s
money matters, was quite in clover.

He was a very handsome man, about six feet high, with large light
grey eyes, a straight nose, and a well cut chin. His lips were thin,
but his teeth were perfect,--only that they had been supplied by a
dentist. His grey hair encircled his head, coming round upon his
forehead in little wavy curls, in a manner that had conquered the
hearts of spinsters by the dozen in the cathedral. It was whispered,
indeed, that married ladies would sometimes succumb, and rave about
the beauty, and the dignity, and the white hands, and the deep
rolling voice of the Rev. Henry Fitzackerley Chamberlaine. Indeed,
his voice was very fine when it would be heard from the far-off end
of the choir during the communion service, altogether trumping the
exertion of the other second-rate clergyman who would be associated
with him at the altar. And he had, too, great gifts of preaching,
which he would exercise once a week during thirteen weeks of the
year. He never exceeded twenty-five minutes; every word was audible
throughout the whole choir, and there was a grace about it that was
better than any doctrine. When he was to be heard the cathedral was
always full, and he was perhaps justified in regarding himself as one
of the ecclesiastical stars of the day. Many applications were made
to him to preach here and there, but he always refused. Stories
were told of how he had declined to preach before the Queen at
St. James's, averring that if Her Majesty would please to visit
Salisbury, every accommodation should be provided for her. As to
preaching at Whitehall, Westminster, and St. Paul's, it was not
doubted that he had over and over again declared that his appointed
place was in his own stall, and that he did not consider that he was
called to holding forth in the market-place. He was usually abroad
during the early autumn months, and would make sundry prolonged
visits to friends; but his only home was his prebendal residence in
the Close. It was not much of a house to look at from the outside,
being built with the plainest possible construction of brick; but
within it was very pleasant. All that curtains, and carpets, and
armchairs, and books, and ornaments could do, had been done lavishly,
and the cellar was known to be the best in the city. He always used
post-horses, but he had his own carriage. He never talked very much,
but when he did speak people listened to him. His appetite was
excellent, but he was