"Yes! I have been sorry to hear of all she has had to bear; not merely the common and universal sorrow arising from death, but all the annoyance which her father's conduct must have caused her, and then----"
"Her father's conduct!" said Mr. Bell, in an accent of surprise. "You must have heard some wrong statement. He behaved in the most conscientious manner. He showed more resolute strength than I should ever have given him credit for formerly."
"Perhaps I have been wrongly informed. But I have been told, by his successor in the living--a clever sensible man, and a thoroughly active clergyman--that there was no call upon Mr. Hale to do what he did, relinquish the living, and throw himself and his family on the tender mercies of private teaching in a manufacturing town; the bishop had offered him another living, it is true, but if he had come to entertain certain doubts, he could have remained where he was, and so had no occasion to resign. But the truth is, these country clergymen live such isolated lives--isolated, I mean, from all intercourse with men of equal cultivation with themselves, by whose minds they might regulate their own, and discover when they were going either too fast or too slow--that they are very apt to disturb themselves with imaginary doubts as to the articles of faith, and throw up certain opportunities of doing good for very uncertain fancies of their own."

'Yes! I have been sorry to hear of all she has had to bear; not merely sorrow, but all the annoyance which her father's conduct must have caused her-'
'Her father's conduct!' said Mr. Bell, in surprise. 'You must have heard some wrong statement. He behaved in the most conscientious and resolute manner.'
'Perhaps I have been wrongly informed. But I have been told, by his successor - a sensible, active clergyman - that there was no need for Mr. Hale to relinquish the living; he could have remained where he was, and so had no occasion to resign. But the truth is, these country clergymen live such isolated lives - isolated, I mean, from men of cultivation - that they are very apt to disturb themselves with imaginary doubts.'
