Original artwork, not a still
Mansfield Park ‧ 1814
It will, I believe, be everywhere found, that as the clergy are, or are not what they ought to be, so are the rest of the nation.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The speaker believes a nation tends to mirror its clergy: when they are what they ought to be, the rest of the population follows, and when they fall short, so does everyone else. It treats moral leaders as setting the tone for society.
Context reviewed
