e division had been made, and
he had thought that the parish should remain a parish entire,--more
especially as the presentation to the new benefice was not conceded
to him. Therefore Dr. Harford did not love Mr. Prong.

But Mrs. Prime did love him,--with that sort of love which devout
women bestow upon the church minister of their choice. Mr. Prong was
an energetic, severe, hardworking, and, I fear, intolerant young man,
who bestowed very much laudable care upon his sermons. The care and
industry were laudable, but not so the pride with which he thought of
them and their results. He spoke much of preaching the Gospel, and
was sincere beyond all doubt in his desire to do so; but he allowed
himself to be led away into a belief that his brethren in the
ministry around him did not preach the Gospel,--that they were
careless shepherds, or shepherds' dogs indifferent to the wolf, and
in this way he had made himself unpopular among the clergy and gentry
of the neighbourhood. It may well be understood that such a man
coming down upon a district, cut out almost from the centre of Dr.
Harford's parish, would be a thorn in the side of that old man. But
Mr. Prong had his circle of friends, of very ardent friends, and
among them Mrs. Prime was one of the most ardent. For the last year
or two she had always attended morning service at his church, and
very frequently had gone there twice in the day, though the walk
was long and tedious, taking her the whole length of the town of
Baslehurst. And there had been some little uneasiness between Mrs.
Ray and Mrs. Prime on the matter of this church attendance. Mrs.
Prime had wished her mother and sister to have the benefit of Mr.
Prong's eloquence; but Mrs. Ray, though she was weak in morals, was
strong in her determination to adhere to Mr. Comfort of Cawston. It
had been matter of great sorrow to her that her daughter should leave
Mr. Comfort's church, and she had positively declined to be taken
out of her own parish. Rachel had, of course, stuck to her mother
in this controversy, and had said some sharp things about Mr. Prong.
She declared that Mr. Prong had been educated at Islington, and that
sometimes he forgot his "h's." When such things were said Mrs. Prime
would wax very angry, and would declare that no one could be saved
by the perfection of Dr. Harford's pronunciation. But there was no
question as to Dr. Harford, and no justification for the introduction
of his name into the disp