MRS. PROUDIE SENDS FOR HER LAWYER.
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There was great dismay in Barchester Palace after the visit paid
to the bishop and Mrs. Proudie by that terrible clerical offender,
Mr. Crawley. It will be remembered, perhaps, how he had defied the
bishop with spoken words, and how he had defied the bishop's wife by
speaking no words to her. For the moment, no doubt, Mr. Crawley had
the best of it. Mrs. Proudie acknowledged to herself that this was
the case; but as she was a woman who had never yet succumbed to an
enemy, who had never,--if on such an occasion I may be allowed to use
a schoolboy's slang,--taken a licking from any one, it was not likely
that Mr. Crawley would be long allowed to enjoy his triumph in peace.
It would be odd if all the weight of the palace would not be able to
silence a wretch of a perpetual curate who had already been committed
to take his trial for thieving;--and Mrs. Proudie was determined
that all the weight of the palace should be used. As for the bishop,
though he was not as angry as his wife, he was quite as unhappy, and
therefore quite as hostile to Mr. Crawley; and was fully conscious
that there could be no peace for him now until Mr. Crawley should
be crushed. If only the assizes would come at once, and get him
condemned out of the way, what a blessed thing it would be! But
unluckily it still wanted three months to the assizes, and during
those three months Mr. Crawley would be at large and subject only to
episcopal authority. During that time he could not be silenced by the
arm of the civil law. His wife was not long in expressing her opinion
after Mr. Crawley had left the palace. "You must proceed against him
in the Court of Arches,--and that at once," said Mrs. Proudie. "You
can do that, of course? I know that it will be expensive. Of course
it will be expensive. I suppose it may cost us some hundreds of
pounds; but duty is duty, my lord, and in such a case as this your
duty as a bishop is paramount."
The poor bishop knew that it was useless to explain to her the
various mistakes which she made,--which she was ever making,--as to
the extent of his powers and the modes of procedure which were open
to him. When he would do so she would only rail at him for being
lukewarm in his office, poor in spirit, and afraid of dealing roundly
with those below him. On the present occasion he did say a word, but
she would not even hear him to the end. "Don't tell me about rural
deans, as if I didn't know. The rural dean has nothing to do with
such a case. The man has been committed for trial. Send for Mr.
Chadwick at once, and let steps be taken before you are an hour
older."
"But, my dear, Mr. Chadwick can do nothing."
"Then I will see Mr. Chadwick." And in her anger she did sit down and
write a note to Mr. Chadwick, begging him to come over to her at the
palace.
Mr. Chadwick was a lawyer, living in Barchester, who earned his bread
from ecclesiastical business. His father, and his uncle, and his
grandfather and granduncles, had all been concerned in the affairs
of the diocese of Barchester. His uncle had been bailiff to the
episcopal estates, or steward as he had been called, in Bishop
Grantly's time, and still contrived to draw his income in some shape
from the property of the see. The nephew had also been the legal
assistant of the bishop in his latter days, and had been continued in
that position by Bishop Proudie, not from love, but from expediency.
Mr. John Chadwick was one of those gentlemen, two or three of
whom are to be seen in connection with every see,--who seem to be
hybrids--half-lay, half-cleric. They dress like clergymen, and affect
that mixture of clerical solemnity and clerical waggishness which
is generally to be found among minor canons and vicar chorals of a
cathedral. They live, or at least have their offices, half in the
Close and half out of it,--dwelling as it were just on the borders
of holy orders. They always wear white neck-handkerchiefs and black
gloves; and would be altogether clerical in their appearance, were
it not that as regards the outward man they impinge somewhat on the
characteristics of the undertaker. They savour of the church, but
the savour is of the church's exterior. Any stranger thrown into
chance contact with one of them would, from instinct, begin to talk
of things ecclesiastical without any reference to things theological
or things religious. They are always most worthy men, much respected
in the society of the Close, and I never heard of one of them
whose wife was not comfortable or whose children were left without
provision.
Such a one was Mr. John Chadwick, and as it was a portion of his
duties to accompany the bishop to consecrations and ordinations, he
knew Dr. Proudie very well. Having been brought up, as it were, under
the very wing of Bishop Grantly, it could not well be that he should
love Bishop Grantly's successor. The old bishop and the new bishop
had been so different that no man could like, or even esteem, them
both. But Mr. Chadwick was a prudent man, who knew well the source
from which he earned his bread, and he had never quarrelled with
Bishop Proudie. He knew Mrs. Proudie also,--of necessity,--and when I
say of him that he had hitherto avoided any open quarrel with her, it
will I think be allowed that he was a man of prudence and sagacity.
But he had sometimes been sorely tried, and he felt when he got
her note that he was now about to encounter a very sore trial. He
muttered something which might have been taken for an oath, were it
not that the outward signs of the man gave warranty that no oath
could proceed from such a one. Then he wrote a short note presenting
his compliments to Mrs. Proudie, and saying that he would call at the
palace at eleven o'clock on the following morning.
But, in the meantime, Mrs. Proudie, who could not be silent on
the subject for a moment, did learn something of the truth from
her husband. The information did not come to her in the way of
instruction, but was teased out of the unfortunate man. "I know that
you can proceed against him in the Court of Arches, under the 'Church
Discipline Act,'" she said.
"No, my dear; no;" said the bishop, shaking his head in his misery.
"Or in the Consistorial Court. It's all the same thing."
"There must be an inquiry first,--by his brother clergy. There must
indeed. It's the only way of proceeding."
"But there has been an inquiry, and he has been committed."
"That doesn't signify, my dear. That's the Civil Law."
"And if the Civil Law condemns him, and locks him up in prison;--as
it most certainly will do?"
"But it hasn't done so yet, my dear. I really think that as it has
gone so far, it will be best to leave it as it is till he has taken
his trial."
"What; leave him there after what occurred this morning in this
palace?" The palace with Mrs. Proudie was always a palace, and never
a house. "No; no; ten thousand times, no. Are you not aware that he
insulted you, and grossly, most grossly insulted me? I was never
treated with such insolence by any clergyman before, since I first
came to this palace;--never, never. And we know the man to be a
thief;--we absolutely know it. Think, my lord, of the souls of his
people!"
"Oh, dear; oh, dear; oh, dear," said the bishop.
"Why do you fret yourself in that way?"
"Because you will get me into trouble. I tell you the only thing to
be done is to issue a commission with the rural dean at the head of
it."
"Then issue a commission."
"And they will take three months."
"Why should they take three months? Why should they take more than
three days,--or three hours? It is all plain sailing."
"These things are never plain sailing, my dear. When a bishop has
to oppose any of his clergy, it is always made as difficult as
possible."
"More shame for them who make it so."
"But it is so. If I were to take legal proceedings against him, it
would cost,--oh, dear,--more than a thousand pounds, I should say."
"If it costs two, you must do it." Mrs. Proudie's anger was still
very hot, or she would not have spoken of an unremunerative outlay of
money in such language as that.
In this manner she did come to understand, before the arrival of
Mr. Chadwick, that her husband could take no legal steps towards
silencing Mr. Crawley until a commission of clergymen had been
appointed to inquire into the matter, and that that commission
should be headed by the rural dean within the limits of whose rural
deanery the parish of Hogglestock was situated, or by some beneficed
parochial clergyman of repute in the neighbourhood. Now the rural
dean was Dr. Tempest of Silverbridge,--who had held that position
before the coming of Dr. Proudie to the diocese; and there had grown
up in the bosom of Mrs. Proudie a strong feeling that undue mercy
had been shown to Mr. Crawley by the magistrates of Silverbridge, of
whom Dr. Tempest had been one. "These magistrates had taken bail for
his appearance at the assizes, instead of committing him to prison
at once,--as they were bound to do, when such an offence as that
had been committed by a clergyman. But, no;--even though there was
a clergyman among them, they had thought nothing of the souls of
the poor people!" In such language Mrs. Proudie had spoken of the
affair at Silverbridge, and having once committed herself to such an
opinion, of course she thought that Dr. Tempest would go through fire
and water,--would omit no stretch of what little judicial power might
be committed to his hands,--with the view of opposing his bishop and
maintaining the culprit in his position. "In such a case as this, can
not you name an acting rural dean yourself? Dr. Tempest, you know, is
very old." "No, my dear; no; I cannot." "You can ask Mr. Chadwick,
at any rate, and then you could name Mr. Thumble." "But Mr. Thumble
doesn't even hold a living in the diocese. Oh, dear; oh, dear; oh,
dear!" And so the matter rested until Mr. Chadwick came.
Mrs. Proudie had no doubt intended to have Mr. Chadwick all to
herself,--at any rate so to encounter him in the first instance. But
having been at length convinced that the inquiry by the rural dean
was really necessary as a preliminary, and having also slept upon the
question of expenditure, she gave directions that the lawyer should
be shown into the bishop's study, and she took care to be absent
at the moment of his arrival. Of course she did not intend that Mr.
Chadwick should leave the palace without having heard what she had
to say, but she thought that it would be well that he should be made
to conceive that though the summons had been written by her, it
had really been intended on the part of the bishop. "Mr. Chadwick
will be with you at eleven, bishop," she said, as she got up from
the breakfast-table, at which she left his lordship with two of
his daughters and with a married son-in-law, a clergyman who was
staying in the house. "Very well, my dear," said the bishop, with a
smile,--for he was anxious not to betray any vexation at his wife's
interference before his daughters or the Rev. Mr. Tickler. But he
understood it all. Mr. Chadwick had been sent for with reference to
Mr. Crawley, and he was driven,--absolutely driven, to propose to his
lawyer that this commission of inquiry should be issued.
Punctually at eleven Mr. Chadwick came, wearing a very long face
as he entered the palace door,--for he felt that he would in all
probability be now compelled to quarrel with Mrs. Proudie. Much he
could bear, but there was a limit to his endurance. She had never
absolutely sent for him before, though she had often interfered
with him. "I shall have to tell her a bit of my mind," he said, as
he stepped across the Close, habited in his best suit of black,
with most exact white cravat, and yet looking not quite like a
clergyman,--with some touch of the undertaker in his gait. When he
found that he was shown into the bishop's room, and that the bishop
was there,--and the bishop only,--his mind was relieved. It would
have been better that the bishop should have written himself, or that
the chaplain should have written in his lordship's name; that,
however, was a trifle.
But the bishop did not know what to say to him. If he intended to
direct an inquiry to be made by the rural dean, it would be by no
means becoming that he should consult Mr. Chadwick as to doing so.
It might be well, or if not well at any rate not improper, that he
should make the application to Dr. Tempest through Mr. Chadwick; but
in that case he must give the order at once, and he still wished to
avoid it if it were possible. Since he had been in the diocese no
case so grave as this had been pushed upon him. The intervention
of the rural dean in an ordinary way he had used,--had been made
to use,--more than once, by his wife. A vicar had been absent a
little too long from one parish, and there had been rumours about
brandy-and-water in another. Once he had been very nearly in deep
water because Mrs. Proudie had taken it in dudgeon that a certain
young rector, who had been left a widower, had a very pretty
governess for his children; and there had been that case, sadly
notorious in the diocese at the time, of our excellent friend Mr.
Robarts of Framley, when the bailiffs were in his house because he
couldn't pay his debts,--or rather, the debts of his friend for whom
he had signed bills. But in all these cases some good fortune had
intervened, and he had been saved from the terrible necessity of any
ulterior process. But now,--now he was being driven beyond himself,
and all to no purpose. If Mrs. Proudie would only wait three months
the civil law would do it all for him. But here was Mr. Chadwick in
the room, and he knew that it would be useless for him to attempt to
talk to Mr. Chadwick about other matters, and so dismiss him. The
wife of his bosom would be down upon them before Chadwick could be
out of the room.
"H--m--ha. How d'ye do, Mr. Chadwick--won't you sit down?" Mr.
Chadwick thanked his lordship, and sat down. "It's very cold, isn't
it, Mr. Chadwick?"
"A hard frost, my lord, but a beautiful day."
"Won't you come near the fire?" The bishop knew that Mrs. Proudie was
on the road, and had an eye to the proper strategical position of
his forces. Mrs. Proudie would certainly take up her position in a
certain chair from whence the light enabled her to rake her husband
thoroughly. What advantage she might have from this he could not
prevent;--but he could so place Mr. Chadwick, that the lawyer should
be more within the reach of his eye than that of his wife. So the
bishop pointed to an arm-chair opposite to himself and near the fire,
and Mr. Chadwick seated himself accordingly.
"This is a very sad affair about Mr. Crawley," said the bishop.
"Very sad indeed," said the lawyer. "I never pitied a man so much in
my life, my lord."
This was not exactly the line which the bishop was desirous of
taking. "Of course he is to be pitied;--of course he is. But from all
I hear, Mr. Chadwick, I am afraid,--I am afraid we must not acquit
him."
"As to that, my lord, he has to stand his trial, of course."
"But, you see, Mr. Chadwick, regarding him as a beneficed
clergyman,--with a cure of souls,--the question is whether I should
be justified in leaving him where he is till his trial shall come
on."
"Of course your lordship knows best about that, but--"
"I know there is a difficulty. I know that. But I am inclined to
think that in the interests of the parish I am bound to issue a
commission of inquiry."
"I believe your lordship has attempted to silence him, and that he
has refused to comply."
"I thought it better for everybody's sake,--especially for his own,
that he should for a while be relieved from his duties; but he is
an obstinate man, a very obstinate man. I made the attempt with all
consideration for his feelings."
"He is hard put to it, my lord. I know the man and his pride. The
dean has spoken of him to me more than once, and nobody knows him so
well as the dean. If I might venture to offer an opinion--"
"Good morning, Mr. Chadwick," said Mrs. Proudie, coming into the room
and taking her accustomed seat. "No thank you, no; I will stay away
from the fire, if you please. His lordship has spoken to you no doubt
about this unfortunate, wretched man?"
"We are speaking of him now, my dear."
"Something must of course be done to put a stop to the crying
disgrace of having such a man preaching from a pulpit in this
diocese. When I think of the souls of the people in that poor
village, my hair literally stands on end. And then he is
disobedient!"
"That is the worst of it," said the bishop. "It would have been
so much better for himself if he would have allowed me to provide
quietly for the services till the trial be over."
"I could have told you, my lord, that he would not do that, from what
I knew of him," said Mr. Chadwick.
"But he must do it," said Mrs. Proudie. "He must be made to do it."
"His lordship will find it difficult," said Mr. Chadwick.
"I can issue a commission, you know, to the rural dean," said the
bishop mildly.
"Yes, you can do that. And Dr. Tempest in two months' time will have
named his assessors--"
"Dr. Tempest must not name them; the bishop must name them," said
Mrs. Proudie.
"It is customary to leave that to the rural dean," said Mr. Chadwick.
"The bishop no doubt can object to any one named."
"And can specially select any clergyman he pleases from the
archdeaconry," said the bishop. "I have known it done."
"The rural dean in such case has probably been an old man, and not
active," said the lawyer.
"And Dr. Tempest is a very old man," said Mrs. Proudie, "and in such
a matter not at all trustworthy. He was one of the magistrates who
took bail."
"His lordship could hardly set him aside," said the lawyer. "At any
rate I would not recommend him to try. I think you might suggest a
commission of five, and propose two of the number yourself. I do not
think that in such a case Dr. Tempest would raise any question."
At last it was settled in this way. Mr. Chadwick was to prepare a
letter to Dr. Tempest, for the bishop's signature, in which the
doctor should be requested, as the rural dean to whom Mr. Crawley was
subject, to hold a commission of five to inquire into Mr. Crawley's
conduct. The letter was to explain to Dr. Tempest that the bishop,
moved by his solicitude for the souls of the people of Hogglestock,
had endeavoured, "in a friendly way," to induce Mr. Crawley to desist
from his ministrations; but that having failed through Mr. Crawley's
obstinacy, he had no alternative but to proceed in this way. "You had
better say that his lordship, as bishop of the diocese, can take no
heed of the coming trial," said Mrs. Proudie. "I think his lordship
had better say nothing at all about the trial," said Mr. Chadwick. "I
think that will be best," said the bishop.
"But if they report against him," said Mr. Chadwick, "you can only
then proceed in the ecclesiastical court,--at your own expense."
"He'll hardly be so obstinate as that," said the bishop.
"I'm afraid you don't know him, my lord," said the lawyer. The
bishop, thinking of the scene which had taken place in that very room
only yesterday, felt that he did know Mr. Crawley, and felt also that
the hope which he had just expressed was one in which he himself put
no trust. But something might turn up; and it was devoutly to be
hoped that Dr. Tempest would take a long time over his inquiry. The
assizes might come on as soon as it was terminated, or very shortly
afterwards; and then everything might be well. "You won't find Dr.
Tempest very ready at it," said Mr. Chadwick. The bishop in his heart
was comforted by the words. "But he must be made to be ready to do
his duty," said Mrs. Proudie, imperiously. Mr. Chadwick shrugged his
shoulders, then got up, spoke his farewell little speeches, and left
the palace.