Der Praefekt

did not express himself peculiarly gratified at this
    intelligence, and Eleanor, though she had not worked for thanks, and
    was by no means disposed to magnify her own good offices, felt hurt
    at the manner in which her news was received.  “Mr Bold can act as
    he thinks proper, my love,” said he; “if Mr Bold thinks he has been
    wrong, of course he will discontinue what he is doing; but that cannot
    change my purpose.”
     
    “Oh, papa!” she exclaimed, all but crying with vexation; “I thought
    you would have been so happy;—I thought all would have been right
    jetzt. “
     
    “Mr Bold,” continued he, “has set great people to work,—so great that
    I doubt they are now beyond his control.  Read that, my dear.”  The
    warden, doubling up a number of _The Jupiter_, pointed to the peculiar
    article which she was to read.  It was to the last of the three
    leaders, which are generally furnished daily for the support of the
    nation, that Mr Harding directed her attention.  It dealt some heavy
    blows on various clerical delinquents; on families who received their
    tens of thousands yearly for doing nothing; on men who, as the article
    stated, rolled in wealth which they had neither earned nor inherited,
    and which was in fact stolen from the poorer clergy.  It named some
    sons of bishops, and grandsons of archbishops; men great in their way,
    who had redeemed their disgrace in the eyes of many by the enormity of
    their plunder; and then, having disposed of these leviathans, it
    descended to Mr Harding.
     
     
    We alluded some weeks since to an instance of similar
        injustice, though in a more humble scale, in which the warden
        of an almshouse at Barchester has become possessed of the
        income of the greater part of the whole institution.  Why an
        almshouse should have a warden we cannot pretend to explain,
        nor can we say what special need twelve old men can have for
        the services of a separate clergyman, seeing that they have
        twelve reserved seats for themselves in Barchester Cathedral.
        But be this as it may, let the gentleman call himself warden
        or precentor, or what he will, let him be never so scrupulous
        in exacting religious duties from his twelve dependents, or
        never so negligent as regards the services of the cathedral,
        it appears palpably clear that he can be entitled to no
        portion of the revenue of the hospital, excepting that which
        the founder set apart for him; and it is equally clear that
        the founder did not intend that three-fifths of his charity
        should be so consumed.
     
    The case is certainly a paltry one after the tens of
        thousands with which we have been dealing, for the warden’s
        income is after all but a poor eight hundred a year: eight
        hundred a year is not magnificent preferment of itself, and
        the warden may, for anything we know, be worth much more to
        the church; but if so, let the church pay him out of funds
        justly at its own disposal.
     
    We allude to the question of the Barchester almshouse at the
        present moment, because we understand that a plea has been
        set up which will be peculiarly revolting to the minds of
        English churchmen.  An action has been taken against Mr
        Warden Harding, on behalf of the almsmen, by a gentleman
        acting solely on public grounds, and it is to be argued that
        Mr Harding takes nothing but what he received as a servant of
        the hospital, and that he is not himself responsible for the
        amount of stipend given to him for his work.  Such a plea
        would doubtless be fair, if anyone questioned the daily wages
        of a bricklayer employed on the building, or the fee of the
        charwoman who cleans it; but we cannot envy the feeling of a
        clergyman of the Church of England who could allow such an
        argument to be put in his mouth.
     
    If this plea be put forward we trust Mr Harding will be
        forced as a witness to state the nature of his employment;
        the amount of work that he does; the income which he
        receives; and the source from whence he obtained his
        appointment.  We do not think he will receive much public
        sympathy to atone for the annoyance of such an examination.
     
     
    As Eleanor read the article her face flushed with indignation, and
    when she had