and if any of them thought these were underrated, they were quite at liberty to make a fresh representation of them to me; but that I, who knew more about their neighbours than it was likely they did, and was not prejudiced by the personal regards which they could hardly fail to be influenced by, was more likely than they were to arrive at an equitable distribution of the money—­upon my principles if not on theirs.  And at the same time I tried to show them that a very great part of the disputes in the world came from our having a very keen feeling of our own troubles, and a very dull feeling of our neighbour’s; for if the case was reversed, and our neighbour’s condition became ours, ten to one our judgment would be reversed likewise.  And I think some of them got some sense out of what I said.  But I ever found the great difficulty in my dealing with my people to be the preservation of the authority which was needful for service; for when the elder serve the younger—­and in many cases it is not age that determines seniority—­they must not forget that without which the service they offer will fail to be received as such by those to whom it is offered.  At the same time they must ever take heed that their claim to authority be founded on the truth, and not on ecclesiastical or social position.  Their standing in the church accredits their offer of service:  the service itself can only be accredited by the Truth and the Lord of Truth, who is the servant of all.

But it cost both me and my wife some time and some suffering before we learned how to deport ourselves in these respects.

In the same manner she avoided the too near, because unprofitable, approaches of a portion of the richer part of the community.  For from her probable position in time to come, rather than her position in time past, many of the fashionable people in the county began to call upon her—­in no small degree to her annoyance, simply from the fact that she and they had so little in common.  So, while she performed all towards them that etiquette demanded, she excused herself from the closer intimacy which some of them courted, on the ground of the many duties which naturally fell to the parson’s wife in a country parish like ours; and I am sure that long before we had gained the footing we now have, we had begun to reap the benefits of this mode of regarding our duty in the parish as one, springing from the same source, and tending to the same end.  The parson’s wife who takes to herself authority in virtue of her position, and the parson’s wife who disclaims all connexion with the professional work of her husband, are equally out of place in being parsons’ wives.  The one who refuses to serve denies her greatest privilege; the one who will be a mistress receives the greater condemnation.  When the wife is one with her husband, and the husband is worthy, the position will soon reveal itself.

But there cannot be many clergymen’s wives amongst my readers; and I may have occupied more space than reasonable with this “large discourse.”  I apologize, and, there is room to fear, go on to do the same again.