“Ah, don't do it by halves!" cried Carlton in a strange high voice. "Kill him now!" His hands fell open at his side; his head fell forward on his breast; and he who had sinned grossly against God and man, yet was not born to be a hypocrite, stood defenseless, abject, self-destroyed.”
This quote takes us to the scene in which Robert Carlton had confessed his sin to Jasper Musk. It paints the character of the parson in the colors of an honest and brave individual. He knew he had sinned, but he did not shrink from the necessity of confessing is deed or bearing its due punishment. This quote confirms that Carlton is no hypocrite.
"You who have kept us all straight - me for one. Why, the very thought of you has helped me to resist things! You, with your religion: no more religion for me!"
This exclamation of young Mellis, while addressing his former parson, conveys the narrow-mindedness of the whole village. The inhabitants of Long Stow are portrayed as rigid and intolerant. They perceived their parson as an ultimately good individual, so when his sin was brought to light, they could not make allowance for his mistake, and treated him like a rogue. Mellis alludes in this quote to his separation from religion, which indicates the absurdity of his beliefs along with his own rigid notions, which linked religion, as a whole, to a mere man, whose profession was to educate and guide people.
"The church is mine!" said Gleed, savagely.
This short quote is very important, for it conveys in four brief words the state of dreadful corruption, which reigned upon religion in late 19th century England. Gleed was a wealthy land owner. The power, at the time, was in the hands of the rich. Therefore, religion was twisted, perverted, and transformed into a social institution with no real link with either morality or theology. The church and its dwellers were bought with ready money just like any other accommodation, and the goal, of course, was to gain control of the working classes. The poor, back then, could not afford a proper education. Consequently, most of their knowledge was acquired in Sunday schools or heard from the lips of their clergymen. So if the rich desired to exploit the lower classes, all they had to do was to make it appear as a religious duty with the help of the church.
“And in his work he was strangely and serenely happy; there were no more spasmodic joys and qualms.”
This quote explains the psychological and spiritual state of Robert Carlton. He had confessed his sin, and bore, with courage, the cruel treatment of his fellow parishioners. His confession deprived him of every social right and luxury, but had given him a state of inner peace and joy, which he dedicated to the reconstruction of the church as a token of his redemption towards his fellow men.
