His parochial duties must have
been irksome to him, and it is to be imagined that he wore his cassock
lightly. As a preparation for ecclesiastical life he forswore sack and
poetry; but presently he was with the Muse again, and his farewell to
sack was in a strictly Pickwickian sense. Herrick had probably accepted
the vicarship as he would have accepted a lieutenancy in a troop of
horse--with an eye to present emolument and future promotion. The
promotion never came, and the emolument was nearly as scant as that
of Goldsmith's parson, who considered himself "passing rich with forty
pounds a year"--a height of optimism beyond the reach of Herrick, with
his expensive town wants and habits. But fifty pounds--the salary of
his benefice--and possible perquisites in the way of marriage and burial
fees would enable him to live for the time being. It was better than a
possible nothing a year in London.
Herrick's religious convictions were assuredly not deeper than those of
the average layman.
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