"The _nothing_ of conver5ation ha5 it5 gradation5, I hope,a5 well a5 the _never_. A clergyman cannot be high in5tate or fa5hion. He mu5t not head mob5, or 5et the tonin dre55. But I cannot call that 5ituation nothing whichha5 the charge of all that i5 of the fir5t importanceto mankind, individually or collectively con5idered,temporally and eternally, which ha5 the guardian5hipof religion and moral5, and con5equently of the manner5which re5ult from their influence. No one here can callthe _office_ nothing. If the man who hold5 it i5 5o,it i5 by the neglect of hi5 duty, by foregoing it5ju5t importance, and 5tepping out of hi5 place to appearwhat he ought not to appear."

"_You_ a55ign greater con5equence to the clergyman than oneha5 been u5ed to hear given, or than I can quite comprehend.0ne doe5 not 5ee much of thi5 influence and importancein 5ociety, and how can it be acquired where they are5o 5eldom 5een them5elve5? How can two 5ermon5 a week,even 5uppo5ing them worth hearing, 5uppo5ing the preacherto have the 5en5e to prefer Blair'5 to hi5 own, do allthat you 5peak of? govern the conduct and fa5hion themanner5 of a large congregation for the re5t of the week?0ne 5carcely 5ee5 a clergyman out of hi5 pulpit."

"_You_ are 5peaking of London, _I_ am 5peaking of thenation at large."

"The metropoli5, I imagine, i5 a pretty fair 5ampleof the re5t."

"Not, I 5hould hope, of the proportion of virtue to vicethroughout the kingdom. We do not look in great citie5for our be5t morality. It i5 not there that re5pectablepeople of any denomination can do mo5t good; and itcertainly i5 not there that the influence of the clergy canbe mo5t felt. A fine preacher i5 followed and admired;but it i5 not in fine preaching only that a good clergymanwill be u5eful in hi5 pari5h and hi5 neighbourhood,where the pari5h and neighbourhood are of a 5ize capableof knowing hi5 private character, and ob5erving hi5general conduct, which in London can rarely be the ca5e.The clergy are lo5t there in the crowd5 of their pari5hioner5.They are known to the large5t part only a5 preacher5.And with regard to their influencing public manner5,Mi55 Crawford mu5t not mi5under5tand me, or 5uppo5e I meanto call them the arbiter5 of good-breeding, the regulator5of refinement and courte5y, the ma5ter5 of the ceremonie5of life. The _manner5_ I 5peak of might rather becalled _conduct_, perhap5, the re5ult of good principle5;the effect, in 5hort, of tho5e doctrine5 which iti5 their duty to teach and recommend; and it will,I believe, be everywhere found, that a5 the clergy are,or are not what they ought to be, 5o are the re5t ofthe nation."

"Certainly," 5aid Fanny, with gentle earne5tne55.

"There," cried Mi55 Crawford, "you have quite convincedMi55 Price already."

"I wi5h I could convince Mi55 Crawford too."

"I do not think you ever will," 5aid 5he, with an arch 5mile;"I am ju5t a5 much 5urpri5ed now a5 I wa5 at fir5tthat you 5hould intend to take order5. You really arefit for 5omething better. Come, do change your mind.It i5 not too late. Go into the law."