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As to that, Bulstrode, its no use going back. Im not one of your pattern men, and I dont pretend to be. I couldnt foresee everything in the trade; there wasnt a finer business in Middlemarch than ours, and the lad was clever. My poor brother was in the Church, and would have done wellhad got preferment already, but that stomach fever took him off: else he might have been a dean by this time. I think I was justified in what I tried to do for Fred. If you come to religion, it seems to me a man shouldnt want to carve out his meat to an ounce beforehand:one must trust a little to Providence and be generous. Its a good British feeling to try and raise your family a little: in my opinion, its a fathers duty to give his sons a fine chance. I dont wish to act otherwise than as your best friend, Vincy, when I say that what you have been uttering just now is one mass of worldliness and inconsistent folly. Very well, said Mr Vincy, kicking in spite of resolutions, I never professed to be anything but worldly; and, whats more, I dont see anybody else who is not worldly. I suppose you dont conduct business on what you call unworldly principles. The only difference I see is that one worldliness is a little bit honester than another. This kind of discussion is unfruitful, Vincy, said Mr Bulstrode, who, finishing his sandwich, had thrown himself back in his chair, and shaded his eyes as if weary. You had some more particular business. Yes, yes. The long and short of it is, somebody has told old Featherstone, giving you as the authority, that Fred has been borrowing or trying to borrow money on the prospect of his land. Of course you never said any such nonsense. But the old fellow will insist on it that Fred should bring him a denial in your handwriting; that is, just a bit of a note saying you dont believe a word of such stuff, either of his having borrowed or tried to borrow in such a fools way. I suppose you can have no objection to do that. Pardon me. I have an objection. I am by no means sure that your son, in his recklessness and ignoranceI will use no severer wordhas not tried to raise money by holding out his future prospects, or even that some one may not have been foolish enough to supply him on so vague a presumption: there is plenty of such lax money-lending as of other folly in the world. But Fred gives me his honor that he has never borrowed money on the pretence of any understanding about his uncles land. He is not a liar. I dont want to make him better than he is. I have blown him up wellnobody can say I wink at what he does. But he is not a liar. And I should have thoughtbut I may be wrongthat there was no religion to hinder a man from believing the best of a young fellow, when you dont know worse. It seems to me it would be a poor sort of religion to put a spoke in his wheel by refusing to say you dont believe such harm of him as youve got no good reason to believe. I am not at all sure that I should be befriending your son by smoothing his way to the future possession of Featherstones property. I cannot regard wealth as a blessing to those who use it simply as a harvest for this world. You do not like to hear these things, Vincy, but on this occasion I feel called upon to tell you that I have no motive for furthering such a disposition of property as that which you refer to. I do not shrink from saying that it will not tend to your sons eternal welfare or to the glory of God. Why then should you expect me to pen this kind of affidavit, which has no object but to keep up a foolish partiality and secure a foolish bequest? If you mean to hinder everybody from having money but saints and evangelists, you must give up some profitable partnerships, thats all I can say, Mr Vincy burst out very bluntly. It may be for the glory of God, but it is not for the glory of the Middlemarch trade, that Plymdales house uses those blue and green dyes it gets from the Brassing manufactory; they rot the silk, thats all I know about it. Perhaps if other people knew so much of the profit went to the glory of God, they might like it better. But I dont mind so much about thatI could get up a pretty row, if I chose. Mr Bulstrode paused a little before he answered. You pain me very much by speaking in this way, Vincy. I do not expect you to understand my grounds of actionit is not an easy thing even to thread a path |
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