as their existing engagements allowed them to leave
Leicestershire. The younger, John, who married in 1816, became his
father's curate, and the elder, who married a year later, became curate
at Pucklechurch, not many miles distant. As Crabbe's old cheerfulness
gradually returned he found much congenial society in the better
educated classes about him. His reputation as a poet was daily
spreading. The _Tales_ passed from edition to edition, and brought him
many admirers and sympathisers. The "busy, populous clothing town," as
he described Trowbridge to a friend, provided him with intelligent
neighbours of a class different from any he had yet been thrown with.
And yet once more, as his son has to admit, he failed to secure the
allegiance of the church-going parishioners. His immediate predecessor,
a curate in charge, had been one of those in whom a more passionate
missionary zeal had been stirred by the Methodist movement--"endeared to
the more serious inhabitants by warm zeal and a powerful talent for
preaching extempore." The parishioners had made urgent appeal to the
noble patron to appoint this man to the benefice, and the Duke's
disregard of their petition had produced much bitterness in the parish.
Then, again, in Crabbe there was a "lay" element, which had probably not
been found in his predecessor, and he might occasionally be seen "at a
concert, a ball, or even a play." And finally, not long after his
arrival, he took the unpopular side in an election for the
representation of the county. The candidate he supported was strongly
opposed by the "manufacturing interest," and Crabbe became the object of
intense dislike at the time of the election, so much so that a violent
mob attempted to prevent his leaving his house to go to the poll.
However, Crabbe showed the utmost courage during the excitement, and his
other fine qualities of sterling worth and kindness of heart ultimately
made their way; and in the sixteen years that followed, Crabbe took
still firmer hold of the affection of the worthier part of his
parishioners.

Crabbe's son thought good to devote several pages of his _Memoir_ to the
question why his father, having now no unmarried son to be his
companion, should not have taken such a sensible step as to marry again.
For the old man, if he deserved to be so called at the age of sixty-two,
was still very susceptible to the charms of female society, and indeed
not wholly free from the habit of philandering