THE SALARY OF A WORKING CLERGYMAN. 397 



poor, liow on earth is he to live ? At home he had 

 every luxury given him, at college he was forced into 

 Avine parties when he should have trained his stomach 

 as well as his brains, to " the living " forsooth, that 

 was to be his portion, and then when he commenced 

 to live on his own account it wr>s expected that he 

 should at once fall into the fare of the cheapest 

 and smallest beer and bacon. His father dies, 

 perhaps his elder brother having succeeded to the 

 estates calls to see him, and hears a tradesman dun 

 him for money, and then asks him the question of 

 " Why don't he pay his debts ?" " Why don't you go 

 in and win," is often said to a boy at school in a 

 battle in which he is getting thrashed, and there is 

 as much wisdom in the question of " Why don't you 

 pay your debts ?" as there is in the advice to "go in 

 and win." How can a man pay who has no money, 

 or a boy " go in and win," who is knocked down 

 whenever he faces his antagonist ! There is nothing 

 so respectable or more to be admired, or more useful 

 than a good parish priest, and yet I have known 

 them well acquit themselves of their arduous duties 

 on a salary tliat had I offered it to my first whipper- 

 in, he would have left me. There is nothing more 

 despicable than a bad or neglectful clergyman ; I fell 

 among two or three in Bedfordshire, and had plenty 

 of opportunities of seeing how the dissenter, and in 

 short, every form of religionist, added to their con- 

 gregations from the flocks of the established shep- 

 herd, whose ministry and life were alike erroneous ; 

 and also how vain it was to expect the bishop of the 

 diocese to check or punish them. I liave a remark- 

 able letter by me now from the bishop of that Ilk, in 

 which, in reply to a letter of mine enumerating sins 



