'Not unless you make an idol of it, sir, and fancy that men's souls
were made for the prayer-book, and not the prayer-book for them.'

'But cannot he expose and redress these evils, if they exist?'

Tregarva twisted about again.

'I do not say that I think it, sir; but this I know, that every poor
man in the vale thinks it--that the parsons are afraid of the
landlords. They must see these things, for they are not blind; and
they try to plaster them up out of their own pockets.'

'But why, in God's name, don't they strike at the root of the
matter, and go straight to the landlords and tell them the truth?'
asked Lancelot.

'So people say, sir. I see no reason for it except the one which I
gave you. Besides, sir, you must remember, that a man can't quarrel
with his own kin; and so many of them are their squire's brothers,
or sons, or nephews.'

'Or good friends with him, at least.'

'Ay, sir, and, to do them justice, they had need, for the poor's
sake, to keep good friends with the squire. How else are they to
get a farthing for schools, or coal-subscriptions, or lying-in
societies, or lending libraries, or penny clubs? If they spoke
their minds to the great ones, sir, how could they keep the parish
together?'