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Chapter 2 Hiram's Hospital According to Act of Parliament

Word Count: 2638    |    Released on: 11/11/2017

ten how ill that sensitive gentleman bore the attack that was made on him in the columns of The Jupiter, with reference to the income which he received as warden of Hiram’s Hosp

d bishop took occasion, in the Upper House, to allude to the matter, intimating that he had communicated on the subject with his right reverend brother of Barchester. The radical member for Staleybridge had suggested that the funds should be alienated for the education of the agricultural poor of the country, and he amused the house by some anecdotes touching the superstition and habits of the agriculturists in question. A political pamphleteer had produced a few dozen pages which he called “Who are John Hiram’s heirs?” intended to give an infallible rule for the governance of all such establishments; at last, a member of the government promised that in the next session a short bill should be introduced for regulating the affairs of Barchester and other kindred concerns.The next session came, and, contrary to custom, the bill came also. Men’s minds were then intent on other things. The first threatenings of a huge war hung heavily over the nation, and the question as to Hiram’s heirs did not appear to interest very many people either in or out of the house. The bill, however, was read and re-read, and in some undistinguished manner passed through its eleven stages without appeal or dissent. What would John Hiram have said in the matter, could he have predicted that some forty-five gentlemen would take on themselves to make a law altering the whole purport of his will without in the least knowing at the moment of their making it what it was that they were doing? It is however to be hoped that the under-secretary for the Home Office knew, for to him had the matter been confided.The bill, however, did pass, and at the time at which this history is supposed to commence it had been ordained that there should be, as heretofore, twelve old men in Barchester Hospital, each with 1s. 4d. a day; that there should also be twelve old women to be located in a house to be built, each with 1s. 2d. a day; that there should be a matron, with a house and £70 a year; a steward with £150 a year; and latterly a warden with £450 a year, who should have the spiritual guidance of both establishments and the temporal guidance of that appertaining to the male sex. The bishop, dean, and warden were, as formerly, to appoint in turn the recipients of the charity, and the bishop was to appoint the officers. There was nothing said as to the wardenship being held by the precentor of the cathedral, nor a word as to Mr. Harding’s right to the situation.It was not, however, till some months after the death of the old bishop, and almost immediately consequent on the installation of his successor, that notice was given that the reform was about to be carried out. The new law and the new bishop were among the earliest works of a new ministry, or rather of a ministry who, having for awhile given place to their opponents, had then returned to power; and the death of Dr. Grantly occurred, as we have seen, exactly at the period of the change.Poor Eleanor Bold! How well does that widow’s cap be-come her, and the solemn gravity with which she devotes herself to her new duties. Poor Eleanor!Poor Eleanor! I cannot say that with me John Bold was ever a favourite. I never thought him worthy of the wife he had won. But in her estimation he was most worthy. Hers was one of those feminine hearts which cling to a husband, not with idolatry, for worship can admit of no defect in its idol, but with the perfect tenacity of ivy. As the parasite plant will follow even the defects of the trunk which it embraces, so did Eleanor cling to and love the very faults of her husband. She had once declared that whatever her father did should in her eyes be right. She then transferred her allegiance and became ever ready to defend the worst failings of her lord and master.And John Bold was a man to be loved by a woman; he was himself affectionate; he was confiding and manly; and that arrogance of thought, unsustained by first-rate abilities, that attempt at being better than his neighbours which jarred so painfully on the feelings of his acquaintance did not injure him in the estimation of his wife.Could she even have admitted that he had a fault, his early death would have blotted out the memory of it. She wept as for the loss of the most perfect treasure with which mortal woman had ever been endowed; for weeks after he was gone the idea of future happiness in this world was hateful to her; consolation, as it is called, was insupportable, and tears and sleep were her only relief.But God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb. She knew that she had within her the living source of other cares. She knew that there was to be created for her another subject of weal o

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Contents

Chapter 1 Who Will Be the New Bishop Chapter 2 Hiram's Hospital According to Act of Parliament Chapter 3 Dr. and Mrs. Proudie Chapter 4 The Bishop's Chaplain Chapter 5 A Morning Visit Chapter 6 War Chapter 7 The Dean and Chapter Take Counsel Chapter 8 The Ex-warden Rejoices in His Probable Return to th Chapter 9 The Stanhope Family Chapter 10 Mrs. Proudie's Reception - Commenced Chapter 11 Mrs. Proudie's Reception - Concluded
Chapter 12 Slope Versus Harding
Chapter 13 The Rubbish Cart
Chapter 14 The New Champion
Chapter 15 The Widow's Suitors
Chapter 16 Baby Worship
Chapter 17 Who Shall be Cock of the Walk
Chapter 18 The Widow's Persecution
Chapter 19 Barchester by Moonlight
Chapter 20 Mr. Arabin
Chapter 21 St. Ewold's Parsonage
Chapter 22 The Thornes of Ullathorne
Chapter 23 Mr. Arabin Reads Himself in at St. Ewold's
Chapter 24 Mr. Slope Manages Matters very Cleverly at Pudding
Chapter 25 Fourteen Arguments in Favour of Mr. Quiverful's
Chapter 26 Mrs. Proudie Wrestles and Gets a Fall
Chapter 27 A Love Scene
Chapter 28 Mrs. Bold is Entertained by Dr. and Mrs. Grantly a
Chapter 29 A Serious Interview
Chapter 30 Another Love Scene
Chapter 31 The Bishop's Library
Chapter 32 A New Candidate for Ecclesiastical Honours
Chapter 33 Mrs. Proudie Victrix
Chapter 34 Oxford - The Master and Tutor of Lazarus
Chapter 35 Miss Thorne's Fête Champêtre
Chapter 36 Ullathorne Sports - Act I
Chapter 37 The Signora Neroni, the Countess De Courcy, and Mr
Chapter 38 The Bishop Breakfasts, and the Dean Dies
Chapter 39 The Lookalofts and the Greenacres
Chapter 40 Ullathorne Sports - Act II
Chapter 41 Mrs. Bold Confides Her Sorrow to Her Friend Miss S
Chapter 42 Ullathorne Sports - Act III
Chapter 43 Mr. and Mrs. Quiverful Are Made Happy Mr. Slope is
Chapter 44 Mrs. Bold at Home
Chapter 45 The Stanhopes at Home
Chapter 49 Mr. Slope's Parting Interview with the Signora
Chapter 42 The Dean Elect
Chapter 43 Miss Thorne Shows Her Talent at Match-Making
Chapter 49 The Beelzebub Colt
Chapter 50 The Archdeacon is Satisfied with the State of Affa
Chapter 51 Mr. Slope Bids Farewell to the Palace and Its Inha
Chapter 52 The New Dean Takes Possession of the Deanery, and
Chapter 53 Conclusion
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