not been without its influence. There had been some dissipations of his
earlier manhood, as his son admits, to repent of and to put away; but
the growth of his character in all that was excellent was unimpeachable,
and Burke was amply justified in recommending Crabbe as a candidate for
orders to the Bishop of Norwich. He was ordained on the 21st of December
1781 to the curacy of his native town.

On arriving in Aldeburgh Crabbe once more set up housekeeping with a
sister, as he had done in his less prosperous days as parish doctor. Sad
changes had occurred in his old home during the two years of his
absence. His mother had passed away after her many years of patient
suffering, and his father's temper and habits were not the better for
losing the wholesome restraints of her presence. But his attitude to his
clergyman son was at once changed. He was proud of his reputation and
his new-formed friends, and of the proofs he had given that the money
spent on his education had not been thrown away. But, apart from the
family pride in him, and that of Miss Elmy and other friends at Parham,
Crabbe's reception by his former friends and neighbours in Aldeburgh was
not of the kind he might have hoped to receive. He had left the place
less than three years before, a half-trained and unappreciated
practitioner in physic, to seek his fortune among strangers in London,
with the forlornest hopes of success. Jealousy of his elevated position
and improved fortunes set in with much severity. On the other hand, it
was more than many could tolerate that the hedge-apothecary of old
should be empowered to hold forth in a pulpit. Crabbe himself in later
life admitted to his children that his treatment at the hands of his
fellow-townsmen was markedly unkind. Even though he was happy in the
improved relations with his own family, and in the renewed opportunities
of frequent intercourse with Miss Elmy and the Tovells, Crabbe's
position during the few months at Aldeburgh was far from agreeable. The