The Warden centers on Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to the purposes of the foundation. On discovering this, young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he regards as an abuse of privilege, despite the fact that he is in love with Mr. Harding's daughter Eleanor. It was a highly topical novel (a case regarding the misapplication of church funds was the scandalous subject of contemporary debate), but like other great Victorian novelists, Trollope uses the specific case to explore and illuminate the universal complexities of human motivation and social morality "The Warden" by Anthony Trollope, published in 1855, is one of the classics of English literature.Over the past century and a half, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of readers have enjoyed Trollope's humorous, poignant and sharp-eyed account of the travails of Rev. Septimus Harding, a minor clergyman in the (fictional) cathedral town of Barchester.Mr. Harding is the elderly warden of Hiram's Hospital, a charity home established more than 400 years earlier for a dozen aged laborers no longer able to earn their daily bread.At the opening of the novel, he has held the post of warden for more than a decade, being paid 800 pounds a year (or the equivalent of about $90,000 in today's dollars) to oversee the operation of the home and the care of the men, a far from onerous task. Aside from having a roof over their heads and their daily meals, the men are given a small amount of spending money which, over the course of the year for the 12 men, totals something less than a tenth of what Mr. Harding receives.The dichotomy in the payments to Mr. Harding and to the men is not something the warden created nor thought much about. It resulted from various decisions made over the previous centuries. But, now, there are some minor rumbles about the efficacy of the situation.The mid-19th century was a time in Great Britain when reformers were targeting the Church of England - an arm of the government - for what were coming to be seen as abuses. This is a mild example of some of the practices being targeted, and, so, one reformer goes to court to seek a change.The case gets the backing of the lofty Attorney General of the Cabinet, Sir Abraham Haphazard, and of the Jupiter newspaper, a stand-in for the Times of London. And Mr. Harding finds his name being dragged through the mud of public debate.A very soft manThe Warden seems to be a very soft man, and so he is - for the most part.He has no ambition to speak of. He is diffident to point of wimpiness, but in a very decorous way. His only distinguishing characteristic, aside from a profound gentleness, is his talent for chanting and for playing the violoncello. Indeed, he is most deeply himself, most deeply at peace, when he is playing his violoncello.Nonetheless, when the public contretemps over his wardenship become too much for him to take, the Warden takes action, and brings the novel to its satisfying conclusion.(I'd rather not give away the ending for anyone who will be reading the book for the first time.)Some quotesAs I said above, "The Warden" is a classic novel. So I'm not going to analyze it here since that's been done by many readers and scholars since its initial publication.What I will do, however, is to spend some time looking at Trollope's writing, specifically at his descriptions of Sir Abraham Haphazard and of Mr. Harding's dealings with that towering personage.Sir Abraham was a tall thin man, with hair prematurely gray, but bearing no other sign of age; he had a slight stoop, in his neck rather than his back, acquired by his constant habit of leaning forward as he addressed his various audiences.