The Mill on the Floss George Eliot (ereader android .txt) đ
- Author: George Eliot
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âI donât know what he could have against the lad,â said Mrs. Tulliver, with a slight touch of motherly indignation; âa nice fresh-skinned lad as anybody need wish to see.â
âBut thereâs one thing Iâm thinking on,â said Mr. Tulliver, turning his head on one side and looking at Mr. Riley, after a long perusal of the carpet. âWouldnât a parson be almost too high-learnt to bring up a lad to be a man oâ business? My notion oâ the parsons was as theyâd got a sort oâ learning as lay mostly out oâ sight. And that isnât what I want for Tom. I want him to know figures, and write like print, and see into things quick, and know what folks mean, and how to wrap things up in words as arenât actionable. Itâs an uncommon fine thing, that is,â concluded Mr. Tulliver, shaking his head, âwhen you can let a man know what you think of him without paying for it.â
âOh, my dear Tulliver,â said Mr. Riley, âyouâre quite under a mistake about the clergy; all the best schoolmasters are of the clergy. The schoolmasters who are not clergymen are a very low set of men generally.â
âAy, that Jacobs is, at the âcademy,â interposed Mr. Tulliver.
âTo be sureâ âmen who have failed in other trades, most likely. Now, a clergyman is a gentleman by profession and education; and besides that, he has the knowledge that will ground a boy, and prepare him for entering on any career with credit. There may be some clergymen who are mere bookmen; but you may depend upon it, Stelling is not one of themâ âa man thatâs wide awake, let me tell you. Drop him a hint, and thatâs enough. You talk of figures, now; you have only to say to Stelling, âI want my son to be a thorough arithmetician,â and you may leave the rest to him.â
Mr. Riley paused a moment, while Mr. Tulliver, somewhat reassured as to clerical tutorship, was inwardly rehearsing to an imaginary Mr. Stelling the statement, âI want my son to know ârethmetic.â
âYou see, my dear Tulliver,â Mr. Riley continued, âwhen you get a thoroughly educated man, like Stelling, heâs at no loss to take up any branch of instruction. When a workman knows the use of his tools, he can make a door as well as a window.â
âAy, thatâs true,â said Mr. Tulliver, almost convinced now that the clergy must be the best of schoolmasters.
âWell, Iâll tell you what Iâll do for you,â said Mr. Riley, âand I wouldnât do it for everybody. Iâll see Stellingâs father-in-law, or drop him a line when I get back to Mudport, to say that you wish to place your boy with his son-in-law, and I dare say Stelling will write to you, and send you his terms.â
âBut thereâs no hurry, is there?â said Mrs. Tulliver; âfor I hope, Mr. Tulliver, you wonât let Tom begin at his new school before Midsummer. He began at the âcademy at the Lady-day quarter, and you see what goodâs come of it.â
âAy, ay, Bessy, never brew wiâ bad malt upoâ Michaelmas day, else youâll have a poor tap,â said Mr. Tulliver, winking and smiling at Mr. Riley, with the natural pride of a man who has a buxom wife conspicuously his inferior in intellect. âBut itâs true thereâs no hurry; youâve hit it there, Bessy.â
âIt might be as well not to defer the arrangement too long,â said Mr. Riley, quietly, âfor Stelling may have propositions from other parties, and I know he would not take more than two or three boarders, if so many. If I were you, I think I would enter on the subject with Stelling at once: thereâs no necessity for sending the boy before Midsummer, but I would be on the safe side, and make sure that nobody forestalls you.â
âAy, thereâs summat in that,â said Mr. Tulliver.
âFather,â broke in Maggie, who had stolen unperceived to her fatherâs elbow again, listening with parted lips, while she held her doll topsy-turvy, and crushed its nose against the wood of the chairâ ââfather, is it a long way off where Tom is to go? Shanât we ever go to see him?â
âI donât know, my wench,â said the father, tenderly. âAsk Mr. Riley; he knows.â
Maggie came round promptly in front of Mr. Riley, and said, âHow far is it, please, sir?â
âOh, a long, long way off,â that gentleman answered, being of opinion that children, when they are not naughty, should always be spoken to jocosely. âYou must borrow the seven-leagued boots to get to him.â
âThatâs nonsense!â said Maggie, tossing her head haughtily, and turning away, with the tears springing in her eyes. She began to dislike Mr. Riley; it was evident he thought her silly and of no consequence.
âHush, Maggie! for shame of you, asking questions and chattering,â said her mother. âCome and sit down on your little stool, and hold your tongue, do. But,â added Mrs. Tulliver, who had her own alarm awakened, âis it so far off as I couldnât wash him and mend him?â
âAbout fifteen miles; thatâs all,â said Mr. Riley. âYou can drive there and back in a day quite comfortably. Orâ âStelling is a hospitable, pleasant manâ âheâd be glad to have you stay.â
âBut itâs too far off for the linen, I doubt,â said Mrs. Tulliver, sadly.
The entrance of supper opportunely adjourned this difficulty, and relieved Mr. Riley from the labour of suggesting some solution or compromiseâ âa labour which he would otherwise doubtless have undertaken; for, as you perceive, he was a man of very obliging manners. And he had really given himself the trouble
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