another's
path; but restrained as he will be by his secret pangs of conscience, he
can scarcely be an active obstructionist. But a man who, having mistaken
the field of his life's labor, yet remains amiably self-satisfied, and
unconscious of his unfitness, may do more harm in his serene ignorance
than he might have done good if he had chosen his proper sphere. Such
a man as the last was the Reverend Harold. A good-natured,
broad-shouldered, tactless, self-sufficient person, he had taken up his
work with a complacent feeling that no field of labor could fail to be
benefited by his patronage; he was content now as always. He had been
content with himself and his intellectual progress at Oxford; he had
been content with his first parish at Ashley-wold; he had been content
then with the gentle-natured, soft-spoken Kentish men and women; he had
never feared finding himself unequal to the guidance of their souls, and
he was not at all troubled by the prospect Riggan presented to him.

"It is a different sort of thing," he said to his curate, in the best of
spirits, "and new to us--new of course; but we shall get over that--we
shall get over that easily enough, Grace."

So with not a shadow of a doubt as to his speedy success, and with a
comfortable confidence in ecclesiastical power, in whomsoever vested, he
called upon his parishioners one after the other. He appeared at their
cottages at all hours, and gave the same greeting to each of them. He
was their new rector, and having come to Riggan with the intention of
doing them good, and improving their moral condition, he intended to do
them good, and improve them, in spite of themselves. They must come to
church: it was their business to come to church, as it was his business
to preach the gospel. All this implied, in half an hour's half-friendly,
half-ecclesiastical conversation, garnished with a few favorite texts
and religious platitudes, and the man felt that he had done his duty,
and done it well.

Only one man nonplussed him, and even this man's effect upon him was
temporary, only lasting as long as his call. He had been met with a
dogged resentment in the majority of his visits, but when he encountered
'Owd Sammy Craddock' he encountered a different sort of opposition.

"Aye," said Owd Sammy, "an' so tha'rt th' new rector, art ta? I thowt as
mich as another ud spring up as soon as th' owd un wur cut down. Tha
parsens is a nettle as dunnot soon dee oot. Well, I'll l