 excellent Rector - three times three!«
    This toast was drunk with all the enthusiasm that was wanting to the last,
and it certainly was the most picturesque moment in the scene when Mr. Irwine
got up to speak, and all the faces in the room were turned towards him. The
superior refinement of his face was much more striking than that of Arthur's
when seen in comparison with the people round them. Arthur's was a much commoner
British face, and the splendour of his new-fashioned clothes was more akin to
the young farmer's taste in costume than Mr. Irwine's powder, and the
well-brushed but well-worn black, which seemed to be his chosen suit for great
occasions; for he had the mysterious secret of never wearing a new-looking coat.
    »This is not the first time, by a great many,« he said, »that I have had to
thank my parishioners for giving me tokens of their goodwill, but neighbourly
kindness is among those things that are the more precious the older they get.
Indeed, our pleasant meeting to-day is a proof that when what is good comes of
age and is likely to live, there is reason for rejoicing, and the relation
between us as clergyman and parishioners came of age two years ago, for it is
three-and-twenty years since I first came among you, and I see some tall
fine-looking young men here, as well as some blooming young women, that were far
from looking as pleasantly at me when I christened them, as I am happy to see
them looking now. But I'm sure you will not wonder when I say, that among all
those young men, the one in whom I have the strongest interest is my friend Mr.
Arthur Donnithorne, for whom you have just expressed your regard. I had the
pleasure of being his tutor for several years, and have naturally had
opportunities of knowing him intimately which cannot have occurred to any one
else who is present; and I have some pride as well as pleasure in assuring you
that I share your high hopes concerning him, and your confidence in his
possession of those qualities which will make him an excellent landlord when the
time shall come for him to take that important position among you. We feel alike
on most matters on which a man who is getting towards fifty can feel in common
with a young man of one-and-twenty, and he has just been expressing a feeling
which I share very heartily, and I would not willingly omit the opportunity of
saying
