Page 182 - middlemarch

to hinder a man from believing the best of a young fellow,
when you don’t know worse. It seems to me it would be a
poor sort of religion to put a spoke in his wheel by refusing
to say you don’t believe such harm of him as you’ve got no
good reason to believe.’
‘I am not at all sure that I should be befriending your
son by smoothing his way to the future possession of Feath-
erstone’s property. I cannot regard wealth as a blessing to
those who use it simply as a harvest for this world. You do
not like to hear these things, Vincy, but on this occasion I
feel called upon to tell you that I have no motive for fur-
thering such a disposition of property as that which you
refer to. I do not shrink from saying that it will not tend to
your son’s eternal welfare or to the glory of God. Why then
should you expect me to pen this kind of affidavit, which
has no object but to keep up a foolish partiality and secure
a foolish bequest?’
‘If you mean to hinder everybody from having money
but saints and evangelists, you must give up some profitable
partnerships, that’s all I can say,’ Mr. Vincy burst out very
bluntly. ‘It may be for the glory of God, but it is not for the
glory of the Middlemarch trade, that Plymdale’s house uses
those blue and green dyes it gets from the Brassing manu-
factory; they rot the silk, that’s all I know about it. Perhaps
if other people knew so much of the profit went to the glory
of God, they might like it better. But I don’t mind so much
about that—I could get up a pretty row, if I chose.’
Mr. Bulstrode paused a little before he answered. ‘You
pain me very much by speaking in this way, Vincy. I do

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