Crawford suggested the
greater desirableness of some carriage which might convey more
than two?To be depriving themselves of the advantage of other
eyes and other judgments, might be an evil even beyond the loss of
present pleasureRushworth proposed that the chaise should be taken also;
but this was scarcely received as an amendment: the young ladies
neither smiled nor spokeHer next proposition, of shewing the house
to such of them as had not been there before, was more acceptable,
for Miss Bertram was pleased to have its size displayed, and all were
glad to be doing something
The whole party rose accordingly, and under MrsRushworth?s
guidance were shewn through a number of rooms, all lofty, and
many large, and amply furnished in the taste of fifty years back,
with shining floors, solid mahogany, rich damask, marble, gilding,
and carving, each handsome in its wayOf pictures there were abundance,
and some few good, but the larger part were family portraits,
no longer anything to anybody but MrsRushworth, who had been
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at great pains to learn all that the housekeeper could teach, and was
now almost equally well qualified to shew the houseOn the present
occasion she addressed herself chiefly to Miss Crawford and http://www.enluxury.com/categorys_37_Oyster-Perpetual-Ladies_1.html" target="_blank Fanny,
but there was no comparison in the willingness of their attention;
for Miss Crawford, who had seen scores of great houses, and cared
for none of them, had only the appearance of civilly listening, while
Fanny, to whom everything was almost as interesting as it was new,
attended with unaffected earnestness to all that MrsRushworth
could relate of the family in former times, its rise and grandeur,
regal visits and loyal efforts, delighted to connect anything with
history already known, or warm her imagination with scenes of the
past
The situation of the house excluded the possibility of much prospect
from any of the rooms; and while Fanny and some of the others
were attending MrsRushworth, Henry Crawford was looking
grave and shaking his head at the windowsEvery room on the west
front looked across a lawn to the beginning of the avenue immediately
beyond tall iron palisades and gates
Having visited many more rooms than could be supposed to be of
any other use than to contribute to the window-tax, and find employment
for housemaids, ?Now,? said MrsRushworth, ?we are
coming to the chapel, which properly we ought to enter from above,
and look down upon; but as we are quite among friends, I will take
you in this way, if you will excuse meFanny?s http://www.enluxury.com/product_365_Chanel-White-and-Black-Cambon-Reporter-Bag.html" target="_blank imagination had prepared her for something
grander than a mere spacious, oblong room, fitted up for the
purpose of devotion: with nothing more striking or more solemn
than the profusion of mahogany, and the crimson velvet cushions
appearing over the ledge of the family gallery above?I am disappointed,?
said she, in a low voice, to Edmund?This is not my idea
of a chapelThere is nothing awful here, nothing melancholy, nothing
grandHere are no aisles, no arches, no inscriptions, no banners
No banners, cousin, to be ?blown by the night wind of heaven
No signs that a ?Scottish monarch sleeps below?
?You forget, Fanny, how lately all this has been built, and for how
confined a purpose, compared with the old chapels of castles and
monasteriesIt was only for the private use of the familyThey have
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Jane Austen
been buried, I suppose, in the parish churchThere you must look
for the banners and the achievements
?It was foolish of me not to think of all that; but I am disappointedRushworth began her relation?This chapel was fitted up as
you see it, in James the Second?s timeBefore that period, as I understand,
the pews were only wainscot; and there is some reason to
think that the linings and cushions of the pulpit and family seat
were only purple http://www.enluxury.com/scategory_25_Gucci-Watches.html" target="_blank cloth; but this is not quite certainIt is a handsome
chapel, and was formerly in constant use both morning and
eveningPrayers were always read in it by the domestic chaplain,
within the memory of many; but the late MrRushworth left it off
?Every generation has its improvements,? said Miss Crawford,
with a smile, to EdmundRushworth was gone to repeat her lesson to MrCrawford;
and Edmund, Fanny, and Miss Crawford remained in a cluster together
?It is a pity,? cried Fanny, ?that the custom should have been discontinued
It was a valuable part of former timesThere is something
in a chapel and chaplain so much in character with a great
house, with one?s ideas of what such a household should be! A whole
family assembling regularly for the purpose of prayer is fine!?
?Very fine indeed,? said Miss Crawford, laughing?It must do the
heads of the family a great deal of good to force all the poor housemaids
and footmen to leave business and pleasure, and say their
prayers here twice a day, while they are inventing excuses themselves
for staying away
?That is hardly Fanny?s idea of a family assembling,? said Edmund
?If the master and mistress do not attend themselves, there must be
more harm than good in the custom
?At any rate, it is safer to leave http://www.enluxury.com/categorys_103_Chanel-Necklaces_1.html" target="_blank people to their own devices on such
subjectsEverybody likes to go their own way?to chuse their own
time and manner of devotionThe obligation of attendance, the
formality, the restraint, the length of time?altogether it is a formidable
thing, and what nobody likes; and if the good people who
used to kneel and gape in that gallery could have foreseen that the
time would ever come when men and women might lie another ten
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Mansfield Park
minutes in bed, when they woke with a headache, without danger
of reprobation, because chapel was missed, they would have jumped
with joy and envyCannot you imagine with what unwilling feelings
the former belles of the house of Rushworth did many a time
repair to this chapel? The young MrsBridgets?
starched up into seeming piety, but with heads full of something
very different?especially if the poor chaplain were not worth looking
at?and, in those days, I fancy parsons were very inferior even
to what they are now
For a few moments she was unansweredFanny coloured and
looked at Edmund, but felt too angry for speech; and he needed a
little recollection before he could say, ?Your lively mind can hardly
be serious even on serious subjectsYou have given us an amusing
sketch, and human nature cannot say it was not http://www.enluxury.com/categorys_103_Chanel-Necklaces_1.html" target="_blank