The Warden · Chapter
Farewell explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Harding returns home and receives a supportive note from the bishop, who offers him a chaplaincy and later a gift of money, both of which Harding declines. The bishop and Harding consult together, and it is settled that Harding will retain the precentorship. Meanwhile, the archdeacon secures Mr. Quiverful's consent to take the hospital, but the bishop resists. Harding prepares to leave the hospital, selling some furniture and taking lodgings in Barchester with Eleanor. On his last evening, he bids farewell to the bedesmen, offering them advice and wine, and shares a final moment with the bedridden old Bell.
Themes in this chapter
Personal Integrity and Sacrifice
Mr. Harding refuses offers of financial support from the bishop and chooses to live modestly, prioritizing his principles over comfort.
Public Opinion and the Press
The chapter notes the divided public opinion on Harding's resignation, with the mercantile class praising him and the gentry criticizing his weakness.
Charity and Class
The bedesmen's shame and Harding's farewell highlight the complex dynamics of charity, dependency, and class relations within the hospital.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Harding
Returns home, consults with the bishop, declines offers of support, prepares to leave the hospital, and bids farewell to the bedesmen.
- Bishop of Barchester
Writes a note of affection to Harding, offers him a chaplaincy and a gift of money, and consults with him about the future.
- Dr. Grantly
Secures Mr. Quiverful's consent for the hospital and attempts to persuade the bishop, but meets resistance.
- Eleanor Harding
Resists living at Plumstead Rectory and instead takes lodgings with her father in Barchester.
- Mr. Bunce
Communicates with Harding about the resignation, speaks to the bedesmen, and accompanies Harding to say goodbye to old Bell.
- Abel Handy
Leads the bedesmen into the farewell meeting and defends himself against Bunce's accusations.
Key passages
“The bishop’s first idea was, that Mr. Harding, if left to himself, would certainly starve—not in the figurative sense in which so many of our ladies and gentlemen do starve on incomes from one to five hundred a year; not that he would be starved as regarded dress coats, port wine, and pocket-money; but that he would positively perish of inanition for want of bread.”
The bishop worried that Harding would literally starve without his income, not just suffer a reduction in luxuries.
Highlights the bishop's concern and the literal versus figurative understanding of poverty.
“The mercantile part of the community, the mayor and corporation, and council, also most of the ladies, were loud in his praise. Nothing could be more noble, nothing more generous, nothing more upright. But the gentry were of a different way of thinking—especially the lawyers and the clergymen.”
The townspeople and women admired Harding's resignation, while the gentry, lawyers, and clergy criticized it as weak and undignified.
Illustrates the divided public opinion on Harding's moral stand.
“Now their aged faces were covered with shame, and every kind word from their master was a coal of fire burning on their heads.”
The bedesmen felt deeply ashamed as Harding spoke kindly to them, his words causing them guilt.
Conveys the emotional weight of the farewell and the bedesmen's regret.