“All very well, my lord,” replied the earl, who ever treated Lord de Mowbray with a certain degree of ceremony, especially when the descendant of the crusaders affected1 the familiar. There was something of a Puck-like malignity2 in the temperament3 of Lord Marney, which exhibited itself in a remarkable4 talent for mortifying5 persons in a small way; by a gesture, an expression, a look, cloaked too very often with all the character of profound deference6. The old nobility of Spain delighted to address each other only by their names, when in the presence of a spick-and-span grandee7; calling each other, “Infantado,” “Sidonia,” “Ossuna,” and then turning round with the most distinguished8 consideration, and appealing to the Most Noble Marquis of Ensenada.
“They begin to get a little uneasy here,” said Lord de Mowbray.
“We have nothing to complain of,” said Lord Marney. “We continue reducing the rates, and as long as we do that the country must improve. The workhouse test tells. We had the other day a case of incendiarism, which frightened some people: but I inquired into it, and am quite satisfied it originated in purely9 accidental circumstances; at least nothing to do with wages. I ought to be a judge, for it was on my own property.”
“And what is the rate of wages, in your part of the world, Lord Marney?” inquired Mr St Lys who was standing10 by.
“Oh! good enough: not like your manufacturing districts; but people who work in the open air, instead of a furnace, can’t expect, and don’t require such. They get their eight shillings a week; at least generally.”
“Eight shillings a week!” said Mr St Lys. “Can a labouring man with a family, perhaps of eight children, live on eight shillings a week!”
“Oh! as for that,” said Lord Marney; “they get more than that, because there is beer-money allowed, at least to a great extent among us, though I for one do not approve of the practice, and that makes nearly a shilling per week additional; and then some of them have potatoe grounds, though I am entirely11 opposed to that system.
“Oh! as for that,” said Lord Marney, “I have generally found the higher the wages the worse the workman. They only spend their money in the beer-shops. They are the curse of this country.”
“But what is a poor man to do,” said Mr St Lys; “after his day’s work if he returns to his own roof and finds no home: his fire extinguished, his food unprepared; the partner of his life, wearied with labour in the field or the factory, still absent, or perhaps in bed from exhaustion13, or because she has returned wet to the skin, and has no change of raiment for her relief. We have removed woman from her sphere; we may have reduced wages by her introduction into the market of labour; but under these circumstances what we call domestic life is a condition impossible to be realized for the people of this country; and we must not therefore be surprised that they seek solace14 or rather refuge in the beer-shop.”
Lord Marney looked up at Mr St Lys, with a stare of high-bred impertinence, and then carelessly observed, without directing his words to him, “They may say what they like, but it is all an affair of population.”
“I would rather believe that it is an affair of resources,” said Mr St Lys; “not what is the amount of our population, but what is the amount of our resources for their maintenance.
“It comes to the same thing,” said Lord Marney. “Nothing can put this country right but emigration on a great scale; and as the government do not choose to undertake it, I have commenced it for my own defence on a small scale. I will take care that the population of my parishes is not increased. I build no cottages and I destroy all I can; and I am not ashamed or afraid to say so.”
“You have declared war to the cottage, then,” said Mr St Lys, smiling. “It is not at the first sound so startling a cry as war to the castle.”
“But you think it may lead to it?” said Lord Mowbray.
“I love not to be a prophet of evil,” said Mr St Lys.
Lord Marney rose from his seat and addressed Lady Firebrace, whose husband in another part of the room had caught Mr Jermyn, and was opening his mind on “the question of the day;” Lady Maud, followed by Egremont, approached Mr St Lys, and said, “Mr Egremont has a great feeling for Christian15 architecture, Mr St Lys, and wishes particularly to visit our church of which we are so proud.” And in a few moments they were seated together and engaged in conversation.
Lord Mowbray placed himself by the side of Lady Marney, who was seated by his countess.
“Oh! how I envy you at Marney,” he exclaimed. “No manufactures, no smoke; living in the midst of a beautiful park and surrounded by a contented16 peasantry!”
“It is very delightful,” said Lady Marney, “but then we are so very dull; we have really no neighbourhood.”
“I think that such a great advantage,” said Lady Mowbray: “I must say I like my friends from London. I never know what to say to the people here. Excellent people, the very best people in the world; the way they behaved to poor dear Fitz-Warene, when they wanted him to stand for the county, I never can forget; but then they do not know the people we know, or do the things we do; and when you have gone through the routine of county questions, and exhausted17 the weather and all the winds, I am positively18, my dear Lady Marney, aux abois, and then they think you are proud, when really one is only stupid.”
“I am very fond of work,” said Lady Marney, “and I talk to them always about it.”
“Ah! you are fortunate, I never could work; and Joan and Maud, they neither of them work. Maud did embroider19 a banner once for her brother; it is in the hail. I think it beautiful; but somehow or other she never cultivated her talent.”
“For all that has occurred or may occur,” said Mr St Lys to Egremont, “I blame only the Church. The church deserted20 the people; and from that moment the church has been in danger and the people degraded. Formerly21 religion undertook to satisfy the noble wants of human nature, and by its festivals relieved the painful weariness of toil22. The day of rest was consecrated23, if not always to elevated thought, at least to sweet and noble sentiments. The church convened24 to its solemnities under its splendid and almost celestial25 roofs amid the finest monuments of art that human hands have raised, the whole Christian population; for there, in the presence of God, all were brethren. It shared equally among all its prayer, its incense26, and its music; its sacred instructions, and the highest enjoyments27 that the arts could afford.”
“You believe then in the efficacy of forms and ceremonies?”
“What you call forms and ceremonies represent the divinest instincts of our nature. Push your aversion to forms and ceremonies to a legitimate28 conclusion, and you would prefer kneeling in a barn rather than in a cathedral. Your tenets would strike at the very existence of all art, which is essentially29 spiritual.”
“I am not speaking abstractedly,” said Egremont, “but rather with reference to the indirect connection of these forms and ceremonies with another church. The people of this country associate them with an enthralling30 superstition31 and a foreign dominion32.”
“With Rome,” said Mr St Lys; “yet forms and ceremonies existed before Rome.”
“But practically,” said Egremont, “has not their revival33 in our service at the present day a tendency to restore the Romish system in this country?”
“It is difficult to ascertain34 what may be the practical effect of certain circumstances among the uninformed,” said Mr St Lys. “The church of Rome is to be respected as the only Hebraeo-christian church extant; all other churches established by the Hebrew apostles have disappeared, but Rome remains35; and we must never permit the exaggerated position which it assumed in the middle centuries to make us forget its early and apostolical character, when it was fresh from Palestine and as it were fragrant36 from Paradise. The church of Rome is sustained by apostolical succession; but apostolical succession is not an institution complete in itself; it is a part of a whole; if it be not part of a whole it has no foundation. The apostles succeeded the prophets. Our Master announced himself as the last of the prophets. They in their turn were the heirs of the patriarchs: men who were in direct communication with the Most High. To men not less favoured than the apostles, the revelation of the priestly character was made, and those forms and ceremonies ordained37, which the church of Rome has never relinquished38. But Rome did not invent them: upon their practice, the duty of all congregations, we cannot consent to her founding a claim to supremacy39. For would you maintain then that the church did not exist in the time of the prophets? Was Moses then not a churchman? And Aaron, was he not a high priest? Ay! greater than any pope or prelate, whether he be at Rome or at Lambeth.
“In all these church discussions, we are apt to forget that the second Testament40 is avowedly41 only a supplement. Jehovah-Jesus came to complete the ‘law and the prophets.’ Christianity is completed Judaism, or it is nothing. Christianity is incomprehensible without Judaism, as Judaism is incomplete; without Christianity. What has Rome to do with its completion; what with its commencement? The law was not thundered forth42 from the Capitolian mount; the divine atonement was not fulfilled upon Mons Sacer. No; the order of our priesthood comes directly from Jehovah; and the forms and ceremonies of His church are the regulations of His supreme43 intelligence. Rome indeed boasts that the authenticity44 of the second Testament depends upon the recognition of her infallibility. The authenticity of the second Testament depends upon its congruity45 with the first. Did Rome preserve that? I recognize in the church an institution thoroughly46, sincerely, catholic: adapted to all climes and to all ages. I do not bow to the necessity of a visible head in a defined locality; but were I to seek for such, it would not be at Rome. I cannot discover in its history however memorable47 any testimony48 of a mission so sublime49. When Omnipotence50 deigned51 to be incarnate52, the Ineffable53 Word did not select a Roman frame. The prophets were not Romans; the apostles were not Romans; she, who was blessed above all women, I never heard she was a Roman maiden54. No, I should look to a land more distant than Italy, to a city more sacred even than Rome.”
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1
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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mortifying
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| adj.抑制的，苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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grandee
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| n.贵族；大公 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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16
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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embroider
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| v.刺绣于(布)上；给…添枝加叶，润饰 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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24
convened
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| 召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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28
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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enthralling
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| 迷人的 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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32
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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38
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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avowedly
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| adv.公然地 | |
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42
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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44
authenticity
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| n.真实性 | |
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45
congruity
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| n.全等，一致 | |
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46
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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47
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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48
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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49
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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50
omnipotence
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| n.全能，万能，无限威力 | |
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51
deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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53
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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54
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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