Chapter XXIV
The Health-Drinking
WHEN the dinner was over, and the first draughts from the great cask ofbirthday ale were brought up, room was made for the broad Mr. Poyser atthe side of the table, and two chairs were placed at the head. It hadbeen settled very definitely what Mr. Poyser was to do when the youngsquire should appear, and for the last five minutes he had been in astate of abstraction, with his eyes fixed on the dark picture opposite,and his hands busy with the loose cash and other articles in hisbreeches pockets.
When the young squire entered, with Mr. Irwine by his side, every onestood up, and this moment of homage was very agreeable to Arthur. Heliked to feel his own importance, and besides that, he cared a greatdeal for the good-will of these people: he was fond of thinking thatthey had a hearty, special regard for him. The pleasure he felt was inhis face as he said, "My grandfather and I hope all our friends herehave enjoyed their dinner, and find my birthday ale good. Mr. Irwineand I are come to taste it with you, and I am sure we shall all likeanything the better that the rector shares with us."
All eyes were now turned on Mr. Poyser, who, with his hands still busyin his pockets, began with the deliberateness of a slow-striking clock."Captain, my neighbours have put it upo' me to speak for 'em to-day, forwhere folks think pretty much alike, one spokesman's as good as a score.And though we've mayhappen got contrairy ways o' thinking about a manythings--one man lays down his land one way an' another another--an' I'llnot take it upon me to speak to no man's farming, but my own--this I'llsay, as we're all o' one mind about our young squire. We've pretty nighall on us known you when you war a little un, an' we've niver knownanything on you but what was good an' honorable. You speak fair an'y' act fair, an' we're joyful when we look forrard to your being ourlandlord, for we b'lieve you mean to do right by everybody, an' 'ullmake no man's bread bitter to him if you can help it. That's what Imean, an' that's what we all mean; and when a man's said what he means,he'd better stop, for th' ale 'ull be none the better for stannin'. An'I'll not say how we like th' ale yet, for we couldna well taste it tillwe'd drunk your health in it; but the dinner was good, an' if there'sanybody hasna enjoyed it, it must be the fault of his own inside. An' asfor the rector's company, it's well known as that's welcome t' all theparish wherever he may be; an' I hope, an' we all hope, as he'll liveto see us old folks, an' our children grown to men an' women an' YourHonour a family man. I've no more to say as concerns the present time,an' so we'll drink our young squire's health--three times three."
Hereupon a glorious shouting, a rapping, a jingling, a clattering, and ashouting, with plentiful da capo, pleasanter than a strain of sublimestmusic in the ears that receive such a tribute for the first time. Arthurhad felt a twinge of conscience during Mr. Poyser's speech, but it wastoo feeble to nullify the pleasure he felt in being praised. Did he notdeserve what was said of him on the whole? If there was something inhis conduct that Poyser wouldn't have liked if he had known it, why,no man's conduct will bear too close an inspection and Poyser was notlikely to know it; and, after all, what had he done? Gone a little toofar, perhaps, in flirtation, but another man in his place would haveacted much worse; and no harm would come--no harm should come, for thenext time he was alone with Hetty, he would explain to her that she mustnot think seriously of him or of what had passed. It was necessaryto Arthur, you perceive, to be satisfied with himself. Uncomfortablethoughts must be got rid of by good intentions for the future, which canbe formed so rapidly that he had time to be uncomfortable and to becomeeasy again before Mr. Poyser's slow speech was finished, and when it wastime for him to speak he was quite light-hearted.
"I thank you all, my good friends and neighbours," Arthur said, "for thegood opinion of me, and the kind feelings towards me which Mr. Poyserhas been expressing on your behalf and on his own, and it will always bemy heartiest wish to deserve them. In the course of things we may expectthat, if I live, I shall one day or other be your landlord; indeed, itis on the ground of that expectation that my grandfather has wished meto celebrate this day and to come among you now; and I look forward tothis position, not merely as one of power and pleasure for myself, butas a means of benefiting my neighbours. It hardly becomes so young a manas I am to talk much about farming to you, who are most of you so mucholder, and are men of experience; still, I have interested myself a gooddeal in such matters, and learned as much about them as my opportunitieshave allowed; and when the course of events shall place the estate inmy hands, it will be my first desire to afford my tenants all theencouragement a landlord can give them, in improving their land andtrying to bring about a better practice of husbandry. It will be my wishto be looked on by all my deserving tenants as their best friend, andnothing would make me so happy as to be able to respect every man onthe estate, and to be respected by him in return. It is not my placeat present to enter into particulars; I only meet your good hopesconcerning me by telling you that my own hopes correspond to them--thatwhat you expect from me I desire to fulfil; and I am quite of Mr.Poyser's opinion, that when a man has said what he means, he had betterstop. But the pleasure I feel in having my own health drunk by you wouldnot be perfect if we did not drink the health of my grandfather, who hasfilled the place of both parents to me. I will say no more, until youhave joined me in drinking his health on a day when he has wished me toappear among you as the future representative of his name and family."
Perhaps there was no one present except Mr. Irwine who thoroughlyunderstood and approved Arthur's graceful mode of proposing hisgrandfather's health. The farmers thought the young squire knew wellenough that they hated the old squire, and Mrs. Poyser said, "he'dbetter not ha' stirred a kettle o' sour broth." The bucolic mind doesnot readily apprehend the refinements of good taste. But the toast couldnot be rejected and when it had been drunk, Arthur said, "I thank you,both for my grandfather and myself; and now there is one more thing Iwish to tell you, that you may share my pleasure about it, as I hopeand believe you will. I think there can be no man here who has not arespect, and some of you, I am sure, have a very high regard, for myfriend Adam Bede. It is well known to every one in this neighbourhoodthat there is no man whose word can be more depended on than his; thatwhatever he undertakes to do, he does well, and is as careful for theinterests of those who employ him as for his own. I'm proud to say thatI was very fond of Adam when I was a little boy, and I have never lostmy old feeling for him--I think that shows that I know a good fellowwhen I find him. It has long been my wish that he should have themanagement of the woods on the estate, which happen to be very valuable,not only because I think so highly of his character, but because he hasthe knowledge and the skill which fit him for the place. And I am happyto tell you that it is my grandfather's wish too, and it is now settledthat Adam shall manage the woods--a change which I am sure will be verymuch for the advantage of the estate; and I hope you will by and by joinme in drinking his health, and in wishing him all the prosperity in lifethat he deserves. But there is a still older friend of mine than AdamBede present, and I need not tell you that it is Mr. Irwine. I'm sureyou will agree with me that we must drink no other person's health untilwe have drunk his. I know you have all reason to love him, but no one ofhis parishioners has so much reason as I. Come, charge your glasses, andlet us drink to our excellent rector--three times three!"
This toast was drunk with all the enthusiasm that was wanting to thelast, and it certainly was the most picturesque moment in the scene whenMr. Irwine got up to speak, and all the faces in the room were turnedtowards him. The superior refinement of his face was much more strikingthan that of Arthur's when seen in comparison with the people roundthem. Arthur's was a much commoner British face, and the splendour ofhis new-fashioned clothes was more akin to the young farmer's tastein costume than Mr. Irwine's powder and the well-brushed but well-wornblack, which seemed to be his chosen suit for great occasions; for hehad the mysterious secret of never wearing a new-looking coat.
"This is not the first time, by a great many," he
said, "that I havehad to thank my parishioners for giving me tokens of their goodwill, butneighbourly kindness is among those things that are the more preciousthe older they get. Indeed, our pleasant meeting to-day is a proof thatwhen what is good comes of age and is likely to live, there is reasonfor rejoicing, and the relation between us as clergyman and parishionerscame of age two years ago, for it is three-and-twenty years since Ifirst 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 aspleasantly at me when I christened them as I am happy to see themlooking now. But I'm sure you will not wonder when I say that among allthose young men, the one in whom I have the strongest interest is myfriend Mr. Arthur Donnithorne, for whom you have just expressed yourregard. I had the pleasure of being his tutor for several years, andhave naturally had opportunities of knowing him intimately which cannothave occurred to any one else who is present; and I have some pride aswell as pleasure in assuring you that I share your high hopes concerninghim, and your confidence in his possession of those qualities which willmake him an excellent landlord when the time shall come for him to takethat important position among you. We feel alike on most matters onwhich a man who is getting towards fifty can feel in common with a youngman of one-and-twenty, and he has just been expressing a feeling whichI share very heartily, and I would not willingly omit the opportunity ofsaying so. That feeling is his value and respect for Adam Bede. Peoplein a high station are of course more thought of and talked about andhave their virtues more praised, than those whose lives are passed inhumble everyday work; but every sensible man knows how necessary thathumble everyday work is, and how important it is to us that it should bedone well. And I agree with my friend Mr. Arthur Donnithorne in feelingthat when a man whose duty lies in that sort of work shows a characterwhich would make him an example in any station, his merit should beacknowledged. He is one of those to whom honour is due, and his friendsshould delight to honour him. I know Adam Bede well--I know what he isas a workman, and what he has been as a son and brother--and I am sayingthe simplest truth when I say that I respect him as much as I respectany man living. But I am not speaking to you about a stranger; some ofyou are his intimate friends, and I believe there is not one here whodoes not know enough of him to join heartily in drinking his health."
As Mr. Irwine paused, Arthur jumped up and, filling his glass, said, "Abumper to Adam Bede, and may he live to have sons as faithful and cleveras himself!"
No hearer, not even Bartle Massey, was so delighted with this toast asMr. Poyser. "Tough work" as his first speech had been, he would havestarted up to make another if he had not known the extreme irregularityof such a course. As it was, he found an outlet for his feeling indrinking his ale unusually fast, and setting down his glass with a swingof his arm and a determined rap. If Jonathan Burge and a few othersfelt less comfortable on the occasion, they tried their best to lookcontented, and so the toast was drunk with a goodwill apparentlyunanimous.
Adam was rather paler than usual when he got up to thank his friends. Hewas a good deal moved by this public tribute--very naturally, for he wasin the presence of all his little world, and it was uniting to do himhonour. But he felt no shyness about speaking, not being troubledwith small vanity or lack of words; he looked neither awkward norembarrassed, but stood in his usual firm upright attitude, with his headthrown a little backward and his hands perfectly still, in that roughdignity which is peculiar to intelligent, honest, well-built workmen,who are never wondering what is their business in the world.
"I'm quite taken by surprise," he said. "I didn't expect anything o'this sort, for it's a good deal more than my wages. But I've the morereason to be grateful to you, Captain, and to you, Mr. Irwine, and toall my friends here, who've drunk my health and wished me well. It 'udbe nonsense for me to be saying, I don't at all deserve th' opinion youhave of me; that 'ud be poor thanks to you, to say that you've known meall these years and yet haven't sense enough to find out a great deal o'the truth about me. You think, if I undertake to do a bit o' work, I'lldo it well, be my pay big or little--and that's true. I'd be ashamedto stand before you here if it wasna true. But it seems to me that'sa man's plain duty, and nothing to be conceited about, and it's prettyclear to me as I've never done more than my duty; for let us do what wewill, it's only making use o' the sperrit and the powers that ha' beengiven to us. And so this kindness o' yours, I'm sure, is no debt you oweme, but a free gift, and as such I accept it and am thankful. And as tothis new employment I've taken in hand, I'll only say that I took itat Captain Donnithorne's desire, and that I'll try to fulfil hisexpectations. I'd wish for no better lot than to work under him, andto know that while I was getting my own bread I was taking care of hisint'rests. For I believe he's one o those gentlemen as wishes to do theright thing, and to leave the world a bit better than he found it, whichit's my belief every man may do, whether he's gentle or simple, whetherhe sets a good bit o' work going and finds the money, or whether he doesthe work with his own hands. There's no occasion for me to say any moreabout what I feel towards him: I hope to show it through the rest o' mylife in my actions."
There were various opinions about Adam's speech: some of the womenwhispered that he didn't show himself thankful enough, and seemed tospeak as proud as could be; but most of the men were of opinion thatnobody could speak more straightfor'ard, and that Adam was as fine achap as need to be. While such observations were being buzzed about,mingled with wonderings as to what the old squire meant to do for abailiff, and whether he was going to have a steward, the two gentlemenhad risen, and were walking round to the table where the wives andchildren sat. There was none of the strong ale here, of course, butwine and dessert--sparkling gooseberry for the young ones, and some goodsherry for the mothers. Mrs. Poyser was at the head of this table, andTotty was now seated in her lap, bending her small nose deep down into awine-glass in search of the nuts floating there.
"How do you do, Mrs. Poyser?" said Arthur. "Weren't you pleased to hearyour husband make such a good speech to-day?"
"Oh, sir, the men are mostly so tongue-tied--you're forced partly toguess what they mean, as you do wi' the dumb creaturs."
"What! you think you could have made it better for him?" said Mr.Irwine, laughing.
"Well, sir, when I want to say anything, I can mostly find words to sayit in, thank God. Not as I'm a-finding faut wi' my husband, for if he'sa man o' few words, what he says he'll stand to."
"I'm sure I never saw a prettier party than this," Arthur said, lookinground at the apple-cheeked children. "My aunt and the Miss Irwines willcome up and see you presently. They were afraid of the noise of thetoasts, but it would be a shame for them not to see you at table."
He walked on, speaking to the mothers and patting the children, whileMr. Irwine satisfied himself with standing still and nodding at adistance, that no one's attention might be disturbed from the youngsquire, the hero of the day. Arthur did not venture to stop near Hetty,but merely bowed to her as he passed along the opposite side. Thefoolish child felt her heart swelling with discontent; for what womanwas ever satisfied with apparent neglect, even when she knows it to bethe mask of love? Hetty thought this was going to be the most miserableday she had had for a long while, a moment of chill daylight and realitycame across her dream: Arthur, who had seemed so near to her only a fewhours before, was separated from her, as the hero of a great processionis separated from a small outsider in the crowd.