricehasfounditso，thoughshedidnotknowit。“

“Ishallsoonberested，“saidFanny；“tositintheshadeonafineday，andlookuponverdure，isthemostperfectrefreshment。“

AftersittingalittlewhileMissCrawfordwasupagain。

“Imustmove，“saidshe；“restingfatiguesme。

Ihavelookedacrosstheha-hatillIamweary。Imustgoandlookthroughthatirongateatthesameview，withoutbeingabletoseeitsowell。“

Edmundlefttheseatlikewise。“Now，MissCrawford，ifyouwilllookupthewalk，youwillconvinceyourselfthatitcannotbehalfamilelong，orhalfhalfamile。“

“Itisanimmensedistance，“saidshe；“Isee_that_

withaglance。“

Hestillreasonedwithher，butinvain。Shewouldnotcalculate，shewouldnotcompare。Shewouldonlysmileandassert。Thegreatestdegreeofrationalconsistencycouldnothavebeenmoreengaging，andtheytalkedwithmutualsatisfaction。Atlastitwasagreedthattheyshouldendeavourtodeterminethedimensionsofthewoodbywalkingalittlemoreaboutit。Theywouldgotooneendofit，inthelinetheywerethenin——

fortherewasastraightgreenwalkalongthebottombythesideoftheha-ha——andperhapsturnalittlewayinsomeotherdirection，ifitseemedlikelytoassistthem，andbebackinafewminutes。Fannysaidshewasrested，andwouldhavemovedtoo，butthiswasnotsuffered。

Edmundurgedherremainingwhereshewaswithanearnestnesswhichshecouldnotresist，andshewasleftonthebenchtothinkwithpleasureofhercousin’scare，butwithgreatregretthatshewasnotstronger。

Shewatchedthemtilltheyhadturnedthecorner，andlistenedtillallsoundofthemhadceased。