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Page 63
Oh, my civilised friends!--great Britons that never will be
slaves, men advanced to infinite state of freedom and
knowledge of good and evil;--tell me, will you, what
becoming monument you will erect to an highly-educated
clergyman of the Church of England?
Bold certainly thought that his friend would not like that: he could
not conceive anything that he would like less than this. To what a
world of toil and trouble had he, Bold, given rise by his indiscreet
attack upon the hospital!
"You see," said Towers, "that this affair has been much talked of, and
the public are with you. I am sorry you should give the matter up.
Have you seen the first number of 'The Almshouse'?"
No; Bold had not seen "The Almshouse." He had seen advertisements
of Mr Popular Sentiment's new novel of that name, but had in no way
connected it with Barchester Hospital, and had never thought a moment
on the subject.
"It's a direct attack on the whole system," said Towers. "It'll go
a long way to put down Rochester, and Barchester, and Dulwich, and
St Cross, and all such hotbeds of peculation. It's very clear that
Sentiment has been down to Barchester, and got up the whole story
there; indeed, I thought he must have had it all from you; it's very
well done, as you'll see: his first numbers always are."
Bold declared that Mr Sentiment had got nothing from him, and that he
was deeply grieved to find that the case had become so notorious.
"The fire has gone too far to be quenched," said Towers; "the building
must go now; and as the timbers are all rotten, why, I should be
inclined to say, the sooner the better. I expected to see you get
some _�clat_ in the matter."
This was all wormwood to Bold. He had done enough to make his friend
the warden miserable for life, and had then backed out just when the
success of his project was sufficient to make the question one of real
interest. How weakly he had managed his business! he had already
done the harm, and then stayed his hand when the good which he had in
view was to be commenced. How delightful would it have been to have
employed all his energy in such a cause,--to have been backed by _The
Jupiter_, and written up to by two of the most popular authors of the
day! The idea opened a view into the very world in which he wished
to live. To what might it not have given rise? what delightful
intimacies,--what public praise,--to what Athenian banquets and rich
flavour of Attic salt?
This, however, was now past hope. He had pledged himself to abandon
the cause; and could he have forgotten the pledge, he had gone too far
to retreat. He was now, this moment, sitting in Tom Towers' room with
the object of deprecating any further articles in _The Jupiter_, and,
greatly as he disliked the job, his petition to that effect must be
made.
"I couldn't continue it," said he, "because I found I was in the
wrong."
Tom Towers shrugged his shoulders. How could a successful man be in
the wrong! "In that case," said he, "of course you must abandon it."
"And I called this morning to ask you also to abandon it," said Bold.
"To ask me," said Tom Towers, with the most placid of smiles, and a
consummate look of gentle surprise, as though Tom Towers was well
aware that he of all men was the last to meddle in such matters.
"Yes," said Bold, almost trembling with hesitation. "_The Jupiter_,
you know, has taken the matter up very strongly. Mr Harding has felt
what it has said deeply; and I thought that if I could explain to you
that he personally has not been to blame, these articles might be
discontinued."
How calmly impassive was Tom Towers' face, as this innocent little
proposition was made! Had Bold addressed himself to the doorposts in
Mount Olympus, they would have shown as much outward sign of assent or
dissent. His quiescence was quite admirable; his discretion certainly
more than human.
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