wretched cavils of the Nonconformists, and the noisy
futility that belongs to schismatics generally. I will give you a telling
passage from Burke on the Dissenters, and some good quotations which I brought
together in two sermons of my own on the Position of the English Church in
Christendom. How long do you think it will take you to bring your thoughts
together? You can throw them afterwards into the form of an essay; we'll have
the thing printed; it will do you good with the bishop.«
    With all Mr Sherlock's timidity, there was fascination for him in this
distinction. He reflected that he could take coffee and sit up late, and perhaps
produce something rather fine. It might be a first step towards that eminence
which it was no more than his duty to aspire to. Even a polemical fame like that
of a Philpotts must have had a beginning. Mr Sherlock was not insensible to the
pleasure of turning sentences successfully, and it was a pleasure not always
unconnected with preferment. A diffident man likes the idea of doing something
remarkable, which will create belief in him without any immediate display of
brilliancy. Celebrity may blush and be silent, and win a grace the more. Thus Mr
Sherlock was constrained, trembling all the while, and much wishing that his
essay were already in print.
    »I think I could hardly be ready under a fortnight.«
    »Very good. Just write that, Phil, and tell him to fix the precise day and
place. And then we'll go to lunch.«
    The rector was quite satisfied. He had talked himself into thinking that he
should like to give Sherlock a few useful hints, look up his own earlier
sermons, and benefit the curate by his criticism, when the argument had been got
into shape. He was a healthy-natured man, but that was not at all a reason why
he should not have those sensibilities to the odour of authorship which belong
to almost everybody who is not expected to be a writer - and especially to that
form of authorship which is called suggestion, and consists in telling another
man that he might do a great deal with a given subject, by bringing a sufficient
amount of knowledge, reasoning, and wit to bear upon it.
    Philip would have had some twinges of conscience about the curate, if he had
not guessed that the honour thrust upon him was not altogether disagreeable. The
church might perhaps have had a stronger supporter; but for himself, he had done
what he was bound to do: he had done his best towards fulfilling Mr Lyon's
desire.