第 91 节
作者:旅游巴士      更新:2021-02-20 14:20      字数:9322
  sung they were to old…fashioned double chants by Lord Mornington and
  Dr Dupuis and others。  Theobald did not like it; but he did it; or
  allowed it to be done。
  Then Christina said:  〃My dear; do you know; I really think〃
  (Christina always 〃really〃 thought) 〃that the people like the
  chanting very much; and that it will be a means of bringing many to
  church who have stayed away hitherto。  I was talking about it to Mrs
  Goodhew and to old Miss Wright only yesterday; and they QUITE agreed
  with me; but they all said that we ought to chant the 'Glory be to
  the Father' at the end of each of the psalms instead of saying it。〃
  Theobald looked blackhe felt the waters of chanting rising higher
  and higher upon him inch by inch; but he felt also; he knew not why;
  that he had better yield than fight。  So he ordered the 〃Glory be to
  the Father〃 to be chanted in future; but he did not like it。
  〃Really; mamma dear;〃 said Charlotte; when the battle was won; 〃you
  should not call it the 'Glory be to the Father' you should say
  'Gloria。'〃
  〃Of course; my dear;〃 said Christina; and she said 〃Gloria〃 for ever
  after。  Then she thought what a wonderfully clever girl Charlotte
  was; and how she ought to marry no one lower than a bishop。  By…and…
  by when Theobald went away for an unusually long holiday one summer;
  he could find no one but a rather high…church clergyman to take his
  duty。  This gentleman was a man of weight in the neighbourhood;
  having considerable private means; but without preferment。  In the
  summer he would often help his brother clergymen; and it was through
  his being willing to take the duty at Battersby for a few Sundays
  that Theobald had been able to get away for so long。  On his return;
  however; he found that the whole psalms were being chanted as well
  as the Glorias。  The influential clergyman; Christina; and Charlotte
  took the bull by the horns as soon as Theobald returned; and laughed
  it all off; and the clergyman laughed and bounced; and Christina
  laughed and coaxed; and Charlotte uttered unexceptionable
  sentiments; and the thing was done now; and could not be undone; and
  it was no use grieving over spilt milk; so henceforth the psalms
  were to be chanted; but Theobald grisled over it in his heart; and
  he did not like it。
  During this same absence what had Mrs Goodhew and old Miss Wright
  taken to doing but turning towards the east while repeating the
  Belief?  Theobald disliked this even worse than chanting。  When he
  said something about it in a timid way at dinner after service;
  Charlotte said; 〃Really; papa dear; you MUST take to calling it the
  'Creed' and not the 'Belief'〃; and Theobald winced impatiently and
  snorted meek defiance; but the spirit of her aunts Jane and Eliza
  was strong in Charlotte; and the thing was too small to fight about;
  and he turned it off with a laugh。  〃As for Charlotte;〃 thought
  Christina; 〃I believe she knows EVERYTHING。〃  So Mrs Goodhew and old
  Miss Wright continued to turn to the east during the time the Creed
  was said; and by…and…by others followed their example; and ere long
  the few who had stood out yielded and turned eastward too; and then
  Theobald made as though he had thought it all very right and proper
  from the first; but like it he did not。  By…and…by Charlotte tried
  to make him say 〃Alleluia〃 instead of 〃Hallelujah;〃 but this was
  going too far; and Theobald turned; and she got frightened and ran
  away。
  And they changed the double chants for single ones; and altered them
  psalm by psalm; and in the middle of psalms; just where a cursory
  reader would see no reason why they should do so; they changed from
  major to minor and from minor back to major; and then they got
  〃Hymns Ancient and Modern;〃 and; as I have said; they robbed him of
  his beloved bands; and they made him preach in a surplice; and he
  must have celebration of the Holy Communion once a month instead of
  only five times in the year as heretofore; and he struggled in vain
  against the unseen influence which he felt to be working in season
  and out of season against all that he had been accustomed to
  consider most distinctive of his party。  Where it was; or what it
  was; he knew not; nor exactly what it would do next; but he knew
  exceedingly well that go where he would it was undermining him; that
  it was too persistent for him; that Christina and Charlotte liked it
  a great deal better than he did; and that it could end in nothing
  but Rome。  Easter decorations indeed!  Christmas decorationsin
  reasonwere proper enough; but Easter decorations! well; it might
  last his time。
  This was the course things had taken in the Church of England during
  the last forty years。  The set has been steadily in one direction。
  A few men who knew what they wanted made cats' paws of the Christmas
  and the Charlottes; and the Christmas and the Charlottes made cats'
  paws of the Mrs Goodhews and the old Miss Wrights; and Mrs Goodhews
  and old Miss Wrights told the Mr Goodhews and young Miss Wrights
  what they should do; and when the Mr Goodhews and the young Miss
  Wrights did it the little Goodhews and the rest of the spiritual
  flock did as they did; and the Theobalds went for nothing; step by
  step; day by day; year by year; parish by parish; diocese by diocese
  this was how it was done。  And yet the Church of England looks with
  no friendly eyes upon the theory of Evolution or Descent with
  Modification。
  My hero thought over these things; and remembered many a ruse on the
  part of Christina and Charlotte; and many a detail of the struggle
  which I cannot further interrupt my story to refer to; and he
  remembered his father's favourite retort that it could only end in
  Rome。  When he was a boy he had firmly believed this; but he smiled
  now as he thought of another alternative clear enough to himself;
  but so horrible that it had not even occurred to TheobaldI mean
  the toppling over of the whole system。  At that time he welcomed the
  hope that the absurdities and unrealities of the Church would end in
  her downfall。  Since then he has come to think very differently; not
  as believing in the cow jumping over the moon more than he used to;
  or more; probably; than nine…tenths of the clergy themselveswho
  know as well as he does that their outward and visible symbols are
  out of datebut because he knows the baffling complexity of the
  problem when it comes to deciding what is actually to be done。
  Also; now that he has seen them more closely; he knows better the
  nature of those wolves in sheep's clothing; who are thirsting for
  the blood of their victim; and exulting so clamorously over its
  anticipated early fall into their clutches。  The spirit behind the
  Church is true; though her lettertrue onceis now true no longer。
  The spirit behind the High Priests of Science is as lying as its
  letter。  The Theobalds; who do what they do because it seems to be
  the correct thing; but who in their hearts neither like it nor
  believe in it; are in reality the least dangerous of all classes to
  the peace and liberties of mankind。  The man to fear is he who goes
  at things with the cocksureness of pushing vulgarity and self…
  conceit。  These are not vices which can be justly laid to the charge
  of the English clergy。
  Many of the farmers came up to Ernest when service was over; and
  shook hands with him。  He found every one knew of his having come
  into a fortune。  The fact was that Theobald had immediately told two
  or three of the greatest gossips in the village; and the story was
  not long in spreading。  〃It simplified matters;〃 he had said to
  himself; 〃a good deal。〃  Ernest was civil to Mrs Goodhew for her
  husband's sake; but he gave Miss Wright the cut direct; for he knew
  that she was only Charlotte in disguise。
  A week passed slowly away。  Two or three times the family took the
  sacrament together round Christina's death…bed。  Theobald's
  impatience became more and more transparent daily; but fortunately
  Christina (who even if she had been well would have been ready to
  shut her eyes to it) became weaker and less coherent in mind also;
  so that she hardly; if at all; perceived it。  After Ernest had been
  in the house about a week his mother fell into a comatose state
  which lasted a couple of days; and in the end went away so
  peacefully that it was like the blending of sea and sky in mid…ocean
  upon a soft hazy day when none can say where the earth ends and the
  heavens begin。  Indeed she died to the realities of life with less
  pain than she had waked from many of its illusions。
  〃She has been the comfort and mainstay of my life for more than
  thirty years;〃 said Theobald as soon as all was over; 〃but one could
  not wish it prolonged;〃 and he buried his face in his handkerchief
  to conceal his want of emotion。
  Ernest came back to town the day after his mother's death; and
  returned to the funeral accompanied by myself。  He wanted me to see
  his father in order to prevent any possible misapprehension about
  Miss Pontifex's intentions; and I was such an old friend of the
  family that my presence at Christina's funeral would surprise no
  one。  With all her faults I had always rather liked Christina。  She
  would have chopped Ernest or any one else into little pieces of
  mincemeat to gra