In which the archdeacon Dr. Grantly returns to Barchester with a tempest of indignation stirred by the presence and sermon of the new bishop’s chaplain, Mr. Slope, whose High Church opponents find his austere reforms and condemnations of established cathedral practices greatly unsettling. Amidst whispered aversions and mounting rivalries, the cathedral choir chants solemnly while the clergymen brace themselves for a contest not merely of words, but of principles and influence within the hallowed close.