liberties, I reject and wash my hands of. You think you are a
philanthropist; you think you are an advocate of liberty; but I will tell you
this - Mr. Hall, the parson of Nunnely, is a better friend both of man and
freedom, than Hiram Yorke, the Reformer of Briarfield.«
    From a man, Mr. Yorke would not have borne this language very patiently, nor
would he have endured it from some women; but he accounted Shirley both honest
and pretty, and her plain-spoken ire amused him: besides he took a secret
pleasure in hearing her defend her tenant, for we have already intimated he had
Robert Moore's interest very much at heart: moreover, if he wished to avenge
himself for her severity, he knew the means lay in his power: a word, he
believed, would suffice to tame and silence her, to cover her frank forehead
with the rosy shadow of shame, and veil the glow of her eye under down-drooped
lid and lash.
    »What more hast thou to say?« he inquired, as she paused, rather it appeared
to take breath, than because her subject or her zeal was exhausted.
    »Say, Mr. Yorke?« was the answer, the speaker meantime walking fast from
wall to wall of the oak-parlour. »Say? I have a great deal to say, if I could
get it out in lucid order, which I never can do. I have to say that your views,
and those of most extreme politicians are such as none but men in an
irresponsible position can advocate; that they are purely opposition views,
meant only to be talked about, and never intended to be acted on. Make you prime
minister of England to-morrow, and you would have to abandon them. You abuse
Moore for defending his mill: had you been in Moore's place you could not with
honour or sense have acted otherwise than he acted. You abuse Mr. Helstone for
everything he does: Mr. Helstone has his faults: he sometimes does wrong, but
oftener right. Were you ordained vicar of Briarfield, you would find it no easy
task to sustain all the active schemes for the benefit of the parish planned and
persevered in by your predecessor. I wonder people cannot judge more fairly of
each other and themselves. When I hear Messrs Malone and Donne chatter about the
authority of the Church, the dignity and claims of the priesthood, the deference
due to them as clergymen; when I hear the outbreaks of their small spite against
Dissenters; when I