He might have married his cousin with four thousand pounds, the wine-merchant's daughter (the old gentleman quarrelled with his nephew for not soliciting wine-orders from Lord B.for him): he might have had seven children, and taken private pupils, and eked out his income, and lived and died a country parson.
Could he have done better?
You who want to know how great, and good, and noble such a character may be, read Stanley's 'Life of Doctor Arnold.'.