第106章

’Perhapswemay，’saidI。’Butwithrespecttothelowerclasses，haveyoumixedmuchwiththem？’

’Ihavemixedwithallclasses，’saidthemaninblack，’andwiththelowernotlessthantheupperandmiddle；theyaremuchasI

havedescribedthem；andofthethree，theloweraretheworst。I

neverknewoneofthemthatpossessedtheslightestprinciple，no，not。Itistrue，therewasonefellowwhomIoncemet，who-；

butitisalongstory，andtheaffairhappenedabroad-IoughttoknowsomethingoftheEnglishpeople，’hecontinued，afteramoment’spause；’Ihavebeenmanyyearsamongstthem，labouringinthecauseoftheChurch。’

’YourSeemusthavehadgreatconfidenceinyourpowerswhenitselectedyoutolabourforitintheseparts，’saidI。

’Theychoseme，’saidthemaninblack，’principallybecause，beingofBritishextractionandeducation，IcouldspeaktheEnglishlanguageandbearaglassofsomethingstrong。ItistheopinionofmySeethatitwouldhardlydotosendamissionaryintoacountrylikethiswhoisnotwellversedinEnglish-acountrywhere，theythink，sofarfromunderstandinganylanguagebesideshisown，scarcelyoneindividualintenspeakshisownintelligibly；oranasceticpersonwhere，astheysay，highandlow，maleandfemale，are，atsomeperiodoftheirlives，fondofarenovatingglass，asitisstyled-inotherwords，oftippling。’

’YourSeeappearstoentertainaverystrangeopinionoftheEnglish，’saidI。

’Notaltogetheranunjustone，’saidthemaninblack，liftingtheglasstohismouth。

’Well，’saidI，’itiscertainlyverykindonitsparttowishtobringbacksuchasetofbeingsbeneathitswing。’

’Why，astothekindnessofmySee，’saidthemaninblack，’Ihavenotmuchtosay；mySeehasgenerallyinwhatitdoesatolerablygoodmotive；thesehereticspossessinplentywhatmySeehasagreathankeringfor，andcanturntoagoodaccount-money!’

’TheFounderoftheChristianreligioncarednothingformoney，’

saidI。

’WhathavewetodowithwhattheFounderoftheChristianreligioncaredfor？’saidthemaninblack。’Howcouldourtemplesbebuiltandourpriestssupportedwithoutmoney？Butyouareunwisetoreproachuswithadesireofobtainingmoney；youforgetthatyourownChurch，iftheChurchofEnglandbeyourownChurch，asI

supposeitisfromthewillingnesswhichyoudisplayedinthepublic-housetofightforit，isequallyavaricious；lookatyourgreedyBishopsandyourcorpulentRectors-dotheyimitateChristinHisdisregardformoney？YoumightaswelltellmethattheyimitateChristinHismeeknessandhumility。’

’Well，’saidI，’whatevertheirfaultsmaybe，youcan’tsaythattheygotoRomeformoney。’

Themaninblackmadenodirectanswer，butappearedbythemotionofhislipstoberepeatingsomethingtohimself。

’Iseeyourglassisagainempty，’saidI；’perhapsyouwillreplenishit。’

Themaninblackarosefromhisseat，adjustedhishabiliments，whichwereratherindisorder，andplaceduponhisheadhishat，whichhehadlaidaside；then，lookingatme，whowasstilllyingontheground，hesaid-’Imight，perhaps，takeanotherglass，thoughIbelieveIhavehadquiteasmuchasIcanwellbear；butI

donotwishtohearyouutteranythingmorethisevening，aft