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It was a valuable part of former timesThere is something
in a chapel and chaplain so much in character with a great
house, with one?s ideas of what such a household should be! A whole
family assembling regularly for the purpose of prayer is fine!?
?Very fine indeed,? said Miss Crawford, laughing?It must do the
heads of the family a great deal of good to force all the poor housemaids
and footmen to leave business and pleasure, and say their
prayers here twice a day, while they are inventing excuses themselves
for staying away
?That is hardly Fanny?s idea of a family assembling,? said Edmund
?If the master and mistress do not attend themselves, there must be
more harm than good in the custom
?At any rate, it is safer to leave people to their own devices on such
subjectsEverybody likes to go their own way?to chuse their own
time and manner of devotionThe obligation of attendance, the
formality, the restraint, the length of time?altogether it is a formidable
thing, and what nobody likes; and if the good people who
used to kneel and gape in that gallery could have foreseen that the
time would ever come when men and women might lie another ten
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minutes in bed, when they woke with a headache, without danger
of reprobation, because chapel was missed, they would have jumped
with joy and envyCannot tiffany and company necklace you imagine with what unwilling feelings
the former belles of the house of Rushworth did many a time
repair to this chapel? The young MrsBridgets?
starched up into seeming piety, but with heads full of something
very different?especially if the poor chaplain were not worth looking
at?and, in those days, I fancy parsons were very inferior even
to what they are now
For a few moments she was unansweredFanny coloured and
looked at Edmund, but felt too angry for speech; and he needed a
little recollection before he could say, ?Your lively mind can hardly
be serious even on serious subjectsYou have given us an amusing
sketch, and human nature cannot say it was not soWe must all feel
at times the difficulty of fixing our thoughts as we could wish; but if
you are supposing it a frequent thing, that is to say, a weakness
grown into a habit from neglect, what could be expected from the
private devotions of such persons? Do you think the minds which
are suffered, which are indulged in wanderings in a chapel, would
be more collected in a closet??
?Yes, very likelyThey would have two chances at least in their
favourThere would be less to distract the attention from without,
and it would not be tried so long
?The mind which does not struggle against itself under one circumstance,
would find objects to distract it in the pasha cartier watches blue face other, I believe;
and the influence of the place and of example may often rouse better
feelings than are begun withThe greater length of the service,
however, I admit to be sometimes too hard a stretch upon the mind
One wishes it were not so; but I have not yet left Oxford long enough
to forget what chapel prayers are
While this was passing, the rest of the party being scattered about
the chapel, Julia called MrCrawford?s attention to her sister, by
saying, ?Do look at MrRushworth and Maria, standing side by
side, exactly as if the ceremony were going to be performedHave
not they completely the air of it??
MrCrawford smiled his acquiescence, and stepping forward to
Maria, said, in a voice which she only could hear, ?I do not like to
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see Miss Bertram so near the altar
Starting, the lady instinctively moved a step or two, but recovering
herself in a moment, affected to laugh, and asked him, in a tone
not much louder, ?If he would give her away??
?I am afraid I should do it very awkwardly,? was his reply, with a
look of meaning
Julia, joining them at the moment, carried on the joke
?Upon my word, it is really a pity that it should not take place
directly, if we had but a proper licence, for here we are altogether,
and nothing in the world could be more snug and pleasant And
she talked and laughed chanel black and white purse about it with so little caution as to catch the
comprehension of MrRushworth and his mother, and expose her
sister to the whispered gallantries of her lover, while MrsRushworth
spoke with proper smiles and dignity of its being a most happy
event to her whenever it took place
?If Edmund were but in orders!? cried Julia, and running to where
he stood with Miss Crawford and Fanny: ?My dear Edmund, if you
were but in orders now, you might perform the ceremony directly
How unlucky that you are not ordained; MrRushworth and Maria
are quite ready
Miss Crawford?s countenance, as Julia spoke, might have amused
a disinterested observerShe looked almost aghast under the new
idea she was receiving?How distressed she will be
at what she said just now,? passed across her mind
?Ordained!? said Miss Crawford; ?what, are you to be a clergyman??
?Yes; I shall take orders soon after my father?s return?probably at
Christmas
Miss Crawford, rallying her spirits, and recovering her complexion,
replied only, ?If I had known this before, I would have spoken
of the cloth with more respect,? and turned the subject
The chapel was soon afterwards left to the silence and stillness
which reigned in it, with few interruptions, throughout the year
Miss Bertram, displeased with her sister, led the way, and all seemed
to feel that they had been dolce |