There was one thing, however, connected with the Church and Rectory, which he could neither forget nor forgive. His predecessor, worn out by the solicitations of parsons’ wives for the presentation of the benefice of Holmcastle, then vacant, to their own proper husbands, had, by solemn deed of gift, made over the advowson of the living to the Bishop of the Diocese. The present Rector was the first one appointed under the new _regime_, and had he been a man of less tact than he was, and any other than an Elthorne of Elthorne, he would, without doubt, have speedily been made to feel that his lines had fallen in any but pleasant places. As it was, the Squire was on good terms with his parish Priest, the Rev. Charles Elthorne, and liked him as well as he was capable in his cold nature of liking anyone. Mr. Elthorne, who had been fellow of his College at Oxford, was a quiet man of considerable learning and holy life, and as the Squire held the common conservative notion that the Church existed to minister to the wants of the State, he was content to allow the Rector to have his own way in the religious training of his children. It was “respectable,” the Squire thought, to be (at all events outwardly) religious; there had been one or two great churchmen in the Family, and so it was right that his children should be brought up in the faith of their forefathers. In person, Mr. Manwaring was tall and thin, his features were finely cut, his eyes dark, luminous, and expressive, and his dark eyebrows, contrasting with his fine white hair, gave a rare distinction to his otherwise handsome countenance. The poor folks and dalesmen were proud of him as the most well-favoured Squire in all North Lancashire. CHAPTER V. THE MANWARING “FAMILY TREE.” AVERSE from field sports, and taking little interest in public affairs, Mr. Manwaring had one hobby which he was never tired of riding. Genealogy and Heraldry were his favourite studies, and for him the Fine Arts only existed as the machinery by which Family portraits were transmitted to posterity, and as a means of emblazoning the Manwaring Coat of Arms with its sixty quarterings. Though he took no interest in agriculture or botany, the Family Tree of the Manwarings was an object of his never-ceasing care and solicitude.