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1Mr. Rushworth was at the door to receive his fair lady; and the whole party were welcomed by him with due attention. In
2the drawing-room they were met with equal cordiality by the mother, and Miss Bertram had all the distinction with each
3that she could wish. After the business of arriving was over, it was first necessary to eat, and the doors were thrown
4open to admit them through one or two intermediate rooms into the appointed dining-parlour, where a collation was
5prepared with abundance and elegance. Much was said, and much was ate, and all went well. The particular object of the
6day was then considered. How would Mr. Crawford like, in what manner would he chuse, to take a survey of the grounds?
7Mr. Rushworth mentioned his curricle. Mr. Crawford suggested the greater desirableness of some carriage which might
8convey more than two. "To be depriving themselves of the advantage of other eyes and other judgments, might be an evil
9even beyond the loss of present pleasure." Mrs. Rushworth proposed that the chaise should be taken also; but this was
10scarcely received as an amendment: the young ladies neither smiled nor spoke. Her next proposition, of shewing the house
11to such of them as had not been there before, was more acceptable, for Miss Bertram was pleased to have its size
12displayed, and all were glad to be doing something. The whole party rose accordingly, and under Mrs. Rushworth's
13guidance were shewn through a number of rooms, all lofty, and many large, and amply furnished in the taste of fifty
14years back, with shining floors, solid mahogany, rich damask, marble, gilding, and carving, each handsome in its way. Of
15pictures there were abundance, and some few good, but the larger part were family portraits, no longer anything to
16anybody but Mrs. Rushworth, who had been at great pains to learn all that the housekeeper could teach, and was now
17almost equally well qualified to shew the house. On the present occasion she addressed herself chiefly to Miss Crawford
18and Fanny, but there was no comparison in the willingness of their attention; for Miss Crawford, who had seen scores of
19great houses, and cared for none of them, had only the appearance of civilly listening, while Fanny, to whom everything
20was almost as interesting as it was new, attended with unaffected earnestness to all that Mrs. Rushworth could relate of
21the family in former times, its rise and grandeur, regal visits and loyal efforts, delighted to connect anything with
22history already known, or warm her imagination with scenes of the past. The situation of the house excluded the
23possibility of much prospect from any of the rooms; and while Fanny and some of the others were attending Mrs.
24Rushworth, Henry Crawford was looking grave and shaking his head at the windows. Every room on the west front looked
25across a lawn to the beginning of the avenue immediately beyond tall iron palisades and gates. Having visited many more
26rooms than could be supposed to be of any other use than to contribute to the window-tax, and find employment for
27housemaids, "Now," said Mrs. Rushworth, "we are coming to the chapel, which properly we ought to enter from above, and
28look down upon; but as we are quite among friends, I will take you in this way, if you will excuse me." They entered.
29Fanny's imagination had prepared her for something grander than a mere spacious, oblong room, fitted up for the purpose
30of devotion: with nothing more striking or more solemn than the profusion of mahogany, and the crimson velvet cushions
31appearing over the ledge of the family gallery above. "I am disappointed," said she, in a low voice, to Edmund. "This is
32not my idea of a chapel. There is nothing awful here, nothing melancholy, nothing grand. Here are no aisles, no arches,
33no inscriptions, no banners. No banners, cousin, to be 'blown by the night wind of heaven.' No signs that a 'Scottish
34monarch sleeps below.'" "You forget, Fanny, how lately all this has been built, and for how confined a purpose, compared
35with the old chapels of castles and monasteries. It was only for the private use of the family. They have been buried, I
36suppose, in the parish church. There you must look for the banners and the achievements." "It was foolish of me not to
37think of all that; but I am disappointed." Mrs. Rushworth began her relation. "This chapel was fitted up as you see it,
38in James the Second's time. Before that period, as I understand, the pews were only wainscot; and there is some reason
39to think that the linings and cushions of the pulpit and family seat were only purple cloth; but this is not quite
40certain. It is a handsome chapel, and was formerly in constant use both morning and evening. Prayers were always read in
41it by the domestic chaplain, within the memory of many; but the late Mr. Rushworth left it off." "Every generation has
42its improvements," said Miss Crawford, with a smile, to Edmund. Mrs. Rushworth was gone to repeat her lesson to Mr.
43Crawford; and Edmund, Fanny, and Miss Crawford remained in a cluster together. "It is a pity," cried Fanny, "that the
44custom should have been discontinued. It was a valuable part of former times. There is something in a chapel and
45chaplain so much in character with a great house, with one's ideas of what such a household should be! A whole family
46assembling regularly for the purpose of prayer is fine!" "Very fine indeed," said Miss Crawford, laughing. "It must do
47the heads of the family a great deal of good to force all the poor housemaids and footmen to leave business and
48pleasure, and say their prayers here twice a day, while they are inventing excuses themselves for staying away." "That
49is hardly Fanny's idea of a family assembling," said Edmund. "If the master and mistress do not attend themselves, there
50must be more harm than good in the custom." "At any rate, it is safer to leave people to their own devices on such
51subjects. Everybody likes to go their own way--to chuse their own time and manner of devotion. The obligation of
52attendance, the formality, the restraint, the length of time--altogether it is a formidable thing, and what nobody
53likes; and if the good people who used to kneel and gape in that gallery could have foreseen that the time would ever
54come when men and women might lie another ten minutes in bed, when they woke with a headache, without danger of
55reprobation, because chapel was missed, they would have jumped with joy and envy. Cannot you imagine with what unwilling
56feelings the former belles of the house of Rushworth did many a time repair to this chapel? The young Mrs. Eleanors and
57Mrs. Bridgets--starched up into seeming piety, but with heads full of something very different--especially if the poor
58chaplain were not worth looking at--and, in those days, I fancy parsons were very inferior even to what they are now."
59For a few moments she was unanswered. Fanny coloured and looked at Edmund, but felt too angry for speech; and he needed
60a little recollection before he could say, "Your lively mind can hardly be serious even on serious subjects. You have
61given us an amusing sketch, and human nature cannot say it was not so. We must all feel at times the difficulty of
62fixing our thoughts as we could wish; but if you are supposing it a frequent thing, that is to say, a weakness grown
63into a habit from neglect, what could be expected from the private devotions of such persons? Do you think the minds
64which are suffered, which are indulged in wanderings in a chapel, would be more collected in a closet?" "Yes, very
65likely. They would have two chances at least in their favour. There would be less to distract the attention from
66without, and it would not be tried so long." "The mind which does not struggle against itself under one circumstance,
67would find objects to distract it in the other, I believe; and the influence of the place and of example may often rouse
68better feelings than are begun with. The greater length of the service, however, I admit to be sometimes too hard a
69stretch upon the mind. One wishes it were not so; but I have not yet left Oxford long enough to forget what chapel
70prayers are." While this was passing, the rest of the party being scattered about the chapel, Julia called Mr.
71Crawford's attention to her sister, by saying, "Do look at Mr. Rushworth and Maria, standing side by side, exactly as if
72the ceremony were going to be performed. Have not they completely the air of it?"
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