Bleak House

pp. 200 - 201

Mr. Chadband, is an unctuous clergyman who exudes pompous nonsense: He’s large and yellow, with “a fat smile, and a general appearance of having a great deal of train oil in his system. ‘My friends,’ says Mr. Chadband, ‘Peace be on this house! On the master thereof, on the mistress thereof, on the young men or the young maidens. What is peace? Is it war? No. Is it strife? No. Is it lovely and gentle and pleasant? Yes. ‘My friends, what is this that we now behold spread before us? Refreshment. Do we need refreshment, my friends? Because we are but mortal, because we are but sinful, because we are but of the earth, because we are not of the air. Can we fly, my friends? We cannot. Why can we not fly, my friends?”