Jacob Shumate; or, The people's march

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OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

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I C. K. OGDEN

JACOB SHUMATE

OR

THE PEOPLE'S MARCH

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JACOB SHUMATE

OR

THE PEOPLE'S MARCH

Ooice from tjje IRanfes

BY

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SIR HENRY WRIXON, K.C

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AUTHOR OF ' SOCIALISM : BEING NOTES ON A POLITICAL TOUR '

IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I

Eontion
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1903

All rights reserved

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4 I DEDICATE THESE PAGES

DEVOTED WIFE

PREFACE

THE object of this book is to sketch, from the work-
aday experience of the politician in an advanced
Democracy, the popular ideas and impulses which
actuate the man in the street, and, emanating from
him, control the community ; and also to portray the
social and industrial conditions which in our time
mark democratic communities, and which mingle with
and influence so potently their political life.

There are already many able and comprehensive
works which deal with democratic governments and
social systems from outside observation of what they
do, and of the tendencies which they display. The
purpose of this volume is to give the results of ex-
perience and observation from within.

There are no personal sketches in these pages.1
While the episodes, political or social, are taken from
English-speaking communities, they are not confined
to any one State or people. The Province of Excel-
sior referred to in the book is only used as a Stage
upon which to represent various phases of democratic

1 Perhaps William Brereton and Walter Crane should be mentioned as
partial exceptions to this statement. They have some resemblance to two old
friends of mine.

Vil

viii JACOB SHUMATE

political action and social life as they appear in different
lands. To do this the ' unities ' are disregarded, and
things that might have happened in an American State
are dealt with as taking place in a Colonial Depend-
ency of England. But all that is related is true to
the Democracy of our time and the social conditions
that it induces, the essential features of which are the
same in all Anglo-Saxon peoples ; though some phases,
as, for example, special manifestations of the power
of wealth, must be sought for in the United States.
Hence the characters of Dorland and Jortin, sketched
in these pages, are taken by the writer from American
types.

Much that is in this book deals with certain weak
points that the Democracy of our age is developing.
It must not be supposed, because the writer points
attention to these, that he condemns Democracy. Like
all forms of government which have preceded it and
which will follow it, it is in many respects imperfect.
But self-government by peoples is obviously the con-
dition decreed by Providence for Western civilisa-
tion in its present stage of progress. That fact alone
entitles it to respect. And the great hope with regard
to it is that, taught by experience, and as the result
of the general intelligence of the people, enlightened
by free discussion, it will rise superior to defects
that now mark it, and to dangers that -threaten it.
But it can only do this if there is free discussion of
its methods of government, and honest, truthful repre-
sentation of what may be amiss in those methods.

Among the many persons sketched in these pages
there will be found neither great heroes nor great

PREFACE ix

villains. The only excuse that the writer can offer
for the absence of characters so useful to the dramatic
force of a story is that he has not, in fact, found
either heroes or villains in his everyday experience of
democratic institutions. And he has sought through-
out to be, above all things, a truthful chronicler of
what he has observed.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

PAGE

INTRODUCTORY i

CHAPTER II

EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT .... 9

CHAPTER III

FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW . . .27

CHAPTER IV

THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION . . . . .81

CHAPTER V
AFTER THE ELECTION . . . . .167

CHAPTER VI

PARLIAMENT . . . . . . .284

CHAPTER VII

PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION ..... 405

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY

THE part that intellect takes in the popular movements of
the age is like that which the chorus performed for the
Greek play. It attends the drama, chants its comments
upon the proceedings, sometimes moralises upon them, and
seems to mingle in the action of the play. But the drama
itself goes on independently of it. Universal suffrage has
got Western civilisation in its grip, and is shaking it. But
it has come over us as a social growth, not by the force of
intellectual processes. It would be interesting to trace out
the many influences that have led us on to where we find
ourselves. No doubt, the messages and the inspirations given
from time to time by the pioneers of human thought, after-
wards illustrated and enforced by the eloquence of orators
and the fancy of poets, have been powerful in bringing
down to the level plain of men's notions and longings the
successive advancing ideals of human progress, as each was
coming forward in its proper order. But they cannot claim
to have created those early and, at first, inarticulate impulses
that they gave expression to, or those social causes that were
silently at work, moulding the destiny of our civilisation.
Each new principle of progress presses on with an inherent
power all its own to the limit of its destined course, irre-
spective of arguments, and sometimes in defiance of them.
Nothing is more impressive than the inevitableness of these
onward tendencies. Forward they go, with little halting,
and no turning back ; nothing heeding the discordant cries
VOL. I B

2 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

of men, some blessing, some cursing, till their part in the
drama of events is played out. You may, according as you
regard it, liken the advance to the growth of a verdant tree,
spreading out its branches unceasingly, to give more and
more shelter to weary men ; to the incoming tide, rising
inexorably, and submerging all obstacles that are in its way ;
to the stone loosened from the hillside, and rolling along in
obedience to Nature's downward law, till it reaches the flat
plain, and has nowhere further to roll to. But there it is,
the principle of progress towards, as we at least trust, higher
things.

The present upward movement of the masses in Europe,
first heralded by the Reformation and the English Common-
wealth, and vindicated by Locke, got its last great impulse
towards the close of the eighteenth century, from the
Declaration of American Independence and the French Revo-
lution. Condorcet, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, and the other
heroes of the pen (empowered thereto by the printing press
and cheap paper) gave voice to the ideas and yearnings
that had been mutely surging around them. Rousseau's
Contrat Social had a special influence, because it so truly
voiced the feelings and wishes of the average man. It is a
plausible, comfortable theory for people generally, and it
echoed the common sentiment that was gradually rising.
The people had been slowly growing into the condition in
which they were ready to hearken to these new voices, and
to feel in them an echo to their own dimly -shadowed
aspirations. D'Alembert, speaking before the French
Revolution, says that he could see the change in his lifetime.
In 1729 the whole French nation 'were drunk with joy'
at the birth of the Dauphin ; while, when he was writing,
fifty years later, that event was regarded with indifference.

A generation or two earlier these writings would have
fallen flat upon the multitude, just as the Contrat Social
would now before the four hundred millions of China, though
it were printed in all the dialects of that people, and laid at
the door of every hut.

But when peoples are ready, the writings of men of
genius then give voice to the rising aspirations of the crowd,
furnishing arguments and clever theories to justify facts

i INTRODUCTORY 3

that are beginning to accomplish themselves. Statesmen and
authors may have hastened the advance in some countries,
and delayed it in others ; may have sought to confine it
within certain safe lines, as did the framers of the United
States Constitution ; may have imparted to it different
surface aspects, suited to the national habits of different
peoples ; but all the while the advance goes on, with an
inherent power, like a destiny imposed by Providence upon
our civilisation. It moves forward, to illustrate great things
by small, much as the two o'clock dinner of 1700 develops
by successive advances into the eight o'clock dinner of 1902.

The history of the leading political events of the last two
centuries, in both Europe and America, shows this forward
movement as owing its progress to social causes and its own
inherent power, and being little directed by arguments or
intellectual conclusions. The people take power, and then
clever men find good reasons for their doing so.

For the great popular movements have not been con-
trolled by intellect. The able men who framed the
Constitution of the United States did attempt, and with
much political ability, to lay down lines at once broad and
safe, within which the stream of Democracy should forever
roll on. But, as the current rose, it quietly and naturally
flowed over the banks and submerged the checks that were
so valued by the statesmen. In this way the Electoral
College of the Federalist and the Caucus of Jefferson have
grown, without any formal amendment of the Constitution,
into the Electoral College and the Caucus that we see to-day.
In like manner the advances of the nineteenth century have
come about by outside pressure, or their own inherent force,
not owing to the arguments by which they were supported.
The unity of Germany and Italy was accomplished not ' by
speechifying and majorities, but by blood and iron.' Uni-
versal suffrage has been accepted by nation after nation, not
because the rulers wanted it, but because they could not help
it. Catholic Emancipation, and the Reform of 1832, in
England were forced on by the fear of popular convulsions,
Free Trade by the dread of famine, the emancipation of the
slave in America by the exigencies of war, the abolition of
the Irish Church by the exigencies of politics.

4 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

But further, Democratic critics are keen to point out
that mental power has too often been unfriendly to the early
efforts of reformers on behalf of causes that all men admit
now to be righteous. They ask, Did intellect lead the way
in abolishing slavery, spreading education, mitigating the
horrors of the early factory system, or the cruelty of the
penal code ? In the United States, Calhoun, Clay, and
Webster, who were beyond question the most intellectual
statesmen of the Union, all three, as late as the middle of
the last century, gave the best of their talents not only to
defend slavery, but to maintain that odious feature of it, the
claim by the Southern States to have their escaped slaves
hunted down in the Free States and returned to them. All
the time, thousands of plain, uneducated men were denouncing
the thing as a national crime.

We can scarcely wonder, then, that the Democracy of
our times uses intellect as a servant, not as a master. It
takes its help to justify and sound the praises of what the
sovereign people themselves determine to do. But where its
teaching runs counter to the general inclination, it quietly
pushes it aside. McKinley, the chosen ruler of seventy
millions of men, declared that he would rather take his
political economy from the puddler or the potter than from
the professor. Bryan, his antagonist, for whom 6,502,925
men voted, announced that the men on the carpenter's bench
knew more of the Currency question than did all Lombard
Street. Two ideas have thus taken hold of the popular
mind with dominating force. One is a presumption in
favour of every forward movement because it is new ; the
other a distrust of intellectual conclusions as a safe guide
in politics, and a confidence in the unlettered wisdom of
peoples.

But is intellect then to have no part in the progress of
our time ? Is this progress to resolve itself into a mere blind
groping by peoples after their own fancies, going round the
circle till it gets to the top, and then, in order to go some-
where, coursing back round the other side, till it reaches
in another shape the evils it started from ? Surely there
is one necessary service which the brain and the pen can
render to Democracies, and which they would disregard at

i INTRODUCTORY 5

their peril. Peoples can learn effectually only by experience.
Kings and aristocracies may reason out and forecast a policy ;
but experience is the lesson -book of peoples. If mistakes
are made and false theories indulged in, the bad results that
follow, if intelligently observed, naturally work their own
correction. It is the boast of Freedom, not that it does not
fall into errors, but that it supplies itself the means of
remedying them. And how is this to be done ? How is this
experience to be gained ? By observing truly and pro-
claiming honestly the facts of popular government in our
time, and the lessons to be learnt from them, and from those
social experiments with which politics are so identified
to-day. There is need of some one doing this effectively, as
unless peoples' attention is called to them, the teachings of
experience are given in vain. In the stress of daily politics
this useful, if thankless, duty is apt to be overlooked. Who
is fitted to discharge it ? And further, who cares to
undertake it ?

For it is the most difficult thing in the world to learn
facts, even the facts of the daily life we live. Different
persons observe the same facts and draw diverse, or perhaps
contrary, conclusions as to what the facts are. It is this
that makes necessary the prolonged and skilful investigations
of our law courts, in order to determine the truth about a
street accident, that perhaps fifty people have witnessed.
How much more is intelligent inquiry needed into the
complex and varying phenomena that social and political
life present to us from day to day, if we would learn correctly
first what the facts are, and then their true significance?
Human affairs are in such a mixed condition that most men
have neither the time nor the aptitude necessary to dis-
entangle them, and view them in their true light and just
relative proportions. If, indeed, we look at popular govern-
ment as it exists to-day, we find some lauding it as not only
the best form of political institutions that men have yet
reached, but as bearing within it the golden promise of the
emancipation of the race from the social ills that have so
long oppressed mankind. Others look out upon the same
facts, and declare that their outcome will be the gradual
decay of this cycle of civilisation ; while some say that the

6 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

whole controversy is as idle as it would be for a middle-aged
man to discuss whether he would rather be fifty years of
age than twenty. The only thing he can be sure of is that
he is growing on, in due course, through the appointed stages
of his life.

But if we are to learn the true facts regarding any
system, we can only do so by inside experience of its
working. If you would know the meaning of the principles
of our legal administration and their operation in the daily
practice of the courts, ask the lawyers. If you would under-
stand the army, march in the ranks ; if the stage, go behind
the footlights ; and if you would know something of the
true working of self-government in our time, ask the working-
day politician. But the difficulty is, that the experience
which gives knowledge often warps observation — and this
by the innocent operation of natural causes. Divines are
apt to become narrowed by their creeds, lawyers enthralled
by their precedents, scientists made visionary by their
theories ; and as for the politicians, have not they been ever
distrusted ? Does not omniscient Shakespeare appear to
take for granted that we cannot trust to their seeing
truthfully ?

Like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not.

This feeling against politicians is the expression of that
natural dissatisfaction with their Governments that men have
always displayed. And, truth to say, the reverence of the
people for their institutions does not appear to increase,
as they are made more popular, and are brought closer
to themselves in their everyday experience. But where
will more unsparing denunciations of the shortcomings of
political institutions be found than those from politicians
themselves? Could any men have exposed more fearlessly
the blots that mar politics in the United States than have
the public men there ? Naturally so ; for they meet face to
face the evils that outsiders only hear about, and, as honest
men, feel more strongly about them than others can.

Now, we propose to learn from one of these politicians
his experience of the daily working of democratic self-

i INTRODUCTORY 7

government, and of the social conditions that it promotes.
The blessings of freedom and all that we enjoy under popular
rule are taken by us for granted, as matter of common
observation and daily experience. The information which
he can give will be more instructive if it is directed towards
the weak points that mar its undoubted merits, and impair
the full scope of the usefulness that ought to attend
government by the people and for them. He does truer
service to Democracy who directs attention to these, so that
experience may lead to reform, than the courtier who is
always smiling before the new sovereign.

We do not say that all we attribute to Our Politician has
occurred in fact ; but all would naturally and truly arise
from the everyday conditions of our present popular political
life, in England, America, the Continent, or the Colonies.
Democracy naturally tends to become the same everywhere.
The poor govern, and the wants and feelings of the poor are
alike the world over, and are stronger bonds of union than
are their various nationalities elements of diversity. When
you meet the masses you come on the bed rock ; national
differences are more apparent in the upper strata. Some of
the experiences detailed in these pages are drawn from
small democratic communities, such as the one in which the
story is ostensibly laid ; and in a small State, free from
national cares, you will often see, as in a model, the operation
of principles and the drift of tendencies more clearly than
you could trace them in the complex concerns of a great
nation. It is easy to take note of what moves a million
men in one province ; but not so easy to follow the impulses
that affect seventy millions over a continent of many
latitudes. And not only is it easier to observe popular
impulses in smaller spheres, but the impulses themselves are
more immediate and direct. Small communities go forward
more promptly than large ones, and thus show all the better
what we are working towards. The truest view of social
movements is got by observing their small beginnings.

If, then, we are to have useful lessons from experience,
the observation from which we draw must, as we have said,
be from the inside ; the observer must be honest, must know
what to observe and what to inquire into. And he must be

8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP, i

loyal to the institutions he is working under ; for what
Sovereign will hearken to the voice of a rebel to his
authority ? The loyal man will criticise all the more freely,
since it is the special privilege of freedom to make experi-
ments at its pleasure, and to learn from them afterwards
with intelligence. In this way we look to the principles of
liberty to cure its mistakes. That there are evils in our
present political systems is no novel fact in human govern-
ment. They are common to every form of government and
of human society that has existed, or that ever will exist.
What is new is the fierce blaze of criticism that is now
thrown upon them, and before which, in due time, as the
dawn of general intelligence creeps higher and higher, we
hope that many of them will vanish away. But to further
this, there must be truthful inquiry into facts, and the
intelligent report of what are the lessons that experience
teaches. This is the more wanted, as the natural feeling of
men is to acquiesce in not only the government, but even
the abuses, of the dominant power of their time. Established
facts have a great assimilating power over men and nations.
Who that wants a quiet life, not to say a successful one,
cares to enact the part of the honest man at Court ? But
from Our Politician, as a loyal subject of the new Sovereign,
and, moreover, a soldier in the ranks, we expect a faithful
report of his experiences, good and bad, in the daily onward
march of Democracy.

There is not in our time much scope for the heroic in
politics, and if we would learn the nature of democratic
government, and social conditions under it, we must do so
from the commonplace incidents of everyday life. From
these, if we will observe them intelligently, we can judge of
the principles that actuate it, and of the onward road that it
tends to take. Thus a record of things not striking in them-
selves may lead to important inferences regarding the move-
ment whose tendencies they illustrate, and may instruct us
how to avoid mistakes that, beginning in a small degree, and
perhaps inadvertently, might develop into far-reaching results
that would threaten true progress itself.

CHAPTER II

EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT

THE everyday experiences of Democracy do not, as has been
said, demand a hero ; but we can derive information from
following the fortunes of a not uncommon case — namely,
that of a plain, well-meaning politician marching in the
ranks ; and if he should happen to possess that instinctive
desire to get at the truth and fact of a matter that some
people are gifted or hampered with, this will add to his
value as an observer, since, as a political thinker has said,
the truth upon public questions is rarely all on the one side.
Edward Fairlie Frankfort was the son of English parents
who belonged to the farming class, and who had, before his
birth, settled in Scotland. He was the youngest son of a
numerous family, and had been educated at one of the Scottish
Universities at the cost of his uncle, Mr. Edward Fairlie, the
successful Banker, of Brassville, in the Province of Excelsior,
one of the most thriving of the self-governing Dependencies
of the British Empire. That gentleman, when on a visit to
the old country, some years before, had taken a fancy to his
nephew and namesake, and, as the family were poor, had
undertaken the cost of his education, but upon frugal lines.
He had found claims made upon his generosity, and his
influence and patronage in the new land, by quite a number
of relations and connections, who all appeared to know him
better on his return to his native land than they did when he
had left it years ago, as a youth, to make his fortune abroad.
Talking with his sister, the boy's mother, he used to say that
he hoped to live to see Ted Lord Justice-General ; but that if

9

io JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

it was found too hard for him to get a fair start in the over-
crowded old land, there was always a fine career open to a
clever man in the grand Province of Excelsior. His parents
had a considerable family to provide for, and were unwilling
to tax the uncle's liberality on the boy's behalf more than was
absolutely necessary, so they sent young Edward, as soon as
he had gone successfully through the classes of the local school,
to one of those Colleges in Scotland whose ranks are mainly
filled by poor, but ambitious students. They gratified their
feelings of independence by keeping an accurate account of
all the uncle paid for him, and they constantly impressed
upon young Edward that he must regard the money which
had been advanced as a loan, to be paid back, as a matter
of honour, when he had won his way in the world, and was
able to do so.

But, for the present, poor, he and his fellow-students were ;
often walking long distances up to their college, in order to
save the cost of coach or train ; plain their clothing, and
careful were they of it ; temperate from principle, but a
principle that was enforced by the pressure of narrow means.
As for amusements, a visit at long intervals to the pit of the
local play-house, or the back rows of the concert-hall, was all
that they could get, and more than that, was all that they
felt the need for, beyond the dissipation of occasional students'
parties, taken in turn at their lodgings, when they enjoyed
the exhilaration that was to be procured from strong tea,
tough muffins, and intellectual converse. But, poor though
they were, these youths were proud. They believed in the
aristocracy of intellect. They felt that if they could only
make good their place in this, the true aristocracy, their
ambition would be satisfied, and they would be entitled to
hold the head erect in the presence of the mere common dis-
tinctions of rank, fashion, or wealth. Ambitious they were,
with all the enthusiasm and inexperience of youth. Toil,
anxiety, straitened means, nay, more, loss of health and that
heart-sinking which is partly the result of physical depression
and partly of its attendant mental depression — all these they
were ready to brave, buoyed up by the hope of fame ; looking
forward not to ease or pleasure, nor yet money for its own
sake, but to being distinguished men — men raised above the

ii EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT \\

crowd by their own efforts, and by services done for country
and for mankind. Could you have seen them as they worked
away, night after night, in their garrets, you might have
pitied their painful struggles and mean surroundings. But
you need not They were not only contented, but happy
and enthusiastic, as one pictured to himself future success
as a great divine, aiding the ever militant, but imperishable
cause of religion, by demonstrating the reasonableness of the
principle of faith in dealing with the unseen ; or another
looked forward to the career of a true lawyer, risen to emi-
nence in his profession, and vindicating its principles above
mere routine and petty technicalities ; or a third enjoyed the
fondest imagination of all in the life-work of a statesman,
striking out great lines of policy and calling upon the people
to follow him. To them the higher ideal of life proclaimed
by poets was not a mere sentiment. It revealed to their con-
sciousness a fact. Life for them was real and earnest. To
them things were not what they seem to the crowd. Noble
aspirations which make men better, though they may never
be fulfilled !

When men are possessed by the political instinct, they
are drawn, though they may not be in politics themselves, by
a natural attraction to take an interest in whatever conflicts
in public affairs are going on around them, and take sides as
mental convictions, or oftener as their sympathies, lead them.
With boys this tendency displays itself in the enthusiasm
that is roused by the contemplation of notable facts in history,
chiefly those that bear upon questions relating to human
freedom and progress, and the ever-present problem between
the poor and the rich, which, from the past, reflect forward
their influence upon the conflicts of to-day. The College
Debating Society is a field wherein youthful ideas and sym-
pathies have a free course to display themselves, outside the
rigid lines of the prescribed studies of the University and the
Lecture Hall. Certainly, the rules of the University where
Edward Frankfort studied forbade the discussion at the
Historical and Literary Society of any political or religious
question, and all subjects for debate were required to be first
sanctioned by the Dean. But it is difficult to restrain the
emotions of youth ; and as there is a perpetual recurrence of

12 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

similar struggles among men, and a development, ever in
progress, of social issues that are identical in essence, though
varying in circumstances perhaps, from what is going on
around us, it was easy for the youthful orator, while pouring
forth eloquence upon the ideas and the conflicts of past times,
to throw considerable light upon those of the world of to-day,
and also to clearly indicate the speaker's sympathies with
regard to them.

Thus, in discussing some question arising out of Plato's
Republic, that philosopher's scoffing allusion to the notion of
choosing pilots for ships according to the property that they
owned, and refusing a poor man permission to steer, even
though he were a better pilot than a rich man, gave a natural
opportunity to the young reformer for incidentally exposing
the folly of property qualifications for public offices. Xeno-
phon's proposition concerning the Athenian Republic, that,
as the bulk of the people did the work of the State, they
should have the main voice in its government, was capable
of a very wide and very present application to questions con-
cerning the electoral franchise now. The contests and fate
of the Gracchi were a fertile theme for exhortation or warn-
ing, as the case might be. But whether dealing with sub-
jects suggested from the ancient world, or denouncing the
wickedness or maintaining the justice of the murder or the
execution of Charles the First ; or discussing the principles
and brilliant reasoning of Milton's appeal for the liberty of
unlicensed printing ; or dealing with some of the many
questions that suggest themselves for controversy, in consider-
ing the course of the two great Revolutions that marked the
close of the eighteenth century, the young men always found
opportunity for displaying their opinions, and matter for the
exercise of their sympathies.

Debating Society discussions are necessarily immature
in their tone and scope ; but there is a freshness about the
unbiassed expression of young men's ideas that is engaging.
They may be juvenile, but they are very sincere. In no
arena of discussion in after life is there such an expression
of the mere truth of opinions as they are held by the debater.
The lawyer speaks as an advocate, the politician as an
opportunist, the divine as a Churchman. But the subjects

ii EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT 13

which the youths debate raise as their only issue the question
of what is the truth. Some of those that were discussed by
Frankfort and his brother -students were juvenile in their
character, but others gave evidence of research, and of
thought in their selection. Among them were these : —
' Does the usefulness predominate over the evils of national
prejudice ? ' ' Whether is genius or impudence more con-
ducive to success in the common walks of life ? ' ' Whether
the pleasures predominate over the anxieties of even a
successful literary career ? ' ' Whether national character is
moulded by moral and political causes, or by the influence
of climate and locality ? ' 'Has the drama been improved
by the disuse of the chorus in tragedy ? ' ' Is it better to
have a university in a city or in a village ? ' ' Is it likely
to be a happy marriage where the wife is intellectually
superior to her husband ? ' All Frankfort's impulses were
generous and progressive. It was a pleasure to him to
dwell on the great political and social conflicts of the past,
and especially to follow the personal details of the lives of
the grand men that figured in them. He pictured the in-
dividuality to himself of those who had done much and done
greatly, and could not help secretly imagining how readily
he would immolate himself and sacrifice mere personal happi-
ness, could he enjoy even a short life like one of these.

Sometimes this enthusiasm for the heroes of history
would assert itself even through all the discipline and reserve
of the Lecture Room. Once, when Professor Praed, who
was considered the greatest authority in the University upon
the Greek language and literature, was lecturing upon the
Fourth Philippic of Demosthenes, he came to that passage
where the orator deals with the clamour ' unfairly raised '
about the Theatric fund.

He asked what conclusion some authorities had drawn
from this passage.

' It shows that the whole oration is spurious, sir,'
promptly answered Frankfort. ' Demosthenes could not
have spoken it, because he expresses a directly contrary view
in the Olynthiacs.'

' You consider that fact conclusive, then, Mr. Frankfort ?

' Certainly, sir, with a man like Demosthenes.'

I4 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Well, it is conclusive,' replied the Professor, in very
deliberate tones, ' if the unexpressed major premiss of your
proposition is correct — that no great politician can say one
thing at one time, and the contrary to it at another. We
will go on, if you please, to the next passage.' Some of the
class were rather inclined to laugh at Frankfort's enthusiasm,
but he felt that, come what may, he could never take a low
view of the orator and patriot, not merely of Greece, but of
the world.

At times, when he broke out in the College Society
debates into inspiring sentiments concerning the perfectibility
of the race, and the ennobling prospects that were opening
to mankind, as men came to govern themselves, instead of
being ridden like a dumb animal by a master ; or the
educating effect that the mere exercise of political rights
must have upon free men, or the invincible and imperishable
nature of truth — when he spoke of these things, though in
College-boy fashion, he often infected his hearers with that
mesmeric sympathy that springs from a sense of the deep
feeling and the sincerity of the speaker.

But it was some time before he felt himself at ease in the
difficult art, not so much of speaking (for empty-headed
people can do that), but of thinking on his legs. In his earlier
efforts imagination, and the force of that nervous sympathy
that supplies the motive power, the steam, as it were, to
oratory, taxed all his self-possession and resolution when he
rose to speak. He never forgot his first attempt. He was
nominated by the committee of the Debating Society as one
of the speakers who were to maintain, at the opening debate
of the session after the summer vacation, the affirmation of
the proposition that the principles of the French Revolution
represented the main lines of human progress. When he
saw in the notice paper, which was published before they
separated for the vacation, his name in real print, in the list
of speakers, he felt that an important event had happened,
as the French say. And so, indeed, it had. During the
holiday time he had no other work to occupy him, and he
could think of nothing but the French Revolution, and the
lessons it bequeathed to mankind. At home on the farm,
where he spent the holidays with his parents, he read all the

ii EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT 15

books upon the subject that he could get from the lending
Library in the nearest town, including the suggestive and
picturesque commentary of Carlyle, and as much of Thiers
and Taine as he had time to read at the Library. When he
walked about the fields he found himself breaking out into
glowing periods about the wrongs of the poor in France
before the great outburst ; the heartless iniquity of the system
of taxation, the utter rottenness of the Court, the aristocracy,
even the Church — a social pyramid, with an apex of tinsel
and gilt, and foundations laid in misery and despair ! He
spoke eloquently to the trees, and felt then that he could
plead the cause of the hapless millions of France (for he
fancied himself standing forth as their advocate) before all
men. It has been said that no man could make an eloquent
speech standing alone, to a stone wall. Delivering a speech
makes considerable demand upon the physical and nervous
powers of the system as well as the mental ; and they might
well flag in such a situation. But yet it is in solitude that
the nature, gifted with that sensibility which is the source of
eloquence, conceives those noble ideas and inspiring senti-
ments that afterwards seem to burst forth from the orator's
mouth spontaneously, and responsively to the reciprocal
enthusiasm of the hearers. And inspiriting were the senti-
ments that welled up within this youthful friend of man in
his lonely walks.

When the vacation was drawing to a close, and Frankfort
had gone back to his lodgings near the college, as the fateful
day for the debate approached, he felt his enthusiasm rather
damped, partly because, having dwelt so fervently upon the
subject, he had somewhat exhausted his stock of sympathy
for the wrongs of the French poor, and partly by the mental
reaction that came of having over-studied his part. Also,
he was oppressed by the stern reality now daily coming
nearer to him, of having, for the first time, to stand up before
a crowd of hearers, and, alone, challenge their attention to
the words that he would speak. To do this seems to be a
small thing to the looker-on, but to the imaginative beginner
it is an event of his life ; just as it is to the young soldier to
hear the bullets cut the air around him in battle for the first
time. As he walked down to the College Hall upon the

1 6 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

appointed evening, and thought of how much, for him, was
involved in what the next hour would bring forth, he could
not help the absurd fancy coming to him that even the
passers-by in the street knew something of the momentous
business that he had in hand. When he got to the meeting,
he found it crowded, as all the students, and some of the
public, had come in for the opening event of the Society's
academic year. This rather roused his enthusiasm, and made
him feel brave amidst his agitation ; and he was even able
to listen a little to the speeches of those who spoke before
him ; though he was oppressed by the idea all the time that
several of the audience must be thinking of him and the first
attempt that he was just about to make, instead of attending
to the debate. At last — it seemed to him a long time
coming — his turn came, and the Dean, who had honoured
the occasion by taking the chair, called out, ' Mr. Edward
Frankfort.' He sprang up. The people seemed quite
different to him now, as, standing, he looked down upon
them and felt, rather than saw, all those glistening eyes up-
looking at him ; and this, for the first time in his life — an
experience that can be had only once in a lifetime. He
spoke. He said, ' Mr. Dean.' His voice seemed something
strange to him, as if he and it were different, and it belonged
to some one else : not in the least like the voice with which
he had harangued the trees. He had not heard it before in
like circumstances, and he did not recognise it. He felt as
if a deadening sense of oppression, or paralysis, was settling
down upon him, and closing him round, coming somewhere
from the ceiling. He tried to shake it off; but it seemed to
have behind it some unseen power that was pressing it on,
and which he had no force to resist. As for his ideas and his
carefully-prepared divisions of the argument, which he had
laboriously framed so as to quite exhaust the subject, they
danced through his brain as if mocking him. Queer that
at times we should be the sport of our own impalpable ideas
— not their master ! But so it is ; and that even, too, at
other times than when we are making speeches. He tried
to go on. He repeated ' Mr. Dean,' and spoke some formal
words. He wanted to name the speaker who had preceded
him, but though he knew his name as well as he did his own,

ii EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT 17

he could not recall it. The spell cast over him by a nature
in which imagination and sensibility had a great part was
too strong. He sat down. The failure of a lifetime seemed
to be concentrated into a moment.

The Dean, who knew him as a promising student, felt
for him in his failure, the true explanation of which he saw
at once, and in calling on the next speaker, remarked that
Mr. Frankfort would speak later on, when he had arranged
his notes. When the new speaker began, he beckoned
Frankfort to him. ' I will call you again next,' he said
quietly. ' You will be all right. Speak straight off. It
would be cowardly to be beaten that way.'

When he got back to his seat, a sense of indignation
against himself arose to our stricken hero, as if his personal
courage was questioned. This instinctively braced him up,
and quelled the sensibility that had paralysed him ; which
it was the easier to do, as the nervous excitement had partly
exhausted itself by the one great outburst. Had he lived in
ancient times, it would have been said that some favouring
deity had stood by him, in the shape of the Dean, and infused
strength into his limbs and resolution into his soul. So,
when the chairman called ' Mr. Frankfort ' the second time,
he stood forth, as he seemed to himself, quite a different
man, and words came readily. Mentally, he was not
sufficiently collected to follow the lines that he had prepared ;
but others suggested themselves which, though quite different,
were most successful, as they came forth spontaneously and
produced the effect that speaking direct from mind to mind,
and heart to heart, always does. He had material enough
in his brain for two or three good speeches. Cheers burst
forth — partly good-natured, but also distinctively apprecia-
tive— and soon he had established between himself and his
audience that mutual mesmeric sympathy which the speaker,
and his brother the actor, must secure .in order to make a
true impression. Then he could run or he could fly. Ideas
that had never occurred to him in all his thinking upon the
subject sprang to his mind ; new illustrations presented
themselves, and as for noble sentiments, why, they came
naturally to him in any case. He felt a mastery over his
hearers, as if he could say anything to them — could speak

VOL. I C

1 8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

to them just as he did to the trees — the very opposite
to his first state, when he felt he could say nothing. He
sat down amidst repeated applause ; for young men are
generous, and none would have liked to see Ted Frankfort

o

collapse in that ignominious manner. They might have
understood it ; but the outside people would have thought
him a poor creature ! Not but that he had surprised many
both by his first failure and his subsequent success ; but he
surprised no one more than himself. He often said that he
could no more account for or analyse his feelings, mixed up
as they were of physical and of mental agencies, when he
succeeded than he could when he failed.

From that time forth he was a successful speaker at the
Debating Society. He was also diligent in the class-room
in working at those subjects that were required for securing
the degree. With several of them he had little sympathy, and
whatever benefit he derived from them, then or afterwards,
arose solely from the mental training that they afforded.
In a few years he had forgotten all the direct knowledge
he had acquired in these subjects (chiefly the exact sciences) ;
nor in the pursuits in which he was engaged would it have
been of much use to him to have remembered them. But he
worked assiduously and successfully at languages, political
economy as then taught, and general literature ; partly
because he liked those subjects, but also in the hope of
securing one of the lectureships in Sociological subjects,
which he looked forward to as the means of earning his daily
bread, also as the stepping-stone towards the ambitious
projects that were ever in his mind.

For, like most young men who have the political instinct,
Frankfort's great ambition, owned only to himself or to
some bosom crony, was to sit in the Parliament at West-
minster as the enlightened exponent of advanced views ; but
as far removed from the tone of the time-serving demagogue,
on the one hand, as from the stupid Tory on the other.
The ideal of this high type was, naturally, to a young
Scotsman, Macaulay at Edinburgh, the recollection of whose
career as a Representative of that city was still cherished
there both by literary men and by politicians. What
truthful and dignified statement of his principles by the

ii EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT 19

candidate ! what generous, even respectful, toleration of
differences by the constituents ! How the Representative
declined to bow down to the Clerical Party, dear though it
was to one powerful section of his people ; or to truckle to
the Liquor interest, dear though it was to another ! Here
was no plausible, supple servility in the politician, nor vulgar,
exacting despotism on the part of the people.

True, even this great constituency had its fit of popular
folly, and rejected Macaulay upon one occasion, owing to a
union of all the unworthy elements in the electorate. But
how nobly did it atone for its error ! Modern Athens
though it was — or rather, perhaps, because it was — it
candidly and openly admitted its mistake, and returned the
independent politician the next time, at the head of the poll,
without his condescending to address them, or even to visit
them, till after the poll. There, thought our youthful
politician, is the true ideal of Representative and People.
It would be a life worth living to be the spokesman before
the nation of enlightened principles, thus supported by a
constituency of thinking men — the electors honouring you
upon public grounds for public service done for the nation ;
and with nothing mean, or sordid, or tricky, or humbugging
in your mutual relations.

When the summer vacation came round each year,
Frankfort and some of his fellow-students used to spend
part of it in making excursions through the Highlands of
Scotland. This was cheaper, walking with knapsack on
back, than going abroad ; and they maintained that the
scenery was as fine as could be found in Europe, while it
had the advantage of being identified with facts in their own
history and associations from their own literature that made
it more interesting to them than any foreign scenes could be.
Thus at least they philosophically liked what they could get.
With their homely tastes, and after the hard work of the
year, they enjoyed, with a relish that the mere pleasure-
hunter knows not of, the simpler kinds of recreation. The
mere release from labour, rest after toil, gave a sensation of
delight, especially to them, in the buoyant time of youth,
that it is the special, secret privilege of the true working-
man, with brains or hands, to enjoy. Some of them

20 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

afterwards rose to high positions in life ; but they never felt
the freshness of pleasure that they experienced in these
cheap but well-earned excursions.

They generally had in their party some man from one of
the sister Universities of England or Ireland. No one was
a more welcome companion than Myles Dillon, one of the
most promising of the medical students of the sister institu-
tion of Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin. He was a clever,
all-round man too. And they liked him not only for his
intelligence and humour, but for his easy good-nature, which
had more depth and greater sincerity in it than falls to the
lot of that quality sometimes in your good-natured man.
His companions used jocularly to question whether the true
family name was Dillon or O'Dillon.

' Tell us how you lost the " O," Myles. It shows that a
family is descended from the ancient kings of Ireland, does
it not? What about the " O," Dillon? How did you
lose it ? '

Irishmen relish a joke under all circumstances, and never
more than when (under their own guidance) it is played off
against themselves. They are so polite a people that they
revel with more genuine enjoyment in jokes at their own
cost than even in those at the expense of others. So Myles
would explain to them, in his rich Milesian accents, toned
down, however, by the use of Greek, Latin, English, and
other foreign languages, how he became plain Dillon. He
said that his family were really descended from Royalty in
Ireland ; only that an excessively ambitious grandfather of
his, examining into the family tree, as they were aware only
Irishmen could do, came to the conclusion that the true
family name was ' The O'Dillon,' as coming from the senior
stock ; which title he accordingly assumed. But this so
vexed his, Myles Dillon's, father, who did not believe a word
of it, and who was a very conscientious man about titles,
that he dropped the prefix altogether and became plain
Dillon. When this, certainly rather lame, explanation was
received with a general shout of derision, Myles would
quietly continue, and, allowing that there was considerable
ground for their tone of incredulity, would frankly admit
that the enemies of the family gave another explanation of

n EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT 21

the change of name : namely, the unhappy close of life of
one of his ancestors, owing to the prevalence in Munster at
that time of sheep-stealing, and the injurious consequences
that attached to the practice. Ever since the unhappy close
of the life of this forefather of his, enemies of the family had
represented that they had changed the name by dropping
the ' O.'

' You have it right this time, Myles. You Irish are a
fair people, after all ! ' Frankfort exclaimed, amidst a
general laugh, which Myles himself led off. But, Dillon or
O'Dillon, and whatever was the real fate of his great-grand-
father, the young Irishman was liked and respected for his
own sake. He has his own career to make ; and every
intelligent, sympathetic man influences the lives of others.
So we will let him play his own part in our story.

It was one of the unwritten laws of the little party, upon
their walks, that special topics connected with the several
professions they were working towards should be avoided,
and the conversation directed mainly to literature, public
affairs, or such subjects as concerned them all equally. We
have said that the debates of boys are interesting from their
sincerity. So is their conversation. It is so natural,
reflecting the fresh, true ideas of each, as native disposition
or fortuitous circumstances have for the present shaped their
opinions or fancies ; they are so real to them, and embraced
with such pure enthusiasm. It is a comforting doctrine,
and, we must hope, a sound one, that men are improved by
the discipline of life. But we cannot truly say that they
are made more disinterested, or more capable of generous
emotions by age. No ; if we would have lofty ideals of
life, we must listen to young men such as our party of
College lads, as they argue together and proclaim inspiriting
ideas, all the world seeming as wholesome and bright to
them as the summer scene that lies before them in their
walk. Different tones of thought were there, liberal and
conservative, as they are technically termed, or cautious and
progressive, as we may say ; but all were genuine, all came
fresh and true from nature. It was this that gave the charm
to these outspoken declarations of young, intelligent minds,
not yet biassed by the prudential reasons that modify so

22 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

much, consciously or unconsciously, the opinions of men.
You may talk of the noctes coenaeque deorum, but these
morning walks left also grand memories and recollections
fondly cherished by these young men in after life.

Politics naturally came frequently to the front in their
discussions, and especially the striking careers of Gladstone and
Disraeli. The indomitable Hebrew had, about the time of
our story, touched the highest point in his career, having
returned from Berlin, bringing ' peace with honour.' Different
dispositions of intellect marked some of the youths as the
admirers of one hero and some of the other ; but the won-
derful career of each was admitted by all. They had many
keen arguments concerning their respective heroes. Frank-
fort, as a senior college man (having now only to pass his
Degree Examination), and one who made no secret of his
political aspirations, took a prominent part in these wayside
debates. The news arrived one day that Benjamin Disraeli
had been created Earl of Beaconsfield, and this quickly
raised the wayside controversy as to his real merits and what
would be his true position in history. Those who were
Conservative in their disposition, of the little party, lauded
him as a real genius, who honoured the peerage by agreeing
to enter it, and even reflected credit on Burke by assuming
the title of Beaconsfield. Frankfort, on the other hand,
maintained that no man had done more to lower politics as
a sphere for a worthy ambition. His great ability and
indomitable perseverance had enabled him to carry to the
highest success an avowed policy of achieving personal dis-
tinction by whatever means seemed most likely to command
success, irrespective of questions of principle or personal
convictions. He embraced the cause of Protection and of
the Nobility because they were necessary to his advance-
ment ; while in his heart he despised them, and he almost
admitted that he did.

' It's easy for you to fire away in that style ! ' exclaimed
Chadwick, the leader of the Conservative wing of the party ;
' but you should be able to prove what you say. Prove that
he disbelieved in the principles and despised the men.'

' I show that he disbelieved in the principles,' Frankfort
promptly answered, ' by the fact that when in power he

ii EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT 23

always carried out the contrary principles ; and as to despis-
ing these men, only look at how he writes about them in his
novels. Read his account of the Duke of Brentham in
Lothair. " Every day, when he looked into the glass and
gave the last touch to his consummate toilette, he offered his
grateful thanks to Providence that his family were not
unworthy of him." Just fancy talking that way of a human
being ! I've never forgotten the sentence. It's like taking
off your hat to a man in mockery and slapping him in the
face at the same time.'

' Ah, never mind, you are too simple, Ed. Fairlie, to
understand how novels are touched up. He stuck to the
Aristocracy, all the same.'

' Not he. He was willing to join John Bright, only that
John would not have him. After denouncing extensions of
the suffrage, he forced on the adoption of household suffrage,
in order to dish Gladstone. I grant you he has succeeded.
As he said in Vivian Grey, he regards the world as his
oyster, and he opened it right enough.'

' It's all very well, my noble idealogist, for you to fly
away with these lofty views,' answered Chadwick, who had
made more than one eloquent oration at the College Debating
Society in honour of Disraeli. ' But in what is Disraeli
different from Gladstone, your king of men ? Gladstone
joined the Liberals late in life, as he says — in the 'sixties.
Would he have done so in the 'twenties, when they seemed
doomed to perpetual opposition ? Would he have proposed
the abolition of the Irish Church as a matter of principle if
men were against it, and if he did not know that it was the
only way to get Disraeli out ? Would he have faced un-
popularity for it ? No, you don't believe it, Frankfort ; nor
does any one else.'

' But I do believe it,' eagerly interposed the other.
' Every step that Gladstone took he felt at the time to be
the right one to take then. Of course, it might not be so a
century before.'

' Ah, there's just where it is. I don't deny that Gladstone
persuaded himself that certain things were right to do ; but
why ? Because they were the successful thing to do. That's
his way. Not to do them was to sink into insignificance,

24 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

and that's intolerable to men of great powers and great
ambition, like both Gladstone and Disraeli. Oh, I'm liberal
to your man ; why can't you, with all your liberalism, be fair
to mine ? Of course, Disraeli did not insist, as you would,
on carrying out his own fancies. He took what came to hand
from the public — what they wanted. So did Gladstone.'

' Say what you please,' answered Frankfort, ' it is a bad
thing when a nation worships an avowed opportunist.'

Myles Dillon had kept his peace so far during the argu-
ment ; but not for want of interest in it, for he took great
interest in politics, which he found a pleasant relief from the
tension of the special studies of his profession.

' Well, you boys, ye make me laugh, you do,' he at last
broke out, 'throwing things this way mutually at two of the
greatest men of our time. Between you, what the two of
you say is that Disraeli was an opportunist, as you call it,
and that he knew it and said it ; and that Gladstone was an
opportunist, and knew it, and didn't say it. Talking of
politicians and their inner convictions, what have their inner
convictions got to do with it ? How is the King's Govern-
ment to be carried on ? as my great countryman, the Duke
of Wellington, remarked. Is it by every Parliament man
saying, "I must do as I like"? No, by Jupiter! it is by
doing as other people like."

' But do you seriously say, Myles,' asked Frankfort,
' that the statesman is to have no principles or opinions of
his own at all ? '

' Stay, now. I'm not much in the business myself. In
our profession we mend the heads that you get broken in
expressing your convictions at the hustings and the elections.
But what your politician wants is what has been beautifully
called " the presentiment of the dawn." That's just it. When
he feels it coming, he does not worry himself about what he
thinks of it ; he strikes up for it right off, and crows away.
He does not care to negative the dawn of day.'

' Then you make the statesman a barn-door fowl, whose
mission is to wait quietly blinking for the dawn and then when
it rises to crow away as if he caused it ! ' exclaimed Frankfort.

' Well, you may illustrate it in that homely way if it
suits you. But you have not grasped the whole idea yet,

ii EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT 25

Ed. Fairlie. He's to be very and particularly careful not to
begin crowing, like some cocks, upon a false alarm of the
dawn. That's where the skill comes in. You must be
neither too early nor too late. If you wait till the sun is
shining, why you are out of it. If you make a fuss too soon,
while it is still and dark, you're voted a nuisance all round.
The true politician has to be on the look-out in the right
quarter, and ready to call aloud at the right time. My noble
friend Frankfort here seems to go rather further and say that
he's to regulate the rising of the sun a bit to his own fancy.'

' You know that's nonsense. What I maintain is that
no man, statesman or other man, should say what he does
not think because other people want him to, and because he
can make his own fortune by it.'

' Very fine for you, Mr. Frankfort. But what is the use
of his saying what the other people don't think ? If the
Politician is to think so much of his feelings, perhaps the
people may think of theirs, too.'

' I only say he should act the part of an honest man.'

' What ! and of a Politician too ? ' said Myles, who
enjoyed putting things rather strongly in argument to his
enthusiastic friend.

' Certainly ; and I say more — that the Politician, of all
men, ought to be the honest man.'

' Long live they so ! ' said Myles Dillon ; ' personally I
have no objection. Indeed I would be glad if you would
introduce me, Edward Fairlie, to some of your, of all men,
honest politicians.'

By this time they had reached the inn where they were
to rest for the night. It was situated on the side of one of
the Lochs of Scotland, where the solemn scenery produces a
sense of elevation in the man who is capable of experiencing
emotion in the presence of the grand aspects of Nature.

The mountain shadows on her breast
Were neither broken nor at rest ;
In bright uncertainty they lie
Like future joys to fancy's eye.

Is it by mere chance, is it not by the design of Provi-
dence, that the scenes of Nature are thus adapted to

26 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP, n

delight, and even ennoble, men's feelings, so that we are
entranced by the beautiful lines of a landscape, or look with
emotion on the glories of a golden sunset ? As they sat
enjoying the prospect, while the evening meal was being
prepared, Frankfort felt the spell of the scene. He musingly
looked forth upon the hills and the heather and the still
waters below that reflected them, and broke out, reverting
to their discussion —

' Oh, you need never tell me that self-seeking and
cunning to catch the crowd, and watching the right moment
to say and unsay — that this is to be the statesmanship of
the future. Right for right's sake, duty unrewarded rather
than charlatanism successful, to leave your mark on your
time, though you may be wounded in the struggle, this ever
was, and ever will be, the line of the true statesman. It just
comes to my mind what our hero, Wallace, said, as he looked
upon such a scene as this : " Oh, who would not die for such
a country ! " So say I,'

' And I congratulate you on your noble sentiments,
Edward Fairlie Frankfort ! ' exclaimed Dillon, ' and your
having them so strong in ye. I hope ye'll be able to keep
them. Your harp sounds beautiful tunes — if ye have such
things as harps in Scotland still — but it's rather a harp in
the air, as that lovely song has it.'

' Very good for sarcasm, especially as it is Irish, Myles,'
said Frankfort. ' But I can tell you that if I ever do get
into politics '

' No, let me tell you. If you ever do, as you say (and
I hope you may, since you are so disposed), you will pretty
soon find out that what is required of you in our time is not
to die for your country, but to live for your constituency.'

' Only another of your ambiguous jokes ! ' exclaimed
Frankfort. ' Explain yourself.'

' And that I will to my own entire satisfaction/ said
Dillon, as they went in to their frugal tea.

CHAPTER III

FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW

EDWARD FAIRLIE FRANKFORT in due time went up for the
examination that was to decide among the candidates for the
Lectureship on Sociology and Political Ecomony — and failed.
But he was a good second. His successful competitor,
though he had a less original, had a more receptive mind,
and a more closely accurate memory, and was also rather
more exact in his mental methods. Our readers must not
from this failure draw an unfavourable conclusion as to
Frankfort's ability. College examinations test mental forces
that may exist together with those qualities that give men
success and power in active life, but which are also often
found apart from any such qualities. They may sometimes
reward conditions of mind and character that rather impede
the achievement of great practical results in everyday life.
Certainly some of the greatest men of action were poor
scholars, and not only so, but lovers of colleges cannot con-
template with pleasure the number of men of intellectual
power who failed to attain eminence at universities. Bacon,
Milton, Swift, Dryden, Gibbon, Adam Smith, Scott, Gold-
smith, Byron were among the failures. Ben Jonson's account
of Shakespeare was that he had small Latin and less Greek.
As for the value of learning in politics, according to
Macaulay, who had political experience as well as literary
knowledge, a man in Parliament may speak on even
knotty questions of trade and legislation, draw forth loud
plaudits, and sit down with the credit of having made an
excellent speech, ' without reading ten pages or thinking ten
minutes.'

27

28 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Nevertheless the blow was a serious one to Frankfort,
though the fact that he was a good second mitigated its
force. The thesis that he sent in was mentioned as showing
special merit, and the examiners gave him a highly favour-
able certificate of his general ability in the prescribed subjects.
Still, he had lost the lectureship, and the modest salary
attached to it was what he had looked forward to to keep
him above want as he worked forward towards the profession
of the law, in which his uncle had prophesied that he would
become Lord Justice-General. Mr. Fairlie had said nothing
about discontinuing the small allowance which he had for
some years past given him ; but Frankfort felt that it would
be impossible with self-respect to go on living upon it, now
that he had finished his University course and was free to
work for his bread as best he could.

His father's farm was not proving a success. The small
profits that generally attend the precarious business of farm-
ing— and in all countries it is precarious — were becoming
smaller still. Proud our youth would have been if by any
labour, however exacting or depressing, he could keep
himself independently, and possibly be able to help his
family too.

He mentioned in one of his letters to Myles Dillon his
anxiety to get some literary employment which would help
him while he was fighting his way to the profession of the
law, or to some other opening in life. His friend wrote
back to him that if he did not mind expatriating himself
from Scotland, and if he could command a sharp pen, and
boast a receptive mind, there was an opening for him or
some other man on the staff of the Lofty Standard Bearer^
one of the most flourishing newspapers in the Irish capital.
The editor, Brass Finucane, was his particular friend, and he
was certain would give Frankfort a trial. Negotiations were
soon opened, and before long our student was enrolled as
one of the outside contributors to the Lofty Standard Bearer.
He found in that portion of the public, for whose instruction
and amusement Mr. Brass Finucane laboured, some pecu-
liarities. The population was broadly divided as Protestant
and Catholic, and there was the well-established, from time
immemorial, orthodox state of pious war between them.

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 29

But strong as was the sense of hostility between them, it
was torpid compared with the lively hatred that existed
between the True Blue Evangelical Protestants and an active
Puseyite branch of the Church of England that had lately
been making headway in several parts of the country among
the followers of that Church. The Lofty Standard Bearer
was the organ of the True Blues, while the Church Sentinel
was the champion of the Puseyites.

The editor agreed to give our youth a temporary en-
gagement, and he was soon busy writing articles, some on
controversial topics and others on literary and social subjects,
which were more to his taste. When he saw the earlier efforts
of his pen in print, circulating through the town, sold over
the counters, read in the restaurants, he thought that he had
at least achieved one great object of his ambition — the
means of an independent living. So he wrote to his uncle,
with whom, in Excelsior, he had regularly corresponded,
thanking him, in the terms of affectionate warmth that
grateful and generous youth is apt to express itself in, for
his past kindness, and informing him that his engagement
with the Lofty Standard Bearer would enable him to live in
the future by his own exertions. At the same time he men-
tioned his failure to secure the lectureship, but explained the
high place in the list of candidates that he had secured, and
he enclosed with his letter copies of the testimonials that the
examiners had given him ; as he was anxious that his uncle
should see that his assistance to the nephew's education had
not been altogether in vain.

Hope, the merciful heritage of youth, sustained him, as
he settled down to live by his pen, while he at the same
time worked steadily at his legal studies. He had in
some degree the pen of a ready writer, and Mr. Brass
Finucane, the editor of the Lofty Standard Bearer, after
a while placed him on his list of contributors, and generally
took from him two or three articles each week upon social or
literary, and occasionally on controversial, subjects.

Every important newspaper has some special mission —
some purpose that may be regarded as the final cause of
its existence from a newspaper point of view. The final
cause of the existence of the Lofty Standard Bearer was to

30 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

maintain the sound principles of True Blue Protestantism,
according to Knox and Calvin, and especially to denounce
'Whity- Brown Popery/ as the tenets of Puseyism were
styled by it, and, above all, to expose the Church Sentinel,
the Jesuitical organ of the sham Protestants. Mr. Brass
Finucane, the editor, was not Irish by birth, but he had
become so by long residence, and he threw all the fervour of
his adopted country into the views which he, or at least his
paper, held and expressed. He was not dissatisfied with
Frankfort's work for a beginner, and hoped that he would
prove useful when he had become more acclimatised and
had caught the proper tone for the paper.

For success in the work, a tone of sectarian exclusive-
ness and partisan vehemence was required. The practised
eye of the editor soon observed that it was just here that
Frankfort was lacking, and one day he good-naturedly
gave him a note of warning.

' Your work now is not like your college work, you
observe. We are not seeking after truth merely here. We
have to write what is wanted, and when it is wanted, and in
the way that it is wanted — to order, in fact, a leetle bit, you
see.' He added, with a self-satisfied, chuckling laugh, ' People,
after all, must get what they want. It must be according to
order whether it is to eat, to wear, or to read — or to laugh
at ; — the public taste varies a bit too.' ' Certainly, sir, I'll
do my best to write what the public require. I suppose
we are allowed a certain amount of conscience, sir/ said
Frankfort with a smile, encouraged by the kind manner of
the editor. 'A certain amount of conscience? Any amount
of it, my friend ! ' Mr. Finucane exclaimed, looking up with
some surprise, and then adding in a quiet undertone and with
his self-satisfied laugh, ' Any amount — that you can afford
to keep. Like other good things, it is apt to be limited by
your means. In fact/ he added, throwing himself back in his
chair and looking up straight at his youthful contributor,
' the truth is that in public affairs neither side want one of
their team to pose as an umpire. The game wants a man
who can give the ball a good kick, and jostle the other fellow

down. If you are not ready for that, why ' and the

editor waved his hand to tell the rest.

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 31

So long as Frankfort was employed on general and non-
party topics he got on famously. His papers were bright
and clever, and above all, what editors sigh for, fresh. It
was hard work for small pay, but he had, beyond the money
reward, the glowing though secret satisfaction of seeing in
veritable print his own ideas expressed in his own words,
and of reflecting how perhaps thousands all over the kingdom
were feeding mentally on the productions of his brain. In
times of mental failure, when his ideas halted, and in times
of despondency, when his hopeful, generous view of men and
things was damped, he still derived consolation in his work
from the consciousness of the power of the writer, of the all-
reaching scope of the pen, especially when it was the
champion of truth. You sit in an obscure room — yourself
unknown — and frame ideas into speech, and a machine works,
and lo ! the next morning your ideas penetrate into ten
thousand homes and challenge the attention of all men.
What a power ! thought Frankfort, and with all power is
there not a proportionate responsibility in its use ?

This latter consideration he found to rather hamper him
in his efforts to fill first himself and then his article with the
needful fervour and indignation against the enemy that the
partisan and clerical topics which now and then were con-
fided to him required, if he was to supply the necessary and
stimulating mental food that the readers of the Lofty Standard
Bearer desired. But he tried his best to adapt himself to
the work ; for he was all the while uneasily conscious of the
threatening shadow of want in the background. If his
writing stopped his bread stopped too. He often thought
of the old lines, ' Those who live to please, must please to
live,' with some bitterness.

It is an ancient observation that nature, though often
hidden, and sometimes overcome, is hard to extinguish.
This is especially true of writers who are not mere pen-
drivers and who can make some claim to individuality and
genius ; for what is genius, however humble, if it be not
genuine ? Frankfort felt this early in his career as a writer.
When the Puseyite party acted absurdly, and were really in
the wrong, then his articles exposing them were clear and
incisive. If, however, it was some cant cry against them

32 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

that he had in hand, his papers wanted force and sting ;
though, as Finucane remarked to him, it was just then that
vigorous writing was needed. Any one could write strongly
if the facts were strongly with him. Then, when at times
left to his own devices, he made absolute mistakes. Once,
not having any book to review for the passing week, he sent
in for the Saturday's literary column a paper on 'The Use
and the Danger of National Prejudice.' He wrote it care-
fully, and with considerable satisfaction to himself, and was
therefore the more surprised when he looked in the Saturday
issue to find it left out. In its place there was a pungent
paper on the narrow-minded and indeed unchristian attitude
of the Church of Rome towards the Italian Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The clerical organ
published in Rome was denounced in scathing terms for
sneering at the circular lately issued by the Minister of
the Interior to the Mayors, which expressed approval and
asked assistance for the society's humane efforts. The writer
had evidently, thought Frankfort, either a great love of
animals or a great hatred of Rome.

When he called at the office the editor accosted him in
a not unkind tone. ' Very good paper that of yours : plenty
of work in it, and for the matter of that, of wisdom too ; but
not suited. You see we are a people full of prejudices our-
selves, and we only stand a sermon on the Sunday.'

But he continued to take Frankfort's papers, and might
have done so for an indefinite time, with occasional jars,
were it not for an unfortunate mishap that brought matters
to a crisis. It happened thus.

One Saturday afternoon Frankfort went to the office to
see if the editor had left any commission for him, and learned
that he had gone for a day to the country, leaving a note for
him that was marked ' immediate.' Frankfort opened and
read :

Lofty Standard Bearer,
12th May 18 —

Dear Frankfort — I have to hurry off to the country — the wife
not very well — and cannot get to the office till Monday morning. I
want an article for the Monday on the Annual Puseyite Church
Conference that was opened yesterday. Show them up ; give it to

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 33

them hot — rake fore and aft — ' Priests and Palaver,' ' Papacy
and Water,' 'Catholicism in Calfskin,' 'Bishops and Bunkum,'
' Lawn and Liturgy ' in place of ' Broadcloth and the Bible,' ' the
cunning without the cleverness, the superstition without the prestige
of Rome,' — something in that way just to put the subject pungently
before the public. Of course you won't forget our friend the
Sentinel — 'the soiled and warped winding-sheet of a mummified
Church,' ' the sinister mouthpiece of an organised hypocrisy ' ; a few
simple words to that effect, just to close up, you know — much in a
lively winding-up. You'll have the ' Sabbath ' to work it up. —
Faithfully yours, BRASS FINUCANE.

Frankfort was rather perplexed by this note. He was
pleased with the growing confidence shown in him ; but was
disappointed in the subject, and embarrassed by the consider-
ation that for the life of him he could not see why the
Puseyites should not meet to have their say, and even to
sound their trumpet a little, unmolested. But the com-
mission was so important that he dare not stay to raise
scruples about it. There could be no doubt that the
editor's note accurately described the thoughts, or rather
the instincts, of the subscribers to the Lofty Standard Bearer
upon the subject. Something in the direction that he had
indicated was no doubt required in order to soothe their
Christian feelings, which had been much irritated by the
Puseyite demonstration. So that evening he read carefully
all the reports of the enemy's meeting, taking note as he
went along of the weak points and unfavourable aspects of
the demonstration. He thus worked himself up into a state of
some indignation, though all the time he could not help an
uneasy consciousness, which kept grating upon him, that the
True Blues comported themselves at their annual gathering
in a manner just as unreasonable, and more intolerant.
Having collected all the materials for a full article, he
resolved to sleep upon it and to pen a vigorous deliverance
the next morning.

As it turned out, this was an unfortunate resolve. The
Sabbath day dawned a glorious morning, and after his break-
fast, before sitting down to write, he rested a while at the
open window, looking out upon the still scene of the city's
day of rest. The sun shone brightly and warmly upon the
quiet of the streets ; the very housetops looked less dreary in

VOL. I D

34 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the glorious light. Family groups passed by, each going to
worship God according to their own custom, in their own
House of Prayer ; the aged, that soon, truly, must for them-
selves explore the inexorable mystery, and the young, still
full of life, all borne along together by that instinct of our
nature that reaches out towards the Unseen — towards a
Beyond and towards a Hereafter. And those bells, those
speaking bells, what a spell they cast around, calling men to
pray to God, sounding through the silent air their moving
melody, answering to emotions deep in the heart of man but
hard to express in mortal language ! And those spires
of many churches, all pointing alike to Heaven — that
silent Heaven, apparently mute and irresponsive to the
entreaties of men ; but not really so, else whence the
influence that was drawing these crowds to worship and
find comfort in the living God ? And was the favour of
Heaven to descend upon only one of those up -pointing
spires, and curses upon all the rest? And were we to be
less merciful to one another than our Creator was to us all ?
In this way did Frankfort muse as he looked out upon the
church-going people.

As he turned from the window to his desk, he certainly
felt that his survey of the city on this Sabbath morn, brief
though it was, had not improved his tone for writing the
article that Brass Finucane wanted. However, he resolved
to do his best, and that, in this case, was his fiercest. He
wrote away and denounced the too common intolerance of
priesthoods, using up some of the editor's phrases, only
softening them a little. He did not deny the right of any
Church or sect to have what gatherings or celebrations it
pleased, only they should conduct them sensibly. He
analysed and exposed the weakness of some of the speeches,
so as to make out a strong case against the Puseyites, while
at the same time he admitted that a necessary result of free
discussion was that much that was foolish must be spoken.
It so happened that before finishing his task, he turned
to look out again on the bright sunshine, and the church
spires pointing upwards to the peaceful sky. As he did so,
the noble sentiment of Anaxagoras occurred to him, and going
back to his table, he wound up his article (quite forgetting all

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 35

about the editor's hint concerning the Sentinel] by saying
that the effect of this hostile din of sects upon the wise man
was, when asked which he belonged to, to make him, like
Anaxagoras, raise his eyes aloft and point to the heavens.

He thought this rather good, and read his article in the
Lofty Standard Bearer on Monday morning with much com-
placency. He went to the office early, as he expected that
the editor might have some further commission for him that
would perhaps demand prompt attention. He found that
Brass Finucane had just returned from his short visit to his
ailing wife. As he stepped into the dingy -looking room
where the thunderbolts were generated, the editor (much
worried by private troubles and public cares) broke out —
' This won't do ! I never got such a turn in my life as when
I opened the paper in the train this morning. I heard some
muttering going on between two gentlemen opposite about
something in the Lofty Standard Bearer, and sure enough I
soon saw the cause. Why, if you had altered a few sentences
it would have done for the Sentinel — not a single good slash
at them. It won't do — it's no use.'

Poor Frankfort was astounded. It now rushed in upon
him that he had rather forgotten the trade aspect of the
subject. But he tried to defend himself, however, in rather
a confused way, for he was borne down by the wrath of the
editor and its probable consequences.

' Well, sir, I confess I am taken quite aback. Surely
I attacked them on many points ; but I could not deny their
right to meet and celebrate their anniversary.'

' Not if you were writing on their side. But you're
writing for our subscribers. We'll lose them all in a month
at that rate. If it was not for the sick wife I'd have waited
and done it myself, or got Gubbins, who has no fads — I wish
I had.'

Here the noise of footsteps and talking outside made an
interruption, and with a gentle tap at the door and a mild
push to open it, in walked the Rev. Samuel Croft, of the
Church of England, the editor of the Sentinel — a quiet-
looking and quiet-spoken person, but with very red hair and
very thin and compressed lips nevertheless. He was called
the ' Rev. ' rather for business purposes, as he had never

36 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

been ordained a priest, and had only done duty for a short
time as a deacon. He was dressed in a compromise suit of
dark but not quite black cloth, with a band round his neck
instead of a secular stand-up collar ; and the coat was of the
short cut-away kind that has a decided strain of the secular,
not to say sporting, element in it. Though he looked so calm,
almost so meek, in outward appearance, he was quite a Red
Indian with his pen : he scalped the person who was the
enemy for the time being, and in performing the operation
he was troubled by no conscientious scruples such as had
weakened the force of poor Frankfort's article. His custom
was to depict the True Blue party and their organ, the Lofty
Standard Bearer, in terms that were always fierce, and
sometimes seemed to be seasoned with positive spite. He
felt much the same pleasure in good round invective that a
surgeon does in a slashing operation ; and when he had in
his leader characterised the proceedings and speeches at some
True Blue gathering as ' civic malevolence reduced to a
system, based, to be sure, on mercenary principles, but also
largely leavened by the inherent and prescriptive rancour of
a decaying party,' he would compress his thin lips with satis-
faction and relax them again into a quiet smile. But it was
all in the way of business, and what he claimed for himself
he fully conceded to his official opponent, the editor of the
Lofty Standard Bearer. Personally he and Brass Finucane
were the best of friends in private, and in fact they often
used to meet of a Saturday to have a quiet evening together,
and, forgetting their wordy contests, to enjoy the company
of a few literary friends.

From the sensible tone of the article Croft saw at once
that something had gone wrong on the staff of his friend, and
he resolved to make an early call, partly to inquire for the wife,
who had so often hospitably entertained him, and partly to
discuss a reduction on the postage of newspapers that they
were trying to get the Post Office authorities to adopt ; but
also, undoubtedly, with a view of learning the particulars of
the disaster in the leading columns.

' Glad to see you, Croft — I wanted to have a chat with
you about that postage matter.' Finucane spoke as cheer-
fully as he could at the moment, though he was not able to

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 37

clear away the look of vexation cast over his countenance by
the business that he had in hand just before. Croft moved
softly toward the table, rubbing his hands together in an
involved manner, looking at his brother editor and glancing
at Frankfort.

' Ah yes, just looked in as I was passing. How is my
dear Mrs. Finucane ; not worse, I hope — you look a
little-

' Oh no, — good account. Better and better ; up soon,
I hope/

' Ah well, I'm really pleased ; good news, almost as
pleased as with that admirable leader of yours this morning
on our great Talkee Talkee — so fair.' He went on rubbing
his hands still gently together, something that he meant for
a smile stealing over his face, glancing round at Frankfort so
as to avoid looking directly at his brother editor, who he
knew must be dangerously near the point of explosion.
' Admirable, indeed ; so impartial — just the sort of thing that
your intelligent readers want. I'd like to '

' Here now, that'll do, Croft ; we know you never get
in a passion — you couldn't if you tried — but I can't stand
pressure above a certain point. Sit down there — sit down.
Mind ye of the story for little boys, how Rothschild made
his money by minding his own '

' business — oh certainly,' the rev. gentleman broke

in — ' certainly ; but this is my business, Mr. Finucane. I want
to know where I can find this just man ; his conscientious
tone is native-born for the Sentinel ; in fact, he could write
for us both ; capital idea — answer himself/ and he laughed
with the self-satisfied laugh of superiority at the picture
which he had drawn, as he took a chair and sat down in
a circumspect manner.

Frankfort felt that his position was getting decidedly
warm, as children say in their games, and that the sooner
he was out of the way the better ; so, with as composed a
good-bye to his chief as he could muster, and having got a
growl in response, he hurried back to his lodgings.

He felt that shock which young people experience when
they first meet the real troubles of life. It was not alone
the particular failure that oppressed him, serious though that

38 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

was and unexpected the blow — it was the chasm that it
seemed to reveal between the aspirations which he had been
educated up to at college and the actual requirements of the
workaday world. Brass Finucane told him when they met
later in the day that there would be no use in trying to go
on. He did not speak harshly, but said that he could not
risk his circulation by a style of writing that might instruct
people, but which at the same time tacitly rebuked them,
and in no way satisfied their natural party feelings and
antipathies. Perhaps in 'pure literature' he might do
better, but as for public writing, it must be suited to public
taste.

We cannot deny to Frankfort some sympathy. At the
University he had been taught to seek truth before all things,
to reason justly, to form and to cherish noble ideals of life
and of man's duty in life. His first contact with the world
seemed to him to reveal a widely different standard from that
which he had been taught to look up to. Was then know-
ledge, eloquence, intellect (the ray from God Himself) to be
only of use for the dirty work of ministering to senseless and
vulgar prejudices that the leaders themselves laughed at in
private ? And what became of the ambition which the
college lectures upon the great men of history roused in
enthusiastic young natures to devote one's life to the service
of mankind ?

But whatever may have been Frankfort's scruples, or
whatever his inspirations, the question now before him was
how he could live. His father's farm was not doing well.
The conditions of farming were not improving, owing to
the enormous development of food imports ; and there were
even fears that the farm would have to go out of cultivation
and, like many others, return to the condition of grass land.
He made vigorous efforts to get literary work from the
newspapers and the humbler class of periodicals, and he did
get some ; but the income from it was so small that he
could barely live upon it, and he had nothing over for the
expenses of continuing his legal training. This was a
depressing blow ; for, however pinched he had been, he
had the support of hope so long as he was working towards
his admission to the profession of the law. If he could only

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 39

gain this, a career was opened to him ; and why should he
not ultimately even be Lord Justice-General, as his uncle had
said? This hope had sustained him in many struggles, but now
the prospect of ever reaching the profession was getting fainter
and fainter. With all his poverty, he was desperately proud,
and as he got his ninepenny dinner at the restaurant in a
back street, he felt that he would rather have gone without
it than confess his poverty to any man — not even to his kind
uncle in Excelsior. So he suffered in silence from that
shock which so many young men, addressed in universities
as ingenuo magnaeque spei, experience when they find how
different are the conditions of real life from those that they
have dreamed of in the academic shades.

As often happens to men who are blessed or cursed with
an impressionable nature, health began to give way as the
spirits failed. O gold ! gold ! thou visible god or yellow
slave, let us not undervalue thee ! If our poor youth
could have got from somewhere, in some way (as at times
happens in fiction), only a small heap of golden coins each
year, his heart would have been light, his eye bright, his
energies vigorous. With this valiant Mars he could have
fought the world ; success and fame might have been his : he
might have been heard in the Mother of Parliaments, or have
added renown to the Bench of his native land. As it was,
he was paralysed by want, haunted by anxiety. Each
morning, as he lifted his head from his pillow, he felt as if
he were rising into a cloud of trials, dangers, difficulties, and
mortifications.

His uncle had delayed for a while answering the letter in
which Frankfort had announced his failure to secure the
lectureship ; but his reply arrived not long after the unlucky
article had appeared in the Lofty Standard Bearer, and it
found his nephew more ready to fall in with a proposal that
it contained than he would have been a year ago, after he
had left college, flushed with an academic career that, despite
his last failure, had been on the whole striking and success-
ful. His short experience had been sufficient to dis-
illusionise in him the sanguine hope of the college student
that he may find the obstacles of life as easy to grapple with
as the difficulties of the class-room. Mr. Fairlie expressed

40 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

regret that he had not succeeded in getting the lectureship ;
but remarked upon the good position that he got as second,
and the high testimonials he had obtained as to his general
standing in the University. He exhorted him if possible to
make good his career in the old land ; but said that, if this
appeared to be too doubtful a chance, there was a very fair
opening now for just such a man as he was in Excelsior.
The William Dorland University was in want of a Professor
in Sociology and Political Economy, and he had little doubt
that he could, with the influence which he possessed with his
old friend the Honourable William Dorland, and with the aid
of the testimonials from the home University, secure it for
him. Mr. Dorland, who was the Silver King of Excelsior,
was the principal founder of the University, and his influence
would decide the appointment. There was a good salary
attached to the position, and the holder of this Chair was
allowed, upon obtaining the sanction of the Board of Over-
seers, to become a candidate for election to the Parliament
of the Province. Mr. Dorland, his uncle wrote, was a very
progressive man, and he had always maintained that it was
not only the right but the duty of learned men to make their
learning available and useful in practical affairs.

This was certainly a tempting offer to Frankfort, and it
appeared the more favourable to him in his present depressed
state. Then the founder of the University appeared to be
a man of such enlightened views — not only giving his
substance, his silver, to establish the institution, but laying
down the noble principle that seats of learning should shed
their light upon public life, and not merely bask themselves
selfishly in the sunshine of knowledge. He appeared to wish
to revive what in past times had been the custom of some
Universities, to allow its authorities to take part in State
affairs ; and, without fully working out the details of how this
would operate, it seemed to Frankfort that the need for some
such development in our times was all the greater since the
political world was coming to be governed by numbers and
the general intelligence instead of by wealth and privilege.
Then the salary appeared to him, in his straitened circum-
stances, to be quite a large income, and, joined to what he
could make by his pen in the new land, would enable him to

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 41

help his family, and also do what he had much at heart to
do — begin, at least, to pay back to his kind relative in
Excelsior the money he had advanced for him. It was, to
be sure, a tempting offer.

But exile was a sad thing too. All the early dreams of
ambition — the hope of distinction in his native land — perhaps
leaving a great name — speaking to the world — all gone for
ever, and his career to be worked out among a handful of
people in a strange far-away land ! While his mind was thus
being swayed to and fro between the advantages of comfort-
able exile and the grand but perhaps delusive prospects of a
home career, it so happened that one of the weekly papers
sent him for review a new edition of Thomas Arnold's Life
and Correspondence. It was a labour of love to him to read
and digest the letters of the great schoolmaster, they were
marked by so much originality and breathed such a spirit
of sincerity and truth. He was struck by a passage in one
letter from the Master of Rugby to the Rev. J. Tucker, in
which Arnold expresses a hope that some day he might
be able to emigrate to Swan River, ' if they will make me
schoolmaster there, and lay my bones in the land of kangaroos
and opossums. . . . My notion is that no missionarising is
half so beneficial as to try to pour sound and healthy blood
into a young civilised community ; to make one colony, if
possible, like the ancient colonies, or like New England — a
living sucker from the mother country, bearing the same
blossoms and the same fruit.' It was the practice of the
hero, General Gordon, when he was doubtful about what
course he should adopt in any crisis, to open the Bible at
random and take the direction, or apparent direction, of the
first verse that his eye fell upon. It would not be correct
to say that our youth, though he was of an impressionable
nature, was susceptible to such fatalistic methods ; but he
certainly was struck with this passage. It put what he had
to himself styled as ' exile ' in a new light, at least to a man
of high purpose. Might he not better satisfy his ambition,
and also be more useful to the world, going out to the new
land than if he stayed at home ?

And the Province of Excelsior, then in the flush of
early prosperity, was attracting to its shores many of the

42 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

enterprising youth of the old land. There was a great open-
ing for well-qualified young men in the professions. The
Hospital at Miranda, the capital of the Province, had sent
home for promising men to fill vacancies in its staff, and
Myles Dillon had some thoughts of applying for the position
of Resident Surgeon. He intended to have a talk with his
friend Frankfort some time about it ; though he was not very
eager regarding it, and was in no hurry to make up his mind.
But the next time they met to spend the evening together at
Frankfort's lodgings, the two friends found that they had
mutual speculations about their prospects to indulge in.
They had contemplated a walking tour by themselves in
the summer to the Lakes of Killarney, and Dillon came
in, intending to arrange for it ; but the observant eye
of the young surgeon could not but notice the altered and
worried appearance of his friend, which partly arose from the
conflict within him in making up his mind to face exile.

' What, a bit off, are ye ? Not off our trip, I hope,
though?' he exclaimed, as, struck by his friend's serious look,
he seized him by the wrist and, physician-like, began to feel
his pulse.

' Well,' said Frankfort, not even smiling, but looking
desperately grave, ' I almost think that I am in for a longer
trip than any we have taken yet.'

'Oh, come now, you are not so bad as all that. I
know all about it. You are just a bit run down ; I can set
you up directly. So many decimal points of strychnine
three times a day, generous diet, pleasant walking tour,
complete rest from worry, and a few other simple things —
that'll screw you up quick.'

' Good advice, Myles, I know. But I'm really thinking
of going out to Excelsior. Uncle Fairlie thinks that I can
get the appointment of Professor in the famous William
Dorland University there, founded by one of the most
enlightened men in the Province. The salary would set me
up ; I could pay off the uncle, assist the family — everything.
But then of course I must give up all ambition — bury my
life in the antipodes.'

' Why, that's strange,' said Myles ; ' I had some slight
idea of going there myself

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 43

' No, but I am serious, Myles. What I have told you
is fact.'

' So is what I'm saying, too,' answered Myles, looking
grave in his turn. ' I was going to have a talk about it
some time when I have nothing better to do. They have
sent home for a promising surgeon of the new school for the
City Hospital of Miranda, and my old master, Dunleavy of
our College of Surgeons, thinks he can get it for me. He
advises me to take it, as I can make a fortune there,
and it's so hard to get people to kill here, owing to the
competition.'

' Well, that is good news, Myles,' said Frankfort, really
pleased. He felt that exile would not be half so dreary if
he had his friend with him. ' And you would make a big
name in a young country, that will in time grow to be a
great land. Just let me give you this sentence from one of
Arnold's letters — I am working at a review of them ' ; and
he read the extract with emphasis.

1 Yes, that's all very good, Edward Fairlie, but what at
present I'm thinking of are the salary, allowances, perquisites,
quarters, rights, and privileges generally of the Chief Resident
Surgeon of the City Hospital of Miranda, the great capital
of the still greater Province of Excelsior. If they turn out
correct, then it's for me to make up my mind. To go or
not to go, that's the question, as Shakespeare says.'

' The idea of being banished to the antipodes does not
frighten you then, Myles ? '

' Antipodes ? why, that is only calling names. It
depends upon which end of the orange you are stand-
ing on.'

' And you don't mind losing the chance of being Surgeon-
General to the Lord-Lieutenant, or whatever you call it here?'
said Frankfort ; for he was curious to know if Dillon, whose
common -sense he respected, felt the pangs of blighted
ambition in the same way that he did himself.

' Well, well,' said Myles, ' it's just how ye look at it.
Better be the first man in a village than the second man in
Rome — classical authority. Then, if ye wish to go on the
high - level rails, why, there's the old world worn out — day
over, sun setting — new one rising, life before it; the people

44 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

there first, the ancestors of the future, looked back to with
reverence, noble forefathers, wisdom of ancestors ; here one
among thirty- six millions of degenerate descendants, there
one among the few thousand parens patriae, et cetera, et
cetera.'

' Now there is something in that, Dillon — to grow with
the growth of a young land, to expand your sphere of
useful '

' And then,' interrupted Myles, ' if you don't like the
place, leave it. We're young — the world is wide. No
engagement with the antipodes for better or worse. Quite
the new style with me — union liable to be dissolved, on
notice given, with or without mutual consent.'

' Ah well, for all your way of talking, Myles, if you do
go, I know you'll do honest work there and show them all a
high standard in the profession.'

' Certainly, my boy,1 said Dillon, ' as soon as I am
well off.'

Frankfort now busied himself with getting all the in-
formation he could about the William Dorland University
in Excelsior, and the Chair of Sociology, which he felt was
as good as offered to him ; and in inquiring into the con-
ditions, social and industrial, of the new land.

Chadwick, his old college friend, wrote asking him and
Dillon to join the walking party in Scotland that year. But,
even had he the leisure, he did not feel sufficiently light-
hearted for an excursion with the old companions through
the glens and over the hills where they had often conversed
about their respective ambitions for careers in the old land
— that old land which he might soon be leaving for many a
long year, perhaps for ever. Dillon, on the other hand, set
out on the tour with a cheery spirit, and, as to the future, a
hopeful heart, determined to enjoy himself for the present
any way, and to settle finally about the City Hospital at
Miranda when he got back to the College of Surgeons in
Stephen's Green. There was no doubt that the possible
prospect of having Myles as a companion in the new land,
joined to his own conviction as to the noble work that lay
before a man in a young country, helped to overcome Frank-
fort's natural feeling of repugnance to giving up his prospects,

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 45

or at least his hopes, in his native land. So, after some
anxious discussions with his parents in the old home, he sent
out to his uncle's care his application for the vacant Pro-
fessorship, accompanied by several additional testimonials
from the heads of his College, all of whom willingly assisted
him, while some made him sad by regretting the loss of the
career he might achieve at home. Still, he knew that such
expressions were often but a polite way of speeding the
parting acquaintance, and were sometimes only thought of
when there was no prospect of testing the polite forecast by
experience. In due time a favourable reply was received,
and Edward Fairlie Frankfort found himself started in life
in what he truly regarded as the high career of a Teacher of
the truths of Social Science and Political Economy, with the
prospect of being perhaps able to enforce those truths after-
wards in public affairs.

It does not belong to this history to narrate the details
of the parting from parents and home, serious matters though
these be to those whom they personally affect, and ever
have been, since the time of that command to Abraham, ' Go
forth from thy country, from thy kindred, from thy father's
house, unto a land that I will show thee.'

When our exile, as for the time he felt himself, arrived
at Miranda, the capital of the Province of Excelsior, he was
met by his uncle, who brought him to his home at Brassville,
to spend with him what time he had to spare before begin-
ning his work at the University in the metropolis. Brassville
was an important and rising town in a mining and agri-
cultural district, distant about one hundred and fifty miles
from Miranda. It divided the honours and profits of that
side of the country with the prosperous Borough of
Leadville, which was only some twenty miles distant from
it on the one side, and with Tinville, which was thirty
miles away on the other. The three towns were on the
coast side of the Great Boulder Dividing Range, on the
inland slopes of which were the vast silver mines for
which Excelsior was remarkable, and which played such
an important part industrially, and also politically, in the
Province. All these little centres of population were pro-
sperous and happy ; almost the only cause of unhappiness to

46 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

any one of them being when either of the others managed
to get a larger share of Government favour in the shape of
public works, money grants to institutions, aids to local
bodies, assistance to farmers, official appointments, or other
fruits of State beneficence. We will learn more about these
towns as our history goes on. For the present we will
follow the fortunes of Frankfort.

He found the branch of the Imperial Bank of Excelsior
at Brassville, of which his uncle was Manager, to be quite a
handsome building. The people of Excelsior liked to have
noble public buildings even in their provincial towns. He
was soon made at home in the roomy and comfortable resi-
dence portion of the building by the frank and kind-hearted
reception of Mrs. Fairlie and the easy confidence of two
young cousins, who took to him instinctively, as children will
do with easy-natured people. He had not enjoyed such a
pleasant holiday as this for a long time, and he felt great
interest in seeing and learning daily something new about
the country and the people who were now his fellow-citizens.

He called upon Mr. Siree, the editor of the Brassville
Trumpeter, as being a brother of the pen, and also as he wished
to learn something of the public affairs of the land in which
he had cast his lot. Mr. Siree informed him that the politics
of Brassville at present were ' to get into the new Loan and
to get out the old Representative ' ; who it seemed was a
Mr. Meeks — Ebenezer Meeks — and who the editor declared
had sold the people on beer and robbed them of water. What
all this meant was Greek to Frankfort, and he listened to it
with that polite unconcern with which one hears what does
not concern him, and which he never imagines ever can con-
cern him. For the present, at any rate, he was free from
care, and as he walked down the main street of the town
he enjoyed the friendly greetings of the people, many of
whom had come to know him as a visitor of some distinction,
being the new Professor of Social Science, and also being the
nephew of the popular banker. We will record in a summary
method (after the manner of Homer and Milton) the names
and the personality of the distinguished citizens of Brass-
ville whom he met.

First he encountered Mr. Seth Pride, one of the joint

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 47

secretaries of the Woman's Temperance League ; the other
secretary being Miss Hannah Gazelle, the popular lecturer.
Both Miss Gazelle and Mr. Seth Pride were also active
members of the Woman's Rights National League. They
were walking together. Soon after he was warmly greeted
by Mr. Ben Taft, licensee of the Blue Grapes Hotel, and
local leader of the public-house party, or, as he preferred to
describe himself, of the National Viticultural interest. Mr.
Job Runter, the president of the Brassville Young Men's
Association, was more formal in his manners than Mr. Taft,
but he showed laudable enthusiasm for his cause — that of
the young men and their improvement — and was able to give
gratifying information as to the numbers who sought self-
culture and innocent amusement, though under difficulties,
in their wretched wooden makeshift of a Hall. It only
remained for the Government to build a suitable Hall and
offices for them. Meeks had given the Minister of Works
no peace about the matter ; still it was delayed upon the
pretence of want of money, and they had to meet in the
weather-board structure. Then came Hiram Brick wood, the
senior guard on the branch from Brassville to Great Gorge,
on the main line, whose acquaintance he had made on the
journey up from town. Brickwood was going home for the
day, having just brought up the afternoon train. He was
the active leader of the Brassville committee of the State
Trams and Rails Branch of the Central State Workers'
Association, whose motto was, ' Our rights ; not others' wrongs.'
Nothing Hiram liked better than to have a talk upon public
affairs, but he was in a hurry now, and had only time to
mention that the latest reports from the city were favour-
able to the successful floating of the new loan for National
Reproductive Works. Louis Quiggle, the land agent in quiet
times, and also, by general consent, the most clever election
agent in the district, took a special interest in Frankfort, as
he did in all people who filled any public position. He was
a cheerful, chatty little man, and simple-minded too, in a
way, but full of experience in the methods of agents. He
confided to Frankfort that a political revolution was impend-
ing over Brassville.

' What about ? ' vaguely asked Frankfort.

48 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Beer and water ! ' was the brief and emphatic reply.

' Beer and water ? '

' Just so — subject always to the Loan ; all comes back
to the Loan.'

Before he could go on to explain himself, he waved his
hand gaily to a reverend gentleman who was passing, and
exclaimed, ' Ah, Mr. Keech, let me introduce you to a dis-
tinguished visitor from the Continent, Mr. Edward Fairlie
Frankfort, nephew of our dear and respected banker.'

The Rev. Simon Keech was as popular in the pulpit at
Brassville as Mr. Fairlie was in the banking parlour. He
was a man in whom religious feelings mingled with public
instincts. To all plans for helping the poor, however
socialistic their tendency, he gave the light of his counte-
nance for a part of the way, — and only withdrew it when
they went too far, and became dangerous. He even
extended this discrimination to the Hebrew Scriptures
themselves ; for while he preached eloquent discourses in
praise of the vigorous denunciations of rich oppressors which
they contain, he maintained that the Jewish institution of the
Jubilee, with its remission of debts and recovery of pro-
perties, while admirable for the Jews three thousand years
ago, was unsuited to the Christian now.

As both he and Frankfort were scholars, they readily
found congenial topics for conversation, and Quiggle left them
as they walked away down the street together. He gave
' the stranger within the gates,' as he styled his companion,
much useful information upon social topics in Excelsior, and
exhorted him to lead by his Sociological teaching ' the people
of our fair land right forward to the coming social reforma-
tion, second only to the great reformation of our religion
itself.'

He was shaking hands with Frankfort where their ways
parted, when he called out to some one who was passing
rapidly down on the other side of the street —

' Ah, Jacob, how are you ? Hope you are quite well.

Let me introduce ' But the other person did not stop.

He went on quicker than before, as he called out rather
formally —

' Thank you, sir ; I am well, I thank you.'

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 49

All that Frankfort could recall of him was a pair of very
keen dark eyes, and a grieved, dissatisfied expression of
countenance as he looked round.

' He does not care to stay,' observed Frankfort. ' Is he
one of your '

' One of mine? No, he is a church to himself, is Jacob
Shumate. Not a half bad fellow, either. Oh, you will
know all about him, if you come down here often. He
makes himself known to most men in time.'

But if Jacob Shumate was not disposed to stay and talk,
he was the exception among the citizens of Brassville. By
the time that Frankfort had walked down the main street
he had met representative men of the different phases of
public opinion among the people. These seemed all to
centre round a few topics that appeared to fill the public
mind — the merits or demerits of Meeks, chiefly the latter,
the neglect by the Government of the public works of the
Borough, the need of public works, and, above all, the pro-
spects of the new Loan and the Reservoir. The Government
and the politicians generally were discussed in a severe
tone, but still as belonging to the people themselves, and
being part of their arrangements for carrying on their public
business.

Frankfort enjoyed these walks among the people of this
prosperous little community, growing up amidst easy in-
dustrial conditions, and felt that they had been useful as
giving him his first experience of the man in the street and
his ideas in the new land. So far he had not seen much of
the upper portions of the social pyramid, and in every
community there must be some attempt at a social
pyramid.

A few days later he found on the letter tray at the
Bank a neat envelope, directed to him, whereon was a large
crest of arms, enclosing a card containing certain informa-
tion which by the custom of society constitutes an invitation
to the person named to attend a festive gathering therein
specified. It ran thus :

VOL. i E

50 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

THE HON. MRS. LAMBORN.

At Home,

Wednesday, i^th Jan. 18 — ,
8.30 o'clock. Music.

R.S.V.P. The Blocks.

On the top was scratched —

E. F. Frankfort, Esq.

' Why, aunt,' he exclaimed, as the family party sat down
to lunch, ' I've got an invitation from some one, — Wednesday
next, — Mrs. Lambkin or some name like that.'

' Oh yes, we're going too. You'll see all society there.
Mrs. Lamborn is the head of society here,' said Mrs. Fairlie.

' Lamborn — yes, that's the name — the Honourable Mrs.
Lamborn. Is she connected with a titled family in any
way ? — the Honourable ? '

' Oh dear no,' interposed his uncle, ' she's the wife of the
Honourable Tom, our member in the Senate, the great land-
owner about here — The Blocks, grand property, got from
Government in the early days for a song. Since then
the town has sprung up almost in the middle of his estates.'

' Quite a feudal baron,' said Frankfort. ' What sort of
chieftain is he ? Is he beloved by his people ? '

' Well, as to that,' said the Banker, laughing, ' one set of
his people denounce him as a miscreant for owning so much
land, and others regard him as an aristocrat for the same
reason.'

' But he is your Representative, you say, — some people
must support him.'

' Yes — in the Senate ; he always manages to get
nominated by the Government for this district, and he is
entitled to it too. He is a fair specimen of our public men.
In the early days he picked out the right country, and then
he fought with difficulties like a man, risked his life among
the natives, subdued the forest, won his land ..with rifle and
axe. Many is the strong team of bullocks that he has driven
through the bogs before the days of the metalled road, and
now of the railway.'

' So now he is your feudal lord ? ' said Frankfort.

' Only that he has no feudal duties, as you would call
them. He has won his possessions, and in our days all

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 51

the baron has to do is to enjoy them — and some people
object to his doing that, I can tell you,' said the uncle.

' Perhaps they would not have fought in the wilderness,
though ? '

' Perhaps not. But as you are not standing for Brass-
ville just now, my boy, you need not bother about him.
The wife, of course, is charming, and so will the music be ;
if you like music, it will be worth going to. You want to
meet people, and there you will meet the people at the top
of society — the very top, the tip -top, in fact,' the Banker
said, with a quiet laugh.

' Of course you'll come,' added Mrs. Fairlie — ' you'll
come to take me ; it is not every day that one has a
presentable nephew to show off, just from the old country —
that alone will get you attention in the drawing-room — and
a Professor too.'

Frankfort needed little pressing from his aunt to join
their party in going to The Blocks. The easy and pleasant
life at Brassville was a relief to him after the years of
penury and struggle at home. He had not reached, indeed
he had no opportunity of getting near, that stage of satiety
that some young men in our time seem to arrive at — and to
arrive at early in life — when they cannot take the trouble
even to be amused. He looked forward to the evening at
The Blocks with the pleasurable anticipation of a boy.

When Mr. and Mrs. Fairlie and Frankfort arrived at
Mr. Lamborn's mansion they were received in what Mrs.
Lamborn called the green drawing-room — the white drawing-
room being used for the larger gatherings that she gave
twice a year, when she invited nearly everybody down, even
to Mr. Woodall, the bookseller. Woodall did not directly
serve behind the counter, but it was known that he used to
sort the new books in the back of the shop as they arrived,
so as to learn enough about them to be able to advise his
customers what to read.

The Bank party was greeted in a warm way by the host,
and with a more languid kindness by the hostess, who was
dressed in a very effective manner and wore some striking
diamonds, which his aunt afterwards told Frankfort were a
portion of those worn by Mrs. Lamborn on her presentation

52 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

at Court during her last visit to England. He was intro-
duced to a number of guests, who, he understood, represented
the surrounding gentry, and was quickly interested in social
topics with the ladies, or in attempts to converse with the
gentlemen upon the public questions of the Province. But
in the new world a musical evening is as little favourable to
intellectual converse as it is in the old, and whenever Frank-
fort was getting interested in any topic, and anxious to follow
it up, he was stopped by some beautiful Italian or German
song, which unfortunately he lacked the necessary knowledge
of music to appreciate. Still, he looked as interested as he
could, and at the end of each performance tapped his hands
together in that helpless way that people generally do in
such a case, and muttered something that was understood to
be an expression of pleasure. One song certainly did give
him pleasure, a Scotch song that Miss Lamborn, the daughter
of the house, sang. It was so delightful to him to hear the
old familiar air again, and then the singer was herself so
interesting. For Frankfort could not but own that she was
interesting — at least for a girl.

Mrs. Lamborn considered Scotch songs to be scarcely
good enough for good society ; but Miss Lamborn and
Frankfort effected an innovation this evening. It is, as all
know, a hard achievement for a man to present the genuine
appearance of pleasure in his countenance at what does not
in fact please him ; and the instinctive perception that
women often have into men's feelings enables them quickly
to discover all such false pretences ; the more particularly if
there is a substratum of mutual sympathy, in regard to the
matter in hand, between the would-be deceiver and the fair
detective.

' Did you like the " Wanderer's Nachtlied " ? ' Miss
Lamborn asked him ; ' Miss Corney sang it so well.'

' It was a fine song, certainly,' he replied, ' but I don't
know that I have sufficient musical knowledge to fully
appreciate it.'

' Perhaps you would rather have the Italian ? It's so
sweet, that " O del mio dolce ardor," when Mrs. Bussell
sings it.'

' Beautiful, indeed ; but the fact is I do not deserve to

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 53

hear such high-class productions ; my musical education has
not gone beyond plain Scotch songs.'

' Why, then, you and I are agreed about songs,' she said
simply, ' for I love Scotch songs.'

'Do you now? I'm so glad — do you sing yourself?
Would you sing " Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Boon " ?
The song is so beautiful, and it makes you think of the
Doon itself, that lovely stream/

' Yes, 'tis a pretty air, but the words are too gloomy to
suit my taste. I'm not full of care, and my heart is not
breaking, and the more the birds sing, the more I like it.
Why should we make ourselves miserable over our music —
artificially, you know?' she asked laughing. ' But I love Burns
too, and I'll sing you " Evan Banks " — do you know it ? '

4 Oh surely ; I've been there " Where Evan mingles with
the Clyde," and the old air " Savourna Delish " is so beau-
tiful. Do sing it.' And sing it she did, with that natural
sympathy with the melody which excites, in a mesmeric
manner, answering feelings in the hearers ; so that the
applause broke out simultaneously, this time in a natural
manner, all round the room, and the company not only
expressed thanks, but felt them. Mrs. Lamborn herself was
really delighted at the evident success of her daughter, and
she enjoyed the song too, more than she had the German or
Italian airs ; but she could not at the same time refrain from
some depreciatory remarks upon this sudden descent from
the classical to the common in the evening's harmony.

1 But Eilly is so homely in her tastes, you know,' she
said confidentially to Frankfort. To him the song was
simply delightful ; though to be sure it excited some sombre
feelings, as he recalled the old scenes and the wide ocean
now rolling between them and him.

Supper was served in the large dining-room ; but, large
as it was, there was only room for the ladies to sit down
comfortably at the long table ; so the men stood about, some
attending to the ladies, and others congregated in little
knots discussing the questions of the day. Frankfort soon
became conscious of a marked divergence in the tone of
this conversation from that which he had engaged in in
the streets. There, while complaints were made of politicians

54 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

and of things that were wrong in political affairs, all spoke
of politics as matters with which they were themselves
identified, of which they were part, and which they had in
their own hands. If they censured, they did so as a relative
might complain of some family difficulty, which it was his
affair to look after and if possible set right. The feeling of
the street was — if politics are wrong we must mend them,
for they are part of ourselves. Here, in the drawing-room,
there seemed to be taken for granted a sense of aloofness
from all politics, that was not explicitly declared, but
seemed to be understood as a first principle — an attitude of
orthodox indifference to all popular creeds, formulas, plat-
forms, and projects whatever. The most important item of
general news that had come in during the evening was that
contained in alarming telegrams from the outlying districts
which announced another outbreak of the Natives on the
Border, and stated that, owing to the ineffective and bungling
way in which the Border Rangers (as the State local force
was called) had tried to meet them, several settlers had to
fly from their homes, and one company of the force had got
rather the worst of it in a skirmish with the dusky warriors,
having been surprised in camp owing to the want of proper
outposts being kept. Frankfort wanted to learn how such a
disaster took place, but he got much the same reply all
round — ' What can you expect from a force controlled by
the politicians ? ' Still, with all this contempt for politicians,
and for politics as politics, he found, rising like two mountain
peaks even in this altitude, the two topics with which he had
already been made familiar by his converse with the people
below — namely, emphatic condemnation of Meeks, joined to
quite a vulgar anxiety about the proposed Loan and the
prospects of Brassville in regard to it.

' Why, ye see, the worst about old Meeks,' said the
Honourable Mr. Lamborn, speaking to Frankfort and a few
others at the end of the room — ' the worst for us, anyway,
is that he was not fired out years ago, at least before the
last Loan.'

1 1 heard something of that,' Frankfort replied, ' when I
was going about the town the other day — something about
Beer and Water — of course I did not know what it meant.'

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 55

' Oh, bother the Beer, that's the only popular cry, the
fad of the Teetotallers ; though to be sure it will help to get
him out. But the thing for the District is that the man's
worked out — he's worked out, sir,' exclaimed the Senator,
lifting up his eyes upon his visitor as if he were now
imparting to him something really worth knowing.

' Getting old, is he ? ' asked Frankfort, so as to say
something, as the whole subject of Meeks was rather a bore
as well as a mystery to him. He had intended to ask his
uncle about it on their way out to The Blocks, but it had
escaped his memory.

' Old, sir ? — why, not so much in years, but he is worn
out in influence. Can't work up votes in the House — can't
manage things — Government don't care for him, and so
when he asks for his district he has to take NO for his
answer, and the district goes without.'

'Why, if he'd been worth his salt, not to say his pay,'
broke in Mr. Delane, the leading physician of the district,
1 he'd have got us into the last Loan two years ago, and the
Reservoir would have been finished by this.'

' The Reservoir ? ' inquired Frankfort, with an indifferent
air.

' Yes, the grand Reservoir scheme for Brassville —
establish our industries and productions — pure water too is
so essential to health — the safe drink for the people. In
fact, I ought to oppose the whole thing.' The Doctor
laughed, as he took a glass of water, tempered by some of
Mr. Lamborn's Scotch whisky.

' Then it depends on the members' activity whether a
district gets these things, does it ? ' inquired Frankfort.

' Of course it does. How else ? ' returned our host.
'What's he for? But poor Meeks could do nothing —
managed no votes. Theodore Bunker for Leadville, you see,
as he could not get it for his district that turn at any rate,
of course worked dead nuts against the Reservoir at all for
that Loan ; so out we are.'

' Yet Meeks is not a bad beggar either. He begs with
pertinacity, if not with skill,' remarked Mr. Hedger, the
lawyer, who rather prided himself on the effective use of
words, even out of court. ' He once begged a concession

56 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

from the Minister about some land for me, which I would
not have begged for myself. He got it for me too.'

' He's not got us the Reservoir then,' emphatically re-
torted Mr. Lamborn. ' And what's the use of all his begging,
if he does not back it up by joining forces with others.
Our Premier, old Billy Brereton, I can tell you,' he con-
tinued, looking at Frankfort as being entitled, since he was
a stranger, to this special information, ' he's been Premier too
long to care about any man and his one vote. If at the
right time you come to him with half-a-dozen safe votes,
then he sees the merits of your claim right enough.'

' To be sure you can speak with the enemy in the gate
if you have your quiver full,' interposed the Rev. Mr.
Keech, who had felt at liberty to come this evening as there
was to be no dancing, and who had just risen from the table,
where he had been emboldened to sit down with some ladies,
owing to the special deference due to his sacred calling. He
had only imperfectly heard Mr. Lamborn's last remark ; but
he thought it right to add, ' You can speak with the enemy
in the gate, — but to be sure you are not referring to — you
don't mean to sanction the political practice of what I think
is called, in the great Republic, log-rolling.'

' Only to get our rights, of course — obtain National
works for the country/ the Senator replied rather doggedly.
He added, as if musing to himself, ' And we'll have to look
out sharp for next election and next Loan, or we will be out
in the cold again. What can I do in the Senate ? I can
neither put the Government out nor keep them in. I'm not
worth a tank, not to say a reservoir.'

' Meeks must go,' emphatically remarked old Thomas
Hakes, a man of many acres, but few words.

' He must be hustled out straight,' said the Doctor in
a demonstrative manner. ' Some may stick to him for the
billets, but we can work it on the beer.'

' Yes, Meeks must be dispossessed,' remarked Mr. Hedger ;
' yet he is not without adherents — friends who will stand by
him ; they don't defend him straight out, but their point is,
how is he to live if you turn him off? They will
try it on with Hawk Purrington and the Scorcher, as it
won't go down with Siree and the Trumpeter. But I feel it

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 57

myself. He worked for me. I would not care to see him
starve.'

' Oh, get him some billet — something light on the rail-
ways,— or I'll get him into the State Asylum ! ' exclaimed the
Doctor.

' Who's to be put into the State Asylum, Mr. Frankfort ? '
asked Mrs. Lamborn, as she passed down the room on her
return to the drawing-room.

' I understand it is your Member of Parliament,' he replied.

' Oh, that is the other man, I think,' remarked the hostess,
laughing in a gentle and rather superior manner, ' a brother
legislator of Mr. Lamborn. Well, all I care for is that Tom,
or Mr. What's-his-name, or some one would get us our mid-
day train again from Government. It's so inconvenient,' she
added, lapsing into seriousness, ' if you're going to a dance
in town, to have to go overnight, or else get up at that
absurd hour in the morning.'

' They've taken off the mid-day train then, have they ? '
said Frankfort.'

' Why, of course they have,' Mrs. Lamborn replied, as if
all the world must know of such a grievance — 'of course
they have. We had it for years, and then the Minister
began to talk about the great loss on the railways, and the
public revenue deficiency, and made some absurd calculation
about the mid-day train from Brassville only carrying one
passenger and a half, and ridiculous things like that, and
stopped our train.'

Frankfort said that it must be unpleasant, and not having
much more to say, asked at what hour the morning train
went, as he accompanied his hostess back to the drawing-
room.

' Why, at seven o'clock ; if you return to town by it you
will have to get up at six o'clock. You don't like getting
up at hours like that, do you, Mr. Frankfort ? Eilly says that
she doesn't mind ; but then she doesn't mind anything.'

' Well, in fact I've been used to getting up early ; it's a
habit from my student days.'

' No, really ? ' inquired the Honourable Mrs. Lamborn ;
adding, with rather a languid air, ' I thought it was only
people with uneasy consciences that got up early, speculators

58 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

and adventurers and politicians, and that sort of people, don't
you know.' And so they passed on to the piano, where
some enthusiasts were already again enjoying the music,
which in their hands had recovered its classical character ;
leaving the Senator still enlarging to his friends upon the
inutility of Meeks and the grand prospects of Brassville from
the new Loan. Shortly afterwards they all came back to the
drawing-room, but some new element of dispute seemed to
have entered into the discussion, for Mr. Lamborn exclaimed
in a half-angry, contemptuous manner as they entered the
room :

' No, sir, there is no difficulty there ; the difficulty is
about getting our share of it, with that Meeks, when it is
floated ! '

This was addressed, in a decisive manner, to Mr. Neal
Nickerson, the headmaster of the Brassville Collegiate
School, who had a disagreeable way of saying something
critical and of a depreciatory character to anything that
other people were eager about He had got so much into
this habit, in checking the exuberance of his boys, that
at last it came quite naturally to him to correct in the same
way any exaggerations when he thought that he discovered
them in grown-up people. He was the very opposite to a
sympathetic person. Just as the sympathetic person will say
something in unison with your feelings, so he was sure to
say something grating or disturbing to you. He was not
very popular, therefore, in society, and a general murmur of
satisfaction drowned some answer about catching your hare
first that he attempted to make to the Senator.

'What an absurd fellow old Nick is,' remarked Mr.
Hedger to the Doctor as they moved away, ' and yet you
can't be angry with him, he's so absurd.'

' My dear sir,' answered Delane, who always assumed
the air of the common-sense physician, 'these bookish men
always are absurd.'

' Take care of that bad bit of road just outside the park
gate,' said the host to Mr. Fairlie, as he courteously came
out to hand Mrs. Fairlie into the buggy.

' Yes, it is bad,' answered the Banker ; ' I wonder that you
don't get the District Board to mend it up a bit.'

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 59

' Oh, we'll do it directly we get a little help. Five or
six hundred would do it ; we'd find the rest ourselves. We'd
have had it long ago if we had a good man in Parliament.
Good-night.'

' Whom are they to get this help from ? ' asked Frankfort,
as they drove away.

' A small Government grant, he means ; but he might
have done it long ago himself — just opposite his gate, too,'
said the Banker with a laugh, ' only we respect the Govern-
ment too much to leave them out of anything.'

' Yet I suppose,' said Frankfort, ' one of the feudal
barons we spoke about at dinner would not have sent up to
the King's Court at London for the money. It was all the
other way then. But I have noticed much the same kind of
feeling about all your people that I have met, high and low.'

' What feeling ? ' asked his uncle.

' Why, politics here seems to come back to its original
meaning, as we learnt at College — the business of looking
after the affairs of a city, the city of Brassville,' answered
Frankfort, with a touch of the professor in his reply.

' Well, you can't blame us,' said his uncle, ' for looking
after our city. If we don't, who will ? But the people are
often right upon great questions too, whenever a great
question does come up — there's a great deal of latent sense
in the people — I see it in the Bank parlour.'

' Oh, truly,' said Frankfort, with some enthusiasm, ' you
are safe if you can get right on the people. The danger,
I should think, would be of this localism obscuring their
public feelings and developing politics into the art of people
looking after themselves.'

' Well, come forth and teach us better things,' said the
uncle.

' I should be proud to,' said the nephew, ' but it requires
the people themselves to remedy popular defects.'

As they drove along reference was naturally made to the
evening's entertainment and the people whom they had met.

' I hope you liked our Brassville high life,' said his aunt ;
1 they are all really very kind, nice people.'

' Very pleasant indeed, and quite cordial to me though I
was a stranger.'

60 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' How did you get on with Mrs. Lamborn ? I saw that
she talked a good deal with you.'

' Ask him, Harriet/ interposed Mr. Fairlie, ' how he got on
with Miss Lamborn and the Scotch songs. I suppose you
thought yourself back again among the banks and braes.
She certainly does sing sweetly.'

' Oh, I like Miss Lamborn immensely, and the Scotch
songs too, and Mrs. Lamborn was really very nice.'

' So she is,' said Mrs. Fairlie, who had in her no trace of
ill-nature, but who nevertheless at times quietly indulged
herself in a little refined, almost kindly sarcasm — ' so she is.
Some call her affected, and say that she puts on airs, but
that's what they say of all who push themselves up in the
world.'

' Why, is she of humble origin, then ? ' asked Frankfort.

' Well, both he and she,' answered his uncle, ' are archi-
tects of their own fortunes. She is the better born of the
two, whatever value may be in that. Her father was the
village chemist and newspaper agent of Brassville, when it
was a village. And bravely she stood by Lamborn in the
past " They clamb the hill together," as your old Scotch
song has it. Many a hard day's work has she done in the
old bygone times. But all the while she kept herself comely
and spruce, and she was always very ambitious — more
pushing, socially, than her Tom, though he had a good solid
ambition of his own. So up they rose with the new country
and the times ; one venture after another of his succeeded,
and now they are the leaders of our wealthy landed aristo-
crats— more wealthy than some of your aristocrats at home,
though they are only Honourables by Act of Parliament.'

'Well, and not a bad example of the aristocrats — the
best people of an industrial community,' said Frankfort
' But,' he added, ' Mrs. Lamborn seems to have a more
refined air, a more cultivated style than one would have
expected from what you say about her.'

' Well, she was, as I say, in a way gentle born, and then
quite a change came o'er the scene, at least as far as she was
concerned, when they got up in the world. She travelled,
brushed herself up, got presented at Court by the aid of the
High Commissioner for the Province, and came back here

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 61

quite superior, as you say — even complaining of her native
climate,' added the Banker with his quiet laugh.

' Well, she seemed to me quite a kind lady,' said the
nephew, ' though, to be sure, I have not been much in society
to see others.'

'And so she is a kind lady, and if there is what your
aunt speaks of, a little taking on of airs and so forth/ his
uncle added, ' isn't it quite natural in people who find them-
selves in only a few years raised from the ground to the top
branch of the social tree ? '

' You could scarcely expect it to be otherwise,' replied
Frankfort, recalling some of his classical recollections, ' unless
Brassville was to be like the groves of the learned men of
old, peopled by walking philosophers.'

' Perhaps we'd have been just the same ourselves,
Edward,' Mrs. Fairlie interposed in her sensible manner,
addressing her husband, ' if we had risen right up to the top,
and had big estates. But then,' she added, with a slight
natural touch of woman's pride, ' we have never been very
high or very low.'

' My dear girl,' answered Mr. Fairlie, in the well-worn
formula of pleasantry in such case made and provided for
husbands, ' if we had such large estates, I'd have been just
as I am ; but Mrs. Lamborn is nothing to what you'd have
been when you were the lady of The Blocks.'

' No, uncle,' gallantly interposed the nephew, ' aunt
would have been like Miss Lamborn, and I am sure I never
met a more unaffected person.'

' Oh, every one likes Eilly Lamborn. She has both the
common-sense of the father and the refinement, only more
natural, of the mother,' said Mrs. Fairlie.

' And she is so natural, so unconscious of the effect she
is producing,' added Frankfort.

' It is that Scotch song that has done for him, Harriet.
You see what you are answerable for in bringing him
to-night,' said the Banker.

Frankfort protested that he was only speaking as one of
the public. Any one else would say just the same.

But soon the pleasant holiday time at Brassville drew to
a close. Not long after the evening at The Blocks, and

62 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

before Frankfort had time to see much more of the upper-
class circle of the district, he received a letter from the
Secretary to the Board of Overseers of the William Borland
University, asking when he would be prepared to undertake
the duties of his Chair, and stating that the President would
feel much obliged if he would call upon him when he came
to town. The Honourable the President, the Secretary
added, was anxious to make the acquaintance of one who
would be the exponent of the truths and principles of Social
Science, in which he took a deep personal interest himself.
And in a few days, after a kind good-bye from aunt, uncle,
and cousins, he journeyed to the capital in that early
morning train that the Honourable Mrs. Lamborn had so
much reprobated.

The William Borland University was an expression of
the time in which, and the people among whom, it flourished.
As democracy develops, one of the first things to get
democratised is Letters. Intellect, it is true, can never be
equalised — it is eternally and essentially unequal in men ;
but the opportunities for learning may be, and must be, if
the race is to improve. Also this intellect — imperial intellect
— is quite indifferent to social rank and class distinctions,
and in fact in our times is apt to be developed more among
the many than among the few ; partly because they are the
many, and have therefore more chances in the lottery, and
partly because the conditions of success, energy, and the
power of hard work are more pronounced among them than
among those who dwell at ease. They have a greater
ambition to get up than the others have to keep up. Thus
learning and the power of intellect become levellers, ever
acting, of social conditions, and are popular with men as
much for their power of levelling as for that of enlightening
the race. For though we cannot secure that the mental
capacity of all shall be equal, the passion for equality leads
us to educate them as if they were so, and thus, instead of
imitating, try to remedy the inequality of nature.

Having got so far, however, with general consent, some
hard conditions of life present themselves. Labour is a
great fact. Industrial work — tilling the churlish soil,
exploring the mine, navigating the seas — dull toil in a

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 63

thousand shapes has still to be carried on, if we would live ;
unless, indeed, we could revert to the conditions of a social
life where, as in ancient times, there would be a servile race
to do the work, leaving the citizens free to improve them-
selves and to govern the State. Till this can come about,
labour is the ever-present heritage of the people — of the
majority. No plans of taxation, or distribution, or national-
isation of property can ever relieve men from the curse, if it
be a curse, of earning their bread in the sweat of their face.
The many used to support the few. Men talk at times
now as if the wealthy few could be made to support the
many. It could only be for a day ; the many must support
themselves. It is not to be denied that the earliest effect of
the uprising of all into intellectual life is to create a dis-
inclination to plain work — to labour, except in its higher
and more interesting forms — and to set up a craving for
employments that do not require mere hard manual toil.
But soon experience teaches that a people cannot live,
except by subduing the earth and directing the forces of
Nature towards the production of what is needed by man.
Hence arises among the intelligent and the far-seeing a
desire to link school and college education with that practical
work which so many must needs follow. No doubt univer-
sities for mental culture and research will still be required ;
but we have also to dignify labour, as well as to make it
more effective, by associating it with knowledge.

We see an example of this as far back as the year 1870
in the College which Sir Josiah Mason endowed at Bir-
mingham at a cost of more than ^200,000. In the founda-
tion deed it was stated ' that the said Josiah Mason hereby
declares that his intention in founding the College is to
promote thorough education and instruction specially
adapted to the practical, mechanical, and artistic require-
ments of the manufactures and industrial pursuits of the
Midland district, to the exclusion of mere literary education
and instruction.'

Thus the tendency is to make labour less a matter of
brute toil and more the work of intelligently controlling and
using the powers of Nature that science reveals to us. The
number of those engaged in work requiring muscle decreases,

64 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

while that of those employed in work demanding skilled
intelligence is ever growing. Further, it is found that a
useful method for mental training itself is to be sought in
the daily work of the skilled artificer. The mind is exercised
by the manual labour which it inspires with intelligence, and
to which it imparts its cunning.

The William Borland University sought as one of its
main purposes to dignify labour, to turn intellect on to it,
to mingle and combine the training of hand and mind, to
improve the hand by means of the mind and the mind by
means of the hand. But it also maintained courses of study
wholly for informing and disciplining the mind, and in the
languages, though it rejected Greek, it retained Latin ; the
Honourable William Borland being of opinion, with Bismarck,
that the Russian language would be as valuable as the Greek
for the purpose of exercising the mind, and at the same
time more practically useful. This gentleman was himself
a man who had laboured with his hands for bread. He
was self-educated, and had a full share of that aptitude for
acquiring knowledge, picking it up, as the phrase goes, and
of adapting himself to fresh ideas and new situations, that
self-educated men frequently have, and that highly educated
men are sometimes wanting in. These, like some military
men who have been drilled into exactness in their calling,
at times want that spring and inventiveness which often
distinguishes the self-taught soldier. William Borland while
still a young man joined to the plodding industry of the
Hollander (for he was of Butch descent) the enterprise of
the American ; and he pursued his ends with the same
silent, at first unnoticed, but afterwards irresistible trend
that the waters stealing through the dykes of his paternal
land pursue until they have found their destined level. His
attention was early in life turned towards silver- mining in
Excelsior. At first his enterprise beggared him. He spent
the whole of what he had saved from his earnings as a
working miner in an attempt to develop quite new ground
in the Great Boulder Bividing Range, at a point some miles
beyond the township of Silveracre, which he maintained, for
reasons that he could never clearly explain to others, would
prove to contain absolute hills of ore, if only they were

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 65

penetrated in the right direction. His first venture having
proved a failure, left him bankrupt in all but his own strength
and energy ; so he at once returned to work as an ordinary
hand in one of the established mines in the more settled
parts of the district. He never lost heart for a moment.
He lived on little, and saved the greater part of the liberal
wage that skilled and steady miners could always command.
A newer philosophy of our time rather sneers at this
' thrift ' — indeed, denounces it as mean ; and it is not to be
denied that it is often not unaccompanied by unamiable
characteristics. Nevertheless, it is by the self-denial and
enduring struggle of individuals towards an end that is
intelligently chosen that the progress of the race is continued ;
and when among any people these qualities are disparaged,
and the natural inclination of most men to have an easy life
is dignified into a policy, we may be sure that general
stagnation is not many generations distant. William Borland
kept cheerfully at work, steadily saving more for a new
venture, and all the while prosecuting at every spare time
his inquiries as to the best manner in which to make the
next attempt. When off his eight -hours shift of daily
work, sometimes during the night, on Sundays and holidays,
he would go out and do practical work in the gullies. He
collected specimens from the strata at places where they
were exposed or easily reached, and carefully explored the
debris in the creeks running from the mountain side. He
studied the reports and plans published by companies who
were working in the adjacent leads, and made notes in
the free library of Silveracre from all mining books and
periodicals that gave any information that bore upon the
problem which he was attempting to solve. But he chiefly
relied on his own observations and the conclusions that his
own experience as a miner led him to, and after over two
years spent in investigation, during which he met with some
failures in the results of his attempts to test the ground, and,
we may be sure, disappointments many and various, he at
last got together a mass of facts in support of his proposal
to bore the hills in the direction, and not far from the point,
that he had from the first indicated. Though a poor hand at
explaining things clearly, he managed to interest Mr. Fairlie
VOL. I F

66 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

in his venture, and the Banker induced the Directors of the
Brassville branch of the Imperial Bank to ' take him up,' to
speak in the language of the Bank parlour. It was rather a
risk on his part, but he was known on both sides of the
Divide for his liberal and sagacious dealing with all promising
projects. So the necessary funds were advanced to Dorland,
then plain William, an ample lease of country, then con-
sidered valueless, was got from the Government, the mountain
side was this time thoroughly explored in the direction he
wanted, mother earth was made to give forth her secrets,
and true enough the precious ore was revealed, solid, in
masses, ' hills of silver,' as the newspapers said. The common
mining hand became a rich man, a great man, one of the
Princes of the people, rolling in silver ; when people spoke
of him, they said that whatever he touched turned to silver.
For now that he had money, dearly as he prized it, he was
sagacious enough to know that its value lay in its use, and
he wielded the power of the purse with growing experience
and unremitting industry to open out new fields of wealth,
until, as he reached middle life, he stood forth the lord of
miles of leads of shining ore, the master of millions. Not a
few envied him, disparaged him, or spoke half-despairingly,
half-sneeringly of the power of ' luck.' Others denounced
the social conditions which allowed one man thus ' to
monopolise the gifts of Nature,' and possibly satisfied them-
selves that in doing so they were actuated only by reasons
of public policy. They did not concern themselves with
the consideration that, were it not for Dorland's enterprise
and sagacity, Nature might still have been keeping her gifts
to herself. ' It might have made a differ with some of 'em,'
the successful man would say in the most unruffled manner,
' if they had found the Mine, not me.' But, generally, the
public applauded William Dorland as a great Mining Pioneer,
and recognised that but for his intelligence, determination,
and ceaseless industry the famous Van-Dorland Mine — so
called after an ancestor of his — would never have poured
forth its treasures to enrich the Province.

Even his enemies could not deny that, when his pro-
sperity was firmly established, he showed a broad public spirit
in the use of his wealth, and that he formed large designs

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 67

and far-reaching plans for public objects, with much the
same enterprise and confidence that he had exhibited in
piercing the sides of the Boulder Dividing Range. If he
himself and his fortunes were to the fore in many of these
projects, why, truly, we may ask, could he be expected to
leave himself quite out ?

It was so with the University called after his name. His
bounty established it, and he also gave time and attention to
the business part of the management ; and if it extended his
influence in the community, and if, at least in the more
practical departments, his personality made its weight felt in
the management and even the tone of the teaching, could he
be blamed for such a natural consequence ? As to everyday
politics, he did not join in them himself. You can make
kings, though you do not wear a crown. Apart from his
vast business concerns, and their relation to the Government,
nothing engaged his attention more than the University.
He took a real interest in it, even apart from the value it had
for him in increasing his influence with the public. His
desire was that, while teaching to some extent the arts and
sciences, of which he knew little, it should more especially
deal with practical matters, and rescue popular education
from the reproach of being merely a bookish affair, which,
instead of promoting industrial work, rather indisposed young
men and women to it. And as for social and political
science, he maintained that lectures at the University only
fulfilled part of their function when they instructed youths
in the knowledge of the text-books. Those subjects should
be taught in what he termed a live manner, so as to spread
the instruction through the young people to the public ; and
further, the University should endeavour by all other avail-
able methods to enlighten the outside people when great
issues arose in which the principles of Economic science were
concerned. For this reason, the Board of Overseers, of
which he was the President and the guiding hand, had, as
Mr. Fairlie had informed Frankfort when writing home to
him, reserved to themselves the power to sanction the
entrance into political life of the Professor of Sociology, on
being satisfied that it would not interfere with the discharge
of his duties to the University, or be otherwise hurtful to

68 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

that Institution. Of this, of course, they would be the
judges. In this way the President hoped that the seat of
learning might be the means of enforcing sound views upon
the people. Which were they? Naturally those which he
believed to be so.

The pervading principle, then, of the William Borland
University was to give knowledge a practical manifestation,
and to dignify common things and the people concerned
in them by lifting them as far as possible into the upper
region of intellect. It was a striking exemplification of the
democratising of mind ; the very antithesis of the old days,
when the knowledge of the University was confined to the
mental discipline of dead languages and logic ; and when
anything practical was condemned as undignified. Men
here were prepared for industrial pursuits, just as they were
for the professions termed learned, upon the principle, and
the very true principle, that intelligent training was as much
required for the useful prosecution of the one as of the other.
Marked attention was given to Agriculture, the course for
Bachelor of Agriculture being extensive and thorough, deal-
ing with the study of the natural properties of the soil,
chemical and physical, and the various means of modifying
its chemical composition and its physical conditions, such as
by ploughing, manuring, subsoiling, draining, irrigating, burn-
ing, and by special methods of cultivation. The composition
of the different manures were investigated — animal, vegetable,
mineral, and farmyard manure — and the true methods, at
once scientific and practical, for applying them ; also the
various kinds of crops, cereals, leguminous plants, forage
plants, industrial plants. The kindred industry of grazing
and the management of stock was taught, including the
veterinary surgeon's art and not omitting farriery. Instruc-
tion in the best kind of farm buildings, in tree and shrub
culture, and in the proper keeping of farm accounts com-
pleted the course. But naturally among the practical
subjects chief attention was given to Mining, as the Uni-
versity might be said to be the offspring of the Silver
Mines, and indeed was still dependent upon them for a large
part of its income. The curriculum for the degree of Master
of Mining included instruction in the principles of geology,

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 69

also in topographical and mechanical engineering, mining
chemistry, metallurgy, applied mechanics, together with
practical training in mechanical and electrical machinery.
But the most important feature in the teaching was the out-
door work that the students were required to undertake for
some six weeks every year. Visits were made under the
superintendence of their instructors to the leading mines
(and particularly to the great Van -Borland Mine); and
work was done in company with gangs of working miners,
in connection with shaft-sinking, drifting, stoping, timbering,
underground haulage, hoisting, mine drainage and ventila-
tion ; while their attention was also directed to matters
connected with the surface plant and machinery, mine build-
ings, and water supply. The students were divided into
squads, and were placed under the direction of a foreman
for practical work, while the University instructor attended
to give the theoretical and scientific bearing of the facts.
Sometimes, when the President happened to be at Silveracre
during the students' visit to the Mines, he would accompany
the party down the shaft and along the drives himself, and,
clad in suitable miner's dress for the descent, he seemed like
the old penniless, but still hard-working Bill Borland again.
On these occasions, his favourite form of solemn irony where-
with to rally the students was to ask them, if he had been
able to do so much without any University degree, what
must they not be able to achieve with it ? Two years' study
and the passing of examinations, that were practical quite as
much as theoretical, were necessary to obtain the degree of
Bachelor of Mining, while a third year's extended experience
was required to secure the status of Master.

In the Mechanic arts about equal attention was given by
the students to class-room work and shop work, which latter
included pattern-making, moulding, casting, and forging. A
novel feature in the William Borland University was that,
under its protection, in affiliated schools were given lessons,
termed the Affiliated Schools Course, in cooking and dress-
making for the instruction of young women, of which Mrs.
Borland was the patron, and in which she and the President
took an active interest. Frankfort was rather amused by
the particulars of these courses of instruction, which, though

70 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

not taught directly by the University, were not considered
unfit to be prescribed under the shadow of its authority.
The culinary syllabus was most complete, beginning with
teaching how to boil potatoes and going on to all the per-
fection of confectionery ; while that for dressmaking began
with hemming and darning, and went through working
button-holes to all the intricacies of special work with the
sewing machine. When his friends sometimes joked the
President about his concern for these homely matters, he
would reply, ' It's because ye don't take it rightly. The wife
and I are thinking the while for the people — the poorer sort,
ye know — and nothing helps them more, morality and all,
than good food on the board and the wife pleasant and
neatly dressed. A bit of steak like a piece of stewed leather,
wife a sloven — end the Divorce Court ; or maybe divorce
without the Court : husband clears out Judge Harding the
other day there talks of incompatibility of temper ; but what
causes that ? Incompatibility of food and of person.'

In due time our Professor received his formal appoint-
ment, signed by the President on behalf of the Board of
Overseers, and with it a polite request from that gentleman
that he would favour him with an early call, so that they
might talk over matters and become better acquainted with
one another than they had had an opportunity of being during
their formal business interviews. Frankfort did not delay in
making the desired call. When he entered the first room
of the suite, he found it not inappropriately furnished for
an apartment in a seat of learning ; only that everything
seemed to be so new. Before the President came in, he had
an opportunity of looking round at the oaken bookcases.
With their close-fitting glass doors and green leather edging,
they were quite attractive to a man of his tastes ; though, to
be sure, they were more spick and span than could be ex-
pected if they were more often resorted to ; while the books
themselves, fresh and glittering in all the glory of gilt and
morocco, looked as if they were distinctly connected with
the plutocracy of literature. As being so, they seemed to
have put away from them all poor shabby relations. There
were among them no old soiled-looking folios of perhaps a
high pedigree intellectually, but now presenting a dingy

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 71

appearance, as being in reduced circumstances ; no rare
copies, or scarce early editions, useful as showing the altera-
tions in later editions ; nor books round whose authorship
dispute rages ; or others that are nothing in themselves, but
of interest because men, otherwise great, wrote them ; none
that were distinguished by the autograph of some notable
man who once had owned them, or had notes on the margin
showing the workings of the mind of some unknown student
in the past upon the page that we are conning over, his
personality lost for ever in oblivion, but his ideas still there
to mingle with ours. The copies of the antique busts about
the room were very pleasing, but rather fresh, and there were
two noble heads, one of Shakespeare and the other of Milton,
on the spacious mantelpiece on either side of the striking
bust of the Honourable President himself. On the writing-
table of polished oak there was a handsome desk, with a
curiously -carved escritoire, a morocco -bound blotting-pad,
extensive and spotless, and stacks of milk-white paper all
impressed with the University crest, a soaring Eagle, with the
Motto round the wings, ' Onward and Upward.' How unlike
the dingy room and little deal desk in Scotland at which
Frankfort used to toil through many an anxious night ! It
seemed to him that it would be quite a pleasure to sit down
and work away at such a table. A handsome vase, spotless
and bright, stood near the escritoire, containing a brilliant
bunch of camellias, which the Curator had sent from the
University Gardens. He always kept the vase thus furnished
with the flowers of the season on days when the President
attended at his office.

The sound from the inner room of the emphatic stroke
on the table bell, summoning the attendant to take a
message to some department of the University, disturbed
Frankfort's observations, and as he looked up the President,
staid and deliberate in his aspect and carriage, walked in.
His appearance was not out of keeping with his surroundings.
He had a solid, Bank-director sort of aspect ; his originally
reddish hair and beard were now a little tinged with a
grayish hue, and with his blue eyes, somewhat dulled by
care and years, he looked out upon you solemnly — nay, even
with a tinge of sadness. You could not say that his aspect

72 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

was exactly that of a refined man, but there was an un-
doubted surface or veneer of, you might call it, culture,
arising from many years passed in the exercise of high
matters of business — an exercise that develops both mental
power and the habit of self-restraint, and also the composed
bearing of the outward man. In his manner he displayed
that self-satisfied, almost superior, air which often belongs to
the successful man of business, but which yet wants that
native-born ease which attaches to birth and aristocratic
surroundings, even with people who may be poor creatures
enough in themselves.

' Most pleased to see you and greet you, Professor —
Mr. Frankfort — on your own account and also on your uncle's.
One of the soundest men we've got, sir. Friend of mine too,
sir — indeed, I may say a friend in need.' For the President
was far too much a real man to forget his old friends, now
that he had risen.

' It is a pleasure to me, Mr. President,' replied Frankfort,
' to meet the founder of this noble Institution.'

' Yes, sir, our Institution is certainly noble in its purposes ;
and you have probably seen from our calendar there,' said
the President, pointing to a copy bound in leather and gilt
that lay on his table, ' how wide and practical our aims
are.' He added slowly, ' Knowledge is power, the books
say ; but it's not so of itself, unless those who have it use it,
and don't keep it as something to be enjoyed by a few.'

' Certainly all progress tends that way,' answered Frankfort
with ready sympathy. ' It's no use the few going on, if the
mass are left behind ; in fact, they cannot go on, unless they
take the others with them.'

' That's why we've been proud,' said the President, ' to
have been among the first to practically recognise the new
light that education has thrown on manual work, and, I may
say too, manual work on education. We consider that
when you apply mind to work you help to train the hand,
certainly ; but we also consider that when you train the
hand you help to train the mind. Teaching a boy how to
make a cedar desk well, improves his mental power as well as
his manual skill. If he makes the desk well,' he added after a
moment's pause, ' he'll be better able to use it well afterwards.'

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 73

' Undoubtedly skilful manual training is mental training
up to a point,' said Frankfort. ' When you get to the
higher branches of learning, mind can only brighten itself up
by conflict with other minds. You cannot then help the
mental process by practical work.'

' But you would not class your own science, the Socio-
logical, with these : the more practical it is made the better,
to be sure.'

' Certainly. Still, my function concerns only the im-
parting of knowledge ; men must afterwards apply this
practically, as their judgment directs, in the outside life,'
replied our Professor.

' True — very true,' said the President. ' Still, with regard
to your science too, it stands true that the value of know-
ledge is to apply it to actions ; and how can you do that
with social knowledge unless you make an impression on
the public — outside the College as well as the inside.'

' I hope that the truth of the principles of Social Science,
as I will teach them, will expand from and through my
scholars to the public outside. That's the best way in
which I can be practical, is it not ? '

' To be sure,' said the President, musing — ' to be sure.
Yet yours is in itself such a practical science, and your
message, so to speak, is so full of value to us all, we hope
that there will be found ways for spreading your sound
views outside the Academic Hall as well as inside.'

' Yes, there is always the Press. One can publish
Lectures, if the subject be not merely academical.'

' True. And then no doubt you have minded the
condition that the Overseers can sanction a Professor
entering Parliament, when satisfied that such a course would
be useful to the public- — teaching the public, in fact.'

' As to that, I have not fully considered it,' said Frankfort,
pausing a little in like manner even as the President himself ;
4 the functions of a Professor and of a Politician, though they
may tend in the same direction, do not lie in the same plane.'

' In what way ? I don't follow you right out,' said the
President. ' You put forth sound views in either place,
Parliament or lecture-room.'

' Yes, but the dual position needs some consideration.

74 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

As Professor one is bound to the University. As Repre-
sentative his position is altered. His duty is to the country
and what he judges to be best for it.'

' But ye would not say one thing in the one place and a
different in the other ? ' gravely said the President.

' Of course not. Still, you see the distinction,' said
Frankfort, rather interrupting the Honourable Mr. Borland,
as that gentleman slowly proceeded :

' Surely — surely ; yet we want to be practical in our
Sociology, just as we are in our Mining, and to make our
weight felt as a University in the social questions of the day.'

' But there is the difference. The Professor makes his
weight felt by teaching truth to his classes, and trusting
that it will filter outside. With the Representative the
whole ground shifts : the public become his class, or rather,
indeed, his master — in a sense, his teacher. I do not for a
moment say that the two characters are irreconcilable ; only
the question has not come sufficiently near to me practically
to have made me think it out." Thus Frankfort spoke on,
getting interested in the distinction that he was drawing.
When he looked up he found the solemn eye of the
President had rested upon him, observing him with
attention.

' Good sound doctrine, Professor,' he said quietly — ' con-
stitutional, I may say. Your uncle told me that you were a
constitutional authority as well as the rest. Still, when the
people need teaching, what I wanted to express was that the
University should show the light of knowledge — hold up
the torch, one may say. It can only do that through its
Professors.'

' That, of course, would not apply to the party politics of
the day.'

' Well, to be sure,' said the President, ' not to ordinary
political business such as goes on daily, as you remark.
I don't know that they are worth any man's attention.
But great social questions now — that go to the foundations
of the people's wellbeing and industrial life '

' Such as would be taught from my Chair ? ' remarked
Frankfort interrogatively.

' Well, yes, I suppose ye would include them,' said the

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 75

President, looking round the room slowly till his eye rested
upon the three busts over the mantelpiece — ' I presume you
would deal with them, the Currency question, the great
Silver problem — Bi-metallism, you know, ratio of silver to
gold — vital for us, — there we might tell. We might teach
the people all the more, ye see, if we had a little political
voice as well,' he added, looking round on Frankfort
again. ' Truth is great, sir, and it will prevail — there's
Latin for that, I believe — but at times it wants a bit of
pushing.'

Our Professor as yet knew nothing of the problems,
alive or sleeping, that concerned Excelsior ; but he in-
stinctively felt that he was getting on delicate ground, so he
merely replied in the tone that one assumes when closing a
conversation :

' As for me, my idea is for a man, whether Professor or
Politician, to maintain whatever he believes to be true where-
ever he acts and whatever the subject.'

The Honourable Mr. Borland looked up at him in a
prompter manner than was usual with him, as if he were
quite struck by his remark, and, grasping his hand, said with
a warmth rather uncommon with him —

' Give me your hand, Professor — give me your hand.
Your views are not merely constitutional, I might call them
morally sound — worthy to be your uncle's nephew.'

They walked down to the University gate together and
cordially parted, Frankfort declining, with many thanks, the
President's proposal to drive back to town in Mrs. Borland's
handsome brougham, in which that lady had called at the
University in order to bring the President home. In truth,
he preferred the freedom and novelty of the electric trams,
and as he hurried along to the city, he thought for a moment
or two on the conversation that he had just had with the
President ; but only for a moment or two, for if that
gentleman's views were a little astray upon some points, his
public objects appeared to be laudable. You could not
expect a self- trained man, who never himself had the
advantages of a University education, to fully enter into the
sense of almost dignified isolation that belonged to the
calling of the teacher of scientific truth.

76 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Soon our Professor was established in his Chair, delivering
lectures on Sociology, that were marked by considerable
learning and much enthusiasm for his subject, to a bright
class, mostly composed of young men, but which also con-
tained several young women. Women in Excelsior had not
yet been granted equal political power with men,asthe political
suffrage was still limited to the male sex ; but the advanced
politicians were in favour of giving it, and of securing to
women an absolute equality of political rights with men.
Time was only needed to secure the victory. Several of
the more energetic type of women attended the Lectures in
Sociology, as a means of preparing themselves for the duties
that they would afterwards have to discharge in the political
world. Frankfort, who was an enthusiastic believer in the
cause of Woman's Rights, and in the prospect of improvement
for the whole race it opened out, used to experience an
especial pleasure in the feeling that he was training and
informing the minds of the women of the country as well as
of the men — the future mothers as well as the fathers. And
if they were to discharge equal political duties, it was only
fair that they should have equal political training.

His experience as a teacher of young men and young
women together bore out, he considered, women's claim to
equal political rights with men. Though perhaps a few men
stood out as the stronger students, yet, taking an average,
the girls proved to be rather better book-learners than the
men. Their perception was often quicker, their memory
sharper ; while their habits were more regular, and there-
fore more adapted to steady study ; further, they were
possessed by a keen ambition to vanquish the men, which
the men on their part could not excite as regards the women.
So far from the least difficulty arising from the young
people being taught together, nothing could be better than
the tone maintained, a good deal owing to the conduct of
the women. Indeed, our Professor thought that he observed
causes at work in all the mixed classes of the University
which checked any tendency in a direction which a priori
might have been thought natural between young men and
young women brought thus closely together. Competitors
are sometimes friends, but rarely so, when they are of

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 77

different sexes. Then the slow young men secretly chafed
under the scholastic pre-eminence of the girls, which they
felt was unnatural, but which yet they could not dispute.
This made some of them, on the principle, perhaps, of the
Sour Grapes fable, undervalue the practical worth for men of
a course of training in which girls appeared to be more fitted
to excel. The charm of personal attraction too in the other
sex (hitherto such a powerful factor with boys) had not full
scope for its healing purpose in the commonplace condi-
tions of college classes ; besides, there was that old adage
about familiarity. But, teaching men or women, how
delightful did he find his work ! To seek truth only, to
teach it alone, to place it high in the seat of honour, for all
to worship ! What could be nobler than to influence the
young (how much was involved in even one life !), and, if
not himself a ruler, to train those who would be rulers ! It
was the nearest approach to, perhaps the explanation of,
Plato's saying that kings must be philosophers or philo-
sophers kings. Yes, he was happy in his work, and was too
busy to have leisure to feel homesick. To be sure, in his few
idle hours he at times looked back with some longing to the
old home in Scotland, the fond parents, the joyous walks
with friends through glen or over mountain. And Myles
Dillon, too, with his odd Irish ways, but heart so good.

He was musing upon such things one wet and idle
Saturday afternoon, while he turned carelessly over the pages
of the Miranda Rising Sun, when the name of his friend
seemed to catch his eye, in the way that anything familiar
to the mind attracts notice out of a mass of indifferent
matter in the print Sure enough it was the name of Myles
Dillon and none other. He read ' Miranda City Hospital.
— At a Meeting of the Executive Committee held yesterday,
the Honourable Mr. Dorland in the Chair, the long-delayed
question of determining on the applications for the important
position of Senior Resident Surgeon to the Hospital came
up for determination. Ten Candidates had forwarded their
papers, and after full consideration it was determined to
appoint Myles Dillon, Esq., F.R.C.S.I. We understand that
the gentleman chosen is a young Irish surgeon, who has had
a brilliant career as a student and as a Resident Surgeon in

78 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the old country. He belongs to the advanced school in
Surgical Science, and will thus be well suited to Excelsior,
where Progress is the motto from the bed of the patient
to the bench of the legislator.'

So it was a fact after all : Myles was not joking when
he said that he was thinking of a trip to the new world
himself. How pleased he would be to meet his old friend !
With all his perverse notions at times, he was such a pleasant
companion, and took such an intelligent interest in questions
outside his profession. So independent in his ideas, too ;
they were generally worth hearing, whether you agreed with
them or not.

A few months later Myles himself arrived, and put up for
a while with Frankfort in his comfortable lodgings, that were
so different from the dingy, sky-high quarters in the old land.
Hearty were their mutual greetings, welcome the long talks
on spare evenings about old friends and the old landmarks
of their Scottish walks, Bonnie Doon and Evan Banks.

One evening, as they chatted together in desultory fashion,
enjoying their cigars, Frankfort musingly repeated some verses
from Burns's song, ' On Evan Banks ' :

' Oh banks to me for ever dear,
Oh stream whose murmurs still I hear.

And she in simple beauty drest.'

He repeated them with feeling, but he did not mention
that it was the singing of Eilly Lamborn that had awakened
his sympathies and kept the memory of that spot so fresh in
his mind. He became elevated in his tone as he spoke
about this ' blest stream,' as the poet calls it. He broke out,
as if to reassure himself, while appearing to exhort Myles,
' Never mind, Myles, we'll plant our influence here.
That's a noble extract from Arnold that I read to you — you
remember that day when we were talking of coming out.
We'll succeed and make the new land succeed ; as it rises
we'll rise and gain distinction for it and ourselves ; and if
need be, we will lay our bones in its virgin soil.'

1 Oh, I'm with you, Edward Fairlie,' said Myles, who was
not unaccustomed to his friend's outbursts — ' I'm with you as

in FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 79

to the success and distinction and all that. As to the
bones, at present I've got flesh and blood to provide for.
I can think of the bones when I'm done with the others,' he
added with an excusable Irishism.

Soon after Myles Dillon was duly installed in his
position at the City Hospital, and his brothers of the staff
and the profession generally gave a dinner to celebrate the
event Frankfort was allowed, on the ground of special
friendship with the guest, to be one of the company, and
glad he was to see the way that his old companion was wel-
comed and the generous feeling towards him that was
displayed even by those who might have been looked upon
as his rivals. Mr. Singer, the leading surgeon in Miranda,
as the evening wore on, and no one had lacked his equal
share of that generous wine that doctors are so critical about
with regard to others, proposed the new-comer's health, and
though his skill lay more in the knife than in the tongue, he
managed to express what he wanted to say. He cordially
praised Dillon's distinguished collegiate career, and even got
into a historical illustration the more fully to convey his
feelings. 'Our guest comes a real — a genuine Goliath
among the medical hosts of Excelsior.' Dillon, in replying,
thanked them all cordially, but begged respectfully to
disclaim the comparison of himself as the Giant of the
Philistines to Mr. Singer's David. ' Unless, indeed,' he con-
tinued, ' my kind friend here is indulging in a little satire at
my expense, as I am told is sometimes his way, and presum-
ing all the time on your temporary ignorance of Biblical
details ; for, if you mind them, you will remember that
while Goliath was the more pretentious of the two, David
proved to be really the better man, and, in fact, in the end
gave the other a nasty fall — injured him in the cranium.'
The laugh at once brought up Mr. Singer, who had a
difficulty in grasping any joke.

' I assure my esteemed friend and brother of the
blade — I mean the knife — that nothing was further from my
thoughts. I was only thinking, you know, of the common
notion about Goliath — like a proverb that you pick up some-
how. I know nothing of the particulars,' he added, with
a decisive wave of the hand.

8o JACOB SHUMATE CHAP, in

' I accept my kind brother's explanation cordially,' said
Dillon, looking very grave, ' the more so on account of its
inherent probability.'

Thus they enjoyed themselves, bantering one another,
and after a while Singer did see through the joke ; the last
heard of it being his thanking Dillon for his advice, and
assuring him that he would in future refresh his Biblical
knowledge by going to the Sunday School instead of the
Hospital on Sunday mornings.

Frankfort felt pleased at seeing his friend so well
received, and at the good impression he made. The careers
of these two young men had opened well in the new land,
and they ought to have happy lives before them. For what
is happiness ? Surely it is found when a merciful Providence
blesses men with the will and the capacity to do useful work
in life, and then opens out to them the opportunity to do it.

CHAPTER IV

THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION

FOR some two years Frankfort continued his congenial
College life and work, and his reputation as an enlightened
expounder of Social Science began to spread. He came
to be recognised as one whose opinion upon many public
questions it would be worth having, and, as he was possessed
of, or possessed by, the political temperament, he followed
the course of public affairs with critical interest. But he had
felt no desire to add to his delightful task of teaching social
truths the labours and temptations of the politician's life.
Fate, however, was busy weaving a new strand in the web of
his destiny — or shall we say Providence? Whether we
attribute it to Fate or (more wisely) to the direction of
Providence, true it is that every now and then in our lives —
at certain turning-points — several influences seem to conjoin,
coming from diverse quarters, to bring about some result
that has a determining influence upon our careers. Looking
back upon these crises we can see the whole trend of the
events — how they surrounded us and how they bore us on,
and yet how little we seem to have to do with their direction
ourselves ! Events appear to fashion themselves and us
with them. Even so it was with Frankfort.

The time fixed by law for the dissolution of the House
of Representatives in Excelsior was approaching, and the
Honourable William Brereton, the Premier, in view of the
coming general election, put forth what was termed ' the
Government programme,' the main feature in which was a
generous system of National and Reproductive Works. This

VOL. I G

82 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

chiefly dealt with a grand scheme of Water Supply and Dis-
tribution ; but it also included some extensions of the Public
Tram lines and Railways of the Province. Inquiries about
the prospects of a Loan for five millions sterling in London
had already been commenced, so that the main features of
the Government proposals, and the contemplated means for
carrying them out, might be fully before the country, when it
would be called upon to pronounce its verdict at the general
election. Naturally, the greatest excitement was aroused
throughout the whole Province, and especially in those
districts that considered themselves entitled to be included
in the projected system of National Works ; and what
districts did not ? In Brassville the feeling was intense.
There, too, it took the direction of a profound popular belief
that the first and main step towards securing the Reservoir at
the proper site near that town was to get rid of Mr. Ebenezer
Meeks, their present Representative, who had allowed Mr.
Theodore Bunker, Member for Leadville (aided by some
unknown power behind), to outmanoeuvre him and get this
National work left out of the last Loan altogether. In fact,
the Member for Leadville saw that he could not then secure
the Reservoir for that town, and of course thought it better
to delay it altogether than to have it put in the wrong
place.

The Temperance League at Brassville also uttered a
loud cry against their member because he had voted for the
small Bill that was brought in during the last session to
enable the liquor license for a back street Saloon that had
been destroyed by a fire to be transferred to the spacious
Empire Palace Hotel, one of the leading houses in the city,
and which could not otherwise obtain a license. The
Brassville Trumpeter was unsparing in its denunciation of
Meeks. In fact, it had been so pronounced in its antagonism,
that its own prestige would suffer heavily if he should be
returned at the coming election. The Brassville Scorcher,
while at present giving Meeks a dubious support, declared
that Brassville being left out of the last Loan was a
public disaster that could only be explained by the
unscrupulous machinations of Theodore Bunker, and the
dark power behind that backed up the artful faction at

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 83

Leadville. In an important leader it admitted that ' the
only way for Mr. Ebenezer Meeks to be rehabilitated
politically was for him to make it a sine qua non that the
Reservoir at Brassville should be the first work to be taken
in hand under the Loan now about to be floated on the
English market.'

When the anti-Meeks party began to look about for a
man to run against the sitting Member, Frankfort at once
occurred to them. He was young, and that alone is a
recommendation in democracies ; but, besides that, he was
popular, and in Parliament would occupy a good position,
and so would be, they considered, a more powerful advocate
for them than Meeks ever could be. If any one would
get them into the Loan, he would. The Honourable Mr.
Lamborn, as a matter of etiquette, did not openly interfere
against his brother - legislator Meeks, but privately he
exhorted all men not to leave a pebble unturned in order to
secure Frankfort. Miss Gazelle and her party were jubilant
at the thought of getting a strong man to pit against the
traitor, and the lady was especially pleased, as the Professor's
views in favour of the emancipation of women were well
known. Mr. Siree, the editor of the Trumpeter, feeling that
he had a personal stake in the contest, wrote to Frankfort,
urgently advising him • to come forward, and in fact went so
far as, before getting his answer, to put in a paragraph,
commonly called ' a feeler,' which stated that ' it was
rumoured that the distinguished Professor of Sociology in
the William Borland University contemplated wooing the
sweet voices of the people of Brassville at the ensuing
election.' The paragraph went on to say that, ' if this
rumour should prove true, as we are shrewdly inclined to
suspect it will, the people of this great and long-suffering
constituency will at length have an opportunity of taking
an emphatic, though tardy, vengeance for the rank treason
and the unparalleled obliquities of the sitting Member.' It
concluded sententiously, but significantly, with the statement
' Barkis is willin'.'

The Rev. Mr. Keech, who was visiting the capital for
the purpose of attending a Bible Conference, constituted
himself into a deputation from Brassville to interview

84 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Frankfort on the subject. He prefaced his remarks, when
he called upon him, by saying that he never interfered in
mere politics, but that in this instance the interests of
morality were at stake.

' Indeed, so bad as that ? ' inquired Frankfort, who as
yet had no definite knowledge of Brassville politics.

' Truly, truly, my dear sir, I'm not hard against any
man, but how can I tolerate Meeks either for Church or
State ? '

' Why, what is so bad about him ? ' inquired our Professor.
He began to feel his curiosity about Meeks aroused.

' What is so bad ? ' responded Mr. Keech. ' He has
proved a broken reed. We were left out of the Loan ;
he made the liquor dealers to triumph, bungled away our
effort to get payment for Bible teaching at the schools.
How can we expect to get our rights with such a one — or
the Reservoir ? ' Mr. Keech added the last want, not going into
any details about it, as a topic that all men must be familiar
with. Frankfort thanked him, and said that in a few days
he hoped to be able to let his friends at Brassville know of
his intentions with regard to the important proposal made
to him. He had to consider his own position, and also he
must get the consent of the President and the Board of
Overseers of the William Dorland University. When the
reverend gentleman had left, the first thing that he did was
to write to his uncle, Mr. Fairlie, informing him of what had
taken place, and asking his advice in the matter. In a day
or so he got this reply from the Banker : —

IMPERIAL BANK, BRASSVILLE BRANCH,
2$fA October 18 — .

DEAR EDWARD — There can be no doubt that you would beat
poor Meeks easily. He's no good now ; though not very old, he
seems past his work. We've never got over being left out of the last
Loan. People are afraid it may happen again with this one, and
Gazelle and Co., not to mention our friend Keech, are implacable
against him about some liquor grievance. So if you want to go into
politics, now's your time. I think it would be a good thing; it
would give you influence, and some more income too. I'm sure
Dorland and the Overseers would not object. If you determine to
stand, you can't get a better agent than little Quiggle, whom you

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 85

met here last time. He knows everything, and believes only as
much as he ought to. — Your affectionate uncle,

ED. FAIRLIE.

P.S. — Of course you go hammer and tongs for the Reservoir.

E. F.

This note was highly satisfactory to our Professor as far
as his prospects of success were concerned ; but the post-
script set out definitely before him, straight in his path, a
subject that he had been continually meeting with during
his visit to Brassville, but hitherto only as a wayfarer meets
some object with which he has no special concern, which he
passes by on the other side, and thinks no more of. It was
evident to him that he was now faced with this Reservoir
question in quite a different way from that in which it had
ever come before him previously. Even he, he himself,
seemed now to have become concerned in this thing, and
possibly concerned in it in a way vital to himself. Could
it be that here, on the very threshold of the political career,
his prospects of usefulness in public life depended on a
Reservoir ? All his knowledge, ability, aspirations, ideals,
prospects mixed up in some way with this Reservoir ? No !
that was too absurd. Yet it was at least clear that he must
now fully ascertain all the facts about this great Brassville
work, and then see what the people there really wanted in
regard to it.

The first thing, however, that he had to do was to see
the Honourable Mr. Dorland, and ascertain if there would
be any objection on the part of that gentleman and the
other Overseers to his proposed candidature. The President
readily made an appointment to meet him ; and again, as he
sat in the reception-room, he had an opportunity of observing
the highly respectable -looking books in all their wealthy
environment. The busts, too, were there on the mantelshelf,
and the milk-white paper, with the motto, 'Onward and
Upward,' also the fresh flowers (this time red roses) in the
piercingly clear water of the vase. The only new thing was a
striking photograph, large size, of the President, taken recently
by Ketch and Company, the great photographers of Miranda.
Like many excellent photographs, its only fault was that it

86 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

was too real. It gave you the exact features, and the
features in firm repose, without the suffusion of life that
belongs to the living man. This living animation often miti-
gates the actual lines of the features — rather, perhaps, conceals
them. Certainly in this portrait the President looked a
harder man than he did when he spoke to you, and his
gaze seemed to be more sternly fixed, and more looking
through you and beyond you, than it was as Frankfort now
beheld it, when he walked into the room and greeted him
in a friendly way.

' Ah, d'ye like it ? The wife's work, getting me done,
and now she don't fancy it. It's a way they've got, women.
She says it's hard. I say, "Mrs. D., if it is hard, I'm hard.
The sun can't lie, you know." ' He glanced at it with a
satisfied look and a quiet laugh.

' True,' replied Frankfort, ' but the sun sometimes cannot
catch the expression, and it is the expression that clothes
the features. But it is a good portrait — though, owing to
a lack of expression, scarcely does justice, does it ? ' He
said this partly because it was quite true, and partly because
he wanted to say something civil before coming to business.
He was rather afraid that, as he had been only two years
at work, the President and Board might raise some diffi-
culties about his standing for Parliament, or that they might
possibly seek to impose some conditions with regard to it ;
and he was resolved that he would either go in quite
untrammelled or not go in at all. He was therefore a
little surprised when the President received his proposal
complacently enough, only stipulating that he must refer the
question to the Board for their decision.

Like some other men, great and small, Mr. Borland
thoroughly understood the value of having some authority
in the background, nominally a reality, but in truth only a
name — a veritable Mrs. Harris, upon whom he could lay
all delays, objections, conditions, and refusals whatsoever.

The President was familiar with this method of dealing
with troublesome or delicate matters, or anything he wanted
to think over. He bethought himself at once of it now in
regard to Frankfort's proposal. He would, he said, refer
the whole question of his entering Parliament to the Board ;

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 87

and he added, ' When I've consulted them I can tell you
better, Professor. The only possible difficulty is lest they

may want some information, ye see ' The only thing

the Professor could see was that the President was looking
not at him, but at the bust on the mantelpiece — the bust
between Shakespeare and Milton. In truth, he was anxious
to get some idea of the political lines that Frankfort
proposed to go upon, but he already knew enough of him
to be aware of the delicate nature of any such inquiry ; and
he was anxious to do nothing that might defeat the object
that he always had in view, of securing in public affairs an
exponent of political and social principles who would command
weight, and whom he trusted would also be favourable to his
own views upon certain great questions in which he was
deeply interested. A mere common hack he could get
easily enough, but he was much too intelligent a man not
to know the value of character and moral weight in the
legislature of Excelsior.

' Some of them might be asking, ye see,' he continued —
' Jortin there, Alderman Jortin, he's strong upon the Silver
question. Indeed, the University is concerned in it — our
revenues, you know.'

' Then I'm afraid, Mr. President,' at once interposed
Frankfort — ' I'm afraid I misunderstand the position. I
thought that the consent of the Overseers had reference only
to the University — whether the duties of public life would
interfere with my work here, not to how those duties would
be performed as regards the public.'

' Most true — very true,' deliberately answered the Presi-
dent ; ' that's very much the view I take myself. I was
only thinking of Jortin there, and how I'd answer him. It's
rather awkward ' (he pronounced it akard) ' not being able
to answer questions when they're asked.'

' If they ought to be asked,' interjected Frankfort

' It's this way,' continued the President slowly, not in
the least ruffled by the remark, nor appearing to notice it
much — 'it's this way. Great social questions are looming
ahead of us upon which, Jortin puts it, it is the duty of the
University to make its weight felt as a teacher in the land-
instruct the people by our outside influence as well as inside

88 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

teaching, ye see. He said it at the Board the other day, and
Lawyer Keely agreed with him. I argued that our authority
extended thus far' — drawing his finger across an imaginary
line on the table — ' University bounds ; outside moral
influence alone.'

' Well, Mr. President, all I can or could say is that if I
do go into Parliament I hope to do my duty honestly to
both the University and the country. That's my answer to
Jortin, sir.' Frankfort spoke decisively. He added, in order
to turn the conversation, and looking away from the President
to his photograph, ' The only great question that I hear of
coming up at Brassville, where I think of going, is the
Reservoir, and certainly I don't know much about it.'

1 It's a d — d job ! ' exclaimed the President, with a
promptitude and warmth quite unusual with him — ' a
political job.'

In fact, he had been surprised into this expression of his
opinion by the sudden and unexpected way in which the
subject had been, unintentionally as far as Frankfort was
concerned, sprung upon him.

' Indeed — a job ? ' exclaimed our Professor, and as he
looked round at the President from the portrait, he saw that all
the hard lines of the face in the photograph were indeed in
the original. The usual quiet, almost complacent air was
for the moment gone.

' Yes, sir, a job — only a big one.'

' It should really be at Leadville, then ? ' innocently pur-
sued our would-be politician.

By this time the President had recovered from the tem-
porary shake to his equanimity. He had confidence in
Frankfort's honesty and intelligence, and felt it would be
unwise for him to enter into details ; so he only replied by
repeating ' Leadville ? ' in an inquiring tone, and looking down
to the shining polished table with a half-suppressed laugh.

' Where should it be, then ? '

' If ye're to go into Parliament ye'll have to look into the
matter yourself. Ye'll hear enough about it,' remarked Mr.
Borland.

Frankfort began to feel that he was realising the per-
plexities of the political career rather early in the race, and

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 89

was disinclined to pursue the matter further with the Presi-
dent ; as it was already plain to him that there were several
conflicting interests woven round this Reservoir, and he felt
that he could not tell where or how far they might reach.
As he did not take up the conversation, the President
went on :

' Yes, yes, Mr. Professor, we needn't trouble ourselves
now about these details. If the Overseers will consent, and
you do stand for Brassville, you'll have to look it all up. In
or out of Parliament, I'm sure that you'll prove the truth of
that line about the honest man being the noblest work of
God. The Secretary will let you know the decision of the
Overseers directly. You've not much time to lose if you are
going.'

As a fact, the recollection of the Reservoir question made
him anxious that the Professor should replace Meeks at
Brassville. He felt deeply the value of an honest man, —
on the right side.

Frankfort, when he had any difficulty to cogitate over,
generally found that a quiet walk afforded a good oppor-
tunity for reflection ; so he resolved to walk back to his
lodgings, in order that he might think over the questions
that seemed to be looming up about him. From what he
knew of the President, he had little doubt that he intended
to advise the Overseers to give the required consent, and this
advice he knew would determine the matter. But then if he
did stand, what about this Reservoir for which he was to go
'hammer and tongs,' but which, according to the President,
a highly practical man, was a mere job of the politicians.
He certainly would not like to commence his political career
with a big job. Far be that from thy servant. He had
heard that a quarter of a million sterling was to be devoted,
from the coming Loan of five millions, to the Reservoir in that
part of the country. From what he had gathered at Brass-
ville, he understood that the question of site lay between that
town and Leadville, and plainly enough he could at once see
that it was a vital question for them, which should secure
the expenditure of that large sum and all the attendant
advantages of the Reservoir. But now he learnt, from
certainly a most competent authority, that it would be a job

90 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

— that is, a dishonest use of public money — to have it at
either Brassville or Leadville ; so that in fact, if the country's
interests were considered, it should be quite away somewhere
else. If what he concluded from the President's words and
manner was the correct view, why then this ' hammer and
tongs ' business was nothing but a misappropriation of public
money — only the thing was to be done on a large scale.
Still, he did not know but that the President himself might
be prejudiced.

His way lay past the office of the Miranda News Letter,
so he called in to have a talk with the editor, his friend,
Arthur Hartpole. This gentleman and his paper belonged
to that higher and larger class of editors and newspapers
who maintain the usefulness and reputation of the institution
of the Press. His first idea in starting the News Letter was
to make it merely what its title indicated, a budget of news ;
giving the public full information upon all topics, but leaving
them to form their opinions for themselves, having no leading
article columns at all, and not attaching the paper to any
political party. He used to maintain that the first and great
function of a newspaper was to tell all news truly, and that
the more impartial an attitude it could maintain between
contending factions, the more it was fitted to efficiently per-
form that function. He soon found, however, that men
desired guidance, indeed needed it. Putting facts before
people in their present state of advancement without com-
ment and explanation was like giving the dish of food
without the spoon. The real point was to have the spoon
of sterling metal, and clean. The News Letter accordingly
took its stand as an exponent of intelligent and common-
sense politics ; and the editorial department, under Hart-
pole's direction, was distinguished both for its ability and its
sound and also its high tone. He fought vigorously, but it
was with the sword of the warrior, not the poisoned dagger
of the assassin. He never perverted or suppressed facts when
they made against his side, nor pursued private enmities
under the guise of maintaining public principles. If truth
was an obligation upon one man speaking to another, how
much more was it so, he considered, when a man spoke to
thousands, perhaps millions, of his fellow -men? When he

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 91

condemned the conduct of a public man, he did not do so in
such unmeasured terms as to induce the feeling in thoughtful
observers that it was overdone ; and he maintained that
in this way his censures, when he did censure, were all the
more formidable, as the public knew that they were neither
vindictive nor reckless. ' If I blackguard decent men, what
have I left for the rogues ? ' he used to say. The News
Letter had a good circulation, and a fair measure of support
from the general public ; but it was the special organ of the
more thoughtful people in all ranks, while the editor was the
personal friend of most of the ' best people ' in Excelsior, in
the true sense of that much misused expression. He and
Frankfort had been especially intimate, and they used often
to enjoy a Saturday afternoon — the editor's afternoon — in
talking over subjects either of a literary or a political character.
So in this perplexity that was threatening him Frankfort
felt that it would be rather a relief to talk over matters with
his friend. It so happened that the editor was in his office.

' How do you do, Professor — how do you do ? Salve,
salve, sit down. I hope,' he continued, ' that the learned
halls and academic shades are blooming ? — don't mind
criticising the metaphor. All's right, I hope ? ' he added,
as he looked at him again and thought that certainly his
friend seemed to be graver than usual.

'First-rate I am, but I am thinking of taking a rather
serious step — in fact the plunge into '

' Into matrimony ! ' exclaimed the editor. ' Why, I
thought that you'd said and vowed by all the '

1 Not that — not that,' interrupted our Professor, ' not
so bad as that, — I mean, not quite so serious. I am thinking
of standing for Parliament at the general election — for
Brassville.'

' Well, that's serious enough too,' said the editor — ' serious
enough for you. But you are just the sort of man we want
to get in. If it suits you, it will suit us.'

1 The political career is certainly a noble career,' Frank-
fort went on. ' It ought, at least, to be the noblest of all, as
we've often said in our talks together about the prospects of
the political art in our age.'

' Well, my friend, make it so.'

92 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' So I will — so I mean to ; but the fact is that at the
very start I find myself stuck up, bothered, crossed by fate,
to speak in tragic tones, by a humbugging, provoking sort
of thing, and yet what's not properly connected with politics
at all.'

4 Ah well,' answered the editor, feeling that he could
easily surmise the trouble, ' that's just it. Of course, if Borland
and the Overseers make any difficulty, above all, if they
attempt to impose any '

' Oh, that's not it,' promptly interposed Frankfort ' Old
Borland seems to be agreeable, and really fair enough about
it, and you know he's the Board.'

'Well then, what's the matter?'

' It's a confounded Reservoir,' replied Frankfort, speaking
in a deliberate tone, as he looked down and studied the well-
worn patches and the traces of many footsteps on the
editorial carpet. ' I'm not a man for strong language, but I
do feel so vexed with this thing, coming straight up athwart
me as the great determining issue on the very threshold of
my political career.'

Hartpole knew that his friend at times had an impulsive,
enthusiastic way about him, and he was desirous of smooth-
ing over any little difficulty that he, in his political inexperi-
ence, might be disposed to magnify into a positive obstacle,
so he said :

' A Reservoir ? Well, what's the matter with the Reser-
voir ? '

' Why, one of my best friends tells me that it's the
essential thing for me to go for, "hammer and tongs," as he
says. It's the only thing he does mention — not a word
about principles, beliefs, public interest — only this Reservoir.'

' Well, go for it, then,' calmly said the editor.

' But another really practical man tells me it's a nefarious
job — and it's a quarter-million job, too.'

' As to that,' replied the editor, a little stuck up himself
now, but speaking with a jocular air, ' you see, it's our
system. The constituencies drain away at Mother State, and
the Representative is the suction-tube.'

' And it's a bad system,' replied Frankfort. ' Here I've
been studying political subjects for years, and fitting myself

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 93

to deal intelligently with them. Now that I think of stand-
ing, from all I hear, the one sole question with the con-
stituency is this Reservoir — and it's said to be a job.'

' I don't say that the system is good ; it may be faulty,
like this world of ours. I have always tried to combat its
excesses in the Nezvs Letter. But you'll never get on with
any institutions unless you settle first how much bad in them
you are prepared to accept.' The editor spoke this way, as
he was afraid of Frankfort spoiling his chances by some
high-flown ideas of inexperience. He added, ' Besides, my
friend, in your indignation about this Reservoir, you've not
yet answered my question : What's the matter with it ?
What is wrong about it ? There is to be a big Loan for
water -works ; they are needed for the country, and why
should not your place get its Reservoir as well as the rest ?
Don't you now make the mistake of being too straight,
whatever you do. Do you know all the facts ? '

' No, I can't say that I do,' answered Frankfort, feeling
the force of what Hartpole said. ' That's one reason why I
looked in to see you. The practical man I spoke of as
so positively saying it was a confounded job has certainly
put me rather out of conceit with it.'

' Perhaps your practical man wants it somewhere for
himself.'

' To be sure, that might be so,' our Professor reflected
aloud.

' And you owe a duty to your constituents,' continued
Hartpole.

' But not to get them public money by misrepresentation
that they ought not to get. If elected, I am trustee for
the whole country.'

1 My dear sir,' said the editor, interrupting, ' we're at one
on that point. I only don't want you to run away with an
idea that in this case may be a mere prejudice. I repeat,
how do you know that this Reservoir is wrong ? '

' Well, I looked in as I thought that you might tell me
something about it. It's been before the public before, I think.'

' Yes, I remember something about it — but only indis-
tinctly,' said Hartpole. ' There are such a number of these
things ; and every district that does not get what it wants

94 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

out of each new Loan says that the others getting anything
is a job — and, of course, a big one. But you can make out
all about it. Nothing easier. You know Lavender ? '

' Secretary to the Water and Irrigation Bureau ? Of
course I do, I've seen a good deal of him. I first met him
when he used to come up to the University arranging with
Borland about the Students' Field parties.'

1 Go up then and have a talk with him. He'll show you
maps, plans, papers — the whole thing, and ten to one he'll
get old Blanksby, C.E., the Chief Engineer, to say something
to you ; that is to say, as much as he'll say to any one,'
Hartpole added with a laugh. 'And, as you know, though
he don't say much, what he does say is worth listening to.
He knows what he is talking about, and every one can't
say that.'

' That's just what I will do. I would like to have a talk
with Lavender, and to hear old Blanksby, too, as much as I
can get out of him. He certainly does not waste his words.
I remember,' continued Frankfort, ' when he came up about
the syphon for the Elizabeth Dorland Lake in our Gardens.
Mrs. Dorland tried to engage him in conversation, but
it was not a success. His only reply to her questions
was to ejaculate some figures, and if she wanted further
information, to point to the levels in his plans. But
he made it a complete job — the President swears by
him.'

' Does he swear by the President ? ' asked Hartpole.

As time pressed, Frankfort wrote a note in the editor's
room to Herbert Lavender, Secretary to the Water and Irriga-
tion Bureau, asking him when it would be convenient to see
him. A friendly letter came the next morning:from Lavender,
naming three o'clock that afternoon. The Secretary and he
were no strangers to one another, and Lavender had liked
what he had seen of the University Professor. Also, he
wished to stand well with the University people, as he partly
affected the character of a scientific man himself, and was,
in fact, possessed of much cursory information upon sundry
science topics of the day, such as the particulars of the
photographs at the last solar eclipse, further reports about
the irrigation lines in Mars, or some recent and wholly

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 95

unexpected information concerning the rival claims of Le
Verrier and Adams to the discovery of Neptune. But these
intellectual relaxations he never allowed to interfere with the
most prompt and business-like discharge of his official and
semi-political duties. He was a fair type of the class of
non-political permanent heads of Departments, upon whose
intelligence and honesty so much of the practical success of
popular Government depends.

The exigencies of political life necessarily throw all sorts
of men into all sorts of positions. Most of them mean to do
what is best for their master, the people ; but very often they
do not know how to do it. Nothing requires more intelli-
gence and trained skill than to carry on the complex and
often difficult affairs of daily administration effectually ; yet
the political head of the Financial Department, or of a vast
Public Works administration, while he must be a successful
politician, need be, and often is, nothing more. He may be
head of the Treasury, though he has never given a thought
to the principles that underlie sound financial administration ;
nay, though he does not even know enough to be aware
that there are such principles. He may be called upon to
govern a Railway system that represents the value of millions,
without being aware of the difference between one gauge and
another, or one safety-brake and another. He may have to
direct the Water Supply of a community without having
ever heard of the different methods of irrigation, or without
being able to tell a hydrant from a syphon if he sees them.
Calling a man a Finance Minister, or a Railway Com-
missioner, does not make him wiser upon those subjects
than he was before, and the days of inspiration are over. If
there were not, then, permanent heads to the various Depart-
ments of both ability and integrity, the community would
soon have to pay the ample bill that ignorant dealing with
special subjects entails. It will place popular rule at a
disadvantage if the standard of permanent heads comes to be
lowered ; for much of the practical success of Government
depends upon these unnoticed pillars of the State.

Lavender was, as we have said, a fair representative of
this important class, being intelligent, honest, acquainted
with the facts in all matters in his Department, thoroughly

96 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

loyal to whatever party was in power, and, while always
unreservedly advising his Chief in private, supporting in
public whatever he did, and, not less important, ever keeping
his own and the Minister's counsel.

The first person to greet Frankfort, as he walked up the
long flight of steps leading to the Irrigation Bureau, was
Crane, the head porter, commonly known as Wally Crane.
It may seem to the reader to be a matter of no consequence
who the head porter was ; but this is a mistake. Wally
Crane was an important factor in the Irrigation Bureau of
Excelsior. His appearance, manner, tone of voice, pro-
nunciation of the language, and especially his deeply-
deferential bow, cap (and that a small one) in hand, were
all Irish of the Irish. Yet he never was in Ireland in his
life. He was born in New Orleans, certainly of Irish
parents, but who had long been settled there. He came to
Excelsior when a young man, and naturally appeared as a
policeman in a few months. His great diligence, joined to
his complaisant manner, secured his advance in the public
service, and in due time he was transferred to the Irrigation
Bureau, and, after long years of faithful duty, became the
head porter. In this position he managed to enlarge the
importance and raise the value of the comparatively humble
duties of his position very considerably. He was a widower,
so he was always about the offices ; disappearing at times
up a steep ladder into some attic, where he was understood
to eat and sleep. At whatever hour, early or late, the
Minister or Lavender came to the office, there he was ; just
as if he could not breathe for long anywhere else except
there or at the Parliament House. For when Parliament
was sitting Wally used to leave the office to the care of the
second porter and assiduously haunt the Lobbies, or creep
into the Gallery (if something exciting was going forward in
the House), ever ready to attend his Chief, or to hold Mr.
Lavender's bag for him when he went into the Minister's
room to give the Minister some necessary information. If
the House sat all night, it did not in the least matter to Mr.
Crane. He carried about him enough to sustain life, in the
shape of slices of bread and butter done up in brown paper,
and a small flask of something fluid ; and as the gray dawn

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 97

would be breaking upon the exhausted legislators, Wally
Crane could be seen, by those who knew where to look for
him, comfortably curled up in a corner, apparently asleep ;
but alert to the least call from the Minister or to any pre-
monitory symptoms that the House was about to rise.

He knew every member personally, but most defer-
entially ; and could give a capital opinion as to the prospects
of re-election of each, but never gave it to any one except to
his own Minister for the time being, in confidence, or to Mr.
Lavender ; or to a select Sunday party of bachelors at his
nephew Michael Crane's cottage, in Grubb Lane, down the
city. He was quite familiar with all the plots, projects,
intrigues, cabals, manoeuvres, stratagems, negotiations, machi-
nations, scandals, gossip, and rumours whatsoever that were
going forward in the political world ; but kept the most pro-
found silence concerning them except to Mr. Lavender, and
to the Minister when the great man encouraged him to
speak, or to the party in Grubb Lane. He was invaluable
in the matter of receiving deputations : whether in giving
Lavender an idea of their importance from a cursory view
in the waiting-room, or reporting to him whether they would
be likely to insist upon seeing the Minister, or could be put
off by an interview with him, Lavender ; or in himself
soothing their ruffled feelings in case of delay ; or in explain-
ing away the Minister's absence, when he would fail to keep
an appointment ; at the same time confidentially explaining
to the disappointed deputationists that they would gain their
object much better by seeing the Secretary, who, he would
assure them, had the whole thing not merely at his finger
ends, but in his hands. Whenever any one called on either
Minister or Secretary upon business that was not specified,
Walter Crane left no stone unturned to ascertain what they
had called about, and generally succeeded in doing so ;
except in strictly confidential matters, when he sketched out
of his own consciousness the cause, and very often did so
correctly.

The key-note to Crane's character was his absolute
loyalty to the Irrigation Bureau and all that concerned it.
He worshipped each new Minister as he arose ; and as for
the Secretary, his devotion to him was unchanging. His

VOL. I H

98 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

honesty was clear as the noonday. He would have died
upon the floor ere he would have allowed an invader to carry
off even an old pen from its precincts.

Lavender had told him to be on the look-out for Pro-
fessor Frankfort, and though the Professor had on previous
occasions called once or twice to see the Secretary, yet the
special appointment for this visit, the coming election, and
some rumours that Crane had seen in the papers, led him to
attach especial interest to it.

' And how's yer Honour's health ? ' he asked as Frankfort
came up, at the same time removing the small cap which he
wore right at the back of his head (just as if he felt that he
was not entitled to have a head-covering of a full, upstanding
description), bowing low down, and looking quite pleased to
see the visitor. ' An' who will yer Honour be seeing ? '

' I want to see Mr. Lavender, please.'

' It's not His Excellency the Minister ye'd be after see-
ing ? ' queried Mr. Crane. He always styled the Minister
' His Excellency,' truly ex necessitate rei ; for, as he was
bound by his nature to address the Secretary and Members
of Parliament as ' yer Honour,' and since there must be
some distinction between such an exalted personage as the
Minister and ordinary mortals, he had to devise some appro-
priate title for the former. He had asked his last question
because he had some idea that Frankfort might be coming
to see if he could get the Government support at the General
Election, in which case he would, of course, want to see the
Minister, not the Secretary.

' No, I only want to see Mr. Lavender. I think he
expects me/

' An' it's welcome yer Honour would be to either, surely,
surely,' he said gently to himself. ' If yer Honour would
just 'cuse me going before ye, I'll show ye straight into his
room.' He was disappointed at the answer, as it seemed to
show that, after all, he had only called about some ordinary
business matter ; so he resolved, for the sake of the quieting
of doubts, to do a little necessary dusting in the Secretary's
office, after he had ushered in the Professor. Lavender was
quite accustomed to these special fits of zeal in favour of the
furniture on the part of the head porter, and in fact rather

iv THE BRASS VI LLE ELECTION 99

encouraged them, as sometimes he found the presence of
such a keen observer of things useful.

Frankfort soon satisfied Mr. Crane's curiosity, as he had
no desire to keep his business secret.

' How are you, Professor ? Glad to see you. Nothing
wrong with the syphon at the Elizabeth Borland Lake, I
hope ? ' said the Secretary. ' It would spoil the outlook from
your Lecture rooms if it did go wrong.'

' No, I came about quite another matter,' answered
Frankfort. ' The fact is, I am thinking of standing at the
General Election that's coming on, and I'm told that an
all - important matter, where I'm going, is the Brassville
Reservoir.'

Here he was disturbed by a sort of involuntary exclama-
tion that seemed to issue from the floor, near where Wally
Crane was down upon his knees busily polishing the leg of a
large cedar side -table. He looked round, and there was
Crane polishing harder than ever ; he had, in fact, got right
down to the floor itself, in his anxiety to make a good job
of it. To look at him, he seemed as if he had not uttered
a word for a long time. But, unless the whole theory of
causation is at fault, either he or the leg of the side - table
must have produced the sound.

When, then, our would-be politician looked round, Crane
was still polishing, in fact, going strong at the polishing ;
and Lavender, a little disturbed by the exclamation himself,
and thinking that possibly his visitor would rather discuss
the matter with him alone, said, ' That'll do, Crane. You
need not wait ; but let me know if the Minister is in, and if
I can see him for a minute. Yes, Professor,' he continued,
addressing his visitor, ' I can tell you all about it. It has
been with us for years. I call it the Meeks' Freehold and
Bunker's Reversion. But I'd just like to get the Minister's
permission to give you all the facts — show you the papers,
maps, and so on ; so that if you do go down you will be well
armed. You're for Brassville, I think you said ? '

In a minute or so a low tap at the door announced
Mr. Crane, who just looked half in, with his usual bow, and
stated that His Excellency the Minister was in and would
see His Honour the Secretary. When Lavender returned

ioo JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

he remarked, ' It's all right. The Minister is quite pleased
that you are standing. So I can show you the whole thing.
Just look at this tracing over here,' he continued, going to the
side-table on the leg of which Crane had bestowed so much
attention. ' Here you are. Brassville, Leadville along the
coast side of the Divide ; Silveracre on the other side,
inland. You're for Brassville, are you not ? '

' Yes, I think of standing for Brassville.'

' Well, there you are, that's the site of the Reservoir,'
said the Secretary, making a mark with a very large blue
pencil at a point on the tracing near that town.

' It is to be a big affair, is it not ? ' asked Frankfort. ' I
understand it is expected to cost about a quarter of a
million.'

' Well, yes, about that,' replied the Secretary. ' The Loan
we are just going to float is to be for five millions — yes, it will
be about a quarter of a million out of that.' He made a rapid
calculation on a blank sheet with the blue pencil, and added,
' It might run into three hundred thousand ; these things do
stretch out so. It'll set up the Brassville people, if they get
it ; and you too, Professor. I should say that the seat would
be yours for life.'

' But the site's disputed, is it not ? I have heard a good
authority say that it was.'

' Oh, of course,' interjected Lavender ; ' of course it's
disputed. But you said you were going for Brassville,
didn't you ? '

1 Yes, and I am going for Brassville ; but I want to
understand the merits of the matter.'

' The merits ? ' queried the Secretary.

' Yes, the merits of the question of site. I want to
know if the Reservoir ought to be put at the point there
that you mark with your pencil. Is that the true and
proper place to construct it ? '

' The true and proper place ? ' repeated Lavender,
looking rather pointedly at him.

'Yes, don't you see, Lavender, if I'm returned, I must
think for the whole country as well as for Brassville ;
and I want to know, ought the Reservoir to be there in
the general public interest ? '

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 101

He spoke explicitly, as the Secretary, though generally
very quick, seemed to be at some loss to understand his
position.

' Why, then, perhaps you'd better go through the papers
for yourself/ and the Secretary touched his bell. Directly
the door opened a little way and Crane looked in at the
door to see what was wanted.

' Just ask Mr. Twining to give you the file of papers of
the Brassville Reservoir,' said the Secretary. And looking at
Frankfort — ' You'd better have the Leadville lot too, and
what there is from Silveracre. You want all sides, you say?'

' Yes, please, I want all the papers on the subject.'

1 Well, well, you hear, Crane ; ask Mr. Twining for them
all. You'll find them pretty voluminous ; but, to be sure,
there's a deal of repetition.'

Crane, lowering his head deferentially, disappeared on
his errand, and soon returned, almost breathless, with two
ponderous piles of papers — one marked 'Brassville' in red ink,
and the other ' Leadville ' in blue ink ; while under both was
a thin slip of documents marked on the first sheet, in pencil,
' Silveracre.'

'Put them on the side -table there for the Professor.
Look over them quietly, Frankfort, you won't disturb me,'
said Lavender. And Crane placed them down as he was told,
only stopping to give one more polish to the shining leg of
the table, and stealing, while doing so, an inquiring, half-
perplexed look at the visitor.

The latter settled to his work with the trained aptitude
of the student, and soon discovered that, though the two
piles seemed so formidable, their substance was by no means
equal to their bulk. There was, in fact, a striking similarity
between the contents of the two. Each contained petitions
for the Reservoir, estimates of cost and of revenue returns,
highly favourable reports from divers persons signing C.E.
after their names, long rows of statistics, and calculations of
income from rating and income from revenue in distinct
columns, requests for the receiving of deputations, appoint-
ments therefor, reports of proceedings thereat, memoranda
as to separate interviews with the Minister or the Secretary,
all interspersed with clippings from newspapers, containing

102 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

leading articles, long reports of meetings, letters from
' Indignant Patriot,' also ' Disgusted Patriot,' each demanding
a National policy for their town, and proving that it would
be rewarded by from six to seven per cent interest on the
outlay.

The general conclusion to be gathered from each set of
papers appeared also to be much the same. In either case,
the Reservoir, at the spot that each contended for, was
advocated upon the ground of its being an essentially National
and obviously reproductive work, the primary cost of which
belonged to the Public Treasury. Yet, as in both cases it
was so clearly shown that the returns from the sale of the
water would yield a handsome interest on the quarter of a
million, it would seem to an observer that the districts
concerned were making a mistake in not keeping such a
profitable undertaking to themselves. The calculations as
to the exact returns in cash from the Reservoir in each
case filled long columns of figures, in some cases worked
out to decimals ; but in the result they were much the same.
Those from Brassville showed four and a half per cent for
direct interest, and one and a half per cent for sinking fund ;
while those from Leadville, made out upon a different plan,
yet showed six and a quarter per cent for straight out
interest, with no provision for a sinking fund.

Further, there were certain special claims which each
district made to the Reservoir. It seemed that each had
been distinctly promised that it should have the Reservoir,
at one time or another, by different but competent political
authorities, and that numbers of citizens had taken up land
from the Government and begun farming and other opera-
tions upon the faith of the promise in each case. Further,
it was averred by each that it would be impossible to
continue to pay the State rent for the land unless the said
State fulfilled its part of the contract and supplied the
water that was necessary for the proper cultivation of the
soil. Not only so, but the failure to construct this National
work would lead (in each case) to the depopulation of each
respective district, and to the people being driven to herd
together in the overcrowded towns.

Thus, as to both Brassville and Leadville, the cases were

iv THE BRASS VILLE ELECTION 103

clear and well supported by figures for each. But what
about Silveracre? Frankfort was struck by the limited
and scrappy nature of the records relating to that centre ;
yet, as far as one could judge from these records, decisive
action followed not long after the intervention of Silveracre.
It was not easy to trace how, for in fact the papers were
few from that important mining district. There were some
returns, evidently prepared by a skilled hand, which spoke
for themselves, and unless they were entirely fabricated, de-
monstrated that the Reservoir at either Brassville or Leadville
could not pay one and a half per cent on the cost ; while, if
on the other side of the Divide, the return from the existing
mines would be handsome, without at present calculating on
the ever-growing expansion of the mining industry. There
were no appointments for deputations, though there were
one or two reports from the local paper of indignation
meetings in the mining districts, at which leading mine
managers proposed very strongly worded resolutions de-
nouncing the claims of both Brassville and Leadville. There
were also some memoranda, torn from the office scribbling
tablet, fixing times for interviews between gentlemen known
to the mining world and the Minister or the Secretary. As
these scrappy memoranda thinned out to a close, the only thing
noticed was a visit by the Minister to start the new engine
works of the famous Van-Dorland Mine, near Silveracre.
Finally, there was a telegram from him, dated from that town-
ship itself, to the Secretary, telling him to postpone the
reception of a proposed deputation from Brassville for the
present. The next thing that happened chronologically was
the appearance of the Government Schedule of proposed
works (under the last Loan floated), with the Reservoir,
whether on the one side of the Dividing Range or the other,
left out altogether.

When Frankfort turned round from his papers, Lavender
asked him if he had got to the rights of the question now.

' Really, it is not so easy to do that,' he answered.
' They both bring forward much the same facts and figures.
And what about the Silveracre men ? They seem to say
little, but to do a lot. There are very few papers about them,
only down the Minister goes and the thing seems done.'

104 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Don't you understand how that is ? ' replied the
Secretary, as he went on to explain it. ' You see they are
the great mine -owners there. They get up their facts
carefully, and speak with weight. Of course they're thinking
of themselves — they want the Reservoir on their side of the
Range. But then they do all quietly, — they want no fuss,
no popular cry against the big mine-owners.'

' And the Minister ? ' queried Frankfort.

' Well, the truth is, as you will have all the facts, he
can't but admit that they're right as to it's not being on the
coast side — no one can doubt that — but it does not follow
that he will put it where they want. And in any case he
too wants no fuss on their part. He doesn't want to appear
to be mixed up with them in this matter. That's the whole
of it, — of course you don't mind the common gossip about
influence.'

' Well, but what does the Department say to all this ? '
persisted Frankfort. ' Where, in fact, do the engineers say
that this Reservoir should be? — that is what I want to
get at.'

' The Department ! the engineers ! ' exclaimed Lavender.

' Yes, the simple question I want answered is, where in
the public interest should this thing be ? ' said Frankfort,
trying to be as explicit as possible.

'That's not so simple a question as you seem to think,'
answered Lavender. ' It depends upon many things, and is
to be ultimately determined by the Minister and then by
Parliament. I hope you'll be there.'

'Well, but surely your engineer- in -chief and your
professional men have their opinion as to where it ought to
be. What do they say ? '

' You'd like to have Blanksby's opinion, would you ? I
fear it won't help your cause much — you're for Brassville,

aren't you ? — but of course, if you like ' The Secretary

here touched the bell, and the alert Crane again insinuated
his head at the door.

' Just give the engineer-in-chief my compliments and say
that I should be obliged if he would step in here for a few
minutes. Say we won't keep him long.' ' I know,' he
added, turning to Frankfort, 'that he has to attend the

iv THE BRASS VILLE ELECTION 105

Minister at four o'clock. You've met him — you know his
way. He doesn't say much, does he ? — indeed, I've often to
expand his ideas myself — but then he's so solid.'

Soon Mr. Blanksby, C.E., appeared, and solid he certainly
seemed to be. On his large bald head even a phrenologist
would have had a difficulty in saying where the intellectual
lines terminated and the moral began. He also presented
rather a battered appearance and a blurred countenance,
probably the result of exposure to rough weather, and of
hardships undergone in exploring the Ranges in the early
days. He was solemn of aspect, slow of movement, few of
words, and honest of purpose.

'Ah, Blanksby, here's the Professor; you've met before,'
said Lavender. ' He's come to see you — not about the
Elizabeth Borland Lake this time. Fact is, he's thinking of
standing at the election for Brassville, and the Minister says
that we can give him all the information he asks for about
the Reservoir. You're the man to make it all clear.'

Blanksby silently shook the Professor's hand, and looked
down upon the tracing of the country on both sides of the
Dividing Range with his large, heavy eyes. Of course, he
could not answer questions till they were asked.

' Yes,' said Frankfort, after a slight pause, ' Lavender
says that you can tell me all about it.'

' What ? ' inquired the engineer, partly looking round at
Frankfort.

' About the Brassville Reservoir.'

' What, there ? ' said Blanksby, completing his look
round at him.

' Why, the plain thing is,' resumed Frankfort, in a half-
expostulating tone, ' where should this Reservoir be built ?
To begin with, should it be here ? ' and he marked the point
with Lavender's blue pencil, near the town of Brassville.

' Na, na,' said Blanksby, with a slow shake of his
head.

' Why, then — do you go for Leadville ? '

' Nary a bit,' replied Blanksby, looking down fixedly at
the tracing.

' Ah, I knew that, Frankfort,' broke in Lavender ;
' Blanksby don't believe in having the Reservoir along the

io6 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

coast side of the Range at all. The great interests of the
country, he considers, require '

' Well, but,' interposed Frankfort, becoming perplexed by
what he had heard, and more anxious than ever to get at
the true rights of the matter, 'does Mr. Blanksby go for
Silveracre then ? '

' Where ? ' asked the engineer, looking again upon the
plan.

' There,' he replied, marking the spot with the blue
pencil. ' In fact, Mr. Blanksby, if you could do just as
you liked, would you put the Reservoir there ? '

'Yes — if I owned the mines,' he answered, looking up,
with a slight nod to Frankfort.

' Just so,' interposed Lavender, with a short cough, ' there's
great force in what Blanksby says. It comes to this, if
you spend a quarter of a million at Silveracre, you're really
giving it to the great mine -owners. It's true, you assist
mining, but mainly by swelling the pockets of the proprietors.
There's great force, I certainly think, in what Blanksby says,
that the man who builds the Reservoir there ought to own
the mines.'

Our politician was getting rather distracted by the
difficulties that seemed to be in the way of his quest for the
true site of this Reservoir. Blanksby continued to look on
the tracing unmoved. He had answered every question
so far.

' But then, Mr. Blanksby,' said Frankfort decisively,
' where do you say that this Reservoir should be ? Where
is the true site — Nature's site, so to speak ?

' There,' answered the engineer, promptly grasping the
blue pencil and marking a point in the Ranges about seventy
miles beyond Silveracre. ' There — gathering ground ' ; and
as he waved the pencil towards the Brassville and Lead-
ville direction, taking in Silveracre in the flourish, he said
' Channels.'

He looked straight at Frankfort, to see if he fully
understood the subject now.

1 Of course we're only talking among ourselves now, and
you wanted to know the real facts, you see, Frankfort,'
interposed Lavender ; ' but there is no doubt that the view

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 107

of the Department is that which Blanksby here puts so
clearly. How can you get away from what he has said ?
First find what you truly call Nature's site, and what
Blanksby equally truly describes as the gathering ground.
First fill the bowl and then ladle away. First get your store
of water, then distribute it. That, you see, is Blanksby's
view. Secure your big supply first, then comes his con-
clusion— channels east, west, north, south, here and here and
here. I confess, speaking for myself, I think that the way
he puts it is unanswerable. But this is only between our-
selves. You are for Brassville, to be sure.1

Here the gentle tap of Crane was heard at the door, the
rather bald head was pushed in softly, and ' His Excellency
the Minister wants His Honour Mr. Blanksby ' was heard.
' Good -day till ye,' remarked the engineer, in one of his
longest verbal efforts, as he disappeared slowly, Crane
following behind, with a slight bowing motion as he walked.

' Well, I think you've got all the facts now, Frankfort,'
remarked Lavender ; ' and though you are for Brassville,
still perhaps it's just as well to know the facts. Forewarned,
forearmed, you know.'

' Yes, thank you very much ; I think I know the
situation now — and an awkward situation it is for me.
Perhaps, though/ he continued slowly, ' if the matter was
clearly explained to them, they'd be content with the
channels. They would get the water all the same — perhaps
better — fuller supply.'

' Yes, but what about the quarter of a million ? How-
ever,' Lavender went on, slightly elevating his eyebrows,
'you wanted to know the whole case, and you've got it.
You're for Brassville,' he continued cheerfully ; ' every one
puts their best foot foremost. You're for Brassville, — the
coming man, I hope.'

As Frankfort walked down that long flight of stairs, he
certainly felt that he was a wiser man upon one topic at least
than when he walked up — perhaps a sadder man, too. He
was rather absorbed in his reflections, when he suddenly
became sensible of some soft movement behind him, and,
looking round, beheld the assiduous Crane creeping down
after him, respectfully attending him to the street.

io8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' An' it's I that hope your Honour will be in Parliament
for Brassville. Honourable Mr. Meeks very nice gentleman,
but dreadful with that Reshavor, calling and waiting and
comin' agin, and deputationing and interviews, and notes
and scraps and wires and telephones ; why, at times
he might as well have shlept here, your Honour, as he
threatened to do onst.' And Crane added, bending low in a
parting obeisance, as they got to the end of the steps, 'An'
my prayer is, that your Honour may get the Reshavor.'

1 That's all right, Crane ! ' exclaimed Frankfort. ' So you
want them to get the Reservoir too, do you ? '

' Of course, your Honour,' replied Crane, stretching out
his head after our politician as he stepped out on the
pathway — ' of course, your Honour, for then wouldn't we be
quit of it ? '

Thus it seemed that divers different interests were
enlisted on the side of the Brassville Reservoir. The people
of that town wanted it for the sake of having it in the right
place, and for the sake of the quarter of a million ; Frank-
fort was to want it for the sake of the seat in Parliament ;
and Crane wanted it put somewhere in order to get rid of
a nuisance. Possibly the Minister and the Secretary might
sympathise with the view of Mr. Crane.

Lavender had given Frankfort a copy of Blanksby's
confidential report on the Reservoir, telling him that it
was to be regarded as private. ' But you might like to
consider it ; though really it's nothing more than he has
told you.'

When he got home he read the report, which was
what the engineer had said, only put more fully and
explicitly. He was evidently more at home with his pen
than with his tongue. He showed that there was no true
gathering ground on the coast side of the Divide for either
Brassville or Leadville ; that the estimates of revenue in
either case were palpably unreliable ; that there was neither
population nor were there natural products to justify any
such expenditure of the public money ; and, finally, that all
the legitimate needs of that side of the country could be
met by a tunnel coming out at some point between the two
competing towns.

iv THE BRASS VILLE ELECTION 109

The plot thus seemed to be thickening about our would-
be politician. He felt that it would be impossible for him
to consent to secure an entrance into public life by pledging
himself to use his power as a representative of the country
to secure what was obviously misappropriation of public
money. What would be thought of a private trustee who
dealt thus with his trust funds ? Lavender's remark that
it would secure the seat to him for life only brought it home
to him as being something very like a personal embezzle-
ment. On the other hand, how was he to get in without
it ? And might there not be similar perplexities in any
other constituency ? Was he, then, either to be debarred
from political life or to enter it under conditions that would
rob it of its usefulness ? Truly a depressing alternative, a
perplexing outlook ! Where was the scope for the states-
manship for which he had been preparing himself? The
essence of statesmanship was taking broad views of the
interests of the whole people.

After due reflection, he determined to go on with his
candidature for the present, and until he could for himself
ascertain the real feelings of the people at Brassville.
Especially did he feel bound to consult his uncle, Mr.
Fairlie, to whom he was so much indebted, and who had
shown him such continued kindness, before he should finally
determine. Mr. Fairlie certainly could be relied upon to
let him know truly what would be expected of him, if he
stood for the constituency, with regard to this Reservoir.

In a day or two he received the formal consent of the
Board of Overseers of the University to his standing for
Parliament, accompanied by a complimentary note from the
President himself, saying that both he and the Board ' were
fully satisfied that Professor Frankfort would never, either
in public or in private life, adopt any line of conduct that
would reflect the slightest discredit either upon himself
personally or upon the University in which he was such a
distinguished teacher.' Though this laudatory strain bore
no special reference to any particular matter, yet to Frank-
fort its high moral tone seemed to be quite reproachful to
any possible temptation to palter away his principles on
this Reservoir question. However, he wrote to Mr. Fairlie

1 10 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

to say that he would stand, published a short announcement
of that fact to the electors, and, as his uncle had suggested,
engaged the services of Mr. Louis Quiggle to manage the
election on his behalf. That clever agent soon made the
usual preparations : advertisements in, placards out ; meetings
announced, with notification of further meetings to be there-
after specified ; committees arranged ; local celebrities
interviewed and ' kept sweet,' as Quiggle somewhat enig-
matically phrased it ; suitable paragraphs inserted in the
local papers ; discussions of the pavement, on the merits of
the candidate and the demerits of his opponent, warmly
maintained by suitable emissaries ; canards contradicted —
perhaps circulated. After he had spent nearly a week in
this useful work, Quiggle wrote to his candidate to say that
he had better not further delay his personal canvass, and
proposed that he should come down by the following Friday
morning's train, see some of the electors that afternoon and
on Saturday, and then hold his opening meeting on the
Monday evening. He added that he would be in Miranda
himself on the Thursday, and would be happy to accompany
him down to the constituency. ' It looks well,' he wrote,
' for the candidate to enter the constituency accompanied by
his agent.'

Frankfort replied agreeing to his arrangements. He was
not sorry to have his opening meeting on the Monday, as
it so happened that Myles Dillon would be in Brassville
on the Saturday, and would probably stay a day or two.
He was going, commissioned by the Government, to perform
a critical operation at the local Hospital upon a young bugler
of the Border Rangers, a lad of seventeen, who had been
badly wounded by the natives in a recent encounter with them,
in which his troop took a prominent but not very success-
ful part ; in fact, they had been caught napping, thrown
into disorder, and another mishap had occurred not unlike
that of which the report had come in during the musical
evening at The Blocks to which Frankfort had gone with
Mr. and Mrs. Fairlie shortly after his arrival in Excelsior.

Frankfort liked the idea of the friend of his college
days attending his first political meeting ; for he looked
forward to this meeting in any event. Whatever his pro-

iv THE BRASS VILLE ELECTION in

spects of success might be, he hoped at any rate to hold his
meeting, and to make a bold declaration of the true principles
upon which a representative of the whole people should act.
Perplexing as things looked, it was possible that such a bold
declaration might succeed, and the people be willing to have
the Reservoir at its true site and to be supplied by a tunnel
through the Dividing Range, and so to escape the heavy
rating that would be necessary to pay the five or six per cent
on the quarter of a million that it would cost.

One evening Dillon and he talked over the matter after
dinner at his rooms. Dillon had heard about his friend
being a candidate at the coming election, and was doubtful
if he would get in, and also a little doubtful if he would
succeed in politics if he did get in. But the time for con-
sidering these views seemed to be past, as Frankfort had
told him that he was resolved to stand. He had not
mentioned the Reservoir difficulty even to him, as he had
resolved to say nothing about it to any one till he had seen
the Brassville people, and had an opportunity of going into
the whole subject with Mr. Fairlie. So Myles, regarding the
thing as fixed, could only relieve himself by some sage
reflections on politics generally.

' So you're going this time, Edward, and no mistake,' he
mused, taking his evening stretch on the sofa.

' Yes, try for it any way ; if not achieve success, do more
— deserve it, Myles.'

' Well, now,' continued Dillon, musing aloud, ' entering
into marriage and into politics are the two great events of a
man's life. When he gets unsettled, he generally tries either.
And they settle him, they do. And,' he added, as if to him-
self, for his own information, ' the latter has some advantages
over the former.'

' What's that you say ? What,' asked Frankfort, as he
settled himself in his evening chair, ' has an advantage over
what ? '

' Why, I say they are both serious affairs, matrimony
and politics, but you can drop the one easier than the other,
if it don't suit you,' replied Dillon.

' What, drop politics easier than matrimony ? Of course,
every one knows that I don't see what you're mixing up

H2 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the two things for. What has going into politics got to do
with marriage ? '

' Oh, a deal,' said Dillon emphatically ; ' politics are the
best possible training for matrimony. Marriage, of course,
is the Grand Prix in the race of life, but politics make a
useful preliminary canter.'

' How do you make that out ? ' asked Frankfort, with a
laugh.

' Plain enough,' solemnly responded Myles. ' To begin
with, there is the courtship of wife or electors — more said in
each case than is positively intended. Then the politician
gets accustomed to be contradicted, and not to answer back.
This applies to the married man too. Also, you get into
the way of not having your own way — no politician ever
has, nor the other either. You cannot do only what you
fancy yourself — consult somebody else — do what they want
— do it smiling too. Further, if the thing you have to take up
turns out wrong, the wise Parliament man never says, " I told
you so." No, he keeps quiet, makes the change, and lets the
others think that they're having their own way all the time.'

' Any more words of wisdom, Myles ? '

' Well, furthermore, if a foolish thing is wanted the
political man never denies it straight. He beats about the
bush, tries to postpone it, and then '

1 Well, what then ? '

1 Well, then, perhaps after a while it settles itself, without
his contradicting it.'

' If there's any sense in what you say, Dillon, it's only
another argument for the emancipation of women,' said
Frankfort, recurring to one of his favourite topics.

' Why, it's the only argument you've got for it,' replied
Dillon. ' When women sit in Parliament, after being
buffeted and contradicted all night in the House, what a
haven the quiet home will seem, and the complaisant
husband. They'll love their homes then, I can tell you, and
they'll have reason too.'

' All right, my noble Dillon, — does this complete your
diagnosis ? '

' Not quite, Teddy ; there is the important analogy of
the children.'

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 113

' The children ? '

' Yes, the children. Great rulers call the people their
children, you know. You politicians have to work for them,
humour them, put up with all waywardness — give your life
up to them '

' Well, what has that got to do with it ? '

' Why, it is a question whether the children in either case
have completely reciprocal ideas as to their obligations. At
least, it is good training not to expect it — lest you should
be disappointed.'

' Ah well, for all your warnings, Myles, I will have a try
at it.'

' Very good. No objection on the part of Myles Dillon.
One thing, at any rate, you will be able to speak from
experience. Like the young man down west who said that
he certainly would have been happier if he had not married,
but then that he would never have known it.'

Notwithstanding this gloomy forecast of political life,
Myles Dillon took a lively interest in his friend's venture,
and promised to stay over Monday so as to be able to
attend his first meeting. He was to go down on the
Saturday for his work at the Hospital, Frankfort going
down on the previous day with his agent.

Accordingly in the Friday morning's early train you
might have seen our politician and his agent, Mr. Quiggle,
rolling away on the main North- Western line towards the
Great Gorge station, from which the branch line goes off to
the coast, connecting Brassville, Leadville, and Tinville with
the railway system of the Province. The railways belonged
to the Government, and it was arranged that they were to
be managed from the business point of view by the Director
and an appropriate staff of officials ; while, of course, the
larger matters of policy were controlled by the political
Minister. When a Democracy carries on an industrial
undertaking, it cannot do so on mercantile lines ; nor does
it desire to do so. The State supplies the capital, so no
profit is needed on the working of the concern. If there is
a loss, is there not also the open public purse to make it
good ? Two powerful interests take care that things are
managed for them in as liberal a manner as the State can

VOL. I I

ii4 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

pay for. Firstly, the State employees, who constitute a
powerful and widely-operating organisation, and are thus in
a sense the masters of their master ; and secondly, that
portion of the public who do business with the Government
industrial services, and who naturally insist upon having
everything done for them as cheaply as possible. No
difficulty arises so long as the public purse is full. A far-
sighted prudence might preach economy ; but in a Democracy
the central authority often finds it hard to defy the power of
organised interests and classes for the sake of the general
but shadowy rights of the public at large.

The railway employees of Excelsior were, on the whole,
a self-respecting if an independent and expensive body of
men. If there were defects in the management and working,
it was owing to the system, which left it mainly to a sense
of public duty to ensure that efficiency which it has hitherto
been found possible to secure in large bodies of men only by
the weight of authority and the spur of competition.

' Yes, they are a fine lot of men,' said Frankfort, in reply
to Quiggle's emphatic assertion of that fact. The agent
spoke as he turned in from the carriage window, after a warm
greeting with Hiram Brickwood, when they had stopped for
a few minutes at a wayside station.

' That they are, sir,' he continued, as the train went on.
' That's Hiram. You know him, don't you — Hiram Brick-
wood ? He's been down on a holiday, and he's coming up
to take on the branch train from Great Gorge. He's right,
he says, if you're right on the increments — the quinquennial
increments, you know. I told him it was all right,' and the
agent laughed the cheery laugh of the man of business who
finds his business going on well.

' Somebody has got to pay for this all right, though,' said
Frankfort, as the first simple idea about the increments.

' Bless you, sir, somebody don't object. Every now and
then — bad times, the public squeal a bit ; but, after all, good
wages are the popular thing. And it won't do, by no means,
to rile Hiram,' the agent added. ' Oh no, on no account at
all,' he repeated in an undertone, as if for a hint to himself.

' He is an influential voter, then ? ' remarked Frankfort.

' Influential ? My dear sir ! ' exclaimed Quiggle, striving

iv THE BRA SS VILLE ELECTION 1 1 5

to explain by a clear illustration the true state of the case,
' let me first walk inside Hiram, and out I walk next with
150 votes in my breast coat pocket.'

' You don't mean that,' said the other in some surprise —
' 150 votes ? '

.' I've done it, sir, done the trick, and I'll do it again.
Oh no, Ebenezer is not going to get the trump this time.
By no means, Meeks,' the agent added, as if he were ad-
dressing that gentleman in the distance.

' By the way, what sort of fellow is my enemy Meeks —
I've heard something about him, but I've never met him yet ? '
asked Frankfort.

' Not a half-bad sort neither,' replied Quiggle, with an
almost sympathetic air ; ' but they're tired of him, and he
damned himself comprehensively by not getting us our
dam ' ; and the little man gave a slight laugh at his small
joke.

' The Reservoir, you mean ? ' remarked Frankfort, feeling
that this, for him, dark phantom was coming nearer to him
than ever.

' Yes, the Reservoir, Brassville's hope, the morning star
of her bright day — trade revived, industry rampant, wages
doubled, property raised in value. But, Lord ! I needn't tell
you,' exclaimed the agent, with a graceful depreciation of
his own powers — ' I needn't tell you, you'll know how to put
it, and to put it on too ! Yes, poor Meeks,' he added half
pathetically, ' he's done for — drowned in the Reservoir,
squashed in the Beer, felo-de-se too, fatal act, attempts at
resuscitation all in vain. Sic transit, as we used to say at
school. I'm a bit of a scholar myself, Mr. Frankfort.'

' Ah yes, Mr. Quiggle, so it seems. But what are the
facts about this Beer question ? I remember you told me,
when I met you at Brassville, that water and beer were the
two great points.'

' Well, you know,' replied Quiggle in a deprecatory tone,
' there really ain't much in the Beer ; but, bless you ! ' turning
in his seat and looking earnestly at Frankfort, ' it's a capital
cry. If he could escape drowning in the water, he'd be
choked in the beer.'

4 Why, how's that ? '

n6 fACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

1 Well, ye see it's this way. Meeks has always belonged
to the Liquor Prohibition lot — adores tea — bovril like
champagne to him — don't know the taste of alcohol — blue
ribbon as big as a saucer — woman's freedom — 'lectoral rights
and all complete. Well, what does he do? Why, when
Carmody Zinck, M.H.R., brings in his little Bill to transfer
the Liquor License from the Old Bark Hut, that was burnt
down, to the Empire Palace Hotel, where was Meeks ? Why,
in the wrong paddock — boxed up with the goats. How?
Wherefore ? Well, they say, talked over by Carmody — fit of
abstraction, perhaps. Meeks pliable, can't-say-no sort of
man. There was, you know, really some sense in it after all.
It was the only way the big hotel could get a license — no
new ones allowed. But, my word, goodness gracious ! scan,
mag., you should have heard them. Yes,' the agent continued,
in a mild tone of voice, ' Hannah Gazelle and Co. do under-
stand the force of the English language sometimes.'

' What, are they so angry at that ? ' inquired our candidate,
somewhat surprised.

' Angry ? My dear sir, they'd prefer the Prince of Dark-
ness to Meeks now — they'd prefer you, sir. You see, it's
this way,' the agent added, turning to Frankfort and hold-
ing up his hand, with fingers expanded — ' it's this way.
They went against it — party solid — private must march with
his regiment north, south, east, west — theirs not to ask
the reason why, etc. etc. — enemy they don't mind, but
deserter — shoot him and eat him, and hope he won't disagree
with you ! And they ain't no different from other political
parties, bless you ! ' mused the agent, in conclusion of his full
explanation of the Meeks fall ; ' they're all the same for that.
They have to be, to keep up the strength of the] regiment —
no rapscallions.'

' How did Meeks get into it then ? I suppose he has his
reasons.'

' To say the truth,' replied Quiggle, first, from habit, giving
a glance round, though he and Frankfort were the only
people in the compartment — ' to say the truth, between our-
selves, I believe Meeks was just caught napping — never
saw what was in it till too late — thought it didn't signify —
anxious just then to oblige Carmody Zinck. Tremendous

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 117

pressure to get the thing through — Meeks, as I remarked,
pliable chap — thought no one would notice — into the thing
before he knew where he was.'

' So that's all,' said Frankfort. ' From the way Mr. Siree
and some of the others spoke to me, I thought that there was
some positive imputation against Meeks about it.'

1 And so there is, bless you ! most plausible. Meeks poor
— Empire Palace Hotel Company rich — must get license
somehow — vote worth ^50, close division, Meeks counted
for the Noes, as matter of course. Why? Imputation?
Plausible ? Clear case, my dear sir. But, mind you, I'm not
going to start it for our side, unless in extremis — in extremis,
you observe. It's bad policy to scalp a man if you can get him
down without — and it ain't fair,' said the agent, murmuring
this last moral sentiment in a meditative tone. He added,
as he saw our politician eager to interpose some remark, ' Of
course, I can't prevent others talking, you understand.'

' I assure you, Mr. Quiggle,' said Frankfort emphatically,
' that, as far as I am concerned, I will say to the first person
that asks me that I don't believe a word of this Meeks — beer
— scandal.'

The agent looked at him with some surprise, but only
said, gently touching his elbow, ' Good sentiment, Mr.
Frankfort — the right thing too, if you were going for Meeks,
and not for yourself. But, bless you, sir, we needn't say
nothing at all either way. Isn't that simple ? '

During the rest of the journey, till they arrived at Great
Gorge, the time was occupied in conversation about the
prospects of the election and the pouring forth of information
by Quiggle upon many local topics and considerations. He
assured Frankfort that he had everything in an advanced
stage of preparation for the contest. The election posters in
particular were carefully designed, and he thought would
please him when he saw them. Brickwood would be right,
so long as he was satisfied on the increment question ;
Miss Gazelle and Co. were safe in any case, and Seth Pride
with them, owing to the Beer cry ; while, in addition, Miss
Gazelle was specially bound to Frankfort, owing to his advanced
views on the Woman question. The Trumpeter would blow
its loudest against Meeks ; while the Scorcher was in such a

ii8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

difficulty about the omission of the Reservoir from the last
Loan (to say nothing of the Beer question) that it called for
all the skill of its editor to tack a course of its own, so as
not to be too much in the wake of the Trumpeter. ' So
we're fair before the wind ourselves anyway — full sail, canvas
stretched, stun-sails and all ; the harder it blows, the quicker
we go. Only keep her free, sir — keep her free.' Having
summed up their prospects with this simple sea-piece illustra-
tion, the agent gave Frankfort one solemn word of advice,
which was to pledge himself to nothing in personal conversa-
tion ; but to make answer to all inquiries, that there was a
great deal to be said upon the particular subject broached,
and that he would fully deal with it at his meeting on the
Monday. ' Keep her free, my dear sir — keep her free, easy
before the wind,' he continued, loth to leave his marine figure
of speech ; ' breeze aft, easy ahead, free ; then, you see, you
can bring her up a point or two afterwards, or let her off a
point or two. It all depends on the steering — and the sail-
ing orders,' he mused in conclusion.

During the conversation little was said about the
Reservoir more than the casual reference to it which the
agent had made. Frankfort, as we know, had determined
to keep his peace about it for the present. As for Quiggle,
there was nothing new to be said about it, as far as he was
concerned. He took it for granted, as Mr. Fairlie also had done,
that Frankfort was going for it, hammer and tongs. Such
a thing as a candidate for Brassville questioning the Reservoir
had never entered his mind, and if any one had speculated
upon such a possibility, Mr. Louis Quiggle would have con-
sidered his speculations to be of as practical a character as
the inquiry whether it would rain this day next year or not.
The feelings of the clergyman who is celebrating the office
of holy matrimony, when he comes to the question, ' Wilt
thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife ? ' would be
hard to adequately express if the expectant bridegroom were
to calmly reply, ' No, I will not.' Equally hard of rendering
into language would be the feelings of Mr. Quiggle if his
candidate at the Brassville election should, in the face of all
the congregation, renounce the Reservoir.

In due time the train arrived at Great Gorge, where our

iv THE BRASS VILLE ELECTION 119

travellers left the main line and transferred themselves to
the branch train for Brassville, of which Mr. Hiram Brick-
wood was the guard. While Quiggle was away arranging
for some posters to be put in the guard's van, Frankfort
walked about the platform, which was crowded by the
passengers from various trains that arrived about the same
time. A rather excited group of country people had sur-
rounded the central figure of a gentleman, who appeared to
be doing his best to meet and satisfy a number of expos-
tulations that, in vulgar phrase, they were ' throwing at him.'
And amid the din of puffing engines, slamming doors, bellow-
ing porters, and rushing passengers Frankfort could not make
out clearly what was passing between the eager disputants
and the gentleman, who appeared to be on the defensive.
From the snatches that he could glean of the controversy, it
would seem that some deputation — for such they appeared
to be — were remonstrating with the gentleman about some-
thing, while he was deprecating their complaints as well as
he could. ' Seasons the like of this . . . Back rent . . .
Guv'ment . . . When we took up ... Average rain . . .
Guv'ment tables . . . Rainfall . . . Not a drop . . . months
. . . wet a muskeeter . . . Induced to take up ... Notice
to pay.' With phrases such as these hurling from the right
of him and from the left, and from right before him, the
gentleman appeared to be doing the best he could for
himself. But all that could be heard from him was —
' Government quite surprised . . . Really can't explain . . .
weather extraordinary . . . report Government astronomer
. . . quite beyond our control . . . assure you . . . post-
pone rents . . . surprised as much as you.'

Amid the din Frankfort caught sight of Quiggle, who
had come up on the other side of the excited group, and just
then the bell sounded, they hurried off to their train, and
away they went, under the guardianship of Hiram Brickwood.
As Hiram waved the signal to depart to the engine-driver,
he included a friendly flourish to Frankfort, in apparent
recognition of him as the right man in the right place ; also
an affable nod to Quiggle, who responded with a rather pro-
longed kiss of the hand.

' Chalk him up. He's a good asset. He'll boil down

120 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

for 150 at least — good coin, current on election day — into
the ballot box — no light ones, neither — solid ring — in they
go — paid down to date.'

' Who, what coin ? ' inquired Frankfort, who had only
imperfectly heard his companion amid the jolting of the
train upon the rough branch line, and was half wondering if
the question of the cost of the election was now coming up.

' I'm only saying that Hiram and Co. are all right for
you, so long as you are all right for them.'

' Well, I'll meet them as far as I can ; but of course
I can't pledge myself till I know all the facts,' replied
Frankfort.

' No, but I can pledge you — get them right to begin
with.'

' By the way,' interposed Frankfort, wishing to turn the
conversation, ' what was that crowd at Great Gorge on the
platform about ? They seemed to be pitching into the man
in the middle — I could not well see him, surrounded by
all those big fellows.'

' Those chaps ? They're Crown Lands tenants ; got up
a platform deputation to the Minister of Lands as he was
passing through.'

' Why, what's the matter ? '

' Oh, they're blowing him up about the weather.'

' About the weather!' exclaimed Frankfort. ' He certainly
seemed to be apologising for something. But surely they
don't blame the Minister of Lands for the weather ? '

' Hush, my dear sir, you mustn't talk that way. We've
got some of that lot in our district — I should say about
a hundred,' answered the agent.

' In our district or out,' said our politician deliberately,
'you don't mean to say that we are to make the Govern-
ment answerable for the weather.'

' My dear Mr. Frankfort, we must really be careful. I
don't think that you quite see the point like/ said Quiggle,
sitting up straight and trying to be as explicit as possible, as
he placed the forefinger of one hand in the middle of the
palm of the other. ' It's this way, ye see. You and I
want to take up land. Government proclaim this district
for selection — splendid soil, excellent climate, rainfall so

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 121

many inches, decimal points duly certified Government
astronomer — rent a song. Well, in we go, or on we go, you
and I, clear, plough, sow, little capital used up — then up
comes drought — no rain, blank inches, barely decimal points,
atmosphere gone cranky it seems, Government astronomer
out of it, clerk of weather won't recognise him, nohow.
What's number two on the programme ? ' and he looked to
Frankfort as if for answer.

' What's number two ? I'm sure I don't know.'

' Number two ? Polite circular from Minister of the
Crown to you and me to pay half-year's rent. In the name
of His Majesty the King, royal arms at the top, " due and
owing," Act of Parliament, all right and in order — except
the rain. What's third on the bill ? ' asked Quiggle, looking
again at his candidate, and this time opening his eyes wide,
as if the issue were now clear. ' What's third ? '

1 Well, what is third ? '

' Why, of course, what you saw on the platform,' replied
the agent. ' You and I, and Brown, Jones, and Robinson
and Co. wait respectfully, but indignantly, on the Honourable
the Minister. " Pay the Government rent," says he. " Cer-
tainly," say we, " if we get the Government rain. Give us the
rain and we'll give you the rent." Minister says, " Where is
the rent ? " We say, " Where is the rain ? " The rent, like
the rain, is non est. He asks, " Where is your banker ? "
We ask, " Where is your astronomer ? " " Where is your cash
ledger ? " says he. " Where are your weather tables ? " say
we. And,' continued the agent, as Frankfort looked half
amused at his explanation, ' ain't we right ? Where can
we get the rent except from the ground ? And how is it
to come from the ground unless we get the rain as the
Government astronomer promised ? Can we get cheques in
the air? Not till he gets moisture there. Oh no, there's
reason in everything, even in the boiling of potatoes,' again
mused the agent.

' But really I can't see still ' began Frankfort.

1 Good sir,' interposed Mr. Quiggle, ' surely you don't say

that men, citizens, electors — men who vote, please observe

— are to pay for the land if they don't make out of it ?

And how's it to be done ? Where's it to come from ?

122 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Highlander and his breeks — old story — great truth. My
dear sir,' he continued earnestly, 'you'll have to be careful
about some points. Why, there's a good hundred of Crown
tenants in our side of the country.'

' True enough, the rent must come out of the land,' said
Frankfort. Then, changing the subject, he asked, ' Are
they much interested in this currency — silver — question ? of
which I have heard something. I suppose they are likely
to ask one's creed upon it ? '

' The Currency question ? You needn't bother about that,
sir. Our interest in the currency centres in the two fifty
thousand out of the five million Loan. If they give us the

Reservoir '

Here the whistle from the engine announced that they
were coming to some station. Frankfort inquired where
they were.

' This is old Mother Dole's, near the top of the Divide.
Stop at her hut for a few minutes. Be sure you take a cup
of her coffee,' advised the agent ; ' though she can't vote
herself, she makes the others vote, and as she tells them
too.'

' Really, is she so much thought of as that ? '
' Thought of? she makes them think of her,' answered
Quiggle. ' Oh, she's lots of go — she ought to have been a
man, she ought.'

The train here came to a standstill for a while, as it
seemed there were some trucks to move on before it could
come up. So Frankfort sought, while they waited, to learn
more about Mother Dole.

' What is she, then ? What is her history ?
' Why, what's any one's history ? ' asked Quiggle in
return. ' Who can tell ? She says herself that the earliest
thing she remembers is the Duke of Cambridge asking how
old she was, sixty years ago, when he visited the charity
school where she was brought up in Canterbury. " Says he,"
says she, " ' Well, my little girl, and how old are you ? '
' Mary Dole is just nine, may it please your Royal Highness,'
answers the Matron. Those were his very words," says she.
I've never got much further with her history myself — but I
can tell you it's quite a feather in her cap still. They all

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 123

look up to her, democratic as we are — and it isn't every one
that a Royal Duke asks their age of, is it ? '

' Certainly not. We are to take her coffee then ? '

' Bless you, you know you needn't drink it. Just take
it, and when you saunter round the hut you can drop it
behind a gin case as you sit down. You'd soon be floored
electioneering if you took in all you take up. Why/ con-
tinued Quiggle cheerfully, falling back in his seat, and at
the same time recalling one of his large stock of electioneer-
ing stories to fill up the few minutes while they were kept
at a standstill — ' why, when I was running Smirke for the
Silvertop district, away at the end of the electorate, up in
the Ranges, at Rowdy Vale, I got in with a real hard-drink-
ing lot — bound to keep them right — couldn't refuse to join
in — glass after glass — such whisky too. What did I do ? '

' I suppose what you advise me to do.'

'Just that; nobbier after nobbier — shout after shout.
Gordon — Fancy Gordon they called him — he was wild and
rough as a buffalo — wanted to do me as he was rather
against Smirke — he didn't know why — look or something.
So he plied away at me. I took it all smiling, and quietly
dropped it about the clay floor of the shanty, and was fresh
and ready every new round. At last says he, looking at
me rather admiring like —

' " Well, Quiggle, you have a head — and for a mere colt
like you ! I'll say that for you, you have a head."

' " Yes, Mr. Gordon," says I, " I have a fair head."

' " Blest if I don't vote for Smirke," says he, " if he's a
patch on you." " Quite as good a head as me, Mr. Gordon,"
says I, " in fact, rather better. He'll do you credit. He'll
be worthy of Rowdy Vale. Smirke and I have good heads,"
I added to myself quietly, " but not as you mean, old
Buffalo." '

' So you managed them ? ' said Frankfort.

' Yes, I took them in, not the liquor,' laughed the little
man. 'And, would you believe it,' he continued quite solemnly.
' Fancy Gordon and the whole lot went first thing the next
day, just after morning nip, and voted straight for Smirke ?
They knew nothing really about the election, you see ; and
it was only as they were going back down the road that

124 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

they learnt that Smirke was a Rechabite. My word, you
should have seen them ! Fancy Gordon wanted to go back
and break open the ballot-box — only to get his own vote
out, he said, " he didn't oughter to interfere with no one else."
But Dowdy Tom told him it wouldn't be constitutional. I
had to keep out of the way, I can tell you,' concluded the
agent, with a significant nod at his companion.

By the time this instructive illustration of electioneering
tactics had been finished, the line had been cleared, and the
train had drawn up at a rude station opposite Mother Dole's
hut, which was only a few chains away.

Mother Dole stood at the rough bench in her shanty,
ready to serve out the coffee. She was aged but strong,
evidently full of force and vigour, her garments, though plain
and bush-like, neat and clean, her voice manly, her manner
decisive. She seemed to govern in an absolute style not only
a couple of girls who were busy preparing the coffee, but a
circle of lounging lanky men and boys who had come up to
see the train come in (the event of the day) and to hear the
news. Though seemingly out of the world here amongst
the mountains, Mother Dole got the papers regularly, and
read them too each evening ; and moreover formed upon
the information thus obtained certain independent opinions
of her own. The railways, branching right through a
country, penetrating daily to the wildest and most distant
places, freighted with newspapers containing the latest infor-
mation and the newest ideas, borne from all the centres ot
civilisation in the great world, produce a community of
intelligence between even the most distant settlements and
the busy haunts of men in the great cities.

' Ah, Madam Dole, here is our new Member, as I may
call him, come up to ask your influence and have a cup ot
your lovely coffee/ cheerfully exclaimed the agent as they
walked into the shanty.

1 Glad to see ye, Mr. Quiggle ; and the same to ye, Mr.
Franker. Meeks is gone lame, foundered like, no more go
in him — griped too, I guess,' said the gruff voice ; and it
added in still gruffer tones, ' Kitty, sharp with that coffee
there. Mr. Brickwood's not goin' to spend the day here to
oblige you — nor the afternoon neither.' Great respect was

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 125

paid by all the population to Government officials, and even
Mother Dole rendered reverence to so important a personage
as the senior guard on the line.

' Ah, thank you, Mrs. Dole ; this is your own coffee,
just the thing for a cold day. And our new Member is just
the man for you,' remarked Quiggle, grasping in his hand
a large cup of dark substance, known in the Ranges as
coffee, and stirring it vigorously with a worn-out spoon of
some dark metal. He had not tasted the coffee yet, but was
moving towards the door, ostensibly to interview some of
the electors who were standing there. As he did so, he con-
tinued speaking, ' Yes, Mrs. Dole, our new Member is just
the man for you. He's for Woman's Rights, and for every-
thing else that's right. Ah, Ben, and how are you ? How
is Mr. Benjamin ? ' and the agent seated himself on an empty
cask at the end of the hut where Ben was.

' You're for Woman's Rights, are ye, and votin' away
and a' that ! ' exclaimed Mother Dole, looking at Frank-
fort, as he leaned on the pine-board bench, stirring his coffee.
She leaned too, only more heavily and squarely, upon her
side of the counter. Her voice seemed to be more deep and
massive than ever.

'Certainly, Mrs. Dole,' he replied. 'Join men and
women together in the work of life — strong pull — all
together. I hope you think with '

'Yes, I do think, and I'll tell you what I think,' said Mother
Dole, bearing down upon Frankfort solidly with her strong
hazel eyes. ' If I've got to get my dray along the bog road
there, I put a team of bullocks till it. If I mixed them half
heifers and half steers, the dray would get stuck there —
well,' continued Mrs. Dole, looking round triumphantly upon
the lanky youths, who appeared to follow her words with
deep attention — ' stuck there, well — till I'd begun to say my
prayers. By that sign,' she added, turning to our politician,
' I hope ye'll be getting us a bit of money from Guv'ment
for that same road.'

' But really, Mrs. Dole,' urged Frankfort, still stirring his
mixture with one of the worn-out dark spoons, ' unless you
accustom women to exercise their full rights, how can you
expect them to work with us in '

126 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

'Work — expect them to work,' indignantly interposed
Mrs. Dole ; ' I wish ye would expect them to work and learn
them to work too. It's as much as I'm strong for, to get
these girls out of bed of a mornin', and what's their work of
an afternoon ? Stickin' bits of ribbon in their heads and
starin' about at the passengers — but that don't wash the
clothes, nor boil the pumpkins neither.' Here the lanky
youths grinned in approval of Mrs. Dole's sentiments ;
but that lady, who was severe on the girls herself, was too
much of a man to join with the boys against them. So she
turned somewhat fiercely upon the latter. ' An' what are ye
grinnin' at? Nice work ye'd teach the girls, if ye'd your
own way. An' it's precious little ye'd do of work if it
warn't for me. There now, Tim and Mike, standin' and
gossipin' and talkin' there, have you rounded in them cattle
for the sale yet ? I suppose, when Mr. Looker comes to the
auction in the afternoon, ye expect the beasts will trot up
to be sold when ye whistle on them — like old Tramp there.
An',' she added, giving a vigorous push up and down the
counter with a big rough duster — ' an' it's little good votin'
will do ye either, unless they first vote a bit of gumption
intil yer heads.'

' All right, Missus Dole, we'll be a-goin' 'rectly Mr. Brick-
wood's away,' pleaded Tim.

' An' what have ye along wi' Mr. Brick wood to keep ye
hangin' about here, I'd like to know ? I s'pose ye're
lookin' to him to get ye on under Guv'ment. An' ye may
look, I'm thinkinV

Frankfort felt that he had little hope of maintaining
enlightened views here, against Madam Dole and under all
the disadvantages of an unfriendly audience (for even the
girls seemed to sympathise with Mrs. Dole), and was not
sorry when Quiggle called to him from the other end of the
hut : ' Come over and give me a hand here, Mr. Frankfort.
I'm nonplussed. I'll be bogged, like Mrs. Dole's dray : I
can't manage Ben here — I can't indeed, no way.'

He went over and found the agent engaged in a vigorous
but half-laughing dispute with a tall countryman, who was
dressed in a substantially- made suit of good clothes, that bore
outward testimony to his prosperous condition.

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 127

' Ah, bad man — bad man, I'm afraid ; Ben, I'm quite
ashamed of you,' Quiggle pursued in his most jocular and
winning style ; for he was anxious to conciliate, if possible,
Mr. Ben Levey, who was a rather important elector among
the farmers on the adjacent plains.

'Why, what's the matter, Quiggle? Nothing wrong
with my friend here, I trust ? Good day, sir ; hope you're
well,' said Frankfort, feeling that now the electioneering was
beginning in earnest.

' What's the matter ? ' asked the agent, still smiling as
gaily as possible — ' what's the matter ? Plenty matter.
Why, here's my old friend — my chum, I may call him — Mr.
Ben Levey, the big man on the plains — we call him the
Pride of the Prairie — if he isn't agoin' to go and vote for
Meeks.'

'.Ah well, if Mr. Levey, you know/ said Frankfort, speak-
ing in a conciliatory manner, but yet not untruly, ' if he really
thinks that Mr. Meeks would be the truer exponent of the
principles he holds, why '

' Ah, that's just it, Ben,' laughed Quiggle ; ' it's not the
principles you hold, but the land you hold, that fetches you.
Be straight now, Ben : tell the future Member here what your
principles are.'

' An' sure it's I that ain't ashamed of them. An' I'll
tell Mr. Frankfort here plain enough. Shouldn't we stand
by them as stands by us ? I'll vote for Meeks 'cause he got
me my bit of land there, and I'd like to see the Bank that
could lay a finger on it now. Them's my principles and I
aren't ashamed of them. Stand by them as stands by
you.'

' All right, Ben — all right, Ben ; got you yer land, that's
right enough. But how, Ben ? straight now — straight, Ben,'
urged Quiggle.

' Yes, an' I'm the man to be straight ; I'll not cocker ye
up with a lie. He got me the land, though I hadn't resided
on it accordin' to the law. That's what I'm beholden to
him for.'

' There you are, Ben — there you are ; you didn't comply
with the law.'

' An' what would I have wanted with Mr. Meeks if I had

128 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

complied with the law ? It's the frien' in need that comes in
useful.'

'That's all right, Ben, and I admire you for it, Ben.
But still now, when you come to pick your public man, you
know — to make your laws, ye see — trustee for the public,
Mr. Frankfort here calls it — really, Ben, you ought — leading
man in the district too — bell wether, lots follow you — really,
Ben, now ' Quiggle urged.

' Why, how did Mr. Meeks manage to get the land for
you if you had not resided ? ' interposed our politician, who
did not fancy this controversy with Mr. Levey into which he
was being drawn.

1 Easy enough,' answered Mr. Levey — ' easy enough. He
goes to Minister and represents the rights of it, at the right
time, ye see.' " But, Meeks," says the Minister, " this Mr.
Levey has never resided on it to work it according to the
Act. It's like making him a present of the land. It's worth
£3 or £4 an acre."

1 " Never mind, Mr. Minister," says Meeks, " the wife's re-
sided there a lot — better half for the whole, ye see." With that
he laughs, does Mr. Meeks, and says he, " The Guv'ment
want to settle the people on the land, don't they ? "

' " Well," says the Minister, " the Guv'ment do want to
settle the right people on the land." So all I know is, that
down comes Meeks with Mr. Brickwood's train a few days
after, and pops into me hand the Crown grant. An' am I
agoin' to turn agin him after that ? Not me. Them as
sticks by me, I stick by. An' so ye've got the boilin'-down
of my votin' for Meeks, — meanin' no offence to the gentleman
here as is in training for the Brassville stakes.'

' Right you are, Ben ! But vote for us this time, an'
we'll get you that lot you want next the swamp, you know ;
handy for the summer, Ben,' said the agent cheerfully.

But here the conversation was interruped by a peremptory
call from Hiram Brick wood.

' All aboard here, all aboard, — no more time for fooling
round there.' This summons had no reference to any par-
ticular episode that might be in progress, but was merely
Hiram's way and method of exhorting the passengers to
prompt attention. It was accompanied by a vigorous and

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 129

peremptory flourish round of his arm, as he hurried towards
the pine -plank platform at which the train was standing.
No offence could be justly taken by any one in particular
at this brisk summons, as it and the flourishing arm were
directed towards them all generally, just as the efforts of
Mike and Tim were shortly afterwards addressed to the whole
mob of Mrs. Dole's cattle, when they were rounding them up
for Mr. Looker's sale. With hurried adieus to that lady,
most respectful too on the part of Quiggle (which she re-
turned with a decisive but not unfriendly nod, arms reso-
lutely fixed on counter as before), he and Frankfort promptly
followed Hiram, and soon were safe in their compartment.
As they steamed away, Quiggle, when he sat down, having
waved farewells to the group of electors at the station, ex-
claimed gaily, as if partly for Frankfort's information and
partly as an instruction to himself — ' Chalk her up- — chalk
her up ! H. B., M. D. safe. B. L. doubtful — very.'

1 Who — H. B., M. D. ? ' asked Frankfort, catching im-
perfectly what he said.

' I'm just a-sayin', Hiram Brickwood and Mother Dole
safe. Ben Levey — well, leave her free, leave her free — de-
pends on circumstances. Circumstances mean in this case
swamp frontages,' said the agent, with a quiet laugh.

' But how about Madam Dole and the Woman's
Rights ? ' remarked our politician, giving the go-by to this
last point of Quiggle's.

' Bless you ! ' he replied, ' she don't care either way, she
don't. It's all one to her. Vote or no vote, she'll rule them
about here. Seth Pride and Hannah Gazelle and all their
bills can't make her bigger than she is. A vote is only along
the footpath — it ain't the whole pike road,' he continued,
addressing this last remark rather to himself. Then he
remained silent for a while, as if the sentiment which had
escaped him involuntarily deserved some thinking over.

' Mr. Levey seems to be for Meeks, right enough,' con-
tinued Frankfort.

' Well, though I joked him,' replied the agent, ' really
now how can we expect him to go against Meeks ? — unless
we get him the other lot too. Then,' he mused to himself,
' he can put the two in the scales and weigh them.'

VOL. I K

130 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Ah, I fear I cannot beat Meeks in that line. It seems
to me,' said Frankfort, ' that if the man is not entitled to
the land, it's like making away with public property to give
it to him.'

' Now, my dear sir, that's not quite the way to look at it.
You know Dalby — the Honourable Mr. Dalby, Minister of
Public Territory — an honest man, you'll admit, quite straight,
respectable, all that ? '

' Yes, I understand he is all that.'

' Well, it's this way, d'ye see. Policy of country to settle
people on the land — poor man especially — somehow or some-
way. Ben Levey large family, wife industrious, hard-working
miner, pegs out land, can't leave mine, can't work above
ground and underground at one and the same time, can he ?
So law not complied with. Ready to settle now, saved
money to work with, wife and six children waiting, smiling
homestead, poor man helped, object of law gained, liberal
policy — my dear sir, what's the odds ? ' And Quiggle
paused, looking at Frankfort.

' What's the odds — in what ? ' the latter asked.

' What's the odds, I say, if we do add, Meeks, M.H.R.,
or Frankfort, M.H.R., placated — support liberal Minister —
and King's Government carried on — many-sided question —
there you are,' and Quiggle stretched out his hands, as if he
were holding in them, and presenting bodily to our politician,
a clear and fair exposition of the whole situation.

Just then their attention was diverted by the train
beginning to slacken speed in the middle of a dense forest.
At last it came to a standstill. Many heads promptly
appeared at the carriage windows, and the usual demonstra-
tions of curiosity and inquiry as to the cause of the stoppage
were made, as Guard Brickwood came along the footboards,
unlocked the doors, and briefly announced that, as they had
to stay a while, they might get out of the carriages if they
liked.

'What's the matter?' asked Frankfort, as Hiram hurried
along.

' Stay a moment, my dear sir,' said Quiggle. ' Hiram
Brickwood at times is inclined to be a little short, if he's
bothered with questions. You can see he's a bit put out.'

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 131

' I only wanted to know what's wrong, and how long we
have to wait.'

' Just leave it to me,' pursued the agent. ' I'll have it
out of him on the quiet' And quietly did he follow the
ruffled Brickwood, and after an interview, made judiciously
short, returned to his companion with a light, relieved
countenance.

1 It's all right — nothing much — one of the engine tubes
gone wrong. Hiram's sent on to the next station to wire to
Brassville for a fresh engine.'

' How long is it likely to be coming ? ' asked Frankfort.

' Not long, he says. He expects one up in a couple of
hours,' replied Quiggle cheerfully.

For the anathemas that one usually hears hurled against
the railway company in the old land in case of similar mis-
haps there, our politician found substituted here a respectful
silence and submissive acquiescence, much the same as that
with which we bow before the evils decreed to us by
Providence. Somebody was at fault, but that was not a
matter to be too narrowly scrutinised. The railways were a
monopoly, but a monopoly approved by the people. In
Excelsior there was a broad and generous sentiment against
any severe exaction of efficiency from your brother man.
Live and let live. If the public are inconvenienced at times,
that is considered a lesser evil than would be the enforce-
ment of perhaps a stern discipline upon the thousands who
serve the public. Indeed, the thing could not be done.
Who is to do it ?

So the passengers quietly accepted the situation.
Quiggle circulated among them the only explanation that
the guard would, or perhaps could, give ; and, as the after-
noon threatened to be showery, they, for the most part, sat
in the carriages, whiling away the time as best they could
with cards, smoking, and stories. The only malcontent was
a commercial traveller from abroad, who was in the com-
partment next to that in which Frankfort and Quiggle
were. He had evidently lost his temper ; for he was heard
to be distinctly complaining, off and on, during the two
hours, something about his business engagements being
upset owing to the train not keeping time. At length,

132 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

however, the distant rumble of an approaching engine was
heard, and Hiram Brick wood came round the carriages
demanding tickets and locking the doors again. The
temper of the commercial traveller apparently had not
improved ; nor, for the matter of that, had Mr. Brickwood's,
who, to do him justice, was really annoyed and concerned
at the breakdown. So when the guard demanded the
traveller's ticket, as well as Frankfort could hear, a sort of
altercation sprang up, the traveller maintaining that it was
a waste of time, and, in fact, an insult, turning out all the
tickets again, when nothing could have got in from the
forest, unless a native bear. ' Keeping us over two hours by

your bungling, and then delaying over these tickets '

his voice was heard thus, upbraiding even the authorities.
Quite alone was he, this grumbler, a sort of railway
passenger Thersites. But not more swift was the stick, or
sceptre, of the chieftain of old upon the shoulders of that
ancient reviler of authority than was the avenging rebuke
of Guard Brickwood, straight down upon the malcontent
traveller.

' What's the matter with ye ? Would ye like to manage
them engines yourself ? I'd like to see the likes of you at
it. It's charging ye for shelter and sittin' accommodation
all this time that the Department should be doing.'

And Hiram rather banged the door in his wrath. As he
faced, with lowering brow, into the compartment where our
travellers were, they at once respectfully presented their
tickets, the agent just getting time to exclaim, with an
approving look and laugh, before the irate guardian of the
train hurried on, ' All right, Hiram, that's you all over —
you'll stand no nonsense from either Government or public ! '

So they were soon on their way again, and nothing
happened for the rest of the journey, except a slight delay
at Upper End station, a few miles from Brassville. Frank-
fort remarked to Quiggle that it rather upset their plans
getting in so late in the afternoon.

' The less we say about it the better, Mr. Frankfort,'
answered Quiggle. ' Besides, it's just as well being late a
bit. Saves too many people coming bothering. There's
old Taft, the publican, he'll have been at the station in good

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 133

time for his questions about the liquor laws ; but, bless
you ! he won't wait : he'll be back long ago to the Blue
Grapes.'

' Yes, to be sure, promiscuous questions are bothering,
as you say,' replied our politician. ' Often one may want
time to explain one's views and put them properly. Any
man can ask a question that no one can answer.'

' Just so, my dear sir — as few private expressions of
opinions as possible. Leave all to your meeting on Monday.
Tell them so — tell them so. Keep her free, sir,' continued
the agent, reverting to his old illustration — ' keep her free,
— easy before the wind, and then you know you can round
her up a bit, or slack her off a bit, according to the proper
navigation ' ; and he nodded to his candidate.

By this time they were slowly entering the town of
Brassville — Brassville that was big with the political fate
of our politician. As they passed along they could see
from the train some of the election placards that Quiggle
was so proud of, posted through the street that ran parallel
to the line.

' Ain't half bad, are they ? ' he remarked, as he eyed
complacently his handiwork. Frankfort looked up and
read in big emphatic lines and posters of all sizes and all
colours — ' Frankfort and Free Water.' ' The Right Man
and the Reservoir.' ' The Liberal and the Loan.' ' Meeks
and No Money.' ' Ebenezer and Drought.' ' Edward Fairlie
and Fountains.'

Frankfort was rather taken aback by all this enthusiastic
identification of his name with the Reservoir ; but he had
determined to say nothing till he had an opportunity of
finally discussing the matter with Mr. Fairlie. He would
be quite explicit in his speech at the meeting, at any rate.
His attention was called from the perplexing dilemma
which was facing him, by Quiggle exclaiming aloud, ' Ah
now, that's mean of Seth— real mean now ! '

' Why, what's wrong ? ' he asked.

' What's wrong ? Look there ! Seth Pride has gone
and cribbed from your placard,' said Quiggle, pointing to
a flaming poster, with an emphatic blue ribbon border, that
proclaimed ' Prohibition and Public Fountains.'

134 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Seth now,' the agent continued, ' should have left the
fountains to us. I was out first. " Edward Fairlie and
Fountains " go very nicely.'

As they stepped out upon the platform, they found that
several who had been there at the hour of arrival fixed
by the time-table had left ; but still there remained a group
of the citizens of Brassville, most of whom were supporters
of Frankfort ; and prominent among them was Mr. Seth
Pride himself. Him the jealous Quiggle would have
assailed about the borrowed placard, were it not that he
was prudently desirous of getting the candidate to the Lake
Reservoir Hotel as soon as possible, so as to obviate that
random questioning which, as we have seen, he considered to
be both unprofitable and dangerous in electioneering.

Seth Pride was thus left free to welcome our politician,
which he did in formal phrase, assuring him that, much as
he and his friends valued the Reservoir for the sake of the
town and district, they specially prized it for the moral
effect that the grand supply of fresh pure water would have
in promoting their cause and temperance generally.

' We truly say, sir, in our Blue Ribbon placard " Pro-
hibition and Public Fountains." You can have Prohibition,
if you first have public fountains.'

' I am all for temperance,' remarked Frankfort, ' but as
to Prohibition '

' You'll be at our meeting on Monday night, Seth/
interposed Quiggle, ' and our new Member will deal with
the whole question. You'll be happy, I can tell you, when
you hear him.'

' I trust so,' said Mr. Pride. ' And let me convey to you,
sir, the special compliments of Miss Gazelle. She trusts
to make your acquaintance later on. She knows of your
noble principles on the emancipation of woman.'

There could be no doubt that both Seth Pride and
Miss Gazelle had sincerely in view a great moral purpose,
namely, to make men sober and generally improve social
life. There may have been in their mixed championship
some personal ambition ; and their cause so absorbed them
that they could think of nothing else, nor could they make
any allowance for other people thinking of anything else

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 135

either ; still, it had the great merit of being, amid all the
din and hollowness of political cries, a cause guided by a
high moral purpose.

At the mention of woman by Mr. Pride, Bill Nash, the
cobbler, came edging up closer to our politician. He had
once been stigmatised by Miss Gazelle as the impenitent
cobbler, when he was persisting in disturbing one of her
meetings, and the epithet had stuck to him.

' What's that Seth Pride's a-saying about wimmin ? ' he
asked, as he pushed in towards Frankfort in a shuffling
manner.

' Shake hands — keep him right,' whispered Quiggle, as
the candidate and Bill Nash clasped hands.

' He says, Bill, that all the ladies are to be enfranchised —
made free to vote like, you know,' the agent explained.

' Ah well, just as Mr. Pride wants about the wimmin —
he can do as 'e likes wi' 'em, so long as you get us the
water, Mr. Franker. Give me the water without the
wimmin, before the wimmin without the water ' ; and Mr.
Nash gave an awkward look round for moral support to his
sentiment.

' All right, Bill ! ' exclaimed Quiggle ; ' come to our meet-
ing on Monday, and you'll hear all about it. We want you
and all the leading men to roll up.'

Soon pushing through the little crowd, they reached
their vehicle, which was placarded on both sides ' Frankfort
and Free Water,' and drove to the Lake Reservoir Hotel.
The driver pointed out, on the way, where the main pipes
were to enter the town direct from the filtering basin, which
was to be about a mile up in the rising ground. Mr. Tom
Hilton, the landlord of the Lake Reservoir, welcomed them
in a free-and-easy manner to the house, and handed Frank-
fort a letter from his uncle, Mr. Fairlie. He opened the
letter with some eagerness, as he was anxious to have his
contemplated meeting with Mr. Fairlie as soon as possible,
so that he might clearly ascertain and finally settle his
position with regard to this disquieting problem that was
now daily and hourly coming nearer to him. He was
disappointed to find that his uncle had to leave town for
a couple of days to go to the Silveracre side, in order

136 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

to look into the accounts of one of the Bank's branches ;
but Mr. Fairlie expected to return on the Monday after-
noon, and he expressed the hope that Frankfort would
come and see him then, so that they could talk over the
prospects of the election. He added that his aunt would
have insisted upon his staying with them, as he did on
his previous visit, only that she knew it was better for him
at election times to be at the hotel. The kind lady herself
indeed added a few womanly strokes in a P.S., concluding
with ' Success to you and the Reservoir. — H. F.'

As our politician was being shown upstairs, he noticed
off the landing what appeared to be a rather spacious bath-
room, and with the instinctive longing of one who had just
come from a railway journey, he bethought himself of
getting a bath, before taking a short walk with Quiggle
down the town. Upon inquiry, however, he ascertained
that the spacious baths had been constructed somewhat
prematurely in the, as it proved, too confident expectation
that the Brassville Reservoir would have been in the last
Loan. Now, however, though everything was completed
internally, they were at a standstill in the matter of baths
till they could connect with the reticulation of the new
works. So he had to content himself with a wash in the
basin, and soon was ready to begin the work of can-
vassing, placing himself upon view, as it were, of the
electors. He found the placards up everywhere announcing
his meeting for the following Monday. The list of the
independent electors whom he met and talked with would
be long to tell. He got somewhat confused with the
number of new faces, and once was upon the point, till
Quiggle stopped him, of greeting anew a citizen whom he
had a little before shaken hands with in another street.
But two things, and two only, appeared to him to stand
out clearly from all the hubbub — one, the general con-
demnation of Meeks, who had been for some days in the
town engaged in an uphill canvass ; the other, that the
Reservoir was quietly taken as an accepted fact. Both
topics were taken for granted, and so he was saved trouble
in regard to them. This was quite agreeable to him ; for,
as to the Reservoir, he was at present holding his peace ;

iv THE BRASSV1LLE ELECTION 137

and as for Meeks, he felt it would be unworthy of him to
join in any vulgar outcry against his antagonist.

After they had seen a number of electors, Quiggle left
our politician with Woodall, the bookseller, while he went
down to the offices of the Trumpeter and the Scorcher, to
see to the advertisements for Monday's meeting ; and also,
while settling accounts at each office up to date, to arrange
for suitable notices of the arrival of his candidate. Our
politician enjoyed the conversation with the bookseller.
Woodall belonged to that not inconsiderable class of electors
who, if they do not talk as much as others, think more
independently. These men often have not the weight in
the political battle that their numbers entitle them to, for
they are not disciplined to act together ; and in that battle,
as in all other battles, the compact, well-drilled, and cleverly-
led battalions carry the day sometimes against a scattered
and inert majority. Our politician had no wish to make
the conversation degenerate into a mere canvass upon his
part; but Woodall volunteered his views upon some matters
connected with the election. Meeks was a poor creature,
no doubt, but not so bad as some of them made out. ' And,
after all,' he added, ' what better can you expect from our
system ? '

This was not very reassuring to our politician, who
stood at the threshold, soon, as he hoped, to enter as one
of the workers under this system himself. Woodall, who
had been only thinking of his subject, noticed the flit of
disappointment that passed over Frankfort's face, and con-
tinued :

' To be sure, some men may be strong enough to be
stronger than the system. But I speak of the rank and
file.'

' Well, Mr. Woodall, I cannot say whether I belong to
the rank and file or not ; but I hope to be returned for
Brassville, and yet to do nothing that I need be ashamed of.'

'Just so, Mr. Frankfort ; so I hope and believe too. You
are not fixing that parcel right, my boy : the books should
be packed edges in.'

This last remark was addressed to a flaxen-haired, re-
fined-looking boy, who was fumbling over a set of books

138 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

that he was trying to encase in several large wrappers of
brown paper, after the manner of booksellers.

'Give it to me, Harry, I will finish it. You can go up
the shop. It is queer,' he continued, addressing Frankfort,
' how stupid intellectually quick boys sometimes are in the
simplest practical things. That boy is a capital scholar
for his age ; yet he cannot see, though he has often been
shown, that if you don't put the edges inside they are apt
to get rubbed.

' Yes,' he went on, ' as I was saying just now, I hope
and believe that you will be returned, Mr. Frankfort. But
why? Why, to be plain with you — as a gentleman you
understand plain, truthful speech — because Meeks did not
get us the Reservoir, and we think you will. If we believed
that Meeks would get it and that you would not, whom do
you think we'd have ? Whom would you expect us to have
yourself?'

Frankfort rather quailed under this decisive way of
putting the case. Yet the bookseller appeared to be an
intelligent man, of broad views. So he resolved to sound
his ideas upon the Reservoir question a little further.

' You are all for the Reservoir, I suppose ? '

' Well, of course I am for it,' he said with a quiet laugh.
' I'm in no public position. I have no special duty to look
after the State's interests. So I am all for it.'

' Yet you support it, I presume, on public grounds ? '

' I support it as a citizen of Brassville. If we can get
a quarter of a million spent here, we will all be the richer
for it — Henry Woodall, bookseller, included. You can-
not expect me to object to that, if the generous State gives
it to me.'

' But then,' said Frankfort, feeling that the bookseller
was not speaking his whole mind upon the matter, ' you
know that you'll have to pay six or seven per cent interest
upon it afterwards.'

1 As to that,' replied Woodall, finishing up and tying
round his parcel, and looking down to see if the folds were
straight underneath — ' as to that, Mr. Frankfort, you under-
stand that, though I don't refuse the Loan, personally I did
not propose it. I have nothing to do with arranging the

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 139

terms, whether of repayment or otherwise. As to the
interest,' he continued quietly, as he looked up from the
parcel at our politician, and speaking very slowly, ' even
unpractical Harry there could see that this small district is
as likely to pay it as it is to pay the Army Pensions List of
the United States.'

Here the conversation was interrupted by Quiggle, who,
having arranged with the Trumpeter and the Scorcher, had
come back for his principal. For he held it his duty, as
the agent managing this election, not to leave him for the
evening till he had seen him safe back at the Lake Reservoir
Hotel ; which done, and having congratulated him on the
excellent progress they were making, he hastened to his
home, which was a couple of miles out of the town, where
Mrs. Quiggle and the children were eagerly expecting him.
For he was an affectionate little man, and he had not seen
wife and family since he left them early in the week, on
going to the capital to transact his business and to accom-
pany the candidate back to Brassville.

Frankfort was not sorry to be left alone. Electioneering
is hard work. The iteration of the same subjects, fresh to
each new inquirer, but only too familiar to you, tells like the
continuous dropping of the water on the stone. Holding
noisy meetings is a relief to it. He needed rest. But there
was another reason why he was glad to be left alone. He
wanted to think over the position that was facing him. It
was narrowing down now to a decisive issue. This was
Friday evening, and on Monday afternoon he was to meet
his uncle and come to a final understanding as to what the
constituency would demand. The public declaration of his
principles was to be made a few hours later on the Monday
evening. From his careful observation of the country
around Brassville made on his journey down, and now of
the wants and resources of the place itself, he could see
clearly that Mr. Dorland was not far wrong when he
described the whole project emphatically as a job. No
more was Blanksby wrong in his estimate of it. Even
Woodall, while admitting that he wanted it, did not pretend
that it was anything else than a job. The bookseller
excused himself by saying that he had no public position or

140 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

duty to the State to discharge. But could he, Frankfort,
say the same if he should be elected ? If, as was plain
enough, the district was merely seeking to grasp a largess
out of the Treasury, what would be his real purpose in
assisting them ? Would it not be simply to secure a seat
in Parliament for himself and further his own prospects ?
Yet how unanimous and how resolute were they all for it.
Matter here sufficient for one evening's cogitation !

After breakfast the next day, Saturday, Ouiggle arrived
early to take his candidate upon further rounds among the
electors. He told him that a number of societies and
representative bodies were desirous of having interviews
with him, but that Louis Quiggle knew better than to allow
them to come till after the meeting on Monday. ' Keep
her free — keep her free, easy going, moderate sail, till after
the meeting,' he remarked. The Town Council, it seemed,
wanted to discuss with him the basis of rating for paying
the interest on the quarter of a million. The Labour Union
was determined to have the work done by day labour under
Government control, instead of having it let out to contractors.
The importers of pipes and of the necessary machinery for
the engine-houses desired to have the customs duty on their
wares remitted, so as to cheapen the work ; while, on the
other hand, the makers of those lines of manufactures main-
tained that the use of all imported stuff should be prohibited,
so as to encourage native industry. The Plumbers' Union
wished a few alterations to be made in the Plumbers Act,
in view of the extensive work that would fall to their lot,
and that the minimum wage to be fixed by the Government
for the employees should be a reasonably liberal one.

' All right, Quiggle, I'll see the lot of them on Tuesday,'
said Frankfort, as they walked together down the street.

' Why, here's Hedger coming along — perhaps the lawyers
want a deputation too,' remarked the agent, laughing.

' Well met, sir ; I welcome you to Brassville,' said
Hedger. ' When I saw you at Lamborn's 1 thought some
way you'd come to belong to us in time. You're one of the
family, ye see. We all like Fairlie — useful man in the Bank
parlour at a pinch. I hope you'll prove equally useful to
us, Mr. Frankfort, at this pinch.'

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 141

'You're very kind, Mr. Hedger, and I hope that the
election day will show that I do belong to you. Here is
Quiggle who says that you gentlemen of the law want me
to meet a deputation from the lawyers about the Reservoir.'

' From us ? Oh no — we want no deputations.'

* Well, to be sure, I suppose not. Your profession has
not much interest in it, has it ? '

' My word though, haven't we ? The conveyancing
alone of the land to be taken up means thousands to us —
not to talk of arbitrations and litigation. Yes, yes, where
there's money spending, there's work brewing,' responded
the candid Hedger. ' Besides/ he added, turning con-
fidentially to the candidate, 'the landowners are our best
clients, and some of them will gain £2 or £3 an acre for
parts of their land by it. I should say that it would add
some £20,000 to the value of Lamborn's property."

Our politician and the agent then passed on to pay an
official visit to His Worship the Mayor. This was expected
of all candidates, and the Mayor preserved the dignity of
his office by giving an impartial welcome to all comers, as
Mayor ; but in his individual capacity as Simon Trigge,
Esquire, he reserved the right of supporting ' the candidate
of his free choice as a plain man.' While they were walking
up the street Quiggle informed Frankfort that as a fact His
Worship was going straight for him, right before the wind ;
and that he, Quiggle, had already chalked him up ; though
he was compelled to mark the Town Clerk as doubtful,
owing to his being indebted to Meeks, many years ago, for
getting him registered (irregularly) as a Government Sur-
veyor. Of course, however, he would not expect any
intimation of His Worship's private opinion at the official
interview, the more especially as the representative of the
Scorcher was likely to be present. As a fact, it turned out
as the agent had said. His Worship received them with
dignity, the Town Clerk standing a little behind him on one
side. But the Mayor gave no vent to his opinions upon the
subject that every one was thinking of, beyond the indefinite
statement that ' Mr. Frankfort might rely upon it that the
Mayor and Corporation of Brassville would ever prove true
to the man of the people's choice.'

142 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

The civic interview, therefore, was short, and Quiggle
hurried away his candidate to meet the other public bodies
and representative men, of whom there were a good many,
for Brassville was full of political life. Our politician was
struck by the intelligent bearing of the people he met ;
there was nothing to be seen among them of the ignorance
or passion that marked the crowd of old. Yet they did
not concern themselves with high matters. They did not
appear to be troubled about great questions of National
policy. They were active for their own local wants, and as
Government undertook to supply these, dealing with the
Government for them engaged much energy that under a
different system would be expended upon general politics.

They got back from their second street canvass about
mid-day, and Quiggle gave our politician the grateful infor-
mation that he could have the rest of the day to himself, as
under the Public Recreation Act (which a special bye-law
passed under the auspices of Mayor Trigge had made
applicable to Brassville) no business could be transacted or
work done in the town on Saturday afternoon. They did
their late shopping on the Friday. The people therefore
were scattered about in quest of change or amusement.
Quiggle felt that it was only reasonable that he should rest
from his work as well as the others, and enjoy a quiet after-
noon and a Sunday's repose with Mrs. Quiggle and the
children, before he entered upon the raging battle of the
coming week. Mrs. Quiggle, indeed, had given him positive
orders, when he was leaving in the morning, to come home
in time to give the baby — only two months old — its usual
airing in the perambulator, which it had got very irregularly
during his absence on his late visit to the city. But he
advised Frankfort to attend the lecture announced for that
evening at the hall of the Young Men's Association of
Brassville. Frankfort knew the hall, and had met the
President, Mr. Job Runter, who was to take the chair,
when he was in the town before. ' And,' continued Quiggle,
'Job knows of your coming — I told him ; he'll take you
in tow as soon as you put your head inside the door.'
The agent then departed till the Monday, having first
picked out of a bundle of papers and cuttings a neatly-

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 143

printed leaflet which contained the announcement of the
lecture.

From this it appeared that Mr. Edmund Bainbridge, a
native of the town, who had just returned from a business
trip to India, was to discourse upon the wonders of that
land. Our politician felt disinclined to go, as he knew that
Myles Dillon was to arrive that evening from Miranda, to be
ready for the operation at the Hospital on the Sunday morn-
ing, and he certainly would have preferred to spend a few
hours with him. But he had been always accustomed to
put business before pleasure, so after he had told Mr. Hilton,
the landlord of the Lake Reservoir Hotel, to be on the look-
out for Dillon, he walked down to the lecture hall.

He found it filled with what might be described as
the middle class of Brassville — moral, intelligent, homely
people, the very backbone, you would say, of a nation.
The president at once recognised Frankfort, and did 'take
him in tow ' as Quiggle had expected, and towed him straight
up to the platform. He would have preferred a quiet seat
among the crowd ; but he felt that a man, by seeking to
become a public man, at once made himself public property,
and people naturally like to have a good look at their
favourites. Even the chips that Mr. Gladstone chopped out
of the trees at Hawarden were regarded with admiration
across the Atlantic. When all were seated the President
introduced the lecturer in those highly favourable terms
which men use in describing one another upon such occasions.
He concluded by saying that the information that Mr.
Bainbridge would give them on the irrigation system of
India would be of supreme moment to Brassville at the
present time. It certainly seemed that the lecturer had
bestowed much thought and observation on that subject,
as his address mainly consisted of a minute description
of the Saderwarry Reservoir and a comprehensive account
of the points of resemblance in the natural features of
the country about Saderwarry and Brassville, respectively.
He pointedly turned towards our politician at the most
pregnant passages of his discourse, and each time all eyes were
turned upon the coming Member, just as if he were supposed
to have the Reservoir somewhere about him. Loud applause

144 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

greeted each reference to the coming boon, with an occa-
sional exclamation of assent from the body of the hall such
as one hears at fervid religious meetings. When Bainbridge
was getting near the end of his address, the president leaned
over to Frankfort and asked him if he would like to move a
vote of thanks to the lecturer. The secretary generally
did it, but if Frankfort asked him he would no doubt give
way. ' It would bring you forward a bit, you know, and
you could bring down the house about the Reservoir.' As
the reader understands, this was just what our politician
wanted to avoid ; so he protested that he would on no
account interfere with the prescriptive rights and duties of
the secretary ; and he was not sorry when the meeting broke
up and he found himself hurrying away down the street
among the crowd, who were expressing marked sentiments
of approval that appeared to be impartially divided between
Bainbridge and the Reservoir.

When he got back to the hotel he found Dillon quietly
enjoying his evening pipe.

' All hail, my political friend, lesser than old Meeks and
greater — not yet M.P., but safe to be hereafter ! They
tell me that you're getting on famously — you and the
Reservoir are both safe. They'll get you, and you'll get the
Lake.'

Frankfort did not care to disclose, even to Dillon, the
perplexity that beset him until he had seen Mr. Fairlie and
heard his last word upon the difficulty. He knew that Dillon
had not considered the subject, and thought it very likely,
therefore, that if he asked him his opinion, the reply would
probably be to promise anything they wanted, so long as
they promised to elect him, with possibly the additional
advice not to be drowned like a rat in a tank anyway, or
something equally absurd. So he preferred for the present
to keep his own counsel. He only replied, ' Yes, I am doing
well. But of course I cannot say till they hear my prin-
ciples at my meeting on Monday.'

' Your principles ? '

1 Yes, I say my principles — my political principles, upon
which I am asking them to return me to Parliament.'

' That's all right, Edward,' remarked Dillon. ' I only

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 145

spoke because since I've been here I've only heard of the
one principle — though that is rather a big one, to be sure —
the Reservoir.'

This remark rather staggered our politician, for, now
that it was put to him, he recalled the fact that, so far, in
his canvass the only reference to public questions had been
that made by Mr. Seth Pride regarding Prohibition and
Woman's Emancipation. In truth, from all that he had seen
or heard, it was plain enough that, given the Reservoir, he
could hold any opinions he liked ; but without it, no
opinions would avail him. He only replied :

' So far, we have been dealing with local matters ; on
Monday I open out'

' An' I wish you all luck, Edward Fairlie. So long as
you and the independent ones hit it off, that's all that's
wanted. Please yourselves ; you'll never find any one else
better worth pleasing. If I were standing now, I'd promise
them two Reservoirs — one at each end of the town, and
pipes reticulating to the front door and the back door of
every citizen.'

' What's the use of talking nonsense, Myles ? '

' Well, I'm only saying, from all that I've heard, that's
what would fetch them. The landlord kept haranguing
me about it when I was getting a bit to eat. The man who
drove me up from the station asked me if I was one of the
survey party for the site. I gave him a bit of a short
answer ; he only heard a word or so in the rumbling along of
the trap, and he turns to me quite cheerfully, " Yes, that's it,
Guv'nor ; the Dam is the big thing — but if they'll do it by
day labour and get rid of them contractors, it'll come cheap
enough." Why, the housemaid here told me that I'd have
to wait for the Reservoir before I could get washed.'

' Oh, but you know, Myles, you must have cries of all
sorts about at an election. And constituencies will naturally
want to look after themselves.'

' Yes, and want you to look after them too.'

' By the way, do you remember, Myles, your advice on
the subject during our discussion about politics on our last
walk in Scotland ? '

' Why, what was that ? '

VOL. I L

146 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' That what was wanted of a politician now was, not to
die for his country, but to live for his constituency ! '

' Well, and that is my advice still. If I were now going
into Parliament I would live for my constituency — that is,
next after myself — and then the general country can come
in for its turn.'

Frankfort felt too uneasy about the subject to enjoy his
friend's outspoken cynicism, so he turned the conversation to
the case of the bugler boy whom Myles Dillon was to operate
on next morning. The young surgeon was interested about
this case, and anxious about it. He looked forward to it
with some apprehension as to the results. It was his
Reservoir. He had to be up early the next day, the
Sunday, in order to be in good time at the Hospital for
the operation ; so the rights of constituencies and the
duties of representatives were not further discussed between
the friends.

As for our politician, he looked forward to a day of real
rest on the morrow, free from questions, interviews, visits,
meetings, parleys, conferences, and Reservoirs. He intended
going to Mr. Keech's church, partly to see the people, but
also because he found in the religious service of the first day
of the week a relief from the work and cares of the other
six. On the Sunday morning, then, he strolled down to
Saint Chad's, longing to enjoy one function, at least, which
would be restful and free from political perplexities. Mr.
Keech was reputed to be an eloquent preacher ; and then he
always had a liking for the fine old Church of England
service, though it was not that which he had been accus-
tomed to attend. So he felt that he was doing the right
thing for a quiet off-day, and disregarded Quiggle's advice
that it would be better to go to the Salvation Army gather-
ing at the Temperance Hall. He was only just in time ;
but the verger knew him, and gave him a good seat, one or
two rows behind quite a large and well-furnished front pew
that reminded him of the lord's or squire's pew in the country
churches of the old land.

The service was just about to begin, when there was
a slight stir in the congregation, and the Honourable Mrs.
Lamborn swept by into that front pew, followed by Miss

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 147

Lamborn. The Honourable Mr. Lamborn himself rarely
attended church service ; but he had a great faith in the
vicarious devotions of his wife and daughter ; and Mrs.
Lamborn considered it distinctly proper to go, for the sake
of example. Frankfort was no judge of dress, but he was
struck by the massiveness and richness of the dark velvet of
her gown. There could be no doubt of its weight and
dignity, though, to be sure, it seemed to be a little heavy for
such a bright and rather warm day. On the other hand,
Miss Lamborn wore a dress of some white material, with
blue-coloured edging, that appeared to be simplicity itself,
yet which struck him as being certainly very effective,
though he had not sufficient knowledge upon the subject
to be able to say to what the effect was owing. It might
be due to the skill of the maker, or, for the matter of that,
to the graceful proportions of the wearer. Mrs. Lamborn
had mentioned incidentally in conversation at The Blocks that
she got most of her dresses from Europe direct. However,
he had no wish to waste his attention upon these matters ;
still, as he was only a couple of pews behind, he could not
help noticing that the plainer and less gorgeous figure of the
two was undeniably the more graceful and striking. But he
soon withdrew his observation from these vanities, and
attended to the service, only glancing round now and then
to observe what the aristocracy of Brassville were like ; for
Mr. Keech's church was the church of the better-off. He
noticed that the difference was chiefly in the dress. The
type of people was much the same in the street as in the
mansion.

When Mr. Keech came to the Creed, and was giving the
leading words to the choir, Frankfort, taking the opportunity
to look round at the congregation, found that his attention
was caught again by the striking fit of the white frock. It
seemed so absurd for him to be looking at it, for as a dress
Mrs. Lamborn's was the more imposing one. Still, it did
catch his eye, and there was something, he thought, peculiarly
graceful in the bend of its folds when Eilly Lamborn gave
a gentle curtsey at the appropriate time in the saying of
the Creed.

He was amused with himself, and at the same time

148 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

annoyed at his wasting his attention upon this girl's frock
and curtsey ; so much so that he felt rather relieved when
Mr. Keech, the prayers being over, walked into the pulpit
to deliver the discourse of the day. This was always looked
forward to with interest, for the minister's ability as a
preacher was well known. Frankfort settled him down for
a quiet half-hour. The text was that noble verse from the
Psalms :

1 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well ;
the rain also filleth the pools.'

The preacher began : ' My Christian Brethren, you
are all anxious now about the Reservoir — you are eager
for the pools of waters, the flowing channels, the falling
rain to fill the pools or reservoirs — but let me lead
you '

Our candidate looked up at the pulpit with a dazed
feeling. A fearful dread came over him lest the preacher
might make a direct reference to him about this Reservoir ;
or some one even stand up, then and there, and ask him a
question regarding it. It certainly seemed to him that
several people looked in the direction of his pew. What if
he were asked to say a few words about it at the close of
the service ? Appalling thought ! A little time served to
dissipate his fears. Mr. Keech went on to deal with the
religious aspects of his text, and he was well worth listening
to. In fact, he had begun by alluding to the Reservoir not
in the interests of water, but in the interests of religion ;
because he knew all men to be so deeply concerned in it,
that he thought it a good topic by which to attract them
to the deeper meanings of the verse. And he kept their
attention sustained throughout, by a number of ingenious
parallels which he drew between the works of the proposed
Reservoir and the operation of sacred influences upon the
human heart.

After the service Frankfort helped Mrs. and Miss
Lamborn into their pony phaeton, which Miss Lamborn
drove ; and Mrs. Lamborn courteously asked him to come
and have a quiet Sunday afternoon with them at The
Blocks. Mr. Lamborn was away up country at the shearing.
' And to be out of all this noisy work and fuss about these

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 149

election goings-on, you know — for Parliament, you know,'
she added.

He was a little doubtful about going. To be sure, the
Reservoir could give him no trouble among these ladies,
yet he felt rather tired, and he looked it.

' Tired ? ' continued Mrs. Lamborn. ' No, really, are
you ? — this talking all over the place about things. Well,
come to us and you can be quiet. We won't speak to you,
truly ; Eilly here mustn't open her mouth. Dear Mr. Keech
himself is coming — nothing more exciting than tea and
sacred music.'

' Yes, do come ; both Mrs. Bussell and Miss Corney will
be there, and they are so good in sacred music.'

Miss Lamborn spoke quite frankly. Her mother wished
him to come, why should not she ?

He could do no other than accept a call so kindly
given, and a very pleasant afternoon he enjoyed. He liked
sacred songs ; and then Miss Lamborn's frank and natural
conversation was so pleasant, as indeed almost any non-
political conversation would be to him after the week's
work. Several members of Brassville society were at the
reception. The hostess was most kind, greeting him as, in
fact, their Member already, and a brother legislator with
Mr. Lamborn.

' He will so like, you know,' she said, ' to have a gentle-
man to act with. Not but that he'll help to get some place
or something for that poor — what do you call him ? — or
some way for him to live. He's been here so long, and
always attentive like, you know, to Mr. Lamborn, and to
things for the place, you see.'

' But, Mrs. Lamborn,' answered Frankfort, ' we must not
make too sure. My opponent Mr. Meeks has many friends.'

' No, really ? I thought it was all arranged already,'
said Mrs. Lamborn.

' Oh, certainly not. You can never tell what may
happen till the election day,' he remarked, feeling that there
was a deeper meaning in what he said than Mrs. Lamborn
had any idea of.

' You don't say so ? Why, Mr. Lamborn told me that
you and the Reservoir would be fixed up together. He speaks

150 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

in that sort of way at times, you know. He gets it election-
eering, I suppose. I don't understand these things ; but how
can they want that poor — what's-his-name ? — again '

' Mother, Mrs. Bussell is going to sing the " Dies Irae," '
said Miss Lamborn, raising her hand in a deprecating way,
and meaning her warning for Frankfort as well. She
objected to the custom of keeping on the flow of gentle
chatter up to the last moment — in fact, till the singer
actually begins, and perhaps has then to drown the talk in
the notes of the song. If people took the trouble to sing,
it seemed to her to be only fair that others should take the
trouble to listen, and to appear ready for the song, not as if
their conversation was interrupted by it. Mrs. Bussell sang
the grand old hymn with some power, Mr. Keech turning
over the music himself, and following her to the sofa, when
she left the piano, still pronouncing encomiums on the
performance. A slight difficulty in the afternoon's pro-
gramme here arose by young Hilljohn — nephew of Mr.
Hilljohn of the Charlotte Mount estate, one of the finest in
the district — wanting to give some of his favourite Christy
Minstrel songs, not of the merely jocular, but of the more
homely, sentimental kind. Mr. Keech, however, when
appealed to by Mrs. Lamborn, objected, unless the song
was of the distinctly religious type, and, as that lady fully
supported her pastor, the young man was compelled, after
some futile displays of argument upon his part, to content
himself with giving ' Bar's a light on de opposite shore,'
which did not suit his voice at all as well as the one which
he had intended to sing.

' You like sacred music, Miss Lamborn ? ' said Frankfort,
as the last of Hilljohn's notes died away.

' Yes, I do, but really it seems to me that there is
something sacred in all true music. I feel it in that way,
at least, when one sings a fine song, that comes home to
one,' she answered.

' Most true, Miss Lamborn ; but I see it is only sacred
songs to-day — no Scotch songs at all ? Though, in fact,
some of Burns's are quite religious, are they not ? '

He thought he would at least try his chance of again
hearing Miss Lamborn render Burns.

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 151

' Well, mother would not like it, really on account of
Mr. Keech. And it would not be nice if it put him out,
would it ? He is so good-natured himself. And then we
can sing them all the rest of the week, can't we ? '

' Certainly. We'll say nothing more about Scotch songs
to-day,' replied Frankfort promptly, feeling consoled for the
loss of his song by sympathy with the good taste of Miss
Lamborn's answer.

' Though to be sure, now that I think of it,' she continued,
turning quickly to him, as if she had forgotten something,
which in fact she had — ' now that I think of it, Miss Maillard
has prevailed on mother to let her sing her song — just at the
end, you know.'

' Her song? Miss Maillard's song ? Something new, I
suppose ? ' said Frankfort.

' Not heard of it ? Why you must be really quite out
of society. It's the song of the season here. There, she's
going to sing now. Listen.'

And Miss Maillard began to sing with her fine soprano
voice that striking song, ' Where the Sparkling Fountains
flow.' The Rev. Mr. Keech did not turn over the music.
Still, he expressed no outward disapproval ; and indeed how
could he ? Had he not alluded to the Reservoir himself in
his sermon. Hilljohn, when Miss Maillard left the piano,
with that self-opinionativeness for which some young people
are so remarkable, vainly endeavoured to reopen the ques-
tion of his songs, in relation to the permission accorded
to Miss Maillard. But the whole moral sense of the little
public in Mrs. Lamborn's drawing-room was dead against
him, on the ground that the subject illustrated by Miss
Maillard's song made it an exception to the general rule.

' That's pretty, is it not ? ' said Miss Lamborn to Frank-
fort, as the company rose up generally to congratulate Miss
Maillard, and to prepare to depart. Mr. Keech had to get
back to Brassville in good time for the evening service.
' That's pretty, is it not ? — the " flow, flow, flow " comes in
so prettily.'

1 Very' replied Frankfort.

He was to drive back with Mr. Keech, and Mrs. Lam-
born and Eilly walked out to the verandah to see them start.

152 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Now that you are one of us, you must often come to
see us, Mr. Frankfort,' observed Mrs. Lam born.

' Most kind of you, Mrs. Lamborn ; though you know, as
I said a while ago — wait for Friday week.'

' Oh, that'll be all right. Tom knows about these sort
of things. He told me, as I told you, you know — you are
ours.' She added, with a rather languid smile, ' That is, until
we get tired of you.'

' Yes, mother,' interposed Miss Lamborn, ' or until he
gets tired of us.'

' Now that's so like you, Eilly ; you're always saying
something out of the way and odd-like, going differently from
other people.'

' I only say, mother, that Mr. Frankfort might get tired of
us ; or we might get tired of one another.'

' Well, and what's the use of saying that and things like
that ? How can Mr. Professor Frankfort here get tired of a
place in Parliament and politics, and all that ? And as for
our getting tired, of course I was only joking. Are we likely,
I'd like to know, to have that Mr. Meeks, or whatever he's
called, again ? '

' Yes, now really, Miss Lamborn, how can you say that
I, at least, would get tired of you ? ' Frankfort gallantly
interposed.

' I only mean,' said Miss Lamborn, with her cheerful
laugh, as her mother turned to say something to Mr. Keech
about his projected flower mission — ' I only mean that, much
as you like us now, you might in time prefer the University
to talking for us and our Reservoir.'

' Ah no, Miss Lamborn,' answered Frankfort, laughing
too, ' if my friend Mr. Dillon were here now, he would
remind you of his poet Moore's sentiment — the heart that
has truly loved never forgets.'

' What's that you people are saying about hearts ? ' in-
terposed Mrs. Lamborn, looking round.

' Mr. Frankfort here says,' answered Eilly, ' that poli-
ticians' hearts are always true — never forget their first
love. I am only going to say that I did not know it
before.'

1 That's right, Mr. Frankfort/ exclaimed Mr. Keech,

iv THE BRASS VILLE ELECTION 153

anxious to make a remark at once secular and popular
— ' that's right ! Always be true to the Reservoir.'

' You see, my dear sir,' he continued, as they drove back
to town together, ' the Reservoir is the subject that occupies
men's minds now, and we must introduce religion as best we
may by this door, by that, by land, by water, per fas, per
nefas. Certainly,' he added, ' I want the Reservoir too ; but
all the while I take the topic so as to lead to higher things
than even the Reservoir. Yes, my dear sir, we work per
fas et per nefas'

' What, per nefas too ! ' exclaimed Frankfort.

The conversation then turned upon what was nefas in
public affairs, and this question had not been settled
when they shook hands at parting at the Lake Reservoir
Hotel.

And so Monday morning dawned. Our politician felt
rather fidgety going on his rounds with Quiggle, as he could
not but realise how uncertain his whole position was, until
he had his contemplated discussion with his kind friend and
uncle, and had settled with one who so thoroughly under-
stood both the constituency and the Reservoir question
what sort of compromise would be likely to be possible, if
any, upon the perplexing and, as it seemed to him, ever-
growing difficulty of the Reservoir. After lunch, he told
Quiggle that he might leave him till the evening, as he had
an appointment with Mr. Fairlie, and he then wished a short
time to himself to prepare for the meeting.

He was certainly depressed, and not without some feeling
of agitation. Many a man may be firm and steady enough
in the actual battle, and yet his pulse may beat quickly just
as he is going into it. And it was the crisis of the whole
matter that now approached. From all he saw, heard, or
knew, he felt certain that unless, after his discussion with Mr.
Fairlie, he could see some hope of the Brassville people
agreeing to have the Reservoir over the Divide, and getting
water by the tunnel that Blanksby spoke of, it would
be impossible for him to go on with any prospect of
success. Yet it was desperately awkward breaking down in
this way. He knew that his uncle was anxious for him to
enter public life. It would, Mr. Fairlie thought, increase his

154 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

influence, as it certainly would his income ; and though the
Banker had never hinted at it, Frankfort could not but
remember that the greater part of that early debt was still
owing. As he walked hurriedly, he was soon at the Bank,
and the maid showed him straight into the Bank parlour.
She said that Mrs. Fairlie and Master Teddy and Miss
Minnie had gone to spend the afternoon at The Blocks ; but
that Mr. Fairlie had come back from the country and would
see him directly. The house was very still ; everything was
quiet — wife and children away. The most solemn room in
the building was, of course, the Bank parlour, and it seemed
now to be more solemn than ever, with its massive mahogany
furniture, large slowly-ticking clock, heavy oil portrait of the
Chairman of the Board, chilly atmosphere, and dim light.
For the room was shady, not to say dark, in the afternoons,
when the sun was on the other side of the house.

In a few moments Mr. Fairlie came in.

' Glad to see you, Edward ! The aunt and the youngsters
are away at The Blocks ; but you can tell me all, and I can
tell her. She asked how you were getting on when I got
home to-day, and I said, " He's carrying all before him. See

the Conquering Hero " After just greeting his nephew,

he had glanced down at the small pile of letters that had
accumulated in his absence, while he talked on. As he
looked up at Frankfort direct, he could not but be struck by
the solemn gravity of his countenance.

' Why, what ! ' he exclaimed, ' you're not knocked up with
electioneering already ? Tired a bit ? Let us sit down.'

' Fact is, uncle,' slowly responded the other, ' I am stuck
up — blocked — don't see how I can go on, unless '

' Oh well, Edward, don't mind that. Elections are
expensive — the early ones especially before a man gets a
hold. Don't go too deep, but you can always get a lift
from the Bank — matter of business. Why, I settle these
things by the dozen here of a day in this very room — per-
sonal character a great point — in fact, that's what this parlour
is for ' ; and the Banker gave a cheerful laugh.

' Not that — not that, uncle. I arranged for that when I
determined to stand — it's not that. It's this confounded
Reservoir ! '

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 155

' The Reservoir ? Why, that's what will bring you in.
Meeks failed with it ; you succeed.'

' I can't go for it. It's a big job ! ' said Frankfort, think-
ing it better to come to the point at once.

' A job ? How do you know that ? We ask what we
want. The Government give what they can. Besides, who
says it's a job ? '

' For one, the President of the University, Mr. Borland,
called it a confounded job of the politicians.'

' Now really, Frankfort, for you to be taken in like that,
and you're going on for thirty, aren't you ? Of course
Mr. Borland calls it a job, because he wants the Reservoir
over the Bivide. He wants it for his mines. I don't
blame him. I know him well — naturally he looks after
his own interests. So do we after ours.'

' But I didn't rely upon his word. I went into the
whole thing with Lavender and Blanksby. I can see the
country around me. How could it ever pay a quarter per
cent on the money ? The thing speaks for itself Frank-
fort spoke plainly and decisively.

' My dear boy,' said the Banker, assuming his most
urbane tone, ' why all this ? You are our advocate, why
become our judge, and a stern one too ? '

' Uncle Fairlie, if elected, I become representative and
trustee for the whole country. It would be a swindle upon
my part to get public money misappropriated, really to buy
a seat in Parliament for myself.'

He spoke emphatically, as he saw that Mr. Fairlie did
not realise his difficulty.

' Well, you see,' said the Banker, turning round to the
table and adjusting and readjusting the big blotting-pad,
just as was his custom when he was conducting some trouble-
some financial arrangement (for the matter now began to
appear to him in a more serious light than it did at first)
— ' you see each constituency must speak through its
Representative. They tell him what they want. He tells the
Government. The Government have the responsibility of
deciding. In court you know the lawyer defends the
murderer ; he puts the case as well as he can. You were
near being in the law yourself.'

156 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

'Ah yes, but let us look at it fairly. The cases are
quite different.' Frankfort spoke on rapidly in his anxiety
to say all that he wanted. ' The cases are quite different.
The advocate is known not to pledge his own opinion. If
the Representative were admitted to be a mere advocate,
it would be an honest business, though a petty one.
But what is the fact ? He would be no use unless he
professes and pretends himself to believe in the justice
of the demands that he makes, and he must use his
public position to advance them. How am I to urge on
this Reservoir " hammer and tongs," as you say, to bully
the Government, to pawn my political influence for it, and
wire- pull with other districts? And for what? Working
hard for my constituents is the phrase, and so to be sure it
is. But why for them ? Not truly for any special love I
have for them, or for their Reservoir, but to secure a seat
for myself in the House of Representatives and £$ a. week
salary. It's no use ; I could not do it.'

During this rather long harangue the Banker had sat at
the table listening, with outward composure, to his nephew's
impetuous remarks. Long custom had given him the habit
of hearing, without apparent perturbation, the most serious
and disturbing statements. Before him was a substantial
paper stand containing blank cheques upon all the banks in
the Province. He had often reached over to these in
discussions with clients and others, about reducing over-
drafts, discounting bills, strengthening accounts, starting
new enterprises, meeting, or partially meeting, long-standing
liabilities, and other delicate and critical financial operations.
He would say : ' You might as well sign a cheque for the
amount ; as further security, you know. Of course it
needn't be used.' Or ' Perhaps it would be better if you
would give us a cheque to hold, just to strengthen your
position.' Or ' Half bill, half cheque might be the simplest
way, don't you think ? '

On this occasion also, while his nephew was speaking,
the Banker reached over and took out a cheque ; but not
for the purpose of challenging his visitor in any such manner
as we have indicated. He slowly tore it up into exceedingly
small pieces. These he gathered together in one little white

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 157

heap on the solid and polished surface of the Bank parlour
table, and round this little heap he placed a few of the bits
in a circle with regular intervals between them. It might
be taken to represent planets circling round their sun ; or,
to look at it in another way, hungry hounds closing round
a stag at bay. When Frankfort had finished his rather
impassioned declaration of his principles, the Banker, closing
up to the table with a business-like shrug of his shoulders,
as if he were now going to finally dispose of this matter,
began —

' That's all very well, Edward ; but now let us come to
the facts. You see that little heap there ? '

' Certainly.'

' And these little bits all round ? '

' To be sure I do.'

' Well, then,' he continued, ' the little heap in the middle
is the five millions that the Government are hoping to get
by the Loan they are trying to float. These little bits right
round are all the constituencies in Excelsior, baying away
for as much as they can get out of it. The voice to do the
baying for each constituency is the Representative. Now,
you can't change this system ; you can't do so at once, at
least. Indeed, you don't pretend to. But you say to this
little hungry hound — Brassville, we'll call him — " Come, my
brave little man, have me and high principles and let the
quarter of a million go to Leadville, or to some place on
the other side of the Divide." Now, I ask you, as a man of
some common-sense, can you expect us to agree to that ? '

' You put the case only for Brassville — true, you can ask
for anything. I have to think for myself; am I to pledge
myself to anything ? ' remarked Frankfort.

' Well, we must think for ourselves and our means of
living. The thing speaks for itself. A quarter of a million
spent here makes this place. The labourers, the farmers,
the artisans, the shopkeepers, the landowners, the merchants
all have an immediate personal interest in it. And the vote
of all governs. No privileged class here to check the
general wish. They will all be richer if it goes on — poorer
if it does not go on. Bankers too — some of our accounts
here are rather shaky. That sum of money pouring in and

158 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

enriching all would set up most of my constituents and
relieve me of a good deal of anxiety. I dare not, in the
face of my Directors, support a man who would send it all
away to Leadville or Silveracre. I must think for your
aunt and the youngsters, as well as for the country at large.
As a fact, I cannot afford to stop and consider whether your
principles in the matter are sound or not. No, Edward,
if you go forward, condemning the Reservoir, I'll vote
and work all I am able for Meeks — much as I despise the
man.' He added, as he drew back from the table a little
and looked straight at his nephew, ' I'm rather taken aback
by all this.'

So was Frankfort He sat silent for a few moments.
He felt that he was in the jaws of it now. If his kind
uncle would work for Meeks, what could he expect of the
rest?

And yet he saw the situation at a glance. He was to
sell his soul to gain his seat. He could not do it. What
would his old companions, with whom he had so often
maintained that high principle and noble purpose were
essential to any true political life — what would they say if
they were to see him begin with a notable job ? What
would they say of him ? Nay more, what would he say of
himself? And what would be the value of a public career
to a man of his nature if, to gain it, he had to lose his own
individuality ?

O ye many-sided troubles and perplexities of us poor
men, likened as we are by the poets to the leaves of the
forest, ever trembling, often falling! The solemn -looking
clock ticked on solemnly. The sombre room grew darker
in the deepening shades ; the portrait of the Chairman
looked more and more grave in the growing obscurity, as
these two men sat facing one another, in mutual perplexity.
Many grave, not a few distressing, interviews had from time
to time taken place in this very room. Tradesmen begging
for support to save them from failure ; sanguine speculators
clutching at some last chance, that would at length make
their fortunes and end their cares ; ruined men begging for
forbearance, in whose shady mishaps the keen scrutiny of
the Banker was laying bare fraud mingling with their

iv THE BRASS VILLE ELECTION 159

misfortunes. But here was a new kind of trouble — one
with a tragedy all its own.

Frankfort was resolved what to do. He would go to
his meeting, declare the truth about the Reservoir, and fall
fighting for the right. But he saw that his uncle was
somewhat moved by this, to him, new development ; and
he felt that it would be only considerate not to announce
himself absolutely on the moment. So he only said :

' Thanks, uncle, for your frank expressions and saying so
plainly how you look at it. If you could not go for me,
who could ? I have to go over to the hotel now. I will
send you a line before the meeting, telling you what I have
finally resolved.'

As they came out into the hall, they met Mrs. Fairlie
and the children, who had just returned from The Blocks.
Mrs. Fairlie urged her nephew to stay to tea with them, but
he had little time to lose, as Quiggle was to come for him
at a quarter to eight o'clock, and he had several things to
settle before then.

Young Edward, the sprightly son of the Banker, aged
nine years, called out from the stairs as he was beginning to
go up — ' Cousin Ted, cousin Ted, Eilly Lamborn says I was
to tell you that you're to get the Reserved, and then I'm to
sail my boats in it ; only Eilly says I mustn't get drownded
in it. I've two boats and Minnie's only got a little one.'
Master Edward, as he walked up the stairs, completed his
information, by bawling out at the top of his voice —
' Minnie's is a little one, and it won't float neither. Only
don't tell her so.'

As our would-be politician hurried away to the Lake
Reservoir Hotel, he muttered to himself, ' I'll be the first
to be drowned in the confounded thing. . . . The very child
in the nursery, and, gracious heavens ! that young girl,
Eilly Lamborn, begging for this cursed thing too ! ' In all
the tumult of his thoughts, he could not help this last idea
rushing in upon him, though it was absurd, for what could
it matter to him whether Miss Lamborn chimed in with the
rest or not?

He got to the hotel depressed in spirit, but determined
upon his course. He would go to the meeting and fight it

160 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

out Was there a chance that, if he clearly explained to
them that they would get a full supply of water by means of
the tunnel, according to Blanksby's plan, and at the same
time escape the crushing rating that the quarter of a million
would necessitate, they might come round ? No, it really
seemed to be hopeless. So he thought it would be right to
send a note to the Honourable Mr. Borland, the President of
his University, informing him that he had found it impossible
to support the Reservoir at Brassville, and that therefore
there was so little hope of his success that he would not have
to claim the full extent of his leave from College work, as he
expected to return immediately after the polling day, and
possibly before. He marked his note ' private,' as being for
the present only for the President's own information.

Having sent it off to post, he was writing a hurried line
to his uncle telling him what he had determined, when he
heard the mellow tones of Myles Dillon on the landing
outside his door. As well as he could distinguish, Dillon
was endeavouring to persuade the housemaid to get one of
the large baths partially filled by means of a bucket by
the morning ; while that young person adhered to her old
opinion on the subject, and declared that nothing of the
kind could possibly be done until something else happened
first. Though he did not clearly hear, he could not for a
moment doubt what was the event to which the deprecating
remarks of the young person pointed. When Dillon came
into the room he turned round to take off and shake his coat
— the dust was bad at Brassville — saying as he did so —

• There, now, I've tried again, and I can't persuade that
young lady out there that half a bucket is better than no
bath. I wanted her to get a drop or two brought up by the
morning ; but no, nothing can be done in the new bathroom,
she says, at present; we must wait for the inauguration of the
great National work of the century, the Reservoir. However,
you're all right meanwhile ; in you sail on it. They all

remark — say they to me But what's wrong wi' you ?

You're not making your will there on that sheet of paper, are
you ? ' He said this as he looked round from shaking his
coat, on Frankfort's troubled countenance.

' Fact is, Dillon, I'm done for this time — this election.

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 161

I can't stand this Reservoir.' He spoke as he did to Mr.
Fairlie — emphatically. He had not much time to lose.
Quiggle would be calling for him in less than an hour.

' Why, what's the matter with it ? ' asked Dillon, quite
staggered. ' I thought it was the Pride of the Mornin' with
Brassville.'

' It's a rank job, Dillon.'

1 Well, well — but in politics, you know now, there are at
times such things, by the way, you know, entre nous, as the
French say.' He was rather perplexed how to go on. He
had heard something to the same effect in casual conversation
with Lavender, but he was taken by surprise at his friend's
emphatic announcement, as Frankfort had not disclosed his
feelings upon the subject before. He did not want to
aggravate the serious nature of the position into which things
had got. Even he could see that his friend's candidature
was hopeless if he made such an announcement at the
coming meeting. So he went on talking, being certainly at
sea upon the subject, though by no means going ' easy before
the wind,' as Quiggle would say.

' Why, Edward Fairlie, you take me fairly aback, you do
now. It's all up if you talk in that style at the Town
Hall just now. Dear, dear, how's it come about? An' I
was looking for you to get me a good place under Govern-
ment when you wrote M.H.R. after E. F. F.'

1 No joking, Myles, it's too serious ! I delayed deciding
till I got all the facts and had talked the matter over with
Mr. Fairlie. It won't do. How can I link my start in public
life with jobbery and make-believe and the abandonment of
political principle ? I don't care to be a mere tool — a hack —
like poor Meeks — a political bagman, as they call him, and
not honest at that. Why, Myles Dillon, when I think of the
high aspirations that used to animate us young men as we
talked of true politics by the wayside, on our summer walks
there in the old land — the nobleness of the public career, the
high purpose of public life '

Myles saw that the situation was desperate. He rather
regretted to himself that his friend had ever thought of
stepping out from the calm atmosphere of the University.
He had had a feeling of that kind all along. But he

VOL. I M

1 62 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

deeply sympathised with him in his present perplexity. In
graver tones than usual, and with a sympathetic air that
he rarely assumed, he sat down right opposite Frankfort,
saying —

' Well, well, now, Edward Fairlie, let us have a little
quiet talk over this. You've got to go to this meeting pretty
soon, so you'd better give the thing a final turn over in your
mind. You see I look at it this way, when a man has to
act under a system he must make the best of it. No one
can get just what he wants under any system ; he gets as
near as he can. He must then act under it, or not act at
all '

Here he was interrupted by hearing Tom Hilton, the
landlord, talking to some one in loud and agitated tones, as
he hurried up the stairs. Hilton never stood much on
ceremony with his guests ; and now he burst straight into
the room without preface or introduction.

' Why, here's a go ! ' he exclaimed, flourishing a telegram
in his hand — ' here's a go ! Well, I never '

' What's the matter, landlord ? There is not a fire any-
where about, is there ? ' Dillon asked quietly.

' What's the matter ? Why, here's the news just come
down from town, and blessed if the five million Loan hasn't
gone and failed. Water Policy of Government withdrawn —
everything slides, upset, obfuscated, undone. Where are we

now ? I ask ' gasped Mr. Hilton, unable to find words in

this crisis.

' Well, well,' said Dillon. ' Dear me, now, that's bad.'

' Bad ? why, sir, there's the Reservoir gone again till-
Here we're out again. If that Meeks had got us in the
last—

' You wouldn't be after making a bit of a Reservoir just
for yourselves, ye know?' said Dillon, nodding in an inquiring
manner.

' Make a Reservoir ourselves ? Where's the money ? I
can't understand what you '

' The infirmity is mutual, landlord,' remarked Dillon, look-
ing up at Mr. Hilton with the simplest air possible. ' For I
was only thinking now of what I saw in the papers there, that
the Reservoir would pay six or seven per cent, and you might

iv THE BRASSVILLE ELECTION 163

get the money for that, ye know — ye might now — these
times money so cheap, ye see.'

The landlord glanced at Dillon for a moment. He
understood he was a medical man, and concluded that he was
connected with the Lunatic Asylum, and a little touched
himself. However, he had no time to lose, so he flung him-
self out of the room and down the stairs, eager to discuss the
disastrous intelligence with his agitated fellow -citizens in
the street.

When he was gone Dillon got up and carefully shut the
door, which Mr. Hilton, in his excitement, had left half-open.
He then turned to Frankfort, who had said nothing, being
for the moment quite taken aback by the complete change in
his position that had been made by the failure of the Loan
and the withdrawal of the Government Water Policy and all
its works.

' Teddy/ said Dillon, ' you're in luck this time.'

'Well, Myles, I certainly see that a great difficulty has
been removed," answered Frankfort, at the same time tearing
up the half-written note to his uncle. ' To be sure, all these
Brassville people will be rather disappointed —

' Come now, Teddy, that'll do. None of that with me.
Keep those polite remarks a few minutes till you're address-
ing the free and independents. It's a queer elector of
Brassville I'd be. I'd vote for you, Reservoir or no Reservoir.
No, Teddy, don't forget to sacrifice fat hecatombs to the Fates
to-night for gettin' you out of such a hole.'

' Yes, from all they tell me I ought to beat Meeks now,'
replied Frankfort.

' How can you help it, Edward Fairlie ? Instead of your
being drowned in the Reservoir, Meeks will be smothered
in the Beer, as I heard several intelligent citizens say on
Saturday. Bye-bye, Teddy, I'll leave you now. I must go
back to have another look at this bugler boy in the Hospital.
Nasty wound those Border Natives give. His pulse was
a bit high when I left. If he's all right, I'll have a look
round at your meeting. I want to ask you a question.'

' A question, Myles?' inquired Frankfort, who had scarcely
collected all his wits about him, after the crisis he had gone
through.

1 64 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Yes, I'll just want to ask the candidate if he'll pledge
himself to resign his seat if he don't get a special loan of
half- a- million for the Brassville Reservoir to be floated at
once. That'll give you an opportunity of airing those noble
principles of yours.'

' All right, Myles,' said Frankfort, now recovering his
spirits. ' I'll tell Quiggle to have one of the boys ready for
you with his shillelah, just as you stand up.'

It turned out as Dillon had said. The Reservoir being
out of the way for the present, there was nothing to save
Meeks from being smothered in the Beer. Indeed, the
indignation against him for not getting Brassville into the
first Loan was rendered more inexorable than ever by the
failure of the present one. Here they were, argued the
public of that city, with the Reservoir again indefinitely
postponed ; whereas, if the Member had been alert and
resourceful, they might have been provided for in the last
Loan, the great work already in progress, and the non-success
of this Loan a matter of perfect indifference to them. The
general public were thus implacable against Meeks, and this
left him quite at the mercy of the party of Gazelle and
Co., that condemned him perhaps even more bitterly
for his enormous treason, as they considered it, to their
cause. The accusation, or even the suspicion, that his vote
upon the momentous Beer question was the result of some
quiet arrangement with the Empire Palace Hotel Company,
Limited, was fatal, as far as they were concerned. Indeed,
Miss Gazelle was possessed of a moral conviction that he had
the money, though, when challenged for the facts upon which
her belief rested, it would appear from her replies that it was
founded rather upon faith than upon knowledge. It was
certainly unsatisfactory, not to say unfair, to poor Meeks.
At one of his meetings he challenged that lady to bring for-
ward her evidence. Her only reply was, that he knew all
about it. If he did not, who did ?

Our politician lent no countenance to the slander, and
Quiggle himself kept very quiet about it, as he felt assured
of success ' without anything unpleasant on our part,' as he
remarked to his committee. The Trumpeter continued to
denounce the old member in each issue, three times a week,

iv THE BRASS VILLE ELECTION 165

regularly ; and it rather taxed the literary resources of the
editor to find a sufficient variety of language for the effective
treatment of the same aspect of the subject. The indigna-
tion against Meeks became so intense, immediately after the
failure of the Loan was announced, that the Scorcher had to
abandon its Bunyan's Waterman's attitude, and the editor,
who was partial to illustrations from Shakespeare, had to
admit, in an important leader, ' that fortune was flitting from
the standard of Meeks, while the very stars in their courses
were fighting for the meteor flag of Frankfort.'

So it turned out on the polling day. Our politician
was returned by a large majority over his opponent. He
took his good fortune, as the reader will expect, without any
undue expression of exultation, and, in particular, he was
careful, in moving the customary vote of thanks to the
returning officer, to make a civil reference to Meeks. That
gentleman was present, and stood forth to second the motion
as part of the sad day's work. He did not seem to be
embittered by the accusations and slanders levelled at him.
He still took off his hat respectfully to Miss Gazelle, and
included Mr. Seth Pride in the returning sweep as he was
placing it on his head again. He bore malice to no man,
and of course not to any woman. It was all in the day's
work. He quietly observed to Ouiggle, just as if he was
saying something about the weather, that he, Quiggle, had
worked it up admirably for his man, and that, as for his
placards, some of them were works of genius. The election
did him credit ; but he doubted if he would find it so easy
the next time. In seconding Frankfort's motion, he said
that he acknowledged the honourable way in which his
opponent had conducted the contest, assisted by his esteemed
friend Mr. Quiggle. He wished him every success as a
Representative in working for the district, so long as he did
represent it. ' But, Mr. Returning Officer,' he went on to
say, ' I shall feel it a sacred duty to this noble constituency
at the first opportunity to again present myself for its
honourable service ; and let me say, sir, that I have a con-
viction, as sacred as is my personal faith as a man ' (here he
laid his hand impressively upon his breast, bowing low as
he did so), ' that when that opportunity arrives I shall be

1 66 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP, iv

returned once more to occupy the proud position of Member
of Parliament for Brassville.'

There is in every crowd of men descended from or
connected with the Saxon race a certain sympathy with
those who are down ; but some of the electors could not
help relieving their feelings at the audacity of Meeks by
hurried remarks to one another.

' The impudence of that fellow to talk of again repre-
senting us — putting out our man. It's positively heroic,'
remarked Hedger, the lawyer, to Dr. Delane and a few
others who stood around smiling at poor Meeks.

' He's off his head a bit,' said the Doctor ; ' enough to
make him. How's he to live unless he can get back ? '

' Don't know about that,' half spoke, half croaked Neal
Nickerson, the schoolmaster, who had given his boys a half-
holiday in honour of the election, and was come down to
hear the result of the poll — ' don't know about that. Stranger
things have happened,' he croaked out, as he edged himself
in among the upper-class circle.

' There goes old Nick again,' solemnly remarked Mr.
Hakes, the man of many acres but few words.

' He will be talking, my masters,' said Hedger, drawing
himself up straight, as he turned, with a slight look of con-
tempt, upon the doubled-up figure of the schoolmaster,
putting his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat as he
did so.

They all laughed again, and closing round Frankfort,
who had just stepped down from the hustings, congratulated
him as Member of the House of Representatives of Excelsior
for the important constituency of Brassville.

CHAPTER V

AFTER THE ELECTION

FRANKFORT had thus become a member of the legislature
of an intelligent and a progressive people. We can imagine
the feelings of satisfaction, almost exultation, which fill one
who is possessed by a true ambition as he realises the fact
that he has become the exponent of the ideas and the
spokesman for the wants of his fellow-citizens. And our
politician held the principle that, once elected, he represented
the whole country ; though, to be sure, he also recognised
his legitimate obligations to the particular district that
returned him. Certainly he had met with some disillu-
sionising experiences concerning the manner in which the
relation of the Representative to his constituency on the one
hand, and to his country on the other, was coming to be
regarded by the public. But he remembered that, while all
forms of human government were full of imperfection, from
whatever aspect you viewed them, it was the peculiar char-
acteristic of Democracy to show its defects right upon the
surface, and also to learn by experience how to remedy them.
He had met, and no doubt he was to meet, the more noisy
and lighter elements of the political stream, who sported
upon the top, while the great volume of the waters moved
on quietly and steadily below. And as for himself, and
how far the new conditions of political life suited him, must
not men often make careers for themselves adapted to new
surroundings ?

It was known that he was going to stay for some days
at the Lake Reservoir Hotel, in order to become more fully

167

168 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

acquainted with his new constituents. The first thing that
attracted his attention, when he came down to breakfast a few
mornings after the election day, was the large heap of letters
that lay upon the table awaiting his attention. Compared
with the two or three that he used to get daily at the
University, it was quite a new and rather an exciting ex-
perience. One of the first that caught his eye bore the broad
stamp of the University on the envelope. As the reader
will remember, he had written briefly to the President
immediately after the interview with Mr. Fairlie, telling him
that his prospects of election were hopeless, owing to his not
being able to support the demand for the Reservoir. The
following was the Honourable Mr. Borland's reply : —

THE UNIVERSITY, PRESIDENT'S CHAMBERS,
<)th October 18—

MY DEAR PROFESSOR — Take my hearty congratulations upon your
election, of which we have just had news by wire ; but more upon
your noble stand against the Big Job. It is one good that the
failure of the Loan has done, but not the only one. Our true
policy in Excelsior is not borrowed gold, but home silver. Con-
tinue, young friend, brave and true to principle, as you have begun !
The wife orders me to send her compliments, and to say that you
and she will quarrel if you do not dine with her, first among your
friends, upon your return to the city. — Your faithful friend,

WILLIAM BORLAND.

He was pleased to get such a kind note from the
President of his University. At the same time, he could
not get out of his head what Blanksby, and also Mr. Fairlie,
had said about the proposal to have the Reservoir near the
great mines at Silveracre. The reference to home silver he
did not fully comprehend, as, though he knew that there was
a great silver and currency question simmering in Excelsior,
it was quite a speculative discussion as yet, and distant from
the sphere of practical politics.

As for the rest of the letters, they related mainly to local
affairs. He was surprised to find what a number of Cricket
Clubs, Rowing Clubs, Tennis Clubs, Racing Clubs, Hare and
Hound Clubs, and General Sports Committees were anxious
to do him honour. They all asked him to become Patron,
or President, or at least Vice-President. The Mechanics'

v AFTER THE ELECTION 169

Institutes, Free Libraries, and Literary Associations generally
were equally numerous, and equally desirous of having his
name identified in this dignified manner with their institu-
tions ; while the charitable bodies and the churches naturally
looked for his patronage. At the same time, several of these
institutions were in some financial perplexity that presented
certain broad lines of similitude. Either they were actually
in debt, or they were making a special effort to avoid getting
into that condition ; or there was an old debt, for which the
present management had no moral responsibility, but which
yet they were honourably anxious to discharge ; or else they
did, in fact, desire to borrow for some indispensable purpose,
which could be attained by a loan, if supplemented by
adequate subscriptions.

Then there were the letters which came from people who
had learned to cherish a comprehensive trust in their Govern-
ment. The settlers in the Cote Cote Valley wrote to ask when
the Government were going to drain their land ; or were they
to leave the land after the Government had put them on it?
The members of the Turn Turn Fox Club informed the
Member that the Department had sent them down rifles to
help to destroy the foxes, but where was the ammunition ?
Did they expect them to kill the foxes without ? An in-
dignant parent complained that he did not get the full allow-
ance of sixpence a week per child for bringing his children
to school over the limit fixed by law for the allowance — •
though the road was so bad that he had to put a pair of
horses in the trap to carry them. A comparatively poor
widow wanted a place for her daughter as a typewriter, or
something respectable, as she could barely make ends meet
now with the price of things and the high wage for the
house -help. The Art Association of Brassville wanted
slight assistance from the Government, or somebody, to
enable one of their number to make a painting of the
charming copy of Raphael's ' La Giardiniera ' that was in
the Public Gallery, Miranda. Barney Clegg, proprietor of
the Brown Jug Inn, with whom our politician became more
fully acquainted thereafter, wrote for some simple wants of
his own. His name, though he had been, he said, often
recommended for the honour, had not yet appeared in the

i;o JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

roll of Justices of the Peace ; nor had his delicate son,
Larry, got the easy place in the police that had been pro-
mised to him. His daughter Jenny was still teaching in
the State school at a ridiculously low wage. He concluded
by observing that even old Meeks had not done badly at
times, and by adding, ' so now you may excill him.'

There were two letters, however, which impressed him
somewhat differently from the others — the one agreeably,
the other more seriously by its direct, not to say peremptory,
tone, as being the missive of a potentate in politics.

The more agreeable one was as follows : —

THE BLOCKS, loth October 18 —

DEAR MR. FRANKFORT — Mother wishes me to write to you and
send her congratulations. She says that you and father are brothers
now, being both legislators. She hopes to see you often at The
Blocks, as now that you are our Member she says that she has several
things to ask for — the mid-day train especially, and about the high
duty on sealskin cloaks from London. She bids me to put down
what I want ; but I want nothing, so remain, yours sincerely,

EILEEN LAMBORN.

P.S. — I just add a line to Eilly's note to say how heartbroken I
am about the Reservoir, and so is Mr. Lamborn. He says it all
comes of that Mr. What's-his-name not having got us into the first
Loan. Eilly and I are going to Miranda to-morrow. She has per-
suaded me to go by that horrid morning train. We hope to return
in a few days, so come and see us then.

ANNIE LAMBORN.

The other letter was brief and to the point :—

THE GORGE, i$th October 18—
E. F. Frankfort, Esq., M.P.

DEAR SIR — Could you favour me with an interview on Wed-
nesday at 10.30, on my arrival at Brassville by morning train? —
Very respectfully,

NORRIE SECKER, General Secretary
Central Executive National State Workers' Association.

While he was getting through his heap of letters,
Quiggle came in to make arrangements for the week that
our politician had decided to spend among his constituents,

v AFTER THE ELECTION 171

going about under the guidance of his faithful and now
victorious agent. He knew from experience how useful
Quiggle would be in making him acquainted with those
electors whom he might not have met yet, or might have met
only casually, and in enabling him to learn the relative im-
portance and also the special views of those various local
celebrities who play so important a part in the political affairs
of each district. A day or two was to be spent in the
town, seeing the municipal authorities and the representatives
of public institutions, and then parts of the country about
would be visited and certain individual electors met, who had
become accustomed to and looked for this recognition of
their importance.

' Good morning, Mr. Quiggle. Hope Mrs. Quiggle is
quite well,' said our politician cheerfully, as the agent
stepped in. He felt the vast difference which lay between
canvassing electors for their votes before the election and
discoursing with them for the sake of courtesy or better
acquaintance afterwards. ' What is the pressing thing
now? See His Worship the Mayor, I suppose, and then
the Committee of the Free Library — the Hospital people
later on.'

' Yes, Mr. Frankfort, sir, that is all right and plain sail-
ing,' answered Quiggle ; ' easy going, straight before the
breeze. But the point is about meeting Seeker. He will
be here to-morrow on his rounds from Great Gorge. He
met Bunker there on his way to the city. Did him ; on to
you next. He takes in this country-side this trip.'

' Seeker — yes ; but how do you mean — done Bunker —
all the country-side ? Yes, I have a letter from Seeker,
General Secretary National State Workers, requesting
interview ; rather peremptory, too. What am I to meet
him for ? ' asked Frankfort.

He was struck by Quiggle's serious aspect as he replied
— ' Ah, that's just it, my dear sir — wants a little reckoning
up to find the right latitude and longitude too — where we
are when we meet Seeker — Seeker Secretary, we call him.
It's rather a tight thing to meet Seeker Secretary — it is in-
deed. You're in this time — no use backing Meeks against
you this time. But as to next time, ask Seeker Secretary.

172 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Why, he's the Secretary, and, between you and me and the
telegraph wire, he is the real engineer, of the Central Execu-
tive of the State Workers' Association of Excelsior ! It
takes in the whole lot — Clericals, Trams and Rails, State
Schools, Police, Post Office, Asylums. Bless you ! if they are
against you, — why, you may make your last will and testa-
ment,' said Quiggle, looking up at Frankfort and nodding
emphatically. ' But he is fair enough, too, is Seeker
Secretary, in his way — live and let live, — particularly let
him and the Workers live.'

' And what is he going about for, then ? ' asked Frank-
fort. ' What does he want with me ? '

' Plain enough, my dear sir. He goes round after each
election consulting with the local Branches of the S.W.A.,
and fixing up the new Members about the rights of the State
Workers. He left it to Brickwood to see to you here. And
he has done it, hasn't he ? Yes, we have seen something
during the week of Hiram. But Seeker Secretary generally
hits it off fairly well with the Members, I can tell you ; but
if he can't hit it off with any one, why then '

' Why, then, I suppose he must do without,' interposed
our politician, not half relishing the way the agent was
putting it.

' Quite so,' replied Quiggle, looking very serious, ' that's
about it He does without that man at the next election —
hits him off, in fact. That's why I wanted you to know
about him. Won't do to come to cross sticks with Seeker
Secretary, I can assure you, Mr. Frankfort.'

' I can't but think, Mr. Quiggle, that this presumed
power of the State Workers' Association is exaggerated,'
said Frankfort. 'If, to be sure, the whole State Service
could be united to act as one man, that would be something
serious indeed. But then they have poor and rich, high and
low, in their ranks as well as the outside public. They
have too their fair proportion of patriotic men among them,
men who act from a sense of duty. But what points is he
going to raise ? — I would like to think over them.'

' Ah, there, that's it ! That is the point I was coming
to,' said Quiggle. ' It wouldn't do for me to neglect things.
The moment that I heard that Seeker Secretary was coming

v AFTER THE ELECTION 173

on from Great Gorge, I looked in at Woodall's, and hunted
up the back number of the Miranda Rising Sun, published
some time before the election. Here it is. ' Full Report of
Monster Meeting, State Workers.' You'll see their wrongs,
grievances, claims, rates of pay — the way they talk. If you
look through that you'll see some of what's what for the
Workers ; and it will save you from being lonely while I go
to see to our fixtures.' And, laying the paper on the table,
the agent departed to arrange for the interviews of the
day.

Our politician, upon opening the Rising Sun, had his
attention at once attracted by the report of the monster
meeting, which was printed in bold type, and was introduced
by a whole series of striking headings. He read as
follows : —

STATE WORKERS.

GRAND DEMONSTRATION.

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

MASS MEETING.

THE WORKERS SPEAK.

RETRENCHMENT RETRENCHED.

'THUS FAR AND NO FURTHER.'

A meeting of the State Workers was held in the City Hall last
evening, summoned by advertisement by the Central Executive of
the State Workers' Association, for the purpose of discussing and
adopting a common platform for the State Workers. In accordance
with the rules, the chair was taken by Major Stephen Trounce, the
President of the Association.

The Secretary, Mr. Norrie Seeker, read the notice convening
the meeting.

The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said that the
executive had thought it well, in view of approaching events, and in
accordance with their previous practice at those periods, to call the
State Workers together, so that they could give expression to their
legitimate wants, and formulate a common basis for their just claims,
for the impartial consideration of the public at the coming election.
They were citizens and voters as well as workers, and the attitude
of the various candidates to their claims would naturally form
matter for their consideration afterwards. (Hear, hear.) They
were forbidden by the State Regulations from taking part in political
contests in any corporate capacity, and he trusted that they would
all loyally obey not merely the letter, but the spirit of the regu-
lations. (Hear.) They no more thought of dictating to the

174 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Government than the crew of an ironclad would think of telling the
captain how to navigate her. But even a crew at sea could state
their grievances — (hear) — and they could put theirs before the
authorities and the candidates in a constitutional way. And, what
must not be overlooked, they had the constitutional right of voting,
and if they all voted intelligently throughout the Province, and by
quiet conversation influenced outside workers to assist the cause of
Labour, then it became rather an important factor whom they voted
for and whom they voted against. (Hear, hear.) They all knew
that they were suffering a grievous wrong in all ranks of the workers,
owing to the unjust rating and classification of the Service and the
withholding of the yearly lawful additions to their wages, salaries,
and allowances. It was said that the industrial depression of the
country made it unable to pay those lawful additions, and that
workers outside their ranks had to suffer even positive reductions in
their incomes. (No, no.) Oh, he would not say 'No, no,' but he
would ask was that depression their fault ? Had they caused it ?
(Cheers.) He deprecated invidious comparisons ; but he must
ask, were the European holders of their State Bonds, who were
drawing five or six per cent interest, told that times were bad and
that they must take three or four per cent instead ? (Loud cheers,
and cries of 'Not much.') It was true that they were now one of
the most highly-taxed communities in the world ; owing, some said,
but he would not say for a moment, owing to political mismanage-
ment. But to whatever owing, were they (the workers) answerable ;
and as to taxation, did they not pay their full share as citizens?
Was it right that they should be doubly taxed — taxed as citizens
and then again as public workers? (Cheers.) He believed in
Patriotism; but that was too much Patriotism — too much of a
good thing. It overleaped itself and fell over to the other.
(Cheers and laughter.) The policy of the shop was dollars, not
development ; that of the State should be development, not dollars.
(Loud cheers.) The whole service should be regraded, and salaries
and wages reconsidered. He did not mean degrading by regrading.
No man should get less than he did now. (Cheers.) To restore
increments and promotions was merely taking an unfair tax off the
workers. He trusted that they would to-night display the same
moderation and good tone that marked all their gatherings. (Hear.)
They were within their rights in demanding their rights, and they all
knew, and the public knew, what they could do if driven to ex-
tremities. He believed that they were all now resolved, as one
man, to submit no longer to the denial of -their lawful yearly in-
creases to their pay. The Honourable Mr. Brereton had said that
to pay these would require some ^250,000 a year more. If so, that
only showed how much they were done out of. (Loud cheers.)
He counselled moderation. The Government, notwithstanding the

v AFTER THE ELECTION 175

Bill of last session, now promised fairly. If they afterwards found
that they were deceived by fair promises, they could not be blamed
if they acted accordingly, and the great public would justify them,
whatever political results followed. (Great cheering.)

The Chairman then called upon the various speakers,
and it took some columns of the Rising Sun to report the
various speeches made at this formidable gathering. And
formidable it was, since the men there present were not
merely electors, but electors who had a direct personal
interest for which to fight at the ballot-box. The different
speakers displayed not only intelligence in their arguments,
but, when the subject was regarded from their point of view,
a certain reasonableness in their demands. When, indeed, is
it unreasonable for men to ask for good wages, duly limited
hours of labour, and exemption from all harshness in dis-
cipline ? Each small addition to a worker's wage, when the
matter is brought into the light of day, seems so small and
so just that no one can object, — certainly not the man who
has a good income himself.

All the ranks of the State Service were represented.
They were all there : from the men of the Trams and Rails,
to whom were confided the lives of the people when travel-
ling ; from the School teachers, who were entrusted with
their children ; from the Police, who gave protection to men
and to their property ; from the Warders, who controlled
criminals ; from the caretakers of the asylums ; from the
numerous army of the Post Office ; and the vast clerical de-
partment that carried on the details of the State business —
they all came, and the spokesman from each spoke with
that force which men display when they are pleading for
their own personal wants. The representative of the Trams
and Rails Branch was felt to have made a point when he
observed that one good accident, brought about by the mis-
adventure of an incompetent or overworked engine-driver,
would cost the public more than the value of all their yearly
increments put together. Again, was economy to be sought
in public schools for the people's children — was it to be
gained by starving the teachers ? Or were the letter-carriers,
who might have in their letter-bags the value of thousands,
to be unfairly tempted with low wages ? Retrenchment in

176 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the State expenditure might be necessary, but should it be
at the cost of the wage-earner? If the revenue was de-
ficient, let it be supplied by taxation, that spread the
burden over all ; not by savings, that pressed only on the
State Workers.

Resolutions were passed affirming the need for a new
grading of the ranks of the State Workers ; for providing by
law a scale of yearly additions to salaries and wages ; for
facilitating promotion in the State Service ; for providing
a ready means of appeal by any aggrieved worker to the
Minister of his Department.

So far the meeting had dealt with those who held
positions in the permanent ranks of the Service, from the
Professional Branch downward, and unanimity had prevailed,
though, according to the report, a little restiveness was dis-
played when Mr. Evan Leigh, who represented the Clerical
Branch, spoke. He complained of some new office regu-
lations that had been issued, and which he denounced as
belittling the Service. They were only allowed half-an-
hour for lunch, and the time of going and coming had to be
entered in a book ; also their yearly holidays were unjustly
curtailed. But, beyond a few jocular interjections, little
notice seemed to be taken of Evan Leigh's grievances at the
time. When the resolutions of the State Workers were
disposed of, the daily-paid and casual men in the public
employ were given a hearing ; and as our politician read on
through the report of the Rising Sun, he felt that a new
side-light was thrown upon the subject.

The Chairman then stated that the next resolution would be
moved on behalf of the daily-paid labourers and the casual workers
throughout the State Service. Though not actually belonging to
the National Association, the Executive had acceded to the proposal
of their esteemed Secretary, Mr. Norrie Seeker, that a full hearing
should be accorded to them at the State Workers' meeting. Their
views would be first spoken to by the Secretary of the Day Labourers'
and Casual Employees' Union.

Mr. William Orchard, Secretary D.L. and C.E.U., desired to
move: 'That this great meeting considers the classification of day
labourers iniquitous, and protests against the low maximum of wage
adopted, and appeals to the Cabinet and Parliament to revise the said
classification and to place the toilers upon a more satisfactory basis.'

v AFTER THE ELECTION 177

He could assure Mr. Evan Leigh that the difficulty with them
was not about the lunch book, but the lunch. (Cheers from the
lower end of the hall.) If they knew where to get the lunch, they
would get it in even the half-hour. (Continued cheers from below.)
As for promotions, he and his lot sympathised with them as well as
they could, considering that for the day labourer, if he went up at
all, he had to be kicked up, and if the foreman was against him, he
was always kicked down. (Hear, hear.) He then wanted a priest
or a parson or a member of Parliament to kick him up again. He
would like to know why a day labourer on the railway lines, whether
a casual or not, should only be able to earn eight or nine shillings
a day, when, if he did his work carelessly, and left one rail loose, a
train might go to general smash and kingdom come. Because the
railways did not pay, were they to be sweated? (Hear.) They
could get, they were told, labourers for five shillings a day. Well,
they could get a head boss and manager of all the trams and railways
for ,£500 a year — ten notes a week, not a bad wage either — and
so save the ^1500 extra that they now gave their respected chief.
(Hear.) Better for the State to pay a living wage even to the weak
and inefficient than to have them billeted upon the country as
paupers. What was the use of their establishing Protection to keep
up good wages in outside industries if the State treated its own
workers like this ? As concerns the holidays that Mr. Leigh had
referred to, that didn't trouble them much. Holidays meant the
loss of the day's wage to them, so he need not say that they were not
very sweet on them. (Hear, hear.) He and his men were not, as
the Chairman had said, part and parcel of the National Association ;
but they were willing to pull with them, so long as he and his mates
were not left out of the swim. The poorest pick and shovel man
had as good a cause to live as the best of them, and also had as
good a vote to drop into the ballot-box as the Boss of his depart-
ment had, or, for the matter of that, the Premier himself. (Cheers.)
Another thing that they might find out, and when found take a
note on, was that the lower down they went in the ranks of the
workers, the more numerous were the voters. The Boss of the
Trams and Rails had more than twenty times the salary that he
had ; but he and his men had a hundred and a thousand times the
voting power of the Boss. (Cheers.) Some of the locos, on the
rails advised them to wait for the Government Bill, and see what
it was this time. He himself would be quite willing to wait on
fifteen shillings a day. But what about the poor beggar that
only got seven or eight? (Hear, hear.) He begged to move
the resolution, and he would urge on them to give at the coming
election a strong pull and a long pull and a pull all together.
(Applause.)

Mr. Benjamin Jupe seconded the resolution. They at times

VOL. I N

1 78 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

heard complaints that the workers went into the court and became
insolvent. What was to blame for that but the system of wages
that made them to? It was easy to keep out of court on ^£500 a
year. It was the great difference between the labourers' wages and
the clericals' pay, and even the skilled workmen's, that was at the
bottom of the trouble. There were aristocratic classes coming along
among the workers. (Cheers and 'No, no.' Some interruption.
Cries of ' No divisions ; justice to all.') Yes, that was his word, too,
justice to all. He said ditto. It was very well for them to say
' No division,' with their twelve and fifteen shillings a day, ay, and
some of them their five sovereigns a week ; while he had to work
the eight hours long for seven or eight shillings, and keep his wife
and the children. He was known to be a hard-working man. He
never drank, he didn't do much at the pipe. He brought all his
wage home to the missus, and she saved and worked all she knew,
he could tell them ; yet they could scarce make it up to meet at the
end of the week, with the five children. She used to do a bit of
washing ; but now the Chinese cut her out at that. He had faked out
an old sewing-machine for her on the time-payment plan, and she had
got a turn of cheap work at that. But now the Factory Inspector
threatened to stop this, as she was not a widow and had a husband
earning wages. He mentioned this just to show how the real poor
were treated. (Hear.) Holiday, indeed ! He wanted no holiday.
They meant his wages less ; but the children didn't eat less on
holidays. Another thing — he was «called an unskilled labourer.
Who, he would ask, was a skilled labourer ? He knew that upon
his doing his work faithfully, as he always did his best to, the safety
of trains depended. If a sleeper was left loose, there would be an
almighty smash, he could tell them. (Hear, hear.) He and his
mates were willing to pull together with them, so long as they all
stuck up for a good living wage for every man and his family. Was
that an unfair thing to ask? (No, no.) He didn't coddle to
aristocracies in labour more than he did anywhere else. (Cheers
from the end of the hall.) As for the Trams and Rails not paying,
let them pay off the loans and float new ones at a lower rate ot
interest. If that would not do, let them take a bit off the big
salaries. (Cheers.) Anything was better than to have the men
who really did the work left without a fair wage and fair food. He
knew he was a poor man. He had not the knack of climbing up.
But a lot of them knew him. They knew he was no loafer. (Hear,
hear.) He asked nothing for loafers. That was why he objected
to the butty-gang system, as the idle lot and bad workers knocked
down the average wage return for the lot, and this led to only the
clever workers clubbing together. All he asked for was justice
right round and right down, and as the casual pick and shovel man
was as good at the ballot-box as the engine-driver on the footplate,

v AFTER THE ELECTION 179

let him have an equal show for fairplay. He seconded the resolu-
tion, which was carried unanimously.

Here, according to the report, before the close of the proceedings,
Mr. Norrie Seeker, the General Secretary, came forward, by kind
permission, as he said, of the Chairman, just to speak a few stray
words. Our politician looked with interest to see what his formidable
visitor of the next day had to say. And, as the speaker said, the words
were few, and all offered with respectful deference to the meeting.

No one (Mr. Seeker remarked) could add force to the demon-
stration of the justice of their cause which they had heard that
evening. He only craved leave to make a remark about the best
way for them to proceed. But, in passing, let him say that all
which his esteemed friends Mr. Orchard and Mr. Jupe said had gone
straight to his heart. He hailed them as brothers. Solidarity of
labour was the principle of the age. They must be united, nay, they
were united. The State Workers' Association was fighting the battle
of those who were not State workers. If they gained fifteen shillings
a day for the skilled worker, the unskilled was not likely to long
remain at seven shillings a day. But to come to the best method of
procedure, a matter which was somewhat within his province perhaps,
he would venture upon a little piece of advice, if he might be so bold.
Let them wait upon both the Honourable the Premier (Mr. Brereton)
and the Honourable the Leader of the Opposition (Sir Donald
MacLever) with copies of the resolutions passed at this great
meeting, and let them wait upon them at the right time, and the
right time was before the elections and not after. (Cheers.) They
could hear what both honourable gentlemen said, and afterwards
they could compare notes a bit. They could ask each honourable
gentleman what he thought of their resolutions, and then afterwards,
when they got their answers, why, then they could at the elections
tell each of those honourable gentlemen what they, in their turn,
thought of him. (Great laughter and applause.)

The motion was then carried by acclamation.

The Chairman, in closing the meeting, said that a slight note of
discord had been struck by his friend, Mr. Jupe, but there was
often truth got out of discord. They must all realise one another's
wrongs and wants — (hear, hear) — and they must all have one
another's support at the ballot-box. United they stood, he would
repeat. He would only add that while all ranks of the workers had
mingled here to-night on terms of perfect equality, officers and men,
foreman and day labourer, to-morrow they would all resume their
relative positions at their daily duties, resolved to do the public
full justice, and, he would say, also resolved to get, by lawful,
constitutional means, full justice from the public. (Loud cheers.)

A vote of thanks to Major Trounce for his able conduct in the
chair brought the meeting to a close.

i8o JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

As our politician laid down the Rising Sun, he felt that
the report which he had been reading afforded ample matter
for mental ' chewing and digesting ' before the promised
visit of Seeker Secretary. Complaints by those who have
been called the working classes of their needs and wrongs
were unhappily not new. But it was new that the wage-
earner should be ruler and be able to prescribe terms to his
employer. What he had been reading was not the appeal
of a suppliant, but the claim of a potentate. It was better
thus than to have the poor downtrodden, still, did it not
remind one of the old system of Guilds, under which powerful
corporate bodies established monopolies and taxed the rest
of the people to support them ?

While waiting for the meeting with Seeker, Frankfort
continued his visits in Brassville to important citizens, and
had a formal interview with the Mayor and Councillors, in
order to become acquainted with various local requirements,
which had been somewhat overshadowed by the Reservoir,
but which were now brought into prominence again. Next
he arranged to visit the country around, so as to see several
electors whom he had not been able to meet, or had only
met casually before the election ; still availing himself of
Quiggle's services, as the agent's intimate knowledge of
the people was useful, and his sensible advice and cheerful
manner assisted in the smooth going of affairs.

He thought it only right to first visit his brother
legislator of The Blocks, and at the same time to pay
his respects to the Honourable Mrs. Lamborn and to Miss
Lamborn, in case they should have returned from town.
So, favoured by a fine spring morning, Member and agent
drove out through the broad main thoroughfare of Brassville,
receiving as they went many friendly salutations from con-
stituents, who evidently admired the attention shown by the
Member to the district, even after the battle was over. They
intended, after visiting The Blocks, to continue the day's
work in the neighbouring village of Glooscap, which was
one of the most active political centres outside Brassville
itself. They had made an early start, as Frankfort was
anxious to get back in time to dine with his friend, Myles
Dillon, who was coming up from town that evening, in

v AFTER THE ELECTION 181

consequence of some troublesome complications that had
set in in the case of the young bugler of the Border Rangers
whom he had lately operated upon. The Government also
had asked him to hold at the same time in Brassville the
medical examination of some applicants for admission to
the State Service. Myles Dillon never spared himself
trouble about the smallest or poorest case that he had
charge of, and was not satisfied while the least thing that
could be done for a patient was left undone. He was as
anxious about the bugler boy as he would have been about
the General.

As soon as our politician and Quiggle had got past
that bad bit of road opposite the gate to which Mr. Lam-
born had called attention when Frankfort paid his first visit
to The Blocks, they saw that gentleman himself busy in
his fields, like a primitive monarch, ruling and directing
his workers. As they drove slowly over it, Frankfort
noticed that the Government help to put the road in
proper condition had as yet been sought in vain, as the bad
bit was still there, as bad as ever, and indeed naturally
getting rather worse. Mr. Lamborn was superintending a
party of men who were marking out long lines of narrow
furrows inside the fence all along the grounds before the
mansion. Rough and friendly was the greeting of the
Senator, and warm his congratulations to his brother legis-
lator upon his return to Parliament. In reply to inquiries
after Mrs. and Miss Lamborn, he mentioned that they had
delayed their return from the city owing to some special
festivities that were going on, and would not be home for a
day or so.

' But it's just as well so, Mr. Frankfort. We'll have
more time to ourselves for talking over things : business
first and pleasure afterwards, you know ; not as old Neal
Nickerson says, satire-like, you know, " Pleasure first, business
you can do any time." '

Our politician felt disappointed, he scarcely knew why ;
but he consoled himself by considering that now he and
the Senator would have the more time to talk over together
the affairs of the nation.

' The road ain't fixed up yet,' remarked Quiggle. He

1 82 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

considered it a matter of business not only to be acquainted
with, but to take an interest in, the grievances of all parts
of his constituency.

' No. Now that's where M'Ennery is not doing the
straight thing by us. I am glad you mentioned it, Quiggle ;
that is one thing I wanted Mr. Frankfort to look into when
he gets to town. When I was down last,' continued the
Senator, ' I put it to him straight. " Mac," says I, " I've
always supported you, and, as Minister of Works, you ought
to see this thing through. It's a crying shame to leave the
road as it is. We are willing to pay a third." '

' And won't he help then ? ' asked our politician.

1 Help ? Why, he offers for the Government to pay
only half and the Local Board the other half of fixing up
the road right along. And a poor district like this too.
Who uses the road, I would like to know? Why, the
Government as much as any one.'

1 Ah well, I must look it up when I get to town. To
be sure, the original Roads Act is for the Government to
give pound for pound, main roads.'

' Yes, I mind well enough when the Act was passed,'
said the Senator. ' But see how the traffic has gone on
increasing since. For one dray on the road then there are
twenty now. Besides, lots of the other Boards get two-
thirds ; why should we put up with half? But, come
along to the house ; you can have another look at the road
as you go out ' ; and, giving the buggy to one of the men,
he and the two other politicians walked up through the
handsomely-laid-out grounds, and were soon seated on the
broad verandah.

Stretching out on every side around them were the
spacious lands of The Blocks. To the observing eye of the
lover of rural scenery, they were bright with all the newing
beauty of spring. But still more pleasing was the prospect,
to the practical eye of the owner, of the rich grass, covered
with browsing cattle and sheep laden with fleece, with which
he hoped to ' top the market ' at the coming Spring Show
and Sale at Brassville. Excepting towards the road at the
gate, you could not see on any side the boundaries of the
vast estate. On the three other sides there lay before your

v AFTER THE ELECTION 183

view a long succession of grassy rises and gentle slopes, with
occasional small flats of rich mould, all stocked with cattle,
now up to their fullest carrying capacity, just before the sale.
This yearly event was an important marking time for Mr.
Lamborn in computing his income ; for every year some
thousands of pounds sterling, and at good sales many
thousands, were added to it from this source alone.

' Pretty your little lake beyond there looks, sparkling in
the sun,' said Frankfort, who, as the reader knows, was
susceptible to the beauties of Nature. ' And the foliage of
those English beeches round it is so rich bursting out with
the spring.'

' Yes, and a pretty penny it cost me to dam up that
lake too, I can tell you ! And you see it's only half full.
I would never have gone to the expense, only that I made
sure of the Reservoir coming. With the Reservoir here
beyond and a pipe down we could always keep it filled
right up to there, you see, the line of the trees, the first
circle of them. That's what Mrs. Lamborn and my daughter
had set their hearts on. They are cut up about it more
than me.'

' They don't bless Meeks, do they ? ' interposed Quiggle.

' Ah well, curses are not much in their line, or I know
who would get a few. Why, when the lake shrinks in
summer, we have to cart water for the trees. They cost
too much to plant to let them wither now. Yes, to be
sure, that bungle about the Loan has a lot to answer for.'

' What are your men sowing down there ? ' asked our
politician, not much relishing this unexpected appearance
of the Reservoir skeleton, and pointing to the foot of the
green slopes where they were busily working away at the
long stretches of furrows.

' There ? We are laying down Brand's patent poisoned
wheat for the rabbits. I have to lay it down all round the
property to stop them, as they come in from the roads and
reserves outside. That's the patent that there was the row
about in the House last Session.'

' Row in the House ? ' queried our politician.

' Yes. Didn't you see it ? Oh, I suppose you didn't
attend to these things before as you will now.'

1 84 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' To be sure,' broke in Quiggle, anxious to put his man
in possession of the facts about a question that was such a
live one in the district as the Poisoned Wheat Patent — ' to
be sure, that was when Billy Brereton, old B. B., cut up
rough and said that the landowners should buy up their
own wheat for poisoning. So he did, did old Billy — he got
quite cross about it'

' Yes, but worse than that,' said the Senator, ' he wanted
to make out that it was none of his business to secure the
patent for the Province. " No," says he coolly, " gentlemen,
be pleased to purchase it for yourselves." That's just about
the measuring up of what he said.'

' I suppose they think that you and Hilljohn and Le
Fanu could clear your lands if you joined together,' suggested
Frankfort.

' But not from the effects of a national visitation —
visitation of Providence, you know,' answered the land-
owner. ' It's like a big fire over a district, or a total failure
of crops. We always look to the Government then to help
us out. Why, bless you ! the rabbits are in millions.'

' You might give Brereton,' continued the Senator, ' a
look in when you get to town. He will be about preparing
his Estimates for the next year.'

' The best plan might be for the Crown to do its part
and the landowners theirs,' replied our politician. ' I would
like to hear what Brereton says about it. And Mr. Keech
has asked me to see him about this school question. By
the way, what do you think of that ? '

' Better to build at once a new one at this end of
Glooscap. The Department will find it the cheapest in
the long run — cheaper than paying the parents for bringing
their children over the three miles. Why, Jacobs told me
that he was going to write to you about it. It takes him
a trap and pair, and yet they dispute the sixpence per
head.'

' Yes, he has written to me right enough. But I was
thinking of the school question that has been started on us
the other day, by the suggestion that Brereton made to the
Churches' deputation to have the Bible read without com-
ment. Talking of calling on him just reminded me of it.'

v AFTER THE ELECTION 185

' Oh, that ; well, that's the old question up again,' said
the Senator. ' I heard the wife and Eilly at it the other
day over the report in the paper of the deputation. "It
is the correct thing ; of course it is, Eilly," says she ; " teach
the children their duty, and all that's right." " But who are
to read the Bible, mother ? " asks the daughter. " It's a
spiritual book, and if the teacher does not believe in it
himself, how can he make the children believe ? " " Why, of
course, they all believe in it," says the mother ; and so they
arguefy away till I don't know what to think.'

' Well, it is a knotty point, but I confess I sympathise
with Miss Lamborn's view, that religion must be taught by
the religious,' remarked Frankfort.

' Yes, true ; that's it — just so. But if you come into
the library I will show you the plans of the school they
propose at this end Glooscap. You'll see it needn't cost
the Department much.'

And the two legislators walked in to look at the
plans, while Quiggle, who knew that they had a long
day's work before them, went on to have the buggy ready
at the gate. Soon after, our politician, finding that he
was not getting much light upon the questions of the day,
arose to go.

' What, off so soon ? Well, it's early for lunch, and I
suppose Quiggle has your work cut out. If you come
round this side on your way down, I can show you the
road a little higher up, so that you can speak from ocular
demonstration when you see M'Ennery.'

So, after a good look at the bad bit of road, our politician
mounted the buggy beside the alert agent, who was all
eager to get away.

' Where do you make for now ? ' asked Mr. Lamborn.

' I am going straight on to Glooscap,' replied Frankfort,
'just giving a call on the way to your neighbour Hilljohn.
Strange enough, I have never met him ; I did not see him
about at the election at all, though I met the young Hill-
John at The Blocks one Sunday afternoon.'

' Oh, ah yes, Usher Hilljohn ; old identity about here ;
one of us — though he some way seems to get boxed up
in the other paddock now and then. He has been here

1 86 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

from the first, and bachelor still, just as he came from
Ireland forty years ago.'

' It is odd that I have never seen Mr. Hilljohn,' Frank-
fort remarked to Quiggle, as they drove away. ' What sort
of man is he ? '

' To say the truth, I don't know him very well myself,'
answered the agent. ' He is rather reserved, but he is a
real gentleman, you know ; and as for his servants and work-
people, he is more like a father to them. He's got quite
a colony of old 'uns and their families about him, and they
say — would you believe it ? ' said Quiggle, looking round, and
giving an emphatic dive into open space with his whip —
' they say that he has provided in his will that after his death
they are all to be kept on as before.'

' Yes, that's handsome and right too, as I suppose he
can afford it, having this fine property and no family but
his nephew.'

' That's it. Oh, he is, as I say, a real gentleman. And
do you know, sir, there's truth in what I've heard say, that
an Irishman, when he is a gentleman, is the genuine article
— real tip-top.'

' Why, then, I should like to have a good talk with him,'
said Frankfort.

' Not much time to spare for that, sir, and, besides, as
for business, there ain't none with him — he wants nothing
from nobody. He is quite in the other paddock, as Mr.
Lamborn said. It's a sort of fad of his to have no grievance
— beholden to nobody. It's a bit of a change to talk with
him, as far as I know. But see what splendid country he
has got,' said the agent, pointing from one side to the
other, as they drove up through the broad acres to the old
home station, which now, with a solid block of added front
buildings, formed the mansion of the Hilljohn estate.

Soon they were at the door, and, in response to a lively
ring from Quiggle, a comfortable-looking and homely-clad
Irishwoman, past middle life, opened the door.

' Ah, here we are, Mrs. Coggan. I'm glad to see
you so well-looking. This is our new Member, Mr. Frank-
fort, come to see Mr. Hilljohn and all of you. Is he at
home ? '

v AFTER THE ELECTION 187

4 To be sure he is, in the study beyont there,' replied
Mrs. Coggan.

' Well, now, that's lucky. Just show the Member in,
and send round one of those fine lads of yours, Mrs. C.,
to hold the trap, while I go and have a talkee-talkee with
the respected Mr. C. I think I saw him in the home
paddock just now, turning out the mail mare, you know.
You know — the one that goes for the letters. No objection
to that programme, Mrs. C., I hope ? ' said Quiggle, with
his cheerful smile.

' Not the least, Mr. Quiggle, on the part of Catherine
Coggan and may the talkee-talkee improve the two of ye,
if there is any room for improvement, which I am far from
laying down to ye, Mr. Quiggle. Come this way, Mr.
Frankfort, if ye please.'

When our politician entered the study, Usher Hilljohn
rose from the table, where he had been getting through a
pile of letters, most of which were asking for money or
favours of some sort. It was the mail morning, and Mr
Coggan had just returned from the Glooscap Post Office,
where Mrs. Garvin, the postmistress, made up a special bag
on the arrival of the post for the Hilljohn estate. Frankfort
saw rise to receive him a tall, gray-haired man, well past
sixty, homely in his appearance and manner, yet withal
having something even aristocratic in his bearing. He
came of a good Irish family, and had received the educa-
tion of a gentleman, as the phrase used to run ; but having
emigrated to Excelsior when a youth, he, after his long,
lonely forest life, presented that plain, homely aspect that
Frankfort had observed, which was not inconsistent with,
but which yet imperfectly indicated, the high - toned man
within. But there was even a slight touch of hauteur in
his manner, which, however, was amply redeemed from all
cause of offence by the unmistakably benevolent aspect
which the full kindly eyes gave to the whole countenance.

' How do you do, Mr. Frankfort. I scarcely deserve
the courtesy of your visit, as I must confess to have taken
no interest in the late electoral affairs.'

' Yes,' replied our politician, ' I did not see you at all in
Brassville during my stay, so I thought I would give you

1 88 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

a call on my way to Glooscap. You are not a very active
politician then, Mr. Hilljohn ? '

' Well, I have taken part in some elections, and I would
have you understand that I am a thoroughly loyal subject
of the system of Government under which we live, and
under which, I will add, we all enjoy so many benefits.'

' Might I then ask, Mr. Hilljohn, why you took no part
in the late contest for Brassville ? From what I have heard
of you I think you will readily understand me when I say
that I ask not as a candidate looking for support, but as
an inquirer seeking for information.'

' To be sure, I quite understand your inquiry. Fact is,
there were two or three things that kept me out of it. For
one, though I knew little of Mr. Meeks, and never claimed
his services, I was not disposed to join in hounding him
down ; yet I could scarcely range myself as one of his
supporters. The system is more to blame than the man.'

' The system ? '

'Yes, the system by which localities are taught to
grasp from the Public Treasury all they can. And as to the
Member — well, he is to bring back as full a bag from the
general grab as possible.'

In his indignation, the Irish impetuosity which lay deep
down in Hilljohn's nature, covered but not all suppressed by
his quiet exterior, had evidently outrun his natural courtesy
and that consideration for the feelings of his companion
which was instinctive in his nature.

' You must let me say, Mr. Hilljohn,' warmly responded
our politician, ' that, though I deplore the Government
largess and representative agency business as much as man
can, I absolutely deny that Members fulfil the functions
that you attribute to them, or that constituencies are so
wholly sordid as you appear to think. The thing is
tempered by the sense of public duty of the representative
and the forbearance of the constituency. For instance,' he
continued, as he grew warmer — ' for instance, I have never said
a word in favour of this Reservoir scheme here, and, more
than that, I may tell you that I had resolved, if the Loan
had not failed, to have declared against it and taken my
chance.'

v AFTER THE ELECTION 189

' No, truly, you don't say that, do you ? Both of us
think alike then — see through the Reservoir? That does
astonish me. For it was just the Reservoir that was
another reason why I kept out of the whole thing. All
the public people were going for it ; I thought you and
Meeks were at one on it, and that I would not care to work
for either. Audacious job, to be sure ! '

It was now our politician's turn to be amazed. Of all
the multiple appearances of this Reservoir, here was the
most astounding. A leading elector, with broad acres to
be watered, calling it an audacious job ! Here was a
unique experience indeed.

4 What ! do you then condemn the Reservoir, Mr. Hill-
john ? Why, they say it will add pounds per acre to the
value of all the land about.' Our politician had become
so accustomed to the plain direct selfish view of the subject,
that he could scarcely credit this condemnation of it by
one of the beneficiaries. He was afraid that there must
be some mistake, somewhere, which he would find out
directly.

' Well, perhaps it would,' quietly replied his companion,
' though that's rather exaggerated. But, if the undertaking
were to be carried out as promised, and the district to meet
its liabilities honestly under it, the rating on the land would
outweigh the value. It must be heavy for so great a work
in a small district like this. It would at least be two
shillings and sixpence in the pound. If it is meant to
evade this liability, under plausible devices, prolonging
times for repayment, reducing interest, writing off portions
of the debt upon one excuse or another, refloating loans,
funding liabilities, and so on — then, why, the fact is that,
as a large landowner, I don't fancy the thing. It be-
comes such a network of make-believe, sham, delusion,
and humbug, that, personally, I would rather keep out
of it.'

Our politician looked at this new specimen of the genus
elector silently, with amazement. At last he broke out,
' You must really allow me, Mr. Hilljohn, to express my
admiration for the high and disinterested view that you
take of this Reservoir question. I confess to you that it

190 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

quite takes me by surprise ; for it seemed to me that all
the people, high and low, were for it, upon any terms or
any pretence.'

' To be sure, nearly all are. And can you wonder at
it ? Can you reasonably expect people to deny themselves
the filling of their own pockets when they have the chance,
lest the general public should suffer? It's just like, in
another form, the demand of the State workers to fix their
own rates of pay. Why not ? Would we not do the same
in their place? To be candid with you,' continued Hill-
john, with a slight laugh, ' the reason I feel as I do is
because I can afford to be unselfish. I have a good
property, and no one dependent upon me, except my
nephew. If I had a wife and six children I should be
like the rest.'

' But I thought it was bachelors who were selfish,' inter-
posed Frankfort

' Talk, my dear sir, talk — the commonplace talk of
married people. The fact is, married people cannot afford
to be unselfish. No, the most unselfish and public-spirited
acts of the world have been done by single or at least
childless men. But this is rather by the way, is it not,
Mr. Frankfort ? Coming back to what you said about all
being for this Reservoir, the large majority certainly are.
These you are always meeting as you go about in politics.
You are always coming on the most demonstrative elements,
and perhaps the most objectionable phases of what is called
public opinion. It is a weakness in our political regime
that this passes for the whole. There should be freer scope
for independent ideas among the people, or else they will be
apt to wither, like a numbed limb, for want of use. That
is a danger that threatens Democracy.'

' Well, certainly, upon this Reservoir question if there
are independent men, we do not hear much of them. Why,
you are the only man I have met who objected to it.
Woodall, the bookseller, who is quite a high type of elector,
though he evidently did not believe in it, yet said that it
was not for him to refuse it if the State would give it.
There certainly are not many of you.'

' There are not many of us truly. Still, the active

v AFTER THE ELECTION 191

politician rarely hears of even the few ; they are blotted
out for him — all seem to say the same thing, at least where
local wants are concerned. That is what I wanted you to
bear in mind.'

' There were some other matters that my brother legis-
lator, Mr. Lamborn, mentioned, about Government buying
the Poisoned Wheat Patent, and giving half contribution
to the roads,' remarked our Politician, in some wonder and
expectancy as to what new light he might get upon these
matters from so independent a thinker as Mr. Hilljohn.

' Yes, well, as to those, of course I don't care to separate
from my neighbours ; but I don't really know that I can
quarrel with Brereton there. I am afraid that we all get
too much into the way of looking upon it as the proper
thing to get all wants supplied by the Government. We
regard the State as fair game, to be hunted down by every-
body. Sometimes I fear that we landed property men in
these young countries forget that old wise saw, that was
spoken years ago in my native land, about property having
duties as well as rights. I am for both. But come, we
will be better outside this bright morning, and we can look
at the property as we talk about it.'

And Hilljohn taking up his fowling-piece as naturally
as he would his walking-stick — a habit that had been induced
by the continuous warfare with the rabbits — the two walked
down the front lawn towards a small hill, or knoll, that was
beyond, upon the top of which was perched an old-fashioned
cannon, such as might have come out of a man-of-war fifty
years ago.

' You see my battery ? ' said the landowner. ' In the
early days, when the natives used to be here in numbers,
and at times to be rather troublesome, I got this old gun
fixed up there as a note of warning to them — for its moral
effect upon the native mind.'

' And did you find it to serve the purpose ? '
' Yes, it did. It overawed the troublesome ones. But
it could tell a curious experience that old gun if it could
speak. You see, I was always fair to the blackfellows —
never hunted them down — even at times defended them
from the angry whites, when it was their turn to need

192 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

protection. So after a while they came to look upon my
home station as a place of refuge, and in particular to believe
that the big gun would protect them when they were chased,
which it did, as I allowed no wholesale raids upon them
here. Often I had half a tribe camped around the foot of
the knoll.'

' They were at times ill-used then ?

' It is the old story/ answered Hilljohn. ' They would
steal things, then they were hunted and killed, and then
they would become really dangerous. Even the savage
has his rude notions of justice. There is much the same
thing going on now on the Border. There was an outbreak
of the natives lately. You saw about it in the papers ? '

'Yes. Why, my friend, Surgeon Dillon, has been
attending a bugler boy, of the Rangers, who got a bad
wound. He and some of his company were surprised by
an ambuscade. Dillon is coming up from town to-night to
see how he is going on.'

1 Ah yes, there again is work for you political men.
The Border Rangers are quite out of hand — disorganised.
The man killed and the boy wounded in that ambuscade
were sacrificed to the want of proper control. The Govern-
ment announce, I understand, that they are going to
reorganise the whole thing. I hope that Parliament will
support them. It is really too bad now.'

Here they were interrupted by Mrs. Coggan, who had
followed them down.

' If you please, sir, I'll want a pair of fowls for to-
morrow, if Mrs. Le Fanu is coming over.'

' All right, Mrs. Coggan, I will get them for you directly.
Send down one of the boys for them.'

Frankfort was beginning to wonder by what conjuring
arts the birds were to be produced, when they came opposite
to the poultry paddock, and his companion, singling out
two fat ones, soon laid them low with unerring aim from
his gun.

' I generally kill this way. It's quicker and more
merciful than hunting them about and chopping off their
heads. Half the sufferings of animals in their killing is
from fright. The thing itself is easy for man and beast.'

v AFTER THE ELECTION ig$

As they strolled on, a rough but comfortable -looking
log hut came in view, at the other side of the little hill.
Standing before it, smoking a large cigar made out of home-
grown tobacco, was a venerable but strong-looking old native,
whose rapidly-whitening hair stood out in contrast to the
dark skin. His dusky spouse, also well stricken in years,
sat on a log near, enjoying the solace of a short pipe.

1 You see the King and Queen,' said Hilljohn — ' King
Billy and Queen Mary.'

' Was he really one of their kings ? '

' Certainly he was in the early days ; and rather a
troublesome king too. But I made peace with him and
treated him well, and he became quite attached to me. He
does not do much, but he is good with the horses ; only he
will do nothing for any one but me. He considers himself
a king still — and an impudent king he was at times too.
I will never forget,' continued Hilljohn, with a smile, ' his
impertinence about his marriage.'

' About his marriage ? Is he married, then ? ' asked
Frankfort.

' To be sure he is married ; but not exactly as he at
first wanted. It was this way. When I got him tamed
and settled down, I used to bid him go to his tribe and
bring in a wife, and I would provide the hut and rations
and blankets and everything for the two. In that early
time, you must know, we used to have emigrant ships calling
at Leadville with consignments of pauper girls for domestic
service — mostly my own countrywomen, indeed — and as
each ship arrived there would be plenty of talk about it
and the live cargo too among the station hands all around.
So one day His Majesty told me that he would get married
now. "Quite right," I said; "when will you bring her
down ? Just let me know, and I'll have all ready, parson and
all. Whom are you going to get, Billy ? " " Oh, Massa
John " — as he always calls me for short — " oh, Massa John,
I not 'tic'lar. One of those Irish girls do for me." The
scoundrel ! ' Hilljohn continued ; ' to insult my country to
my face. But I made him take one of his tribe, and he
has been good enough to her. They have got on fairly
well together. The chief use he makes of her now is, when

VOL. I O

194 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

he pays a visit to Brassville, to have her walk behind him,
carrying the boots which he puts on, for the grandeur of it,
when he gets to the town. Here, Billy, here is Mr. Frank-
fort, our new Parliament man, in the place of your old
friend Mr. Meeks.'

King Billy advanced, looked quietly, but with keen,
scrutinising glance at the new Member, took his cigar out
of his mouth and remarked, in a quiet undertone, ' Missa
Frank, Parleman man ? A'rite. Dam lake. No go.' He
then replaced his cigar and puffed away vigorously, as if for
solace for loss of the lake.

' Ha ! ha ! ' laughed Hilljohn, ' there again you see the
force of public opinion about the Reservoir. You see, he is
quite of the general mind upon the subject, only he can't
manage the big word.'

1 Well, it does show,' returned Frankfort, ' how a popular
idea will diffuse itself, when we find this blackfellow just as
full of the Reservoir as all the rest. I was struck when my
little cousin, Teddy Fairlie, begged me to get the Reservoir,
as he wanted to sail his boats in it. But this beats that. I
don't seem to be finding out many of those dispassionate
citizens yet that you referred to, Mr. Hilljohn.'

' Well, I can't say that King Billy is one of them,' said
Hilljohn ; and then turning to the dark figure, that continued
smoking silently, ' Ah yes, Billy. No lake this time. You
and Mary must wash in the creek still.'

' Ah, bah, picaninny wash,' was the reply.

' I am afraid that Billy is getting infected with the
humbug of politics, when he sneers at the little wash in the
creek,' Hilljohn went on, turning to his companion, ' for this
I can certify, that if he and Mary had an ocean next door to
them, they wouldn't wash a little finger in it'

Here the prompt step of the active Quiggle was heard,
as that gentleman hurried up, anxious to press on with the
day's work. He knew that nothing of political value would
be got from the stay with Hilljohn ; so he remarked to
Frankfort, after a respectful salutation of his companion, 'All
the citizens of Glooscap await their Representative, sir, not
to speak of those whom we will meet on the road.'

' Yes, yes, I must not keep you,' said the landowner.

v AFTER THE ELECTION 195

' Business is business, is it not, Mr. Quiggle ? Some time
when you have leisure, Mr. Frankfort, come and spend a few
days with me, and we can talk.'

'Just what I should like/ cordially replied our politician,
who felt that the differences between them were such as
would promote, not impair, conversation.

So they parted, and soon the buggy that bore Member
and Agent was hurrying along the King's highway to
Glooscap. Just as they were coming near the town, Quiggle
exclaimed, in a cheery tone of voice, ' Ah, to be sure ! I
knew it ! There he is ! '

1 Who is there ? ' inquired Frankfort.

' Why, of course, Jacob. Jacob himself, Jacob Shumate,
the political shoemaker. I'm sure I don't know when he
makes his shoes, for he is always in the streets. And he
can talk. We must try and keep him right. Why, what
are Lamborn and Hilljohn together on polling-day to Jacob ?
What are they ? I ask. Oh no, my good sir, two to one
on the outsider. Good day, Jacob. It's just our luck
again meeting you so soon. Here's Mr. Frankfort, our new
Member. He is a bit of a dab at talking, too, so you can run
in couples a while. If you will get out, sir, and wrestle with
Jacob,' said Quiggle aside to Frankfort, calling to mind his
Biblical reminiscences, ' I'll take the trap down the street
to the Red Parrot and be back again shortly.' Then, turning
to Jacob Shumate, he added in an explanatory manner :
' While I am putting the ponies up, Jacob, you and the
Professor can have it out.'

' I am much obliged to you for your permission,' answered
Mr. Shumate, with a certain dignified reserve in his manner,
as Quiggle, giving him a good-humoured nod, drove away.

Our politician, as he shook hands with the shoemaker,
recognised the man who had passed Mr. Keech and himself
so hurriedly in Brassville that he could only get a glance at
him. He was, now that he had a full view of him, struck
by his spare, almost attenuated figure, suggestive of privation
and self-denial ; his drawn, careworn face, marked with an
air of anxiety and discontent ; and his coal-black eyes, that
glanced round in a manner at once searching and furtive.
He was evidently a man with a grievance, and there is

196 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

often something wrong in the man with a grievance as well
as in the world of which he complains.

' Glad to meet you, Mr. Frankfort. You are our repre-
sentative man in the Parliament of the land.' He spoke
with a certain laboured air of deference, as if continued
oppression by the world weighed him down, but yet was by
no means meekly acquiesced in by him.

' Thank you, Mr. Shumate — thank you. I am going
round for the purpose of meeting and conversing with
my constituents. I have seen my brother legislator, Mr.
Lamborn, this morning, and I have just left Mr. Hilljohn.'

' Ah yes. Quite the aristocracy. Mr. Hilljohn is an
aristocratic gentleman, truly. As for the properties, they are
both princely,' and the shoemaker gave a keen glance at the
new Member.

' The Blocks appears to be the better kept place of the
two. Fine estate The Blocks,' remarked our politician, wish-
ing to say something indifferent, waiting for Shumate, who
was evidently only anxious for opportunity to launch out
upon his favourite topics.

' Ah, you may indeed say so, Mr. Frankfort. It's forty
years next month,' said the shoemaker, with a wearied air,
' since I and the gentleman who owns The Blocks came out
in the same ship — the old Argyle — to Excelsior. We were
both in the steerage. Single men, sir. But as the immortal
Nelson, sir, once remarked, " Aft the more honour. Forward
the better man." We compared well with the cabin set, for all
the superficial advantages of their position, that we did, sir.'

' Why, a bad lot were they ? ' remarked our politician.

' Well, then, you had better ask the Honourable Mr.
Lamborn. Though, perhaps, now that I think of it,' said
the shoemaker, recurring to his deferential air — ' perhaps he
would not care to be reminded of his old voyage with Jacob
Shumate. Possibly neither would his honourable lady.
People in high life have short memories for the past.'

' But, however he came out, he has made a place and a
name for himself now. I honour the man who rises by his
own exertions — not born to the pillow,' said Frankfort in a
decisive tone.

' That's all very well, sir ; you have spoken very well,

v AFTER THE ELECTION 197

sir, in one way. He has risen, as you say, sir, and made a
place for himself, as you remark, but how has he risen ?
How, sir ? '

' He has done nothing wrong, has he ? ' asked Frankfort,
a little disturbed lest he should be on the eve of some
startling revelations that would necessarily damage, in his
estimation, not only his brother legislator, but by implication
the family at The Blocks. He felt relieved when the shoe-
maker quietly replied, speaking very deliberately —

' No, sir. He has risen by the wrong of society more
than his own. He and I humped our swags, staff in hand,
sir, to come up forty years ago to the wilderness here, and
now look at him and look at me.'

And Shumate faced round, extending his arms, as he
looked straight at his companion.

4 Well, to be sure, that's it,' remarked our politician,
uncertain as to what aspect of the social problem the shoe-
maker was pressed with. ' That's it, to be sure. Some men
have the knack of getting on : lucky fellows — one in a
hundred, or rather one in a thousand.'

' But how was it done ? I ask, sir, how was it ? '

' Truly, I don't know. How was it ? '

' By the social robbery of the people's estate, the land/
replied the shoemaker. ' After a few years of bullock-driving,
and of what you call thrift, or sordid scraping, he gets a lot
of the forest at ten shillings an acre — ten shillings an acre,
sir. Now it's worth four or five pounds. I think that tells
the tale how it was done,' and Shumate looked round, this
time fiercely.

' But it was not worth four or five pounds then, was it ? '

1 Perhaps not, sir. But who created the increased value ?
Not my distinguished fellow-passenger, but the public ; yet
he gets it.'

' The public, Mr. Shumate, have not done it all. He
has improved the land, cleared it, put his money into it. It
might be asked also why did not you take up land too.
You both started together. Society would have done the
same for you.'

4 No, sir, it would not,' replied the shoemaker in a positive
manner.

igS JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Why not ? You could have taken up land as well as
he. You each had only your swags to start with.'

' Very good, sir. But permit me to remark that when
you state that the honourable gentleman put his money
into the land, you make a statement that is, if I may say
so, contrary to the fact'

' How so ? He must have put his money into it when
he cleared it and turned it from a forest into meadows.'

1 By your leave, sir, here we come on the twin Demons
— the Ownership of Land and Banks and Financing. Young
Mr. Fairlie, relative of your own, I have the honour to
understand ' — here Mr. Shumate inclined his head towards
Frankfort — ' the then young Mr. Fairlie, just come to look
after the little Brassville Branch of the Imperial Bank, you
know, sir '

' Certainly, my uncle, and a very good uncle too.'

' Well, sir, he, as I was about to remark, took up, as the
bankers say, Mr. Lamborn and financed him. He advanced
the money, and the money got the land, and the land has
made Mr. Lamborn the distinguished person he is. It con-
tinued growing wealth all the time for him, even when he
and his esteemed family were in Europe enjoying themselves.
But who took me up ? Who gave me an advance ? And
how could I get the land without money ? I work hard, sir,
but no increase in the value of boots comes to help me, and
I gain nothing by the growing value of land. I have no
land except my plot of garden down the street there,
which I work with my own hands. It only gives me a few
vegetables for the children — the wife is dead some years,
sir. No, I and my two young ones are the victims of an
unjust social state.' He stopped short, apparently checking
himself, and the anxious eyes turned full on Frankfort with
a beseeching, pained look, as if searching everywhere for
justice, but able nowhere to find it.

' Well, I certainly should have hoped that in this young
country an industrious man like yourself would have done
better in all that time,' remarked our politician, not without
real sympathy for the evidently sincere feelings and ideas of
the shoemaker. ' But Mr. Lamborn,' he continued, ' is not a
bad style of man either. He seems to take a great interest

v AFTER THE ELECTION 199

in all your local affairs. He has this morning been speaking
about trying to get Government to purchase, for the use of
the Province, the Patent for the Poisoned Wheat, and
Government aid '

' Don't you help anything of the sort, sir ! ' exclaimed
Jacob Shumate, now with indignation rather than distress
marking his countenance.

' Why not ? The rabbits eat up the grass and destroy
everything where they don't wire-net them out.'

' You will excuse me, Professor Frankfort, if I say that
you don't quite grasp the facts of the Rabbit question ;
possibly, if I may say so without the least disrespect, from
conversing mainly with one branch of social life. Sir, the
rabbits eat the grass of the rich man, but give employment
to the poor man. Why, sir, there are fifty-three families in
and about Glooscap alone who are supported by trapping
rabbits, and I don't know how many more are employed by
the wire fencing.'

' But surely, Mr. Shumate, you would not preserve the
rabbits merely to bleed the landowners ? '

' Why not, sir, might I venture to ask ? They are the
messengers of Providence to distribute wealth. And if you
only will count all the value grasped by the landowners in
the unearned increment, as was set out by John Stuart Mill,
you will see that the rabbits make a very moderate levy,
indeed, upon behalf of the community at large.'

' Still, as a thinking man, as you appear to be, Mr.
Shumate, you would not say that the prosperity of the country
would be increased by the destruction of any kind of wealth.'

' Pardon me, sir, but I do say it,' Jacob Shumate replied,
rather discarding the half-deferential air that he at times
assumed — ' I do say it. Some wealth may be destroyed,
but more is distributed. Of what use is it to me that my old
mate, Mr. Lamborn, has now a million of money unless it
serves me in some direction ? No, sir, I hope that you will
not be found, as our Representative, backing up the wealthy
— piling it on to them.'

' I can assure you, Mr. Shumate, I have no such object.
I only wish to do what is fair to the country, and to the
district too, in any reasonable way.'

200 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

1 Well, Mr. Frankfort, if you want to assist the district, it
would be better to get some aid from Government for catch-
ing the parrots than for killing the rabbits.'

' Catching the parrots ? ' inquired Frankfort.

* Yes, sir ; if you want to help Glooscap, you might get
the Honourable the Treasurer to do something for the Red
Parrot Exportation Company. I have no interest in it myself.
I only speak because it will give employment about here.'

' Red Parrot Exportation Company ! ' exclaimed Frank-
fort.

' Yes ; why, the Red Parrot Exportation Company, when
in full operation over the Province, will give employment to
thousands catching those beautiful birds, — you have seen
them all about in your journey here, sir ; then to hundreds
of others in making their cages for sending them to Europe ;
and dozens more of young women teaching them to speak
cleverly.'

' But what, Mr. Shumate, have the Government got to
do with this Company you speak of?' asked our politician,
feeling that, after all he had heard about demands for
Government help, he had here come upon even a new phase
of the subject.

' I would presume, sir,' said Shumate, with some solem-
nity, ' that it is the duty of the Government to assist all
honest industry. But here, sir, is at least a public object,
which is not the case with the rabbit destruction.'

' But I still cannot see where the claim on the Govern-
ment for this Company comes in. Why, here is Mr.
Shumate/ Frankfort continued, addressing Quiggle, who
had just returned, having left the buggy at the Red Parrot
Inn, where they were to lunch — ' here, Mr. Shumate says
that the Government ought to help the Red Parrot Com-
pany. It is the first I have heard of it.'

' Ah, that won't do now, Jacob. You're not the good
man I thought after all,' remarked the agent, with a pleasant
smile. 'You know the Red Parrot Company cannot get
Government aid ; it would not be lawful.'

' Why not, Mr. Quiggle, may I inquire ? ' asked the
shoemaker.

' Why ? Because they don't keep the eight hours law :

v AFTER THE ELECTION 201

the parrots won't let them — they'll only be caught early in
the morning or at roost time in the evening.'

' There you are wrong, Mr. Quiggle : the work can be
done in shifts ; only, to be sure, so far it is only a poor man's
venture, and so I suppose couldn't claim your sympathy.'

' Ah, that won't wash, Jacob. Surprised at a confirmed
Liberal like you tampering with the eight hours law. But
come along to the Red Parrot itself after dinner, and we'll
have it out with you. Bye-bye, Mr. Shumate ; we must hurry
along, sir ; there is Snipe down the street, and he wants to
see the respected Member without delay.' And shaking
hands with the shoemaker, our politician and the agent
hurried off to meet Snipe.

While they were on the way to meet and face this new
constituent, Frankfort, who had noticed Shumate's brief
reference to his wife, and that he had abruptly broken off
from the subject, asked Quiggle about her. He thought that
there might be some hidden trouble there, which possibly
made the shoemaker still more dissatisfied with his lot in
life. And so there was. It seemed that he had long
remained a bachelor, and he had secretly prided himself
upon being able to live his own life, independent of the
company and the fascination of woman, which so many
seemed to find essential to their existence. He secretly
despised the weakness of these poor fellows, as he regarded
them, followed their married career with his keen and not
very gracious observation, and then thanked God that, as for
himself, he was not as other men were. He gave his atten-
tion to local public affairs, while also partly following his
own craft, and found in them, if not something to love, at
least something that filled his soul. This was all very well
for several years. But Holy Writ has said that it is not
good for man to be alone. Nature rarely puts up with her
purposes being flouted. On men of the solitary, self-centred
type of Jacob, who have been independent of female blandish-
ments in their youth, she often makes a sudden, not to say
treacherous, dash as they near middle age, taking the garrison
by surprise and carrying by storm the fort that was supposed
to be safe from all attack.

The storming party in the case of Jacob was Daisy Dill

202 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

— so she was called, though no one knew why — the striking-
looking barmaid at the Red Parrot, at Glooscap. She had
come up from Miranda, and little was known of her career, but
she soon made a stir in the quiet village, for she was hand-
some and dashing, brilliant in her dress, and withal without
reproach in her manner of life.

No human being could be imagined more diametrically
unlike Jacob Shumate than Daisy Dill. Yet he was drawn
towards her. Man walketh in a vain show — woman. Though
the most sober of men, his custom having previously been
not to touch beer or wine, except at public functions, he used
to spend most of the evenings that were not given to the
trappers and other committees, at the Red Parrot, in such
intermittent conversation with Daisy Dill as her bar duties
allowed her to indulge in. Sunday walks during church
time — neither of them went to church — followed, and mar-
riage followed the walks.

But it was a failure. Neither of them was suited to the
other, nor indeed was Daisy Dill to married life at all ; nor
yet was Jacob adapted to it, unless under widely different
conditions from those he now found himself in. After the
first tumult of passion was over, nothing was left but two
dissimilar beings linked together — no thought, no feeling, no
instinct in common. For Jacob, though a plain, rough man,
was not of a low nature. This could not be said of Daisy
Dill. As a mere animal she belonged to a lower type than
he did. As a thinking being she was incapable of under-
standing, much less sympathising with, the ideas and purposes
that in his small way were so dear to Jacob. She had no
mental machinery for taking in or entertaining thoughts such
as he was always brooding over. As the months rolled on
there was no sign of the advent of that mutual society, help,
and comfort that one ought to have of the other, both in
prosperity and adversity, of which the marriage service
speaks. On the contrary, she despised him even for his
good qualities, and inwardly sneered at his solicitude about
the grievances of the trappers ; while he felt a smouldering
indignation that to such a creature as this he should have
given up freedom, career in life, mental happiness, or at least
such mental happiness as he ever had. As they rose from

v AFTER THE ELECTION 203

their pillows each morning the mutual, though secret, sigh
escaped from each of them, ' Oh that I could only have
wakened up to find myself free again ! '

But Jacob conscientiously struggled on for a while, and
poor Daisy Dill staggered on too, though she got more and
more sick at heart with Jacob's dingy home, and longed for
the brightness and company of her former life. In the first
two years two children were born, a little girl, Flopsey, and
a boy, Popsey, as they were afterwards known among the
neighbours. But maternal duties were not suited to the taste
of Daisy Dill. So far from contenting her, the children and
the trouble they gave her — perverse little things, as she con-
sidered them — made her more dissatisfied than ever. She
neglected them, and the kind Widow Dobbs, who lived in a
cottage near, often had her mother's heart touched by the sad
state of the bairns, owing to both the want of interest in
them and the want of knowledge what to do with them of
their own mother. When Jacob would be coming back late
from the Trappers' Committee at Brassville, she would meet
him on his way up the road, and make vigorous representations
about the state of affairs at the home during his absence.

The situation was a sad one, and under the old ideas of
marriage there was little help for it. The unhappy pair,
pressed by the irrevocable nature of the situation, must have
tried to accommodate themselves to it, and perhaps gained
self- reformation and mutual improvement, being driven to
duty by suffering. Or at least they would have remained as
a standing warning to others not to enter on the married
state unadvisedly. But the newer methods of our time pro-
vided an easy remedy. Jacob instituted a suit for divorce
upon the ground of incompatibility of temper. Daisy Dill
made no defence. In truth, she welcomed the suit. She
was quite at one with him about it. It was one of the few
things in their married life in regard to which their tempers
were not incompatible. After a reasonable amount of inquiry
by the Court, the decree sought for was granted, and Jacob
Shumate and Daisy Dill were one no longer. He had no
need to fall back upon the ancient common-law rights of the
father to have the custody of his children, as the wife was
only too glad to be rid of them, as well as of him.

204 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

It was a great relief to Jacob to be free again. His only
difficulty was about the children — those little hostages to
fortune which generally make up so much of the joy of
married life, but which sometimes also add to its difficulties.
He grew more and more attached to them, with a tenderness
which seemed to be all the stronger because of the chilling
repulse that his affections had suffered from their mother.
But here the Widow Dobbs came to his help — a woman who
was as obviously fitted by nature for family life as Daisy Dill
was ill adapted to it — and Flopsey and Popsey, with her
kindly help, got on better without their own mother than
they had with her. Such was the domestic experience of
Jacob Shumate.

' Who is Snipe ? ' asked Frankfort, continuing the con-
versation, as he and the agent walked up the main street of
the village.

' Why, Locky Snipe, the Provincial Lands Officer here.
He is an important man is Locky — bit of a character too.
He has his little wants, has Locky ; we all have, haven't
we? Good practice for you, sir, to listen to his tale of
woe, though he is a trifle long-winded. But here we are,
Mr. Snipe. Let me introduce you to our new and respected
Member. I will be with you again directly, sir,' said the
agent to Frankfort, as he left to go down the street
to tell some of the leading electors of the Member's
arrival.

' I just wanted to see you for one moment, Mr. Frankfort,
to convey to you my best respects. The Parliamentary
Representative is the link in the Constitution between the
State Service and the State. A great position, sir, and you
have my hearty welcome.'

' I am obliged to you. You manage the Provincial
Lands Department Branch here, do you not ? '

' Yes, sir, and have done so for the last twenty-four years.
And, sir, what do you think they desire to do with me now
— it was the matter I wished to have a word with you about
—they want to move me away from my wife and little family
here, or to send us, wife, family, and all, to where do you
think, Mr. Frankfort?'

' I really have no idea, Mr. Snipe.'

v AFTER THE ELECTION 205

1 Why, to Budgee Budgee, right across the Divide, at the
other end of the Province.'

' You don't wish to be moved anywhere from Glooscap,
then ? '

' Certainly not, sir. My wife's respected mother is here,
my children born here, my little property around me, and all
to be sacrificed ; and to what, Mr. Frankfort ? — to a Regula-
tion of the Department. It's tyranny, sir.'

' Why, what is the Regulation ? ' asked our politician.

' Why, Glooscap, you see, sir, is rated third class, branch
officer in charge, salary ^250 ; Budgee Budgee, second class,
salary £400 ; and because my salary is £400, I am to be
banished over the mountains. They have been trying it on
for years ; but Mr. Meeks, I must say, was very good with
the Minister. A word from you now to the Honourable Mr.
Dalby would set matters right. If you can arrange this for
me, sir, you needn't trouble about the subscription. It was
done unbeknown to me. I would not think of asking
about it.'

' The subscription ? What subscription ? What have we
got to do with a subscription ? ' asked our politician.

' Oh, don't trouble about it, Mr. Frankfort. I would not
take it — I really wouldn't take it. Didn't Mr. Quiggle
mention it to you ? '

' No ; this is the first that I have heard of it.'

' Well, you know, really it's a small thing in one way, but
gratifying to me too. The people here, you see, appreciate
my services among them ; so, lately, they wanted to get up
a little testimonial to me in the shape of a subscription.
Well, what do they do but collect ,£100, and down they
send to the Minister for his consent, without a word to me.
Of course, I wired to the Department at once, when I heard,
declining. Why, it is contrary to the Regulations to
receive gifts.'

' So the people had to take back their money ? '

' Quite so, Mr. Frankfort ; but I had a very handsome
letter from the Minister, recognising my long services ; but
Regulation against gifts imperative, so I trust he will listen
favourably to you in the other matter.'

' Well, I shall inquire into it when I get to Miranda, Mr.

206 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Snipe. To be sure, £100 is a good sum for a man to lose,
even if he have ^400 a year.'

'Truly, sir, and I could have got the money in a -way ;
for Mrs. Snipe's mother was ready to take it — in fact, rather
blamed me for not agreeing to that settlement of the ques-
tion. But here's Mr. Quiggle, sir, and I am wanted at the
office. So I will take my leave, Mr. Frankfort, trusting to
get justice from you.'

'I suppose it's the old thing with Snipe?' remarked
Quiggle, as he and Frankfort walked away. ' Don't want no
moving : wife, children, mother-in-law all dead agen it.'

' Yes, that's it It does seem a little hard, when he is so
liked in the place. £100 is a good sum for a village like
Glooscap.'

' What ? No, you don't mean it. Another subscription.
That's not bad now, indeed it isn't. Ha ! ha ! ' and Quiggle
bent down laughing, and looking round at Frankfort as if to
see if he really meant it.

'Yes, the people here want to present him with ;£ioo as
a token of their appreciation of his public services ; only the
State Workers' Regulations, of course, forbid it.'

' Well, now, that is not bad,' persisted the agent, still
laughing. 'The £100 again, and I suppose his self-denial
in not letting the mother-in-law take it, and handsome letter
from the Department, regrets, etc. etc. That is good.
Snipe and mother-in-law still on the boards. It's not bad,
really.'

' Why, what do you mean ? Is there no subscription,
then ? '

' Of course there ain't, really. But old Snipe runs it this
way. Every time they want to move him — mother-in-law,
on the move first, goes about to some purpose among the
neighbours — Snipe unconscious of it all — neighbours sub-
scribe handsome — know it can't be taken — off goes request
to Minister sanction slight token of respect to meritorious
officer, anxious to assist large family, officer's health broken,
long work, small salary, good and faithful servant. Each
new Minister struck by confidence of the people in Snipe —
regrets can't break Regulation ; but the least he can do, you
know,' and Quiggle nodded to his companion — ' you know,

v AFTER THE ELECTION 207

comply with other wishes of district, and let them retain his
services.'

' So, then, the people don't risk much by their subscrip-
tions after all ? ' remarked Frankfort.

' Oh, they know all about it. But once, I can tell you,
they did get a start. I had a good laugh at old Pease, the
butcher. This was how it was,' continued the agent, enjoy-
ing his narrative, and filling up the time as they walked on
to the Public School, where they were next going. ' It was
the old story. Threat of removal — round goes subscription
— Snipe always attentive to Pease about his cattle on Crown
lands — Pease puts down his name for ^5 — new Minister just
come in — Meeks urges permission — exceptional case. Per-
mission wired down ! I happened to be about here that day.
Says I to Pease : " All right this time, Minister consents, you
can pay down your five notes." You should have seen him.
Dropped his chopper, and nearly dropped his thumb off too.
But here we are at the school. I'll just introduce you, and
then go on to look up M'Glumpy.'

' Yes, you may leave me here a while, Quiggle. I have
heard so much of the master of the Glooscap school that I
would like to have a good talk with him.'

'What, with Ernest Hooper? You may well say that
He is worth talking to. You and he will hit it off. School-
master ? Why, he's a father to the children about here — of
more good to them than some of their own fathers. His
example is of more use than his books, though he is a real
man for books, too ; I'm scholar enough myself to know
that. You will take to him. They all do about here.'

The public, though at times unjust, in most cases, and in
the long run, recognise and fix a man's reputation at its real
value, in whatever rank he be, from the statesman of an
empire to the schoolmaster of a village. Ernest Hooper,
then a young man, had emigrated with his wife to Excelsior
thirty years before, and not long after coming up to the
Brassville district had started, on his own account, a small
school for the children of the early settlers, when the village
consisted of only a few cottages. In those pioneer days, as
you would look around on the lonely forests about the
Glooscap Creek, with a settler's hut dotted here and there

208 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

about, you would have wondered where the children to fill a
school were to come from. Yet each morning you could see
them trooping along from all sides, as if they had risen out
of the bushes, older ones leading the younger towards the
rough weatherboard cottage by the creek, where Ernest
Hooper had both school and home. He was a man that
could not be classed with those who are adapted for success
in practical life, if that success is taken to mean only self-
aggrandisement. All his practical working energies he
devoted to not merely teaching, but to training aright the
rough little youngsters ' of his flock,' as he termed them.
His only other pursuit and his recreation in life was found
in literature ; and out of his scanty means he managed to
collect a small library, and to replenish it from time to time
with some of the best of the new books that Henry Woodall's
shop in Brassville supplied. The parson, who rode out
from that town every Sunday afternoon to hold service at
Glooscap, was his chief literary companion, though his wife
also took some interest in books ; and since children of their
own were denied to them, the two were only the more
wrapped up in one another, and lived happily an absolutely
united life. Thus the home and school together were like
an ark of culture, resting in lonely isolation amidst rugged
surroundings, and sending forth in the persons of the
children little messengers of a better time coming.

Some years later, when the Education Department was
extending its operations into the outlying districts, it was
wisely thought that it should avail itself of the successful
school centre that Ernest Hooper had established on the
Glooscap Creek, and he was admitted on the score of merit,
ad eundem as they say at the Universities, to the rank of a
first-class teacher in the service, and his school was likewise
included in the Government list. He only insisted upon
one condition in accepting the transfer. He had never
attached much weight to the mere teaching of Catechism and
Bible lessons as a part of the school day's work. But it had
been his practice from the first to open his school with the
Lord's Prayer and the singing of one of those simple but
noble hymns which strike notes that find a responsive echo
in so many human hearts the wide world over. He closed

v AFTER THE ELECTION 209

the school in the same way. He made it a condition of
letting his school come under the State that this practice
should not be interfered with. It would be sacrilege, he
said, as far as he was concerned, having accustomed his
children to this simple recognition that there was a Superior
Power above them, and that they themselves were something
more than the cats and dogs running about their homes, to
cast it aside now for any secular advantages. If they would
not agree to this, he would let them start their own school,
and he would continue his with such of the children as
would follow him. As, in fact, no rival school to his could
have been successfully started, the Department wisely re-
solved that, though the law prescribed Free, Secular, and
Compulsory Education, they would wink at this license on
the part of Ernest Hooper ; and so this State school con-
tinued, with the cordial approval of all men, and especially of
all women, to be opened and closed with this simple religious
exercise. Hooper himself maintained that this reverent
recognition of the Deity in no way impaired the secular
principle of the Act. The education is to be secular, he
would say, but mere secular education is assisted by being
attended by the general sanction of religion ; and this is
quite distinct from the teaching of special creeds — a very
important duty too, but one belonging to the Churches.
Just lately the Government had built a handsome brick
school in the main street of the village, and it was to this
that our travellers were directing their way.

' Oh yes, you will like Ernest Hooper,' Quiggle kept
repeating. ' He is a bit grave and sedate for us up here.
Fact is, I do assure you, that man has never been gay since
his wife died. He always wears black, though it's ten years
since. Odd, ain't it ? '

The agent, when going down to the inn with the buggy,
had told Ernest Hooper of their coming to see him, and as
they came to the door of the school, a staid-looking man, of
scholarly aspect, advanced to meet them. His kindly bearing
qualified the sternness of his solemn gray eyes, while his
sedate and retired manner indicated the contemplative man
rather than the practical one who is clever in the ways of
this struggling, pushing world.

VOL. I P

210 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Mr. Hooper, let me introduce our new Member, and
I think I had better leave you two learned gentlemen to
yourselves.' Quiggle respected Hooper too much to ever
venture to address him by his Christian name. ' And, sir, if
you please, we will have lunch at the Red Parrot when you
can come down ' ; and off the bustling agent hurried to see
M'Glumpy, as he had arranged.

The scene now before our politician was one of which
Democracy may be proud. Compared with the old style of
common school — and it only designed for a few — with its
master often himself ignorant, perhaps a failure from other
callings in life, and sometimes even bankrupt in character ;
with its dilapidated furniture and mean surroundings, ignorant
methods of teaching and discipline ; school fees, small in
themselves, but considerable to the poor — compared with
all this, the cheerful, spacious rooms that he now went
through, well built, well lighted, well ventilated, fitted up
with what was required for the most efficient school teaching,
maps on the walls, and admirable series of school-books,
some simple models to help teaching and learning, Kinder-
garten appliances for the little ones — and the whole open to
all, free to all, welcoming all, and blessed also by the intelli-
gent and moral tone that Ernest Hooper imparted both to
the children and to the teachers under him — all this reveals
not merely an improvement in methods of teaching, but a
revolution in the ideas with which the poor are regarded.
It was not alone that all those well-fed, comfortably, if
roughly, clad children were taught to read and write. It
was the recognition of the grand principle that all were
entitled to a chance in life, that none were to be outcast,
never in the race, but pushed out of the running from the
first, and that the Social State, while not attempting to
enforce an impossible equality among men, yet endeavours,
by its equal justice to the young of all classes, to give free
scope to the natural powers of each one in the race of life.

' How do you do, Mr. Frankfort ? I am glad to welcome
you to our school. I may say that I will take the more
interest in your career as, like myself, you are a teacher, only
in a more exalted sphere.'

' Yes, we are both teachers,' replied Frankfort ; ' and

v AFTER THE ELECTION 211

teaching the young, if one does it with heart and sincerity,
is a great work in school or university.'

' Truly indeed,' said the schoolmaster, ' I would rather
teach the children in a forest school than preach to men in
a city cathedral. You can perhaps instruct the one, but
the others you can mould and fashion altogether.'

' Still, I feel some wonder,' pursued Frankfort, after a
little pause, ' when I see a man of your attainments, as I
understand, giving your life up so contentedly to this little
group of country children.'

' Ah, there you see it is. They are country children
now, but after a while they are scattered over the Province,
perhaps over the world. And there is so much involved in
even one life. The influence I impart ripples out, I hope,
in widening circles, though it is a lonely, distant spot where
the stone is dropped. Yes, I may say it without disrespect,
it is a greater work than politics. It is a noble work truly
to govern men justly, but it's nobler to teach them to
govern themselves.'

' Quite true, it is just what I would say myself. And
I hear, moreover, that you have solved the religious diffi-
culty in your school.'

' In a way, I certainly have,' answered Ernest Hooper,
' and, to speak my mind, in what seems to me the best way.
You see that what we describe as the religious difficulty is a
logical, argumentative difficulty, not a practical one ; at least,
not a practical one with the plain men and women who are
the parents of the children. As far as they are concerned,
there is no difficulty in saying each morning a devout prayer
or two, that all Christians, indeed all sane men, could join
in, and singing an inspiring hymn.'

' Then you don't propose to teach the facts of religion to
the children at all ? '

' Of course we could not do that in the State School,
which is for the children of all creeds. Besides that, while
I am a believing man myself, I hold that religious lessons in
the daily school, and given by the State teacher, would be of
little value. I don't know how you look at it, but I think
that this teaching of the facts of religion to the young is,
and especially is in our time, a very critical and difficult

212 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

matter. I often think that as much unbelief springs from
unwise teaching as from no teaching. It wants both faith
and intelligence in the teacher ; and sometimes I fear,'
continued Hooper, looking earnestly at his companion, ' that
one or other is lacking in those who undertake to teach
the Bible to the young. The danger is obvious. When
children grow up and find that some things taught them
by rote as facts are not really facts, they are very apt to
think that all they have learned is much the same, and that
religion, generally, is a make-believe. It is,' added Ernest
Hooper in a solemn tone, ' a very serious and a very difficult
problem too.'

' Why, do you know,' said Frankfort, ' what you say
reminds me of what happened at The Blocks a week or
so ago when I was there. It was a Sunday, and Miss
Lamborn came in from the Sunday School, and mentioned
that she had been quite put out by a question asked by one
of the boys. She was reading the story of the Barren Fig
Tree, in St. Matthew, when one sharp little fellow asked
quite respectfully, and only in order to be informed, " Please,
miss, is that the same fig tree that we learnt about last
Sunday in St. Mark, that it wasn't the season for figs." She
was rather upset by this simple question, and did not know
what to say. And she is a highly intelligent girl, I must
say, and she seems to have religious feelings too. The
good lady, the mother- — Mrs. Lamborn, you know — was
quite indignant at the boy presuming to ask such a question.
" Why did you not tell him to hold his tongue ? " she said.
And, by the way, I was rather amused at the daughter's
answer — " Now, mother dear, what would be the use of my
telling him to hold his tongue, if I could not make him hold
his mind too ? "

'Just so. That is a fair example of the difficulty of
teaching the Bible nowadays to our youngsters. But I hold,'
continued Ernest Hooper, ' that it is a great evil, and a
needless one too, to have school from week's end to week's
end with all mention of God blotted out.'

' Might I ask how you managed to get the Department
to '

' What, tolerate my religion, such as it is ? Why, I would

v AFTER THE ELECTION 213

not have come in without it, though they put a big free
school next to me. It was in that way or no way.'

' You felt so strongly about it then, I presume ? '

' Well, to tell you the truth, this was it. The wife had
died only a little before. She used to come in and start
the hymn.' Turning to Frankfort, he continued, ' You don't
know what it is to lose a wife after nearly twenty years
together. They tell me you are not married. But when one-
half of you has been wrenched off, and at middle age too,
the fear of other of the world's losses and misfortunes don't
impress one much. The demands of duty, to do all you can
in what time may be yours, seem stronger than ever. It's
the only thing left standing in the wreck. So I was fixed,
and indifferent as to the result to myself, and the Depart-
ment very fairly, and I think wisely, thought it better to
take me, religion and all,' he added with a slight smile.
' All the parents like it, religious and irreligious.'

As they walked through the school Frankfort noticed
many young people who were clearly over the school age
of attendance, and a senior class of grown boys and girls
pursuing their studies in a small room by themselves.

' What are these young people working for ? Do you
keep them here as long as they desire to study ? ' he asked.

'The elder ones are studying for the Matriculation
Examination at your University, or to qualify for the State
Service, the girls chiefly to be teachers.'

' Do many of them go to take up their parents' work or
go to industrial callings ? '

' A few do,' replied the schoolmaster. ' The truth is,
that everything has its weak side, and that is the weak side,
so far, of universal high-class education. I am disappointed
that it is so. But that's no reason for denying it. They
don't sufficiently realise the dignity, the great dignity of
honest labour. Old Dr. Johnson's dictum, that when
education was universal people would not be above plain
work, as all would be the same, has not as yet been verified.
We want to learn that we ought to take intelligence into
manual occupations, not send it to starve, and at times
indeed degrade itself, in what are considered genteel employ-
ments. Naturally enough, too, the poorer the rank of the

214 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

parents, the more their ambition is gratified by seeing their
children raised, as they ignorantly think, to a higher lot in
life. They would rather see them pinched and miserable
with a quill pen than independent and comfortable following
the plough — and that though, mind you, the proper use of
the plough often calls for more real intelligence than the
common use of the pen.'

' Well, to be sure, that's a phase that universal education
must pass through in young, small communities with easy
conditions of life ; and it can only be a phase, for men
must live, and they can't do so by reading and writing only,'
remarked our politician.

4 Certainly that is true. Even now one can see the
symptoms of a coming reaction, and in a curious way, too,
moving from above. Many of the boys who' now go upon
the land belong to the better-off classes. The professions
are left to the ambition of the poor.'

' Yes, yes, the tendency must correct itself,' continued
our politician. ' The education of all is a new idea, and like
most new ideas it is apt to throw out some false develop-
ments before we settle down to the true lines. But experi-
ence teaches. Great truth in this old copy-book heading,'
he said, as he took one of the books from a sturdy urchin of
about thirteen, who had produced a series of frightfully dis-
torted imitations of the beautiful copperplate at the top of
the page, which announced that great truth that all assent
to intellectually, but which it requires the stern lessons of
life to bring home to us personally.

' True, and after all it's only a spot on the sun. But we
must make learning practical. When an educated people do
take to practical work they do it better than ever. Look at
Prussia. What would Bismarck, or, for the matter of that,
Von Moltke, have done without it ? '

' All these youngsters,' said Frankfort, looking over the
silent — except for question and answer — busy, attentive
classes, ' appear to be well conducted, and should, I suppose,
be easy to manage.'

' Certainly they are,' replied Ernest Hooper. ' No
hoodlums here. To be sure, they don't understand the idea
of reverence as we have it in old countries,'

v AFTER THE ELECTION 215

' No reverence ? '

' Not in the old sense. How could they ? What have
we to teach reverence ? We have scarcely yet among us
any very old people ; little of the domestic hierarchy of
grandparents and elder relations, from which reverence in
the family and the tribe grows up to things of the nation.
We have no ancient buildings, under the shadow of which
generations come and go. Our very trees are young ; our
fossils show recent formations. But I find the youngsters
teachable, if they have some one to look up to whom they
can respect for himself. A certain good feeling and sense
of what is reasonable takes the place of the old formal habit
of reverence.'

' I suppose the habit of independence is apt to be accom-
panied, even with young people, by an intelligence that tends
to correct its excesses ? ' said Frankfort. ' That boy whose
copy-book I took just now did not bob or pull his forelock
or even stand up, but he seems to be a bright, well-con-
ducted lad.'

' He is one of my good boys,' answered the schoolmaster
— ' none better ; and he has the reverential feeling in his
nature too, though, as I say, there is little scope for its
exercise with us. What else have we to trust to in our
time for men or children but intelligence supporting the
old principle of obedience ? For certainly the rule of
direct authority we see to be weakening on all sides —
magistrate and subject, husband and wife, master and
servant, parent and child.'

' Yes, and there comes in the cheering confidence that
its place will be supplied by the higher principle of duty or
love in subject, wife, workman, child,' rejoined our politician.
' Intelligence takes the place and does the work of
repression.'

' True. That constitutes, however, the problem of our
age, Mr. Frankfort. You are quite right to regard it with
cheerful confidence, as you say. Still, experience, not
argument, must prove how far all this is to go, and what are
its limitations ; for in no organisation, great or small, can
you wholly get rid of the principle of authority.'

As they walked through the main schoolroom they

216 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

came to a small apartment at the end, which served as an
office for the master and a place where he taught at times
a special class.

' This is your book of school returns, I suppose ? ' said
Frankfort, as he pointed to a long account -book -looking
tome on the master's desk.

' No, indeed,' answered Hooper, ' that's a record that
would have startled Busby or Keats, or any of the other old
masters of flogging memory. It is the Corporal Punishment
Record. The Regulations require that if a boy gets more
than one stroke with the cane, the date, name, class, and
age of the pupil must be entered here. When the inspector
comes round he is to examine it and initial.'

' Well, to be sure, a proposal to old Keats to keep such
a volume would have staggered him ; or cruel Busby, who
used to give even small boys severe floggings for mere
trifles. These men would have wanted a library of Record
Books. It would have surprised the earls and baronets
whose sons they flogged too/ remarked Frankfort.

' Why, it's one other instance, out of many, of how the
new principle of human government is to work. We
legislate for the feelings of the schoolboy. The idea now is
to incite men and boys to good, rather than to punish them
for wrong -doing. Attention to the bad side of nature is
fading out, and all is expectation from the free scope of the
good. It's a noble principle too,' said Ernest Hooper, ' so
long as we do not expect so much from this human nature
that we forget its faulty vein altogether. For myself, I
expect that experience will teach in this, as in so many
other matters, that the real truth of the subject does not lie
with either extreme.'

' I remember hearing of this regulation ; but I never
happened to see one of the books before. I notice that
several of the earlier pages are torn out.'

' Yes, I asked leave of the Department to take them out.
Results that are never thought of sometimes follow regula-
tions, and laws too, we may say. You see, such a book as
this in a small quiet school does for a generation. It so
happened that one of the boys here, some years ago,
committed a rather bad boyish offence. I caned him

v AFTER THE ELECTION 217

soundly, and duly entered all the particulars. He turned
out in time an excellent boy, married when he grew up, and,
unlike many others, settled on a farm in the district. After-
wards he became President of the School Board — what
Mr. Blow is now — and, by the way, Mr. Blow wants to see
you about fencing the school, I think. He and I forgot all
about the entry, till one day, as he was showing some
visitors over the school, he turned over the book as a curious
record, and came right upon the entry of his own offence
and punishment. Since then I have got permission to cut
out the pages after a year or so.'

' The Regulations exempt girls from all corporal punish-
ment,' remarked Frankfort.

' Yes, that's another symptom of the humane tendencies
of our age.'

' Yes, and soon too,' continued our politician, ' we may
expect this enlightened feeling to extend to politics, and
give women everywhere equal voice there with men.'

'Well, that's for you political gentlemen to decide,'
remarked the schoolmaster. ' Meanwhile, our school training
does not point exactly that way. I teach all my boys to
show to the girls that deference and consideration that is
due to a weaker, but not to an equal, sex. If there is any
dusting to be done on a dusty day about the girls' forms, I
set a boy to do it. If there is anything to be fetched for
them on a wet day, I send out a boy. When I dismiss the
school, the boys have to wait till the girls get their hats and
go out first. In everything I seek to impress upon the
boys that when they grow up to be men they are to be
the protectors and champions of the women.'

' Good training that It will teach them, as men, to
value women all the more when they gain equal political
rights,' responded our politician.

' I am glad to hear it,' said the schoolmaster.

' What a handsome building you have, Mr. Hooper ! '
exclaimed Frankfort, as they walked round outside.

' Yes, really it is. And a little style in school buildings
is not thrown away. It gives a certain dignity to the whole
institution of popular instruction. It cost a good sum too,
I assure you. You see, the ground around is unfenced still.

2i8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

They want to see you about that. As the Government are
so pinched for funds now, the Minister asked the districts
that had got new schools to do the fencing themselves. We
have the timber here, to be sure. But here comes the
President of our Board himself, Mr. David Blow. Mr. Blow,
sir, let me introduce to you our new Member, Mr. Frankfort.
I have to go back to my duties, gentlemen, so I will take my
leave, if you please.'

' I makes my respects to you on getting on top of Meeks,
though he warn't quite a bad job lot neither, and I'm glad
ye' re come along this way. I looked in, as I'm on my way to
see a mob of Crank's bullocks that I'm looking up, to see
about this 'ere fencing. Just look at that,' said Mr. Blow,
facing round to have a full view of the school — ' look at
that there fine buildin', all open and exposed there, like a
ship at sea in a storm, no sails, nor fence, nor nothin'
about it.' Notwithstanding his confusion of metaphors, the
President made clear his idea as he stretched out both
hands to the exposed edifice.

' Yes, it certainly does want fencing,' said our politician.

' And why don't they take on to it then ? ' exclaimed
Mr. Blow.

' I suppose you have asked for it ? '

' Yes, a dozen times, and I've told old Hooper there to
write too. And what do you think they say? What are
they leading on to? Why, no more money. ^1500 gone
in building. Hadn't we better do the fencing ourselves, if
you don't object at all, if you please.'

' Fence yourselves ! well really ' began our politician.

' Yes, it's the Gospel truth I'm saying — I can show you
the Secretary chap's letter. Minister suggests parents turn
out some Saturday afternoon, fence with odd lots timber.
Saw-mills. My word ! '

' The Government are very hard up now, you know,
Mr. Blow. It would certainly give them a lift if the
districts that have got these new schools did look after the
fencing.'

' Oh, come now, Mr. Frankfort, that ain't my idea of Free,
Sec'lar, and Compuls'y at all. Government takes on them
to make it free, and then ask us to pay. That ain't the

v AFTER THE ELECTION 219

correct card at all. And we look to you, sir, as our Member,
to protect us from being put on to like that We do indeed.
How many of them all about have done the fencin' them-
selves ? Why should we be wictimised, sir — wictimised, I'd
like to know ? ' And the President extended his arms in
expostulation.

' Ah, who's wictimising my friend Mr. Blow,' interposed
Quiggle, who had come up from the Red Parrot for
Frankfort, as his prolonged conversation with Hooper was
delaying lunch. 'Who is wictimising my old friend Mr.
Blow ? Not an easy thing for any one to do,' continued the
agent, in his blandest tones. He saw that something had
gone wrong.

' Why, here's Mr. Frankfort a-takin' on that we might
do the school fencin' ourselves — Glooscap martyrs like.
We couldn't swallow that, no ways. Short commons like
that.'

' Ah, dear me, you don't say that ? Well, well, let us
come and swallow the lunch at the Parrot, and we can fence
about the fencing afterwards, can't we ? ' said Quiggle,
looking cheerfully at the President, and smiling at the
attempt at a joke.

' No thank'ee. I've to be after these bullocks of Crank's
I'm rather sweet on. I'll be down to the Deputation all
right. But don't lamb us down about the fencing, anyway.
No short commons on that score, no ways ' ; and away after
his bullocks the President hurried.

' David is riled a bit. I can see that — David is riled,'
remarked Quiggle, with a serious air, as he and our politician
walked on to the Red Parrot. ' David is riled,' he repeated
sententiously.

' Well, really, I would be sorry to rile any of my con-
stituents ; but it does seem to me reasonable that, after the
State has spent all that money on the school building, the
parents should give an afternoon to run up a fence round
for the playground of their own children.'

' But, my dear sir, isn't it the system for the Govern-
ment to do everything ? When in Rome do — you know
the rest. Fact is, David would not even so much mind the
afternoon's work ; but he feels a bit done at being asked to

220 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

fence when the other places don't. That's what sticks in
David. " Mops and brooms, sir," says David — " mops and
brooms." '

' Whom have we to see after lunch, Mr. Quiggle ? It's
hard work this interviewing all day,' said our politician,
willing to turn away from the fencing question.

' Ah, you may say that, sir. Though I am pretty well
seasoned, I call it the hardest work that the two-footed
human animal can be set to,' replied the little agent. ' Whom
have we to see ? ' he continued. ' Why, the Deputation
first, after lunch, and then M'Glumpy wants a word with
you. He says only one word ; but there's often a good deal
in his one word, and behind his one word, too. Then I should
not wonder if Jacob Shumate would come sailing round for
something or other. But step in, sir — step in ; here we are,
and not dead beat yet — not dead beat by no ways.' And
the agent led on upstairs to the private parlour of the Red
Parrot, where he and the Member were to lunch.

During the meal Frankfort inquired the particulars
about the Deputation that Quiggle had referred to. Would
it keep them long ? He was anxious to get away and
return to Brassville in time to meet Dillon, who was coming
up by the evening train, at dinner at the Lake Reservoir.
The agent assured him that the afternoon's work would be
short. As to the Deputation, Birnie Farrar, the Town Clerk,
had told him that it was a very simple matter that the
Mayor and Councillors of Glooscap wanted to see their
Member about. The Mayor's half-yearly reception would
follow, but that need not take long ; only the usual toasts
would be proposed. They could perhaps slip away before
the whole list had been exhausted.

' Oh, it won't take long,' the agent continued ; ' and if old
Shumate turns up with some fresh grievance, why, you must
just choke him off. It's easy to back out some way. Easy
as falling off a log.'

' Then there's some one else to see me, is there not ? '
inquired Frankfort.

'Why, only M'Glumpy — yes, he must have his one
word ; perhaps not much in it, this time — something for his
son or nephew, or both. Promise him. Easy done. Rimy

v AFTER THE ELECTION 221

is not half a bad sort ; Rimigius M'Glumpy isn't half bad,
I say.'

' A leading local man, I presume ? '

' Why, yes,' answered Quiggle. ' And he and the clan
voted straight on the polling day. They said so, and they
did so. Not like Barney Clegg there, at the Brown Jug, the
sinner. The day after the election says Barney to me : " I
give you my Sunday good wishes, Mr. Quiggle, for your
success in putting in your man ; I voted straight anyway."
" Yes, Mr. Clegg," says I, " you did vote straight — for Meeks."
You should have seen Barney when he knew that I had
found him out — you should indeed. But M'Glumpy is
straight, and we must go straight for him, we really must.'

Here the landlord looked in to say that the Mayor and
Council had arrived, and were waiting for the Member in the
long Commercial Room. When they went down they found
the room crowded with the citizens of Glooscap, with His
Worship the Mayor and the Borough Council, and especially
the Town Clerk, at their head. All seemed to be sensible of
the dignity of their respective offices, from His Worship
downwards. All appeared to be worthy and sturdy
burgesses, independent sons of the soil, such as in older
land and earlier times had stood forth to claim the rights or
defend the liberties of their borough. And they, too, were
vigilant guardians of the claims of their town ; but their
demands were of a different kind from those that the
corporations of towns used in the old days to present to
their sovereign. It was no question of asserting their rights
and liberties, or claiming exemption from some undue
demand of aid and supply to the throne that had brought
them together. It was, in fact, the other way. It was to
ask an aid and supply from His Majesty, which the King's
Government made the same difficulty about granting that
their ancestors used to raise about their aids and supplies,
but which they hoped to be able to secure by their own
persistence and the political influence of their Representative.
The aid and supply was to enable them to drain a large
swamp in the district which properly they should drain
themselves.

The Mayor was not an orator, so he only spoke a few

222 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

plain words. They wanted the money from the Govern-
ment. The Representative for the district had only to put
it in the right way to the Minister to get it. He concluded
his brief remarks by saying that they had all such confidence
in their Member that they were sure he would leave ' no stone
unturned to secure them their rights.'

Our politician, who was still somewhat new to the
business, could not help asking how he was to present this
claim on the Government for what was the work of the
Corporation and to be paid for by its rates, when Mr. Birnie
Farrar, the Town Clerk, whose custom it was to take up
the running upon all questions of importance and difficulty,
interposed, with a deferential bow to His Worship.

' If I might be allowed to add just one word to the full
and clear statement of His Worship. True it is, as our
honourable Member would appear to indicate, that this work
primarily belongs to the district. But what are the facts ?
The swamp to be drained adjoins the main road, over which
the traffic from the whole Province comes. The road
cannot be properly made till the swamp is drained. The
Government have always, in special cases, given assistance to
main roads. Is the whole cost of making and maintaining
this highway for the Province — is it, I respectfully ask, all to
fall on this comparatively poor district ? Surely, sir, we only
ask justice from the Government, and from our Member.'

But here all attention was diverted from the road question
by a lively stir in the crowd at the lower end of the room,
and the vigorous efforts of some one to push himself to the
front. Soon the spare figure and grievance-laden countenance
of Jacob Shumate appeared, struggling through the closely-
packed throng, and right on even into the civic circle itself.
Having at last made good his footing, he bowed to the
Mayor, and especially to the Town Clerk, half-deferentially
and half-sarcastically.

' I heard just now, Mr. Mayor and gentlemen ' — he
spoke with marked deliberation, and his keen eyes glanced
restlessly round from our politician to the Deputation — ' a
demand for justice. I am here as a burgess of the town of
Glooscap to demand justice too.'

1 Quite right, Mr. Shumate,' interposed the Town Clerk ;

AFTER THE ELECTION 223

' if there is any point we have missed like in putting the case
in our demand for justice for this Council '

' Excuse me, Mr. Town Clerk, the justice I demand is
not on behalf of the Council. It is against the Council : on
behalf of the plundered citizens of Glooscap.'

' Why, what are you on to now, Mr. Shumate ? What's
gone wrong this time ? What are you, or any of the
citizens, ill-convenienced about this town ? Ain't we doing
all we know, straight running for the borough ? ' Thus the
Mayor spoke, at unusual length for him, stirred as he was in
his civic soul by the impeachment of the shoemaker.

' Only this, Mr. Mayor, if you will be pleased to permit
me ' — and Shumate bowed his half-deferential bow, as before
— ' only this, Mr. Mayor : I desire to bring before our worthy
Representative here the proposed malversation of the funds
of this borough by this Corporation.'

He spoke with great deliberation, and the ' worthy,' as
applied to the Representative, was so prolonged in pronuncia-
tion that a critical observer might have taken the word to
convey the contrary of its ordinary meaning. At his words
the burgesses assembled were roused up at once by varying
emotions, and testified to their excitement by exclamations
of a conflicting description ; some evidently regarding the
speaker as Glooscapian Joe Hume, or even John Wilkes,
defying the authorities, while others frowned upon him, as
openly flouting all civic dignity, not to say social respect-
ability. A residuum, and not an inconsiderable residuum,
cared nothing about either the civic economy or the civic
dignity just then, and only shook themselves up to enjoy
the fun.

' Oh, come, come, Citizen Shumate,' promptly interposed
the Town Clerk, who felt that this was a matter that called
imperatively for his personal handling — ' come, come,
Citizen Shumate, this won't do, you know. Words like
these ain't to be used with impunity in the presence of His
Worship, and of Parliamentary authority, and the burgesses
assembled. I am answerable for the accounts, and I call
upon you here, in the presence of this great representative
gathering, to make good your words, or to take the con-
sequences of legal, obnoxious defamation ' ; and Mr. Birnie

224 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Farrar looked round confidently to his supporters. He was
a popular man in his own line, and not a few citizens were
personally indebted to him in regard to rates and other
matters. So his men supported him with their vigorous
plaudits, while the followers of the shoemaker kept encouraging
him by exhortations ' To wire in,' ' To go straight from the
shoulder,' ' To knock the wind out of them, and not to mind
the dander,' ' To face the music, and keep up the ball,' and
other inspiring and appropriate exclamations.

Jacob was in his glory. It was one of the few moments
in his soured life in which he really enjoyed himself. The
reproaches and demonstrations of feeling levelled against
him he relished quite as much as the approbation of his
own party. He had persuaded himself that he had a
grievance. Power and smug respectability were combined to
deny the right. The greater the anger and excitement
against him, the more important he felt himself, and this
exaltation, temporary though it was, was some relief from
the dull routine of making shoes, and not making them very
well or selling them very successfully. So there was some
vigour and style in his manner as, glancing round at Birnie
Farrar, he responded to that gentleman's appeal.

' With all respect to you, Mr. Town Clerk, may I be
allowed to say that I am not at present alluding to your
accounts. I am talking of the malversation of the burgesses'
money by the Corporation of Glooscap voting £i a week
pension to the retiring Town Surveyor, Sandy M'Givern.'

Hereupon a great tumult arose in the crowd, and that
many -headed and many-tongued fraternity, the People,
was agitated by conflicting emotions. The prevailing feel-
ing was, undoubtedly, one of sympathy with the object of
the shoemaker to discredit the pension, and, if possible, have
it disallowed. Yet the objector was not a very popular
man. He was known as an unsuccessful man among his
neighbours, and as an unsocial one too, who was always
going upon ideas and methods of his own which were out of
touch with those of the common man. The dislike to
see any other person get a pension was thus the mainstay
of his backing by the public. And, on the other hand, all
the more substantial people, the ' respectable ' part of the

v AFTER THE ELECTION 22$

community, had no feeling against the aged M'Givern get-
ting his £>i a. week, and gave their moral weight in support
of the Council.

When the first effervescence of the excitement had
subsided, and the crowd of citizens no longer swayed to and
fro like the standing corn on the farms that surround
Glooscap when blown upon by varying breezes, Birnie Farrar
stood forth before the whole assemblage to vindicate the
Council and to rebuke the man who did not hesitate to bring
injurious charges against the authorities.

' I am positively astonished, Mr. Mayor and our Honour-
able Member ! ' he exclaimed, ' that one solitary burgess of
Glooscap could be found to raise an objection to the
allowance to that venerable servant of this borough, Mr.
Sandy M'Givern, who has done the work of the citizens for
the past thirty years. Who laid out the wide streets of
this town ? Who marked off the recreation ground ? Who
designed the bridge ? Who would have dammed the Creek
if Government red tape had not stopped him ? And now, at
threescore and ten, is he not to be looked after as well as
one of the cows upon his own common. I own, Mr. Mayor,'
he wound up, ' that did I not know Jacob Shumate of old,
that his bark is worse than his bite, I should blush for any
citizen of Glooscap going to raise such a point against a
man who was working for this town before it was here at
all, surveying right up the Glooscap Creek.'

' Excuse me, gentlemen,' calmly responded the shoe-
maker, his eyes twinkling this time with satisfaction ; ' if the
worthy Town Clerk, instead of doing the blushing for me,
would condescend to explain what are the services that Mr.
M'Givern rendered to this town before it was here, for which
we are now to donate him money out of our hard-earned
wages, I will be more indebted to him than I am to
Mr. Sandy M'Givern. Why, may I inquire of Mr. Town
Clerk, could not his late colleague, the Surveyor, save a little
out of his handsome salary for his threescore and ten, like
the rest of us ? I only hope that Mr. Town Clerk will do
so himself; else we all shall have in due time to pension
him too.'

Here the plebs of Glooscap began to applaud vigorously,

VOL. I Q

226 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

and to encourage Shumate by a number of cries and exhorta-
tions which all had reference to the various incidents in a
pugilistic encounter. When quiet was a little restored, the
Mayor, who was rather disconcerted by the warmth of the
reception given to Shumate's remarks, and hoped, by a
display of mayoral deference to him, to conciliate the
popular tribune, turned to Shumate, and extending his hands
in a deprecating manner, remarked : ' Arter all, Mr. Shumate,
a note a week ain't much.'

' His Worship the Mayor, from his position of affluence,
may not regard one pound sterling a week, to which I under-
stand he refers, as much ; but I would respectfully like to
ask His Worship how many of the bog holes in the main road
to Brassville from this borough would one pound a week fill
up ? The farmers for miles around/ exclaimed the shoe-
maker, directing his sharp glance right down the room — ' the
farmers daily have their drays bogged in the ruts along the
road going to market, in order that Mr. Sandy M'Givern,
having drawn a good salary for the past thirty years, may
now draw a good pension for the next twenty years ! '

Here the applause became louder than ever, as several
farmers present recalled their own unpleasant experiences in
getting bogged on that particular road. Two of them had,
in fact, suffered that very mishap that morning in coming in,
and they were all impressed by finding their own personal
troubles thus connected with the largess to Sandy M'Givern.
Shumate had, without having read any books of rhetoric,
quite naturally hit upon a very effective argumentum ad
hominem. Turning round upon our politician, he remarked,
in the quiet, deprecating tone that he loved to especially
assume, amid all the excitement, ' I only desire to ask
protection for the burgesses from the honourable gentleman
who represents us in Parliament.' He laid considerable
stress on the ' honourable.'

Our politician was not a little perplexed by the question
thus presented to his notice. The facts were new to him,
and though Quiggle had early in the episode whispered to
him to 'keep her free — keep her free,' this advice laboured
under the defect that so often mars the value of advice,
namely, the difficulty of its practical application. How was

v AFTER THE ELECTION 227

he to keep her free and easy before the wind in this local
squall which had blown up so suddenly? His chief
difficulty was to think how he, as their Representative in
Parliament, was concerned in this municipal dispute. Mr.
Shumate had for days before thumbed over and over the
soiled pages of a tattered copy of the Provincial Municipal
Institutions Act, and with a keen, though small, ingenuity
framed for himself an interpretation of certain sections that
he considered supported his view of the question. He was
quite pleased, therefore, when Frankfort inquired — •

' But, Mr. Shumate, how can I control the Borough
Council, in any view we may take of the matter?'

Producing his worn, soiled copy of the Act, which opened
naturally at the page that had so often lately been turned
to, the shoemaker held it up to our politician, pointing to
Sections 133 to 136 with his long, lean ringer, and reading
the marginal note of the first section.

' I think I can relieve the difficulty felt by our Honour-
able Member, by simply referring him to those portions of
the Act which give power to the Minister, in certain cases
of misappropriation of the borough funds, to interpose. This
case,' he added in a sort of resigned tone, looking round
upon his supporters — ' this case is a clear one.'

The paternal control of the Government was the remedy
that first and naturally presented itself to the mind of
Burgess Shumate.

1 There, sir,' he continued, indignantly pointing to the
crumpled clauses — ' there, sir ; we, the citizens, only ask you,
our Representative, to interview the Honourable the Minister,
and call upon him to save the municipality of Glooscap from
organised and premeditated plunder. Sir, we are sheep at
sea, without a shepherd, clutching at the fur robes of His
Worship to save ourselves, or even at the coat tails of the
Town Clerk ' — -here he scornfully eyed the rusty suit of
Birnie Farrar — ' and clutching, I regret to say, in vain.'

Loud cheers, as the shoemaker afterwards remarked,
' calling aloud from the public conscience,' greeted this vigor-
ous sentiment and mixed metaphor ; while the aristocracy
present made what counter-demonstrations they could. Our
politician concluded that the safest way to proceed would be

228 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

to get Mr. Shumate to reduce his views to writing ; and he
was confirmed in this by Quiggle, who, passing close behind
him, as if going to the other side of the room, whispered, as
he went by, ' Keep her free. Let Jacob scribble it.' So he
requested Mr. Shumate to put, in the form of a letter to the
Minister, his view of the Act, as it applied to M'Givern's
case, promising to consider it himself, and, if he saw reason-
able cause, to submit it to the Minister. The idea of
drawing up a State paper that the Cabinet Minister was to
study and ponder over quite satisfied Mr. Shumate for the
present, and indeed gave him interesting occupation every
evening for the next week.

Seeing a lull brought about in the conflict, the Town
Clerk dexterously announced that, as the business was now
concluded, His Worship would meet the civic guests in the
dining-room for the usual half-yearly reception. Thither,
then, the citizens repaired, including Shumate himself, whom
both the Town Clerk and Quiggle allured on to the festivi-
ties, more, it must be confessed, from prudential reasons
than from feelings of regard for the shoemaker. A trouble-
some, dangerous sort of man is always sure of having a
great deal of attention paid to him. Even the Mayor and
the surrounding magnates unbent and welcomed Shumate
with fair words, addressing him by his Christian name in a
free-and-easy, hail-fellow-well-met sort of way, while he
went about, with a somewhat mollified aspect, quite enjoy-
ing his importance. As a quiet, honest shoemaker, people
would scarcely have noticed him. They were deferential to
him as Shumate, the agitator. He was well aware of this,
and was more pleased to be feared than he would have been
to be loved.

It is surprising how many sorts of toasts and sentiments
can be improvised at festive gatherings as an excuse for the
glass. But the feature of the long and varied list upon this
occasion was that Jacob Shumate himself was got to propose
one of them. It was even thus. When it was seen that the
accusing burgess was gradually softening under the influence
of the generous wine that makes glad the heart of man,
Quiggle suggested to the Town Clerk, who prompted the
Mayor, to call upon Shumate for a toast. He was a little

v AFTER THE ELECTION 229

disconcerted, but his bitter feelings had been somewhat
mollified by the influences of the genial hour, and, besides
that, he could not resist the pleasure of making another
speech. Still, he was keen enough to know that he must not
barter away for any mess of pottage his grievance against
the Mayor and Corporation of Glooscap ; so he gave in
an emphatic speech, ' Kindred Institutions ' ; and, amid all
his wine -warmed fervour, he avoided saying a word in
depreciation or withdrawal of his recent accusation of the
borough authorities. To be sure, the next day, when the
fervour of the feast was over, he had some prickings of
conscience — and Jacob Shumate had a conscience — as to
whether it was quite consistent of him, politically, to join in the
festivities of a Corporation that he had just been accusing of
malversation. But he quieted these by the reflection that it
was the duty of every citizen to take part in all civic demon-
strations, and particularly by remembering that he had been
careful to choose such a non-committal subject for his toast.
He then applied himself with renewed vigour to preparing
his indictment of the Borough Council, for the consideration
of the Minister. If any reader should still feel doubts about
the validity of the shoemaker's vindication from the charge
of inconsistency, he may at least be assured of this, that it is
quite as good an explanation as many greater men than
Jacob Shumate are able to give of certain passages in their
political careers.

The inventive powers of this Glooscapian gathering in
the devising of toasts were now getting exhausted, and our
politician was anxiously looking for a good opportunity for
leaving, so that he could return to Brassville in time to dine
with Myles Dillon, when from the end of the room were heard
the rich Milesian tones of Rimigius M'Glumpy, demanding
leave from His Worship to propose one more sentiment.

' Certainly, Mr. M'Glumpy,' the Town Clerk called out,
taking on himself to speak on behalf of his chief — ' certainly.
What is it ? ' He was half afraid, in truth, of Shumate
opening out in some new line, and was not sorry to see a
diversion created by the jovial M'Glumpy.

' I only desire,' said that citizen, pushing up towards the
front of the gathering — ' I only desire, and I have it in my

230 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

heart to propose, just this one congenial sentiment : " To the
health, long life, and happiness of the future Mrs. Frankfort,
and all the little Frankies, and plenty of them too, by all
that's propitious to the destinies of the town of Glooscap ! "

Much kind feeling and some enthusiasm was evoked by
this tender toast. Reference to and sentiments concerning
marriage and the other sex have ever excited interest in any
assemblage of men, and no doubt will continue to do so as
long as man endures, or at least until woman's rights are
established. When our politician had replied, as well as he
could, to the good wishes of ' his friend, Mr. M'Glumpy,' for
the interesting unknown, Quiggle whispered in his ear that
the least he could do now was to grant ' his friend ' the
interview of which he was desirous. So, taking a cordial
farewell of the Mayor, Councillors, and constituents, which
farewell included a rather formal bow from Shumate, our
politician, M'Glumpy, and Quiggle were soon walking to-
gether down the broad road which constituted the main
street of the village.

' It was very good of you, Mr. M'Glumpy, to think of my
future wife — if there is to be one — not to say the children.
It's more than I have ever done myself,' observed Frankfort.

' What ? You don't say the word, do ye ? An' all the
time I've been supposing that you were only delaying like
till you got into Parliament to go straight in and win the
other too. It would be so complate now,' he remarked,
turning round to his Member confidentially : 'M.H.R., married,
children, fine home, rest like from Parliament. Well, and a
man ain't complate without it. Them is the very words that
the Honourable Mr. Lamborn, at The Blocks there, says to
our Jerry when he got his bit of land. " Jerry," says he —
Mr. Lamborn often has a bit of a joke handy somewhere
about him — " Jerry," says he, " what's a farm without the live
stock ? " " The live stock, Mr. Lamborn ? " asks Jerry, quite
simple. " Yes ; the best of live stock — a good wife," says he.
And, sure enough, Jerry took heed on him ; and isn't Maggie
Heffernan, the best girl in the country, mistress there now ? '

' Ah well, happy Jerry ! I am sorry I have no such
bright vision before me,' remarked our politician.

' Well, well, Rimy, let us come on now from love to

v AFTER THE ELECTION 231

business, for our Member has to be off directly ! ' exclaimed
the little agent, who was quite aware that this tender proem
on the marriage question was only Mr. M'Glumpy's polite way
of leading on to the more serious objects of the interview.

4 Business ? What business, Mr. Quiggle ? ' exclaimed
the other.

' Why, you know, Rimy, what you wanted to see us
about/ The agent always identified himself and principal
in this way. ' Spit it out, old man — spit it out,' said Quiggle,
in a tone of cheerful exhortation.

' That ? Oh, that's nothing. I needn't have stopped ye
at all about that. I've no call to trespass upon the Member
for myself. It's me sister-in-law at the Post Office that
wanted to have a word with him. And here we are, to be
sure, if you wouldn't mind stepping in a minute.'

They were at the Glooscap Post Office, as Mr. M'Glumpy
had remarked ; but the building was not wholly devoted to
His Majesty's service. Over the door of the little shop was
the name, ' Mary Garvin,' in large letters. On the right-
hand front window were two large E.R.'s, and above was
the inscription, ' Glooscap Post Office, Mary Garvin, Post-
mistress ' ; while on the left was a window-front such as is
often seen in an Irish village. For Mary Garvin, in changing
her country, brought with her unchanged her native character
and tastes. In this window were displayed specimens of the
varied wares sold within. Bits of ladies' millinery, set off by
sundry faded plates from fashionable society journals ; a
small collection of children's toys, whose dusty and faded
appearance indicated a venerable age quite in contrast with
their juvenile purpose ; a few dingy packets of hard-looking
note-paper, and very sharp, steely-looking steel pens, on which
dingy paper, however, another Iliad or Paradise Lost could
have been inscribed, if only the right person got hold
of the steely pens ; the usual and inevitable dirty glass jar,
half-full of cloudy -looking sugar-candy, often gazed upon
from the street by the children, who enjoyed even a good
look at the sweets, and sundry stale cakes, fringed with
packets of tape and papers of pins — these, with some
odds and ends of fancy articles, occupied one portion of
the window. Adjoining these, but collected together by

232 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

themselves, was a selection of things chiefly ecclesiastical,
and belonging to the ancient Latin branch of the Christian
Church, consisting of sundry rosaries (and beads) and
clerical books, together with highly -coloured portraits of
various saints (Saint Patrick himself occupying the place of
honour), and of several venerated living prelates, including
one that displayed, as well as a rough picture could, the noble
profile and benevolent countenance of Leo the Thirteenth.
Close to this clerical division was a secular, or rather a
political, department, the chief interest of which appeared
to centre in the episode of Robert Emmet being con-
demned to death in the law courts for fighting for Ireland.
A few very green books, containing selections from the
songs of Ireland, a worn copy of the second volume of
O'Connell's speeches, a couple of small, bright little volumes
of Tom Moore's national poems, a few much-bethumbed
threepenny editions of Napoleon's Book of Fate, and sundry
almanacs of the last year, composed the bulk of the literature
on view in the window. Dotted on the border, round the
whole of the wares, and in some cases hanging down by
long strings from the top, were some aged specimens of fruit,
including one pineapple in the centre that had once been
good-looking, but which had swung there for weeks, like a
too fastidious ballroom beauty, admired by all, but not
claimed by any.

It appeared further, from a notice that was written on a
large square piece of cardboard, and placed on the top of
some oranges in this window, that the Postmistress under-
took homely, but very useful, services for certain of the
King's female subjects, as well as official ones for His
Majesty himself. For on the card was the writing : ' Mrs.
Garvin, Monthly Nurse, Certificated. Apply early.' And
that she was highly successful in her ministrations was
undoubted, though, in fact, the ' certificated ' did not refer
to any professional document accrediting her, but to the
laudatory letters that she had received from time to time
from patients who certified to her skill and care. Quiggle,
indeed, when he had mentioned her casually to Frankfort
early in the day, had jocosely remarked that she took much
the same care of both His Majesty's mails and females in

v AFTER THE ELECTION 233

and about Glooscap. He now, as they were going in,
whispered to him that Mrs. Garvin, and M'Glumpy too, had
belonged to the Meeks lot ; that Meeks had got her the billet ;
that she was still rather sweet on Meeks, but that M'Glumpy
and clan had, as he had stated before, voted straight. So
he was to keep her free, let her go, and so on.

' Ah, Mrs. Garvin, there you are, to be sure. Hope I see
you well and flourishing, too, — King's letters and King's
babies coming in freely, and being attended to with your
usual intelligence and skill, Mrs. Garvin. Here's the new
Member. Off with the old love, on with the new : all's
fair, you know, in love and politics. He is the man to
take your fancy ; he is come to do whatever you want.
Just name the word : the thing is done. Indeed it is,' con-
tinued the agent gaily, seating himself easily on the counter ;
while our politician, having shaken hands with his fair con-
stituent, was pointed to the only chair in the shop by a
wave of her hand. A good-natured, easy-going-looking Irish-
woman of middle age was Mary Garvin, redeemed from a
natural tendency to slatternliness by the obligations of the
dual positions which she held in serving the King at all
times and being liable to be called out by her female neigh-
bours at any time.

' And it's pleased I am to see you, Mr. Frankfort, and to
become acquainted with you — being under Guv'ment meself ;
though it's little I need any one's fair word for me : doin'
the work as I do, I needs no favour.'

' That's quite right, Mrs. Garvin — that's the right way to
talk, Mrs. Garvin : do your duty, and you have to beg no
one's favour or good word on your behalf ! ' cordially exclaimed
our politician.

Ouiggle, who was getting uneasy about their time, and
who knew well that they had not yet got to the real point
of the interview, here struck in again.

' Right you are, Postmistress ! But what is this little
matter that you wanted to see us about ? We have to be off
to the city directly.'

' Oh, I've nothing on me mind to speak about. Just I
wanted to see the new Member and make up my respects to
him, and hoping he'll last as long as old Meeks, anyhow.'

234 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

'Certainly, Postmistress; but this here — you know,
that your brother-in-law, Rimy, told us of — something that
you ' remarked Quiggle.

'About the boy, ye know, Mary/ interposed Mr.
M'Glumpy, who, after all, seemed to know something
about the real business of the interview.

' The boy is it ye mean ?' responded the Postmistress. 'Oh,
that's nothing, it is. It's Terry you're thinking of, is it ? Here,
Terry, come forward and show yourself to the gentleman.'

And Terence M'Glumpy, or Terry for short, who during
the conversation was waiting at the end of the shop, ready
to be called, stood forth to view. He was a large-framed,
red-haired Irish boy of about twenty, uncouth and unkempt
in appearance, but with a cheerful, good-tempered look about
him. He was a son of one of M'Glumpy's brothers who had
still remained in the old land, and he had been brought up
in one of the wildest parts of Connaught, where the school-
master had only lately come effectively. Having been a
weakly boy in his native land, his education had been
neglected ; but he seemed to be intelligent, and in the genial
climate of Excelsior he was getting quite strong. His
father had sent him out to the uncle's care, to seek his fortune.
The uncle naturally turned to the Government to provide for
him, and thought that the Glooscap Post Office offered a fair
opening, especially as it was presided over by the aunt.

' Ah, dear me, a fine young countryman of yours, Post-
mistress— quite a credit to the family ; and what can we do
for Terry now ? ' inquired the agent in his blandest tones.
He felt that it would be good business to conciliate the
whole M'Glumpy connection by some small personal service
done for them.

' Do for him ? ' inquired the Postmistress, as if surprised
by the inquiry. ' Oh, there's nothing to do for him that I
know of. For certain, he wants a start somehow, to be sure
— some bit of a sort of a billet. And, now that I mind it,
the office here wants a boy of some sort to deliver them
letters down the town. As Postmistress here now, I don't
hold by the neighbours all about the place having to come
up here, wet or fine, to get hold of their letters. I'd like to
see them properly delivered.'

v AFTER THE ELECTION 235

' Well, that now ain't a big thing, anyway,' chimed in
M'Glumpy. ' Before ye explained to me, when ye first
spoke to me, I was thinking, Mary, that it was an increase
to your salary, or a rise in the Service, ye might be after,
that ye wanted to see the Member about. This ain't
much, anyhow. Fifteen bob a week would fix it up,' turn-
ing round to our politician with an easy, triumphant wave
of his hand.

Quiggle was pleased to find that it was such a small
matter, and so was our politician, though he could not help
thinking that the big boy who stood before him would find
more useful work in following the plough or grappling with
the trees of the forest. He felt that it would not do to raise
small difficulties with his constituents, so he promised to
support Mrs. Garvin's application for a junior letter-carrier,
and to recommend her nephew for the place. The elder
M'Glumpy soon produced the formal application, which, it
seemed, had been already filled in by him (he, indeed, being
quite an expert in preparing such documents), and, in fact,
it only wanted the signature of the Member for the district,
certifying to the fitness of the applicant, and formally recom-
mending him. As it so happened, this was the first time
that our politician had given his patronage, in due formal
document, as a Member of Parliament ; and as he signed
' E. F. Frankfort' at the foot of the paper, he could not but
be conscious of some sense of importance owing to the new
power that he was thus exercising, joined to a feeling of
responsibility for its proper use.

' Now then, Terry, jump on the pony and make off to
the Hospital at Brassville, as if the devil himself was behind
ye, and be sure ye catch Surgeon Dillon, so as to get the
medical examination and the doctor's certificate all right ;
and then, me boy, ye may salute yourself as letter-carrier
to the King's Post Office at Glooscap. Don't miss the
Surgeon. He's off by the first train in the morning.'

And Terry, thus exhorted, was soon tearing away on the
pony along the main road to Brassville, to submit himself to
the necessary medical examination by Myles Dillon.

'Well, now, that's all right, M'Glumpy,' remarked
Quiggle ; ' and as time's short with us, we will take our leave

236 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

of the Postmistress here and follow the letter-carrier to
the city.'

4 Yes, we will be off now, Mr. M'Glumpy. I am glad to
have been able to do you and Mrs. Garvin here any service,'
said our politician ; and as M'Glumpy seemed as if he was not
yet quite ready to part with him, he added, interrogatively,
* Nothing more, I suppose ? '

' Oh, nothing at all, and I am grateful to you, Mr.
Frankfort ! ' exclaimed M'Glumpy. 4 I don't know that there
is anything more, unless ye could give me a bit of a note for
my own boy, standing there beyont, over the way.' He
pointed to a fine, active -looking fellow of twenty -four or
twenty-five years of age, who was evidently thoroughly
enjoying some jocular conversation with three or four other
stalwart companions. They were all standing round the
village saddler, who was repairing a saddle for young
M'Glumpy on a bench on the pathway before his shop.
The jokes appeared to be good, and the laughter rang out
merrily. Even several of the village dogs that were collected
around seemed to enter into the fun, and looked up at their
respective masters with gently-wagging tails and pleased,
sympathy-enjoying countenances.

' Oh, indeed, and what does your son want ? ' remarked
our politician, a little disappointed at finding that he was not
quite out of the wood yet.

4 Ah, then, it's nothing he wants but a bit of a note.'

' Bit of a note, but what for ? '

4 Why, he's off to Klondyke, ye know.'

' Off to Klondyke ! Then what use can a note from me
be ? What is he off to Klondyke for ? '

4 Why, to get a billet there in the police ; the pay is
tiptop, anyway. And a note from your Honour, as a
Member of Parliament, might shove him in straight, as snug
as anything.'

'All right, Mr. M'Glumpy ! ' exclaimed our politician,
climbing into the buggy in a desperate manner; 'just send
the particulars to Mr. Quiggle, and I'll see what can be done.
Good-bye, Mrs. Garvin. Good-bye.'

4 Well, it is surprising how they run after a billet, as they
call it ! ' exclaimed our politician, as they drove down the street.

v AFTER THE ELECTION 237

1 It's the way they have got, -sir — it's the way,' answered
Quiggle. ' Why, only the other day old Pinkerton asked for
a billet ; it was the first thing he thought of when he got
out.'

' Who is Pinkerton ? ' inquired Frankfort.

' One of your constituents who got into trouble years
ago. I mind him well in the old days. Not a bad chap,
but such a temper ! Got into a row with a man there in
Brassville, who he thought was cheating him ; stabbed him
with a pocket-knife; bad wound; ten years in Bull Bull
Penitentiary ; excellently conducted when in ; petitions for
release after seven years from neighbours ; release granted ;
Governor of gaol says to him, " Very well-conducted man,
Pinkerton ; glad to help you any way." " Please, sir," says
he, " would you give me a note to His Honour the Minister ? "
" What for, Pinkerton ? You are clear of us now, — free
pardon, — no further hold on you now." And what do you
think was his answer ? ' exclaimed Quiggle, looking round to
his companion, and enjoying his expected surprise at the
story — ' what was his answer ? "I was only thinking, sir,"
says he, " that perhaps His Honour would not mind giving
me a billet somewhere about the Penitentiary, now that he
knows of me." You would have thought,' the agent con-
tinued with a quiet laugh, ' that he had had enough of
Government. But no, a billet — a billet. " Ever of thee I
am fondly " ' — and Quiggle kept murmuring to himself the
verses of this favourite song, leaving our politician to his
own meditations on the subject of billets, and enjoying the
prospect of a quiet evening with Myles Dillon, after the
varied experience of the day.

They arrived at the Lake Reservoir in good time, and,
parting with Quiggle, who promised to call later in the
evening to arrange for to-morrow's work, Frankfort hastened
upstairs to his sitting-room, where, sure enough, he found
Myles Dillon himself, quietly reading the Life of Richard
Owen, the great naturalist, which he had slipped into his
Gladstone bag as he was leaving town, so as to be always
sure of having some one by him worth speaking to, as he
expressed it, while he was on his journey. He had just seen
young M'Glumpy and passed him for the Service. Soon

238 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

dinner was over, and the two settled themselves for a quiet
evening. The soothing influence of tobacco was not wanting,
and Myles, as he lay stretched on the sofa in his accustomed
style of evening repose, listened with interest and occasional
criticism while his companion recounted the various episodes
of the day, which brought before them scenes of life and
character which were equally new to both narrator and
listener.

1 But now you haven't told me of the finest of all your
efforts yet, Edward Fairlie,' remarked Myles in a quiet
tone.

' Which is that, Myles ? I don't know of any very
special one.'

' What ? You don't call to mind your unique and quite
original nomination of a letter-carrier, warranted to be the
only one of its kind — all previous patents cancelled — -the
famous M'Glumpy specimen.'

' I don't know what you are driving at. I gave a
nomination to a boy of that name. I suppose he is as
good as another for a small village. By the way, too, that
was my first nomination, as it so happened, as Member of
Parliament. I mean to be very fair about my nominations,
and very particular too.'

' I am pleased to hear it, Teddy. There be plenty
room for improvement from your start, anyway. But I
thought that, as it was the first, you would be extra careful
and a bit nervous — like a juvenile surgeon cutting off his
first leg, or a young lawyer making out his first bill of costs.'

' Why, what are you at, Dillon ? What's wrong with the
boy for a place like Glooscap ? ''

' All right, my friend — all right. If Ed. Fairlie Frankfort,
with his first-rate conscience, is at ease about it, far be it
from plain Myles Dillon to complain. But I confess it took
me a bit aback.'

' What took you aback — the look of the boy ? '

' Why, what, really, don't you know ? No ? Then
you're worse than the farmer's stopped clock, for it was
right once a day, anyhow. Why, then, let me a tale unfold.
Tall young compatriot of mine presents himself to pass
•medical examination as letter-carrier, together with nomina-

v AFTER THE ELECTION 239

tion signed " E. F. Frankfort, M.H.R." All correct so far,
my boy, thinks I. Chest measured proper number of inches,
height correct, limbs and trunk sound, eyesight good, blew
up the lung-tester famously. " Why, you'll do, as far as I am
concerned, Mr. M'Glumpy," says I ; "just read over that
certificate and see if the particulars as to name, age, and so
on are correct. If so, I'll endorse it." " Read what, your
Honour ? " says he. " Read that," says I, putting the paper
before him. "I ax your Honour's pardon," says he, " but I don't
read or write." " Don't read or write ! " says I, dropping the
paper as if it burnt me. " Devil a bit ! " says he. " Devil a

bit ! " says I ; " and then how the ," but I pulled myself

up, as I knew that strong language would be unbecoming
from the Government official, even in these novel circum-
stances, and only addressed the young man in my blandest
tones, and said : " My youthful friend, would you mind
explaining to me, merely for the sake of the knowledge that
you will impart to me, how you propose to deliver His
Majesty's letters at their proper destination, and to the
people named outside of them, when you are unable to read
the superscription ? " " Quite aisy, your Honour. Won't the
aunt there, the Postmistress, put them down into me hand,
and as I walk up the street the neighbours, all decent people,
will just lay houldt on what belongs to them, each of them."
" Very well, Mr. M'Glumpy, as far as I am concerned, I can
certify that you are physically competent to deliver a twenty-
four-volume encyclopaedia ; and perhaps you will permit me
to add that, on the whole, I am pleased that I do not reside
in the interesting town in which you are to officiate." And
the young man smiled upon me cheerfully and departed
happy with his completed certificate as letter-carrier.'

' I know you are only humbugging, Myles. But it is
really too serious a matter to joke about. Gracious powers !
it would be a fiasco if there were anything in it — and it my
very first nomination ! ' And our politician turned round to
look straight at Dillon to see if he really meant it. Myles
looked quite serious. ' Why, surely Quiggle must have
known of such an absurdity, — and he would never have let
me perpetrate such a thing. Poor Meeks could not have
done worse. But there must be some mistake. Oh ! here

240 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

is Quiggle,' he continued, as that gentleman walked into the
room, full of his plans for the next day's work.

' Why, Quiggle, Mr. Dillon has just astounded me by
telling me that that M'Glumpy boy, when he was examined
for the medical certificate, on being asked to read over and
sign the paper, coolly told him that he could neither read nor
write. And there my nomination goes in for a letter-carrier
who can't read a single direction on the letters. It is such a
fiasco to begin my public patronage with. How could you
let me do such a thing ? '

Quiggle, who, as the reader may have observed, enjoyed
the humorous side of things, could not refrain from laughter
at the very absurdity of the thing. ' Ha, ha, ha ! that is
not bad ! But I give you my solemn affirmation, Mr. Frank-
fort, that I had no notion of such a thing. Ha, ha ! it is
really too bad. Now I see what M'Glumpy was working
up so carefully for, the old miscreant. Ha, ha ! I can't help
a laugh at it. And how are the people to get their letters.
Did the young man say ? It's something quite new. It's
rather good now.'

' The young official explained to me,' replied Dillon,
' that he would carry the letters round in a batch in his
hand, and each decent citizen was to pick out his own
proper and peculiar communication. Rather good, as you
say, that.'

' Well, now that is quite original. Ha, ha ! it is indeed,'
laughed Quiggle.

' What is there to laugh at ? ' asked our politician. ' It is
such a blunder ; and liable to be misrepresented too, as the
family voted for me. I will write to the Postmaster-General
to-morrow explaining the thing and recalling my nomination.'

' Well, well, it is too bad of Rimy — that it is indeed ; I
wouldn't have thought it,' remarked Quiggle. ' But you
have learnt in time. You can write to the Postmaster-
General, and if you want the rights of it known, you could
tell Seeker, Secretary of the State Workers' Association,
when he calls upon you to-morrow. He speaks for the
whole Service, and to the whole Service too, when he chooses,
does Seeker Secretary, as we call him.'

It appeared that Seeker Secretary had returned from

v AFTER THE ELECTION 241

Great Gorge to Brassville especially to see our politician
and to lay before him certain views concerning the claims
of the National State workers upon the Government of
the country. The Association had supported him at the
recent election ; but more, Quiggle explained, because they
knew that Meeks could not succeed (and they never cared
to be on the losing side) than that they were wholly satisfied
with the attitude of our politician. Seeker Secretary was
anxious to ascertain with more precision what his opinions
were with regard to the National State workers and their
rights ; both with a view to their mutual relations in Parlia-
ment now and also their action with regard to him at future
elections. So it had been arranged that the two should
meet the next morning — the politician and the man who
claimed to make politicians — and Quiggle laid special stress
upon the importance of this meeting and the need there was
of keeping her free before the wind and steady, neither bring-
ing her to, nor letting her off, more than necessary. And
having arranged the other ' fixtures ' for the morrow, as he
termed them, the little man hastened home to Mrs. Quiggle,
who always sat up for him, and who, after she had put the
children to bed, was beguiling the time by reading a moving
serial love story that appeared twice a week in the Trumpeter.

When, next morning, Norrie Seeker, Esquire, General
Secretary of the National State Workers' Association, was
shown upstairs, our politician found himself in the presence
of no common man. If Norrie Seeker was not a great man,
he was certainly one of the remarkable men of the country,
to borrow a phrase from the land of his birth, the United
States. He was born in Chicago, having an Englishman
for his father and a Scotchwoman, Maggie Norrie by name,
for his mother ; and the father not taking sufficient interest
in the affair to look personally after his baptism, the mother
attended to that ceremony, and had him duly baptized by
the minister of the kirk that she sometimes frequented,
Norrie Seeker. Both parents belonged to the poorest class
in the social scale, and had emigrated towards the end of
the fifties, when paupers from Europe still came at the rate
of about a thousand a week to the land of freedom. The
pair gravitated towards Chicago, and soon mingled among

VOL. I R

242 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the rather squalid, uneasy, dissatisfied section of the wage-
earners of that city ; and before long, Seeker senior, growing
more and more discontented with many things in his lot in
life, at last became discontented with his wife and cheerless
home, and one morning disappeared for ever from the
domestic scene, — no one knew, or ever discovered, whither.
The mother, now practically a widow, took in what washing
she could get ; but this industry gave her and the boy only
a scanty living, owing to the untiring and adroit competition
of the Chinaman ; and so young Norrie, when a boy of
eight or nine, was thrown a good deal on his own resources
to earn what he could during the day, picking up an element-
ary education at the night-school, to which the poor mother
providently sent him, and to which he willingly and regularly
went.

There is undoubtedly such a thing as the political
instinct — a liking and an aptitude for the movement and
excitement of public affairs, which is quite different from the
talent of the business man or the power of the money-
maker. This instinct admits of a wide scale of gradation,
from the giant scope of a Bismarck down to the lowly
methods of Mr. Walter Crane of the Water and Irrigation
Bureau, with whom the reader is already acquainted. Norrie
Seeker was neither a Bismarck on the one hand nor a Crane
on the other ; but he certainly had the political instinct
strong within him, and by the time that we become
acquainted with him, it had blossomed into quite respectable
proportions ; though its early scope was naturally of a
humble and limited character. Its first experience, in fact,
if experience it may be termed, was in proclaiming aloud the
political headings of the newspapers that he was selling in
Chicago streets, mingled with all the other announcements
— sporting events, fires, embezzlements, suicides, divorce, and
death. While in the main following the list of striking
events given to him and the other news-boys by the news-
agents, he boldly and skilfully varied his cries, and occasion-
ally even invented them, so as to suit the different classes or
sets of purchasers among whom his rapid course through the
city might bring him. Critics might say that this habit
alone was a training for the lower phases of political life.

v AFTER THE ELECTION 243

But Norrie Seeker continued all the time to learn diligently
at the night-school, and also to pick up much practical
education in the street ; and when only a lad of fifteen he
was hired by Max Lautenbach, the blind politician of his
native State, to attend him and lead him about when he
went to serve his term in the State Legislature.

Here Norrie Seeker was in his element Though not
admitted within the precincts of the Chamber itself when it
was sitting, he had entrance, leading his patron, who was to
him a kind master, to all lobbies, committee rooms, refresh-
ment saloons, private bars, caucases and conferences of
members, and all other places where the restless stream of
politicians flowed and eddied. He hearkened to the un-
official talk of Members, and noted how often it differed in
tone, and at times in substance, from their public declarations.
All plotting, negotiating, pulling of diverse strings, plans for
outmanoeuvring the adversary, projects for counter-proposi-
tions that were to defeat the other ones, without seeming to
go directly against them, all keeping of it dark till the
proper time, all arrangements for dealing warily with doubt-
ful votes, and with men who appeared in a questionable
shape — all this he sucked in as naturally as he had his
infantile nourishment not many years before. Not only did
he not feel tired as he waited in the Gallery hour after hour
to be ready to lead his employer back to the hotel, but he
enjoyed himself if there was some development of party
tactics going forward, some flank movement by one side,
or, as sometimes did happen, a complete wheel round and
change of front. In short, he profited by being behind the
scenes, and knew as much of the make-believe of politics as
a call-boy at the theatre does of the tinsel of the stage.

As he grew up, so he also increased in intelligence and
breadth of view, and when he migrated to Excelsior he
might claim to be considered an intelligent, and even broad-
minded, specimen of the genus political manager, — we will
not say wire-puller, as that term has acquired an objection-
able character that must not be imputed to Seeker Secretary.
But his ruling instinct, the main element in his composition,
as Nature had mixed it, was for manipulating men and
plotting out affairs, so as to carry his point, and especially so

244 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

as to circumvent the opponents or somebody else. He
liked to gain his point, but particularly to gain it by a little
management. It was not so agreeable to him if he got it by
open direct action. Much as he was interested in politics, he
preferred taking this interest from outside. His own private
opinion was that he would become dependent if he went
inside, with more of the name but none of the reality of power.
He would have to obey others, and be all complaisance to
them, instead of this being the case with others in regard to
him. It was thus not his ambition, at present at least, to
be a legislator himself, but only to control those who were
legislators. He used to observe that the greatest generals
had, themselves unseen, sometimes directed their battles
from behind a tree.

Personally Seeker Secretary was what might be termed
a respectable man. No evil thing could be fairly laid to his
charge ; and his dress and carriage was that of a reputable
citizen. But he had an instinctive bias against what he used
to term, with but an imperfect pronunciation of the word,
the bourgeois sort of people, and a natural leaning to the
views of the restless and unsuccessful ranks of the social
State. The mere fact that any proposal or idea startled the
bourgeois and made them open their eyes, rather recom-
mended it to Seeker Secretary. That it upset their staid ideas,
and particularly that it trenched on their supposed rights and
easements, was all in its favour with him. On the other
hand, outre proposals or shady transactions were tolerantly
regarded by him so long as they came from or compromised
those whom no one could accuse of belonging to the ' respect-
able ' people. He would not commit himself to the proposal,
nor directly defend the transaction ; but he would speak of
them with a reserve and tolerance such as a man displays in
public, with regard to mishaps in the family. All this was
only so much homage paid to what he considered the stronger
power in politics — the safe side for a man to attach himself
to. It was part of his principles to regard with a jealous
eye government, subordination, discipline, repression, and the
principle of authority, whether as applied to men's ideas,
their language, or their actions. There was one cardinal
exception, however, to this tendency of his, and that was in

v AFTER THE ELECTION 245

regard to the rule and guidance of the State Workers'
Association in all its many branches. There his tone was
quite the other way. There his chief article of faith was to
secure exact organisation and perfect obedience to the com-
mands of the central Executive. An open enemy he did not
mind, nay, might respect. But the man who would dare to
raise dissent with headquarters, in the ranks of the State
workers, he regarded as Fritz the Unique would have con-
templated one of his corporals if he threatened to mutiny ;
or John Jervis, Earl of St. Vincent, would have looked upon
one of his bo'suns if he had stepped upon the quarter-deck
and proposed that the fleet should have a spell home, instead
of prolonging the blockade of Cadiz. For your political boss,
though he cannot hang or flog men, is just as intolerant of
contradiction as was ever John Jervis or Fritz the Unique.

Seeker was at first employed in the office of the State
Workers' Association as one of the typewriters ; but he soon
attracted the notice of members of the Executive by the
shrewd and bold suggestions which he would deferentially
suggest to them in regard to the questions raised by the
correspondence ; and before long he was made chief clerk,
and in due time was chosen unanimously for the position of
General Secretary, which meant, particularly with such a man
as Seeker, manager and engineer of the whole Association.
In addition to undeniable ability, Seeker Secretary possessed
that quality invaluable for success in practical politics, of
perfect confidence in himself. The great military genius of
our time, Von Moltke, after the skilful campaign by which
he conquered Alsen and Jutland from the Danes, in writing
confidentially to his wife, expresses doubt, referring to pro-
posed military arrangements, whether he was competent to
take the chief command of a corps, as he ' had not sufficient
talent for matters of detail.' Seeker Secretary would not, in
a similar case, have felt this diffidence. He thought highly
of his own powers, and the general deference of the public
tended to strengthen his estimate of himself.

When he and our politician had shaken hands, and he
had sat down, with his countenance in repose after the
momentary animation of the meeting, Frankfort saw before
him a short, rather squat, and certainly massively-built man,

246 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

with a broad face, firm mouth, and thick nose, pointing
skywards, with over the whole personality a plausible, self-
reliant, make -myself- at -home air. The large grey eyes
looked out at you and into you when the owner addressed
you, and apparently did so trustfully, and the more critical
the topic of speech, the more confidingly they turned upon
you. But if you returned straight back this trustful look,
when eyes met, a sort of mesmeric influence or magnetic
repulsion, or some other occult power, to be felt rather than
explained, made you conscious that you were met by a
survey quite different from the unsuspecting gaze of child-
hood. The reader will have gathered that Seeker Secretary
was not a man of refined appearance ; but not the less did
he earnestly seek to adopt a manner which, if it could not
be said to be truly refined, was at least an effort in that
direction. It is curious how persistently people, and sensible
people, will strive to be other than they are, and as Nature
has designed them. The ugly man will long to be thought
a tolerably well-looking fellow, and though he has a face like
a tomato, yet he will be proud of his small foot. The weak
man wishes to be regarded as a Bismarck for firmness, the
cleric apes the venial foibles of the man of the world, the
naval officer boasts of his successes in the hunting field,
the soldier, like Wolfe, the hero of Quebec, sighs at times
for the reputation of the poet ; and Norrie Seeker's ambition,
with all his plebeian sympathies, was to be taken for a gentle-
manly man.

' I trust I am not intruding upon your leisure, or, indeed,
I should say your busy moments, for I know what elections
are — and the after-consequences of elections, too,' he ob-
served, as he sat down and looked straight at our politician,
to see what he was like near at hand. So far, he had only
seen him once or twice at a distance, at some University
Extension Lectures that Frankfort had given in Miranda.

' Not at all, Mr. Seeker,' replied our politician. ' The
obligation is on my side for your coming back from Great
Gorge to meet me.'

' Fact is, to be quite candid, I am glad to learn, Mr. —
Professor Frankfort, all I can about the gentlemen who are
chosen to the great position of a seat in the Parliament of

v AFTER THE ELECTION 247

the nation ; and then, to be sure, I also hope to induce those
honourable gentlemen to look down even from their high
estate and consider the wants and plaints of the workers —
the State workers of the Province. And so, Professor, you
have come through with flying colours — no mishap at all ? '

' Yes, I have been very successful. My agent tells me
that Mr. Hiram Brickwood, one of the leading local men in
your Association, and his friends supported me. I am sure
that I am very much indebted to them ; the more so as,
except one conversation with the local Secretary, there was
no asking for pledges or promises or undertakings of any
sort.'

' Ah ! to be sure — quite right. Fact is/ said the
Secretary confidentially to our politician — ' fact is, Meeks
— poor Meeks, if I may be excused for so terming one who
was a Member of Parliament — poor Meeks being worked
out, we accepted you as a gentleman of honour — and how
much there is in honour, Mr. Frankfort ! — who would not
only be as good as his word, but better. And so you have
triumphed ! — though I am far from saying by our votes
only. I understand that you were generally supported. I
trust that your experiences have been agreeable — nothing
that a gentleman could complain of? '

And the Secretary turned and looked at our politician
in an interrogative manner, but with a trustful air. It was
his habit to make out all he could about every election, and
particularly about every, new actor as he stepped on the
political boards. And, in truth, he wanted to know how
Frankfort, the Professor, and what some considered the
lofty style of politician, got on in the contest with the
experienced though worn-out Meeks. 'Disappointing to
have the bottom knocked out of the Reservoir that way,' he
added.

' Many were disappointed at that ; but after the failure
of the Loan, there was no more to be said about it. Yes, my
experiences have been agreeable — no mishap, I may say.
The most absurd thing that happened was only yesterday.
It's so absurd — and yet it's provoking too, though it is a
small affair.'

' No, truly ; you don't say so ? No encounter, I trust,

248 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

with Miss Gazelle, or old Schoolmaster Nickerson, who,
Brickwood tells me, is the odd man out in public affairs
here ? '

' Oh no ; quite an absurd thing — it makes me laugh to
think of it. A nomination to the State Service — and my very
first, too, as it so happens.'

' Well, well. I suppose the old story — the square peg
in the round hole, I presume?'

' No ; more absurd than that. The man, or boy, in this
case had no claim to be in at all. Out at Glooscap there, just
as I was coming away, a young fellow was brought to me
to recommend him for letter-carrier. He seemed right
enough for a small place. Quiggle knew the friends. I
signed the nomination, and afterwards, when he went for
medical examination before Surgeon Dillon, it turned out
that he could neither read nor write. You can imagine how
vexed I was ; it was too absurd. I am writing to the
Postmaster-General about it by to-day's mail.'

' Now, truly ; you don't mean that ? It certainly is the
only nomination of the kind that I ever heard of. Some-
times they do complain of Members' nominations, to be
sure.'

' Of course I assumed that, like all the other boys about,
he was fairly educated. It seems that he was only lately
come out from one of the wildest Irish counties.'

{ To be sure — to be sure. It never occurred to you to
ask before signing ? ' remarked Seeker Secretary.

' No, I tell you, such a thing as his not being able to
read or write never crossed my mind. If it had '

' Oh, just so — just so. It shows, does it not, what odd
things may happen to one quite casually, as it were ? Now,
they accuse us of all sorts of things in regard to the State
Service ; but they can't say that we have ever defended
having letter-carriers that could not read. No, Mr.
Frankfort, we are not quite so bad as that,' the Secretary
added, in a cheerful tone. He was pleased to hear of this
nomination. He assumed at once, and correctly, that the
boy's friends had voted for Frankfort, and, absurd as the
thing was in one aspect, it was capable, with some embel-
lishment, of a more serious application, especially as against

v AFTER THE ELECTION 249

any one who would attempt to set up any very high standard
in such matters. The more that he knew about and against
every man on the political chess-board, the better pleased
was Seeker Secretary.

' Well, well, Professor, the mention of this little episode
of yours in the ranks of the State workers brings up at once
the subject of our interview. I was desirous of seeing you, in
order to lay before you our views, our claims — just, I trust,
you will find them — our grievances. You know our motto :
" Our Rights, not others' Wrongs." '

' And a very good motto too, Mr. Seeker. Is there any
particular topic connected with the Service that now demands
attention ? '

' Several, Professor — several. There is the rank injustice
proposed in the Bill that the Government tried to pass last
session, to regulate, as it is termed, the State Service — to
regulate us into slavery. Promotion was to be by what is
termed merit, diligent conduct, and not seniority. That
would mean that the men must curry favour with the
foreman in a workshop to get his good word to the shop
manager, and his again to the head of the branch, and so
on. Encouraging servility. The automatic system is plainly
the just one. No favouritism. Every man gets his oppor-
tunity ; and opportunity, you know, Professor, makes the
man. Then all right of appeal in workaday matters, from
the official chief to the Minister, whether in Post Office, Trams
and Rails, Police, Education, practically taken away. We
should have been the veritable serfs of half-a-dozen elderly
gentlemen of more or less density to the liberal and pro-
gressive ideas of our age. In the Trams and Rails the
difficulty is partly met already by the Advisatory Council,
which assists and rather controls the Director. We want
this system to work freely, and to work in all departments
as it does in the Trams and Rails. Then, of course, there
is our scheme of classification and wages, to ensure a living
wage to the men. I am sure that we can rely upon you to
help us. You would do injustice to no man.'

' Certainly not ; but as to the Bill, I have not read it yet,
and, before pledging myself, I would like to do so, and to
consider all that is involved.'

250 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' All that is involved ? '

1 Yes. There is the question of revenue involved in the
classification. Possibly, too, it might be found inconvenient
to practically work some of the Departments under the
conditions you refer to.'

' But I trust you would not place convenience above
justice ? '

' By no means ; yet in all walks of life there is a possi-
bility of some injustice, and we cannot positively guard
against it.'

' Permit me there, Professor, to point out to you a
distinction, which, I am sure, your clear mind will see at
once, between Government employment and private em-
ployment. If John Brown wrongfully uses his servant, that
is a private matter. Public faith, public justice is not
involved. But if Government underpays or wrongfully
dismisses one of its servants, then public faith and public
justice are concerned. Should not, then, Parliament control
the scale of wages, and should there not be an appeal to the
Minister who is responsible for the just dealing of the
people ? '

' That involves,' observed Frankfort, ' the constant appeal
to Parliament. The whole thing becomes a political affair.
Can you carry on commercial undertakings upon such
terms ? '

' My dear Professor, why not ? I should hope that an
advanced politician like yourself does not hold that commer-
cial undertakings cannot be successfully worked unless they
are unjustly worked ? We are quite ready to trust Parliament
to control our wages. As the Honourable Mr. M'Grorty
happily expressed it in the debate last session, Parliament is
the High Court which regulates the work and wages of the
State workers, just as the Courts of Arbitration do for the
wage-earners outside. You cannot go higher than the High
Court of Parliament itself, can you ? We only ask for
justice. Our rights, not others' wrongs.'

' Still, if your object is that these public undertakings
should be successfully carried on, you have to consider what
the effect of this political action will be.'

' A slight fallacy, Professor, lurks, if I may say so, in

v AFTER THE ELECTION 251

your use of the word " successfully." If you mean success-
fully in the shopkeeper's sense, then let me observe that that
is not the object of the State. The object of the State is to
carry on the public business upon conditions that are fair to
the workers as well as to the public. There are two parties
to be considered. The shopkeeper only thinks of one.'

' Most certainly full justice should be done to the
workers. The difficulty is in arranging, politically, what
is justice — indeed, their arranging for themselves, for they
are such a dominating political power. Then, you see, the
outside workers, whom you don't protect, have to pay for
this.'

( Pardon me ; we do protect them too, to some extent.
Soon we hope to secure to all the proper wage and due
security from caprice on the part of employers. We must
begin somewhere. Charity begins at home, but it need not
end there.'

' A noble object, truly. I wish we could be sure that
Nature will provide this fair and easy life for every one. At
present, as you know, the Province loses heavily by its State
workers. Only a young country like ours could stand it.'

' And whose fault is that ? If I might say so without
disrespect, the fault of the Government. Are we to pay for
that ? You would not, I presume, from what I have learned
of you, propose to repudiate or lessen the interest on the
State Bonds because the works constructed do not pay the
interest. You would not, I imagine, say to the bond-
holders, " Here, take three per cent instead of five, because
our Trams and Rails don't pay." Yet that is what you say
to the poor labourer when you offer him six shillings a day
instead of eight. The State does not repudiate its debts to
the rich, but it does to the poor. Justice is all we seek.'

' But the farmer cannot get even six shillings a day for
his men. Who is to fix the right wage and who is to pay it
is still the difficulty.'

' If the people are fit to govern the State/ said Seeker,
looking confidently at Frankfort, and speaking in an assumed
apologetic tone — ' if the people are fit to govern the State, I
should presume that they are competent to determine what
is the proper wage for, at least, the State to pay its workers.

252 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

As to who will pay the wages, why, the taxpayer — the
people again,' the Secretary continued. ' In fact, the people
pay themselves. Taxation, Professor, can do much in a
young country, with boundless free soil, no army, no navy,
no costly regal establishments — nothing, in fact, to do with
its wealth but to distribute it to the right people. You are
a friend to government by the people, are you not, Mr.
Frankfort ? '

' Certainly, Mr. Seeker — the higher the wages that can be
fairly earned, the better for us all. I would like to provide
handsomely for all workers. The difficulty your statement
suggests still is that you propose to do for a few, who are a
political power, what you cannot do for all, and at the expense
of the rest. It would be different if the State employed
everybody, and had money from somewhere to pay everybody.'

' As to that we shall see — we shall see. Meanwhile, I
am concerned for the State workers, who, as you truly say,
are a political power. We have arguments, and we have
arms too, I may say. Taken altogether, we number about
one-fourth of the workers of the Province. No feeble body,
Professor, when we act as one. For example — to put an
extreme case, and one a little outside politics, certainly — if
they were to drive us to desperation, and to the unhappy
resource of a general strike — what then ? Trams and Rails,
Post Office, Police — all paralysed. The Social State qould
not get on for a day without us. To be sure, I am only
speaking confidentially to a gentleman ; personally, I would
not countenance such a thing for a moment. No more than
I do turning out Members or Governments, unless in some
very extreme case indeed.'

' But, strong as you are, you are still only a minority of
the electors, Mr. Seeker. You are not surely so numerous as
to be able to turn out Governments at your pleasure.'

' Ah ! but bear in mind the power of a united vote,
going for its bread. An unjust cry against us may at times
rouse the public, but in the even tenor of political life the
general public are a mob to our organised force. Besides,
we carry the outside workers with us. It is all the cause of
labour. But what I have said, mark me, is confidential.
Don't misunderstand me. I deprecate all extreme courses.

v AFTER THE ELECTION 253

I never sanction them in our private meetings. In fact, I
don't even favour putting out individual Representatives —
unless they positively deny us justice. No, no, Professor !
" Our rights, not others' wrongs." '

' I am glad to know that, Mr. Seeker,' said our politician,
with a grave smile. ' Else you would be rather a formidable
menace to the political world and the Government of the
day.'

' True, I cannot deny it. Yet, surely, Professor, you don't
object to our defending ourselves ? The State gives us votes.
We are entitled, I presume, to vote together. Is it reason-
able to expect poor men not to use those votes to protect
the bread of their wives and children ? Are they to refrain
and let their families be pinched — perhaps starved — lest it
should cost that vague entity, the State, too much ? You are
a scholar, I understand, Mr. Frankfort, versed in history. I
ask you, have aristocracies ever spared their countries'
revenues in the like case ? '

' Certainly they have not. Yet the difficulty remains all
the same now for those whose duty it is to think for that
same vague entity that you mention. Your main points,
however, I gather, are automatic promotion, the right of
appeal to the political Minister, and the general control
of the scale of wages by the political power — Parliament, in
fact.'

' Quite correct, Professor : these are the main points, as
you say. When the men press lesser matters,' continued
the Secretary, speaking in a deprecating tone, 'such as the
limitation of the number of apprentices, absolute fixing of
hours in all cases, free passes for holidays, and so on, I
always say to them, " Put your shoulder to the big wheels,
and the little ones will go round of themselves." And that
reminds me, may I here present you, Professor, with a copy
of the Bill that Mr. Brereton, the Premier, brought in last
session, to classify the Service, together with a few criticisms
and proposals of mine marked in the margin ? I may at
the same time hand you a copy of our Bill, the one that we
circulated among Members. It, of course, contains all the
points that I have glanced at.'

1 Thank you,' said our politician, turning over the pages.

254 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' I was not in politics then, but, as I remember, the Govern-
ment were unable to go on with this one.'

' How could they ? You will notice at a glance that we
could not consent to such a settlement. I tried all I could
to come to an agreement, but old Mr. Brereton, you see, is
rather a positive man, he is,' said the Secretary, ' and he, in
fact, wanted his Bill, and we wanted ours, so there we were.
Nothing could be done. We thought it better to put off the
whole thing till after the general election, when we could
have the aid of new minds and new men, like yourself,
Professor. And we were right, as the event proves. I
think I can now claim a majority of Members for our Bill,
and generally for the justice of our other claims. Mr.
Brereton used to be always giving us the old advice, " Better
take half a loaf than have no bread," but now we will take
the whole loaf.'

' I see that there is a difference between the two scales
of classification of about £250,000 a year. That is a large
sum for a population of not quite three millions.'

' That is hardly correct, Professor. The initial cost, the
difference between the two minima, has to be increased even
under the Honourable Mr. Brereton's plan, before the ulti-
mate cost, the difference between the two maxima, can be
weighed. The real difference is the difference between the
maxima. It goes over a term of years. I should say,'
continued the Secretary, having quickly marked some figures
on his gilt-edged pocket-book, 'that the real extra cost
would fall short of £200,000 a year ; and that, you observe,
Professor, represents the difference between content among
the workers and discontent ; or rather, I should say, more
important even still, the difference between justice and
injustice.'

v I see that in your scale of rates you give all alike,
strong and weak, efficient and inefficient.'

' How can you, my dear Professor, I would ask you as a
sensible man, distinguish in a general scale ? Do you wish
to introduce official patronage and favouritism ? Besides,'
added the Secretary, extending his arm, and looking at
Frankfort in an expostulatory manner, ' is it not obviously
better for the Province to keep the old and feeble doing

v AFTER THE ELECTION 255

something than to have to keep them doing nothing in our
asylums ? '

' Well, then, Mr. Seeker, I shall carefully consider this
Bill, and endeavour to do what is fair to both the public and
the workers. There is no other point, I think ? ' remarked
our politician, not unwilling to bring this critical discussion
to a close.

' Nothing ; that's all, Professor. Of course, after the
new Classification Bill is introduced, the second reading will
be postponed for a couple of months so that the different
branches can consider the details. It's a long Bill, sir. No
joke to master all the particulars of the schedules, and each
little band of workers has to be considered.'

' I am not very familiar with Parliamentary practice yet,
but I should suppose that the time you want could be got,
and what is fair to all parties done.'

' Ah ! that's just it — fair to all. I trust the Government
will be that — I do, indeed. Of course, if they absolutely
refuse to give us justice — which I don't for a moment
anticipate — why, then possibly '

' But surely,' interposed Frankfort, ' we may expect that
free open discussion of your claims will show the real merits
of the questions at issue.'

' My dear sir, that is what I am saying. I was only
about to add, when you favoured me with your last remark,
that if those charged with the adminstration of public affairs
should fail in this primary duty and seek to prevent Parlia-
ment from acting for us, why, then —

Frankfort seemed about to interpose again with some
remark or inquiry, but the Secretary quietly continued — ' if
they should fail, nay, what then ? Why, Parliamentary
complications would naturally ensue, in which it would soon
be seen who were for justice to the workers.' The Secretary
pronounced ' Parliamentary ' with marked emphasis on each
syllable of that many-syllabled word.

' Why, if any claim is proper to be entertained by
Parliament,' remarked our politician, ' we surely need not
anticipate ill from the House, or any section of it, Govern-
ment or other.'

' Just so, Professor ; but in the supposititious case I was

256 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

putting we might — I only say we might — I trust not, but
we might have to ask fair-minded men — men,' said the
Secretary with emphasis, ' whom we can cheerfully and
unitedly support at the polling booths, to go a little
further —

' A little further than justice ? '

' No, but this : looking beyond the mere question raised
by the particular issue, to deal with a Government that would
perpetrate a wrong — a public wrong, sir,' said the Secretary,
turning slowly in his chair as if in deep thought, and look-
ing on one side of Frankfort to the window beyond. Then
he added with vehemence, ' Is the man, or the set of men,
who would wrong the poorest pick and shovel man fit, I
would ask with confidence, to be trusted with the interests
of the whole people ? '

' Certainly not, and I am quite ready to do justice, only
I must first see what justice is,' replied our politician
decisively.

' Ah ! hope I don't intrude, indeed I do. I shouldn't
have dared to disturb our Lord the King here ! ' exclaimed
Quiggle, bustling into the room, waving his hand deferentially
at the mighty Secretary, and speaking in that way described
as half jest, whole earnest, ' but Hiram is below, and says
that he must see you and can't wait much longer — some-
thing about passes on the Trams and Rails for the holidays.
He is rather short at times, is Hiram. I told him I'd make
bold to let you know.'

' Ah, well, then, I think we have finished, Professor. I
am glad to learn your generally enlightened views. On be-
half of the workers, I wish you a brilliant Parliamentary
career, and trust that we shall always find you foremost in
the Representative's first duty — the redress of wrongs.' And
shaking hands with our politician in a rather stately manner,
while he honoured with a nod Quiggle (whose pleasantry he
excused on the principle that a cat may look upon an
emperor), he departed, and soon was settling with Hiram
Brickwood the details of the demand for free Tram passes
for the holidays. He was by no means satisfied with the
attitude of our politician ; but he was too good a judge of
men to push matters further with him just then. Were he

v AFTER THE ELECTION 257

dealing with Meeks, he would have laid down directly the
conditions upon which he could have the support of the
Association. But he recognised the value of an independent,
impartial advocate such as the new Member for Brassville
would be, were he once convinced of the justice of their
claims ; and he rightly judged that it would be better, if
possible, to convince him than to try to coerce him. All
the same, he made a mental note of the first official nomina-
tion of Professor Frankfort.

On the other hand, our politician, upon a review of the
whole matter, as shown at the meeting of the State Workers
reported in the Rising Sun, and as further developed by
Seeker Secretary, could not but feel the sympathy natural to
every thoughtful, not to say humane, man with the efforts of
labour to improve its lot, and a satisfaction at the strong
position it holds in our times, when it can fearlessly, and even
aggressively, advance its claims to consideration. That some
of these claims might be unreasonable was only natural.
The difficulty was owing to the system, not to any fault of
the men who worked under it. All classes try to secure
the most that they can for themselves, being good advo-
cates but bad judges of their own cause. This is natural,
to be expected, and not to be complained of. John
Bright said that the English aristocracy made the public
service a system of outdoor relief for their families. And if
the workers have now their turn, it is certainly better so
than to have them voiceless and oppressed. The trouble
comes in when the political element gets mixed with the
industrial, and the State being the employer in commercial
concerns, the numerous ranks of employees are at once its
servants and its masters : its servants in the workshop and
its master at the ballot-box. Then they become, from mere
claimants of what they want, judges of what they should get ;
and politics and industry become mingled up in a way that
is injurious to both.

As a matter of fact, we all get less wages than we want
and think right. This has been partly owing to the injustice
of men ; but the root difficulty is the Decree of Providence,
alluded to in Genesis, ch. iii. verses 17, 18, and 19. Young
sparsely- peopled lands do not feel this at first, but if the

VOL. I S

258 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

whole of the wage fund available, say, in England were to be
divided among those in employment and wanting employ-
ment, from the Lord Chancellor downwards, it would only
give a miserable pittance to each. When laws are made
fixing wages for certain classes (that all would allow to be right,
if we can pay them) which are above what the natural
productiveness of the work would return, the difference must
be paid, in one form or another, by those who are outside
the protected circle.

Here was the problem. At the same time, the discus-
sions at the meeting and the conference with Seeker Secretary
suggested some correcting influences to excesses. One was
the difficulty of uniting the whole army of State workers
upon the demands that were to be insisted on. There were
natural divisions among them even, as in the rest of the
Social State ; also there were many men in their ranks who
were actuated by a sense of public duty and were ready to
make sacrifices for it. The other was in that great hope of
all free institutions and all progress — the general public
opinion of the country. If a sufficiently large mass of the
people could be kept independent of Government employ-
ment, there would always be an outside judgment, not directly
interested, to appeal to. But there was no denying that the
more the sphere of politics extended over industry, the more
the general Government and the general weal of the people
became subordinated to the domination of the State's army of
employees. If the ideal of Socialism — the State, or popular
bodies under it, carrying on all industry — were realised,
Government by universal suffrage would become impossible.
The parts would become greater than the whole.

' Long talk, then, with Seeker Secretary ? Hope all went
straight — free and easy to come and go a bit,' remarked
Quiggle. ' Deep one Seeker, dear sir. What he don't
know, you needn't go up for examination in. He knows,
bless you ! what's what, who's who, why's why, where's
where, and especially when's when. Yes, that does Norrie
Seeker, Esq., General Secretary, etc. etc. You are tired a
bit over it, Mr. Frankfort, I can observe that,' continued
the cheerful agent.

' Yes, I am a bit tired. What Mr. Seeker said requires

v AFTER THE ELECTION 259

considering. Several points want thinking over. And then
he claims to be such a power, with all those votes behind him.
It is like arguing with the master of big battalions.'

' Well, well,' said Quiggle good-naturedly, ' if you want
to spell a bit give old Karl Brumm a turn. You ought to
see him, and he'll do all the talking and you have only to
listen. Some won't even do that, but you will ; he will
interest you, I guess he will.'

' Why, who is Karl Brumm ? '

'Karl? Karl Brumm? He's our hotch-hotch philo-
sopher— that's what Hedger, the lawyer, calls him, as he
says that he contains a lot of valuable assets, but all mixed
up together. Yes, you ought to see him. He will do all
the talking ; and then, you know, he has a deal — a great
deal, mind you — to do with the German vote ; though he
himself has been so long from Fatherland, as he calls it,
that he has almost lost the accent.'

' What are the valuable assets, then ? ' asked our
politician. ' Ideas, information, principles ? '

' All rolled up together,' replied Quiggle, ' and worth
listening to, too ; though, you know, he is such an original
— funny, not to say queer — a point or two off in some
things, but full of ideas, only the parcels come out upside
down, so oddly. I can't make him quite out myself.
Sometimes I'm inclined to laugh a bit. He says that in
Germany, as a young fellow, he worshipped Karl Marx
— and that he does so still, with variations. Has new
and original theories for everything — only asks for people
to listen to them. If you'll only do that, out they will
come, one after the other, like sausages out of Maley's
machine down the street there.'

' I suppose he is a scholar, then, is Mr. Brumm ? '

' Certainly he is, in his own way. He'll give you some-
thing to digest too, will Karl. He talks, and his Helsa, Mrs.
Brumm, and the parrots look on. They live in their little
cottage in the wood, about a mile from Upper End. The
place looks lonely ; but, bless you ! they ain't lonely. The
fowl paddock alone is a sight, one of the best in the
district — and the parrots. He is full of his theories and
she of her parrots, and there is nothing more welcome to

26o JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

all three than a visitor, to listen to both theories and
screeching, as I may remark. You needn't say nothing ;
you needn't think nothing, if you don't like,' said the agent,
winding up his account of the Bush philosopher with a laugh.
' Easier than tackling Seeker Secretary,' he murmured, half
to himself.

As he was rattling on, our politician felt his interest
in the German was rather aroused by Quiggle's description,
so it ended in the two going that afternoon to Upper End
Station on a goods train, by the special permit of Hiram
Brickwood. But before he went, our politician did not
forget to write to town about the M'Glumpy absurdity.
He thought it best to send a private note to the Postmaster-
General, as it was really a foolish sort of thing to put in a
formal official correspondence ; and besides, writing at once
to the head of the Department, the thing could be stopped
from going through. That official received it a couple of
days after, when he next attended at the Post Office (his
duties being divided between that Department and the
Bureau of Education and Public Knowledge, of which he
was also Minister), and soon forgot all about it, it being
such a small matter. It so fell out, therefore, that the
appointment having been already passed with a large batch
of other minor nominations, it never came before the
Minister again, and M'Glumpy junior was, in fact, duly-
installed as letter-carrier at Glooscap by the Postmistress,
and used to clean out the shop for her and deliver letters
occasionally as she directed him.

It was still early in the afternoon when they arrived at
Upper End. The walk from the train through the forest to
the cottage was a short one, and they were soon there. It
was small, but bright-looking and scrupulously neat and
clean, and did seem, at first view, lonely, buried quite among
the trees. But when you got near, a scene of busy life
presented itself in the poultry paddock that Quiggle had
referred to.

This consisted of about three acres in front of the
cottage, leased on easy terms from the Government, in one-
half of which Mrs. Brumm's fowl disported themselves, and
carried on their daily life, to serve, unknown to them, the

v AFTER THE ELECTION 261

purposes of man. The warm, light, dry soil, the convenient
trees for shade and shelter, the clumps of bushes to cover
nests, the clear, full pond, the fresh sand patches provided
by that lady's care, and the snug fowl-house for the night
(daily cleaned out by Mr. Brumm himself), all made it
quite an ideal home for poultry. And here they were, in
all their varied kinds, dense Conservatives, in fact, old Tory
fowl, disporting themselves in this new world in their several
ways, but all in strict accordance with the fowl precedents
of ancient days and other lands. There was the turkey-
cock still going on in the old absurd way, turning round
and round, inflating his comb, repeating his gobble-gobble
exclamation, and puffing out his plumage in a desperate
style, as if making a last effort to attract public notice, and
no one heeding him, except his own meek hens, even if they
do ; for, from the quiet wearied way in which they look on, it
seems as if it was quite a question with them whether the
thing was not carried too far, and overdone. And there
the domestic hen, seeking anxiously still her safe, secret
place wherein to lay the daily egg, impelled solely by her
provident care to have a full nest to hatch at the proper
time, but all the while really providing for the wants of
egg- devouring man. Joyfully she proclaims with loud
cackle her new-laid one, as the chief event of her day, but
she is, in fact, only announcing another morsel for his
breakfast-table. There also the fretful failure of a mother,
with her one or two lonely-looking chickens following her
about, and she all the time scraping and pecking and
quarrelling and exclaiming as if she had a big brood on her
mind ; while the successful hen of the world sails easily along,
attended by her dozen chicks, readily providing for them
all by a few well-directed scratches, given in a triumphant
manner on the right spot, that is fertile with insects suitable
for the young. The little ducklings are there, all so new
and as yet clean -looking in their soft downy yellow, the
heart of the mother hen distracted with fears in this hemi-
sphere as in the other, when her alien children paddle away
from her in the pond ; and all the while the knowing old
ducks sailing philosophically about, as if quite content that
the stranger should have the worry of bringing up the

262 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

troublesome youngsters. The juvenile cocks, too, were to
be seen, still filled with the old insane desire to have every
now and then casual, but apparently desperate, sets-to one
with another ; each suddenly stopping and eyeing the
adversary with deadly intent, then making one or two
spasmodic darts each at the enemy's comb, and finally
flitting aside to the peaceful hens, just as if it had on the
moment occurred to them that cock-fighting was a mistake.
Nor was there wanting the cock that will (flapping his
wings to strengthen himself for each fresh effort) always
keep crowing the same crow, at regular intervals, but in a
manner that is sadly monotonous to every one but, appar-
ently, to himself; though what he wants to say, and why he
does not get tired of repeating it so often, remains as much
a mystery in Excelsior as it is in Europe. Here too was
plain evidence that change of climate did not modify the
unamiable traits in fowl character. Still the poor unfor-
tunate that by some early ill-luck got marked by a scar
was pecked at and hunted by all the rest, as being dis-
reputable and not fit for good society ; the public opinion
of the poultry world evidently not only disregarding the
English principle, not to hit a man when he is down, but
unanimously holding the very contrary, and one and all
agreeing that you should peck a bird that is unfortunate.
Generally also through the little mob of fowl were to be seen
sundry birds, young and old, who were evidently bent on
picking quarrels promiscuously with their neighbours, —
exclaiming violently against them, chasing one for a moment
and then desisting, only to turn at some one else, darting
at the food in their comrade's mouth, though the heap was
there to pick from themselves, getting in the quiet ones'
way and obstructing them, and on the whole doing all they
could to make themselves disagreeable and to needlessly
add to the troubles of life. One-half of the paddock, that
devoted to fowl generally, owned the sway of Mrs. Brumm ;
but the other, which was nearer the cottage and just before
the little flower-plot in front, was set apart for the use of a
fine flock of geese, in which the old German himself took an
especial interest, having a high opinion of geese generally,
and priding himself upon the breed of his birds as being

v AFTER THE ELECTION 263

something remarkable. He used to say that President
Hayes, of the United States, was a very sensible man. He
had kept a poultry farm, on retiring from the kingship of
sixty millions of people.

As our two travellers came near, the hissing of the dis-
turbed geese and the screeching of several parrots, who were
perched in cages or on stands about the verandah, made
known to Mr. Brumm the arrival of strangers, and soon he
was at the door, advancing to meet them. His appearance
was the signal for a general rising among the fowl, geese,
and parrots, testified by renewed screechings, hissings, chuck-
ling, and agitation, and a universal flocking together in the
poultry part of the paddock, as if they all believed, or made
believe, that feeding time was come again prematurely.
Our politician beheld a man of nearly seventy, hale and
venerable, but presenting a somewhat wearied aspect, as
if, though still strong bodily, he was getting mentally tired
of the many problems and perplexities that life presents.
He had that broad, expansive forehead which at times is
to be seen in very ordinary men, which bespeaks indeed
intelligence, but intelligence of a diffused rather than a
concentrated description, and his large mild eyes, as they
looked kindly but wearily around, told of a sensitive and
sympathetic nature. Judging from his appearance, you
would say that, while Nature, in mixing the ingredients
for making Karl Brumm, might have missed in forming
a genius, she had fully succeeded in furnishing forth a
philanthropist.

' Good day to you, Mr. Karl. You are quite well, I see ;
and I hope Mrs. Helsa is well too ? Here is our new
Member, Mr. Frankfort, or rather I should say Professor
Frankfort — in fact, one philosopher coming to see another.
I am only like the little wire that connects two of those
highly-charged — what d'ye call them — things together. Ha,
ha ! so I am indeed,' gently laughed the little agent.

' Come in — come in, Mr. Frankfort. I thought, from the

extra noise the geese were making, that something unusual

was coming. Helsa, dear, this is our Parliamentary Deputy

—or Representative, I should say. You know Mr. Louis

Quiggle of time before.' And a stout German lady, of over

264 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

sixty, stopped for a moment from the cleaning of a parrot's
cage to give a kindly recognition to the visitors. In one
corner of the small and cosy-looking room was an ancient
spinning-wheel, and on an old table near it a German Bible
and a book of Luther's Hymns, which comprised her
literature ; while a small bookshelf over the mantelpiece
contained that of her husband. The names on the backs of
these books soon caught Frankfort's eye — Karl Marx, Henry
George, Fabian Tracts, among the foremost. Goethe's Faustt
one volume of Carlyle's Frederick the Great (from Woodall's
Lending Library in Brassville), one or two of Scott's novels,
an ancient edition of Burns's poems, and a few unbound copies
of Reviews which contained articles that had struck the old
German as being of special value — these, with such current
literature as he could afford, made up his library. The
furniture about the little room was old, but well-preserved
and comfortable-looking ; and as the pure, peaceful ray of
the afternoon sun shot into the quiet scene, it seemed to
come to rest in congenial surroundings.

' I made a point of bringing our Member to you, Mr.
Karl, as you took the trouble to come in and vote. And
you vote straight. He votes straight, does he not, Mrs.
Helsa?' rattled on the agent, turning, with a pleasant look,
to the wife. 'But now I'll away and leave you two learned
gentlemen together, while I go and look up our friends
beyond in the Forest. I'll tell them, Mr. Frankfort, to call
at the Lake Reservoir when they are in at the cattle sale
to-morrow ; and, if you please, sir, we'll meet at Upper End
Station, evening train, 7. 1 5 o'clock, Government time. Your
humble servant, Mrs. Helsa, and yours obediently, Mr. Karl.
By-by ' ; and, with an affectionate wave of the hand, the little
man was off, to ' look up,' as he had said, the electors in the
Forest.

' Pleasant quiet place you have here, Mr. Brumm. You
don't feel it at all lonely, do you, you and your good wife
here ? ' remarked Frankfort.

' No, I can't say that we do, — do we, Helsa ? You see
we have such good watchers about us.'

' Dogs ? '

' No, geese. I used to have dogs, but they are stupid

v AFTER THE ELECTION 265

things compared with geese. Parrots are very good watchers
for the day, but they, like the dogs, go asleep at night —
geese never, but, at the slightest approach, night or day,
hissing and quacking they warn you. You are a scholar,
sir. You remember how in old Rome the insidious advance
on the Capitoline Hill was frustrated by the cackling of the
geese.'

' To be sure that is so, Mr. Brumm. Well, I am glad
I have come out to see you and acknowledge the trouble
you took in coming in to vote.'

' Thank you,' replied Karl Brumm, looking round calmly ;
' it is fair that I should tell you that I voted for Mr. Meeks.'

' Indeed, — that is a little disappointing to me. But no
doubt you had good reason, Mr. Brumm.'

' Yes, I had. Mr. Meeks quite agrees with me on the
great foundation question of our time — the land. I could
not desert him.'

' Certainly not,' replied our politician, speaking quite
sincerely, ' if he is the best exponent of your views. But
what, may I ask, is the particular phase of the land question
that you refer to ? '

' Why, mine friend, the simple question : Whether the
people are to be robbed of their inalienable ownership of the
earth by what is called private property in land. If it is
right for a man to own one acre, it is equally right that he
should own the whole earth. And what, then, do the people
of the earth become ? His slaves.'

' Would you then lay hands on all landed property and
confiscate it ? That would soon kill industry and thrift too.'

' Mine friend, what is thrift ? The gospel of sordid
endeavour. Still, I would not seize the land from those
they call its owners. By no means. Simply tax away the
value to the State. Is not that simple ? '

' Certainly, Henry George's idea.'

' Mine friend, mine friend,' said the old man, with a
patient yet half-reproachful air — ' mine friend, where have
you learnt your philosophy ? Helsa, my love, hand me the
Bible.' And taking the old German volume, he turned to
Leviticus, ch. xxv., and solemnly read, translating as he did
so : 'If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away

266 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

some of his possession . . . then that which is sold shall
remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year
of Jubilee : and in the Jubilee it shall go out, and he shall
return unto his possession.'

'At the Jubilee, you see,' he continued, looking with a
pleased, triumphant air at our politician — ' at the Jubilee all
was restored. No lasting property in land. Henry George
— interesting writer — but only the Mosaic bellman for the
nineteenth century. When will our Jubilee arrive ? '

' Certainly the laws of Moses qualify our ideas of absolute
property,' said our politician.

' Surely, surely. You may go into thy neighbour's vine-
yard and eat thy fill. You may go into his standing corn
and pluck what you want. You must leave the sheaf in the
field for the widow.'

' Still, it does seem hard that a man's land should be
taken. Why not, then, his other savings ? ' asked our
politician, who felt interested in learning how far the old
German carried his liberal views.

' Other savings ? Certainly. Why not ? It is unjust
accumulation that is the cause of poverty. Let me render
to you again the words of the wise Book : "If thy brother
be waxen poor, then thou shalt relieve him. Thou shalt not
give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals
for increase." You respect the Bible, do you not, Professor ? '

' Certainly. But what application do you draw from the
last passage ? '

' Is it not clear, good friend ? It points to the Wealth
Balance Tax. The Single Tax for land. The Wealth
Tax for other accumulations, only not so absolute in its
operation, owing to the difference between land and other
property.'

' I am not sure,' remarked our politician, c that I under-
stand the proposed operation of this Wealth Tax.'

' What ? not know the Wealth Balance Tax, and you a
Professor ? ' said the old man, looking round with a gentle
smile. ' Why, every year, upon the appointed day, each man
counts up his assets and his liabilities. The balance of his
assets over his liabilities is his wealth, I suppose. On this
balance he pays the tax — some trifle, a penny or a half-

v AFTER THE ELECTION 267

penny in the pound. It is levied on all, no one escapes.
One man pays a few coppers, another a few pounds. The
poor man who has no balance pays nothing. The result in
our Province would be the addition of a million or so to the
Revenue. No one feels it. It is paid out of superfluity.
The value of the real and personal property in Excelsior is
valued at £500,000,000, I believe. Well, suppose only a
tax of a halfpenny in the pound. How much do five
hundred millions of halfpence come to ? But men are so
simple,' continued the old German contemplatively, ' truly an
" unco' squad," as your Robbie Burns has it. Able to see
few things in their true light. Look at this cry about keep-
ing up the gold currency of the Province.'

' Why, don't you approve of the gold standard, then ? '
asked our politician, rather surmising that Karl Brumm's
ideas on that intricate subject would be independent of
conventionalism.

' Gold standard, my good friend, why trouble about it ?
Have we not silver more than we know what to do with, and
plenty of paper too, I suppose ? What more do we want
for a currency ? the silver for small, the paper for large
transactions.'

' Yet neither the silver nor the paper will do for exchange
outside the Province. What is behind your paper, if you
cannot get gold on demand ? '

' What is behind ? Well, I can't help smiling ; — you
will excuse me, I know. I will tell you, Mr. Professor, what
is behind. At the back of every State note is the land,
mines, rivers, public works, accumulated wealth, public spirit,
intelligence, enterprise, and patriotism of the Province of
Excelsior, and of the three million people who inhabit it.
Possibly that is sufficient security for one pound,' and Karl
Brumm looked round in calm triumph.

' I should just like to get it,' quietly remarked Helsa
Brumm, as she scoured away actively at the floor of a cage
that she had just taken down — ' I should just like to get
it for the pound that I have to spend on market day.'

She was, unlike some wives, and some very good wives
too, an implicit believer in her husband ; and, following his
example, rather pitied any one who dissented from his various

268 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

theories. The parrot which she had a moment before put
upon a high perch, while his cage was being cleaned, gave a
loud screech, as his master looked round, just as if he under-
stood and quite approved his views upon the Currency
question, and he nodded as if to to add his emphatic assent
to Mrs. Brumm's remarks.

' No, no, mine friend, I have no difficulty about what is
behind our paper, so long as we keep our silver in the
country. If we go on letting all the silver go out of the
country away to Europe, that is quite another thing. There
may be difficulty then.'

'But surely, Mr. Brumm, we must send our silver to
Europe if we are to get from Europe what we want.'

' Easy, Mr. Frankfort — easy, if you please. Slow and
sure. The pressing want of the people of Excelsior is to
get what they need from one another. I require certain
simple but very necessary things from the baker, the butcher,
the grocer at Upper End. If I have enough silver I can
get all these. If I have not, what good to me is the silver
going to Europe ? No, my good sir. Step by step. First
supply our own wants. For that purpose, keep the silver in
the Province. I may inform you,' continued the old man,
taking a well-worn notebook out of the desk near him — ' I
may inform you that when I went to Miranda with our Free
Silver deputation, we saw both the Premier, the Honourable
Mr. Brereton, and Sir Donald MacLever, the leader of the
Opposition, and explained our views fully to them. I was
one of the speakers.'

' Indeed ! and what did they say ? Did they agree
with one another ? '

' Well, it so happened that they rather did. Why, here
I have written down their replies in my book. The
Honourable the Premier remarks that " he regarded our
views with a feeling of respect, joined to a spirit of inquiry." '
And old Karl looked up at our politician to see what effect
this ministerial declaration made upon him. ' Then Sir
Donald MacLever — you know what a grave-looking man he
is ; these very honest men generally do look grave, do they
not?'

' Sometimes they do. And what did he say ? '

v AFTER THE ELECTION 269

' Why, here it is : " He did not hesitate to say that their
opinions excite sympathy and challenge thought." How
great is truth, even among the mere children of the world ! '
continued Karl Brumm, turning his benevolent look on his
companion. ' But, as I said just now,' he continued, justify-
ing Quiggle's statement that he would carry on the conver-
sation— ' as I said just now, men are so simple. They
are humbugged whether in pleasure or in business. They
go to a flower show ; each individual is bored to death, but
the general effect is pleasing. They call it pleasure. They
are bid go fishing to the grand trout streams beyond Silver-
acre ; and when they get there they are told that the real
trout are somewhere else — further on, of course. Or turn to
business : look at our Trams and Rails.'

' Yes, there is something wrong there, certainly — crushing
loss.'

' But why, mine friend ? only because of their absurd
management.'

' And which do you consider the really weak point in the
management, Mr. Brumm ? '

' The absurd Ticket system. They should be free to
travel on for all — free as the air.'

' Free as the air ; — but surely, — why, what, how would
you maintain them ? '

' By the public purse, of course. The people's money
would pay for the people's conveyance. No one would
travel unless he had business to do, or goods to deliver, and
look what an impetus the free carriage would give to industry
everywhere. It would be new life to it, and to the Province.
If you keep a buggy you do not pay every time you go in
it, do you ? '

' It would be a rather heavy burden to the Revenue,
though,' suggested our politician.

' Not so much as you might imagine. Just consider
what an army of porters, gatekeepers, ticket collectors,
detectives, complicated book-keeping, clerical supervision,
time and labour in arranging tables of fares and concessions,
not to mention printing and stationery, would be saved.
The spurt given to industry by free interchange would alone
pay for the loss. It is not because ideas are new that they

270 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

are to be despised,' said the old man, looking round and
uttering a gentle passing reproach to the parrot, which still
kept screeching, apparently as if he wanted to join in the
conversation, but really because his cage was being washed.
\j ' If/ he continued, ' we were not to accept novelties,
where would be progress ? We progress, indeed, by taking
up absurd things and making them practicable afterwards.
For example, Woman's Suffrage was once laughed at — but
now ! '

4 Now its ultimate success is assured, I am glad to feel/
remarked our politician.

' So I should hope by what I hear. But, mine good
friend, as well as I can understand, you political men have
missed, I fear, the most important part of Woman's Rights.'

' In what way, Mr. Brumm ? We are, most of us, for
giving every woman a vote. What more can we do ? '

' It is just as I thought. You have missed the great
point. I was about observing when you spoke, that you and
your friends quite overlook the obvious fact that if every
woman is entitled to one vote, the woman who is also a
mother is entitled to two. She has performed a service —
perhaps at the risk of her life — which is not only useful to
the community, but essential to its existence. The other
has not. Is she to get nothing for this from the State that
she builds up, and for which she produces the men that are
to fight its battles ? '

' And the unmarried women to have only one vote ? '

' Why should they have more ? Have they produced
men for their country ? Have they risked their lives in so
doing? Mine good friend, we must look to reason in what
we do, not mere habit and custom. Else we are like a
shoal of minnows all darting for our very lives into the boy's
net simply because the biggest minnow, and perhaps the
biggest fool of all, has darted that way first. Let us think
for ourselves/ he added, as he was challenged again by the
parrot that Mrs. Brumm had just put into his cleaned cage,
and who was screeching frightfully in consequence.

' Well, that certainly is a new view, Mr. Brumm. In all
the Press advocacy of Woman's Rights, I don't think I ever
saw this idea of yours before.'

v AFTER THE ELECTION 271

' The Press — the Press,' returned the old man, still
gazing on his parrot. ' What is the Press ? '

' With all its defects, it is an agent of enlightenment and
a guardian against wrongs, both public and private.'

'Well, mine friend, I suppose you politicians must say
as much. But I should like to ask you — I suppose you are
aware that the London news-agents' list of leading news-
papers of the world fills a book of eighty pages, each page
enumerating fifty newspapers. The smaller papers you
would count by the thousand. How many of them give
us facts, true facts for our news ? How many ? '

' I should say that many of them do — as well as they can
at least,' remarked our politician.

' Then I am sorry that I cannot agree with you. When
do you find the simplest fact truly stated ? In your country,
Britain, when Universal Suffrage was adopted, how many
of your newspapers stated the fact ? '

' Surely they all called attention to the enlargement of
the Franchise.'

' Not at all, Professor. Universal Suffrage in England
was conferred by the Poor Rate Assessment and Collection
Bill in 1878, and none of all your newspapers mentioned
that great event. It was our German papers that first
called attention to it. 1 learnt it from the Hanoversches
Tageblatt there on the table. It is from my native district
Woodall gets it for me. It is the only paper worth an
intelligent man's time to read. As for the rest, if I
wanted instruction in human affairs, I would as soon refer
to the Government Astronomer's Report on Astrophoto-
graphic Researches ' ; and he handed Frankfort the document
from a bundle of Parliamentary papers, that were issued
by the Government Astronomer and dealt with scientific
subjects.

1 1 see, then, that you take an interest in other than
political topics.'

' Truly I do, mine friend. Your predecessor, Meeks,
understood this, and took a deep interest in following these
subjects with me. He sent me these scientific papers regu-
larly, and used then to get my opinion on them, which, he
used to find, was of great assistance to him in dealing with

272 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the subjects in Parliament. I shall be happy to render you
a similar service if you desire it'

' Certainly I do,' replied our politician. ' I shall be glad
to send you all publications of that kind. And as you are
interested in the Currency question, I can send you any
papers upon that too. Quiggle tells me that you favour
the decimal system ? '

' What intelligent man does not ? Only there, too,
people will miss the point. The true unit obviously is one-
twelfth, not one-tenth. It should be a duodecimal system.
You can take an even quarter, half, or three -fourths of
twelve, but can you of ten ? Yet people do not notice these
simple fundamental things. We do not make haste to be
wise, do we ? ' he asked, as he looked round with a smile.
' It's just the same with our silly method of issuing warrants
to arrest criminals.'

' Why, would you not have warrants before men are
arrested ? ' inquired Frankfort.

' Certainly not ? Why should you, mine friend ? You
think a man has committed a burglary. You send out an
officer with a warrant to arrest him. You have to pay the
officer highly, and probably you have the man on your hands
to support for years. Serve a summons upon him to appear
in court that day week, and, why,' continued Karl Brumm,
with his accustomed look of mild triumph — ' why, you never
hear of him again. He flies the country. Follow that
common -sense course, and you will soon have no need of
either warrant or summons in Excelsior. Then you can do
without officers, and I presume that you do not absolutely
want criminals.'

The conversation was becoming increasingly difficult to
maintain, as Mrs. Brumm was bringing in the parrots from
the verandah for the night, and they insisted on screeching
and nodding to one another, as if they too had knotty points
that must be disputed over and solved before they settled to
rest. So our politician rose to take his farewell of the old
philosopher — for he was a lover of wisdom at least, as he
knew it — and his good wife.

' Though Mr. Meeks has been my man, I truly wish you
all success in your Parliamentary life, Mr. Frankfort. Only

v AFTER THE ELECTION 273

remember one thing, or you will be disappointed, mine good
friend, in your future work ! '

' What is that, Mr. Brumm ? '

' Why, that the institution that you are about to become
a member of — Parliament — never accomplishes the object
it intends in making laws ; but always some other object
that it did not intend.'

' Well, really Mr. Brumm, I think you state your propo-
sition in rather a broad way. At times it is, no doubt, as
you say.'

' Always, mine friend, always — in the simplest things as
in the greatest. But particularly when you make laws to
help the poor man, somebody else generally reaps the crop.'

' Oh well, Mr. Brumm, mistakes will be made under any
system. It is something to at least aim at helping the poor
man.'

' Surely, surely,' slowly repeated Karl, as our politician,
taking a kind farewell of the two old people, hurried off to
join Quiggle at Upper End and catch the evening train
to Brassville.

As he walked along the Forest track, he could not but
reflect how all-pervading and penetrating are the new ideas
of our time. There — in that distant, lonely cottage, which
the passing traveller would conclude sheltered only some
country folk, whose talk was of bullocks — even there were
the problems of social life cogitated over, and if at times
perverted and misunderstood, yet attempted to be grappled
with, and all in the interest of the many and of the poor.
Just as Madame Dole had her views about Woman's Suffrage
at her mountain shanty, so Karl Brumm had his here in the
woods ; and thousands like him, all over the globe, were
thinking more or less, certainly arguing, theorising and dis-
puting theories, spinning out devices of the brain to cope
with the evil conditions of life. Thinking has become demo-
cratised. It used to be the privilege of the few, now it is
the recreation of the many. In the multitude of counsellors
there is said to be safety. If our civilisation fails, it will
not be for want of advice.

Our politician would not have been sorry to have spent
some more time discussing public topics with his con-

VOL. I T

274 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

stituents, and listening to their opinions, for it is always
instructive to know what a number of people do think ; but
his duties at the University were awaiting him, and though
Mr. Borland, as President of the Board of Overseers, gave
instructions for arrangements to be made for any leave that
Professor Frankfort might desire, our politician did not feel
it right to act upon this generous consideration too freely.
Besides, the political atmosphere in Excelsior was begin-
ning to get electrical with the conditions that naturally
attended the approaching meeting of Parliament. So he
had one or two more interviews with prominent constituents,
and completed the settling of his election accounts, with the
aid and advice of Louis Quiggle. He spent a happy even-
ing the day before he left with his uncle and aunt and the
cousins at the Bank ; but no reference was made by either
nephew or uncle to the interview in the Bank parlour on the
day of his first election meeting. By tacit mutual consent
that skeleton was put away in a back closet of the memory ;
never, let us hope, to come forth again. No reference to the
Reservoir was made by either of the men. But Mrs. Fairlie
lamented its loss for the present as too sad, and a cruel blow
to them all ; and young Teddy kept asking when it would
be ready for his boats.

The only other social engagement that our politician had
to fulfil was to lunch with Mrs. Quiggle. Though he was
very much pressed with business on the last day of his stay
— he was going by the afternoon train — Mr. Quiggle
informed him that he would have to come, as Mrs. Quiggle
had decided that he must have his farewell lunch with her.
The little man said that he had, in fact, suggested to her to
forego her undoubted claim, in consideration of the many
calls of duty upon the Member on the last day of his stay.
But she would admit of no excuse ; her mind was made up,
and as the agent remarked, putting forth his hands in a
deprecating manner, when that was so it was a case of
' there you are.' So he drove Frankfort out in his own trap,
and the two presented themselves to Mrs. Quiggle precisely
at the hour that she had named. She was as large for a
woman as he was small for a man, in accordance with
Nature's instinct which generally incites the fancy of the two

AFTER THE ELECTION 275

sexes in this manner, else the human race would develop
into tribes of giants on the one hand and dwarfs on the
other. She was in figure altogether sufficiently matronly to
have been his mother, but her youthful and pleasing appear-
ance justified their marital relation. It was evident that she
ruled her husband, but she did it as good intelligent wives
do, kindly as well as firmly. One token of her effective
training at once struck our politician as novel, but full of
significance, and that was not only the respectful but
laudatory manner in which Quiggle kept on during the
lunch referring to each dish of the fare — nathless that it was
at his own table — in fact, as if he were only a guest himself,
and she the real authority, which indeed she was. The
case of the husband who grumbles at his food was quite
reversed here ; and it all came out so naturally, that it was
evidently the little man's daily habit. It had become
almost with him, as Seeker wished the promotion of the
State workers to be, automatic.

' Loui, what will you have ? ' she asked, after giving our
politician a wing of a chicken reared and fattened by herself,
as she informed him.

' Why, my dear, either a leg or wing of that delicious
chicken. Leg or wing is all one with a bird like that. Not
like those chicken frames that one sees in Hegarty's
provision store down the street. Professor, I would recom-
mend you to try one of these artichokes. They are from
Mrs. Quiggle's own garden. These are the true vegetable,
you understand — succulent for a baby ; not like pieces of
boiled paper smothered in butter. Take a piece of toast,
Mr. Frankfort. If there is one thing that Mrs. Quiggle
understands, it is toast. I think I may say that she knows
the difference between a piece of board and a piece of toast.
This is toast, you see — crisp yet tender.'

' Loui, will you have pie or shape ? ' the lady asked,
when the feast had reached that stage.

' Some of that lovely shape, my love. Why, this,' he
continued, striking his spoon into his portion — ' this is the
sort of thing that they give to Royal personages when
they are convalescent from illness. I shouldn't wonder if
that Prince La Tour d'Auvergne, who, the cable says, broke

276 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

his leg hunting the other day, lives on things just like
this.'

' Orange or pineapple, Loui ? '

' It's hard, really, to choose between fruit like that ; but,
if I must, I will say the orange.'

So he kept on chattering away very much to himself,
while Mrs. Quiggle and her visitor talked about various
incidents of the election, and about Woman's Rights, which
the good lady strongly supported. But she had a view of
her own upon that subject, like most others. For she
maintained that only married women were entitled to the
Franchise.

' What a single woman wants is not a vote, but a husband.
She ain't a real woman if she is satisfied with a vote,' she
remarked. Our politician tried to combat this view as a
low one of womankind, but he was overruled as firmly as
Quiggle himself would have been if he had ventured to differ
from his wife. Mrs. Quiggle not only held her ground, but
maintained that a woman never properly settled down to the
work of life till she was married, and did not hesitate to
name Miss Gazelle as an instance of this. It was in vain
that Frankfort urged that the greatest heroines in the world's
history and the greatest benefactors of the race have been
single women. Mrs. Quiggle continued her remarks on
Miss Gazelle, and spoke slightingly of that lady's political
activity, said that ' she was too much all of a flutter about
politics, like a quarrelsome hen,' and asked why she didn't
come to the point with Seth Pride, and then when the two
had settled down, they could put a little sense into things.
After lunch, as our politician and Mrs. Quiggle were getting
quite earnest in the controversy, and the afternoon was
meanwhile slipping away, Quiggle interposed a warning,
remarking that time would not wait even for empresses ; and
so after the farewell with Mrs. Quiggle, who wished him equal
good luck at all future elections, he and Quiggle drove off to
the station. Here they parted with a mutual appreciation
of the respective merits of one another. Frankfort felt
grateful for the zealous and skilful services of his agent.
On the other hand, Quiggle, while he realised all the in-
experience of our politician, expected that he would shape

v AFTER THE ELECTION 277

well enough after an election or two, and when he had
become accustomed to trot in the political harness.

As the train puffed slowly out of the station, the eye of
our politician was caught directly — his own name seemed
strange to him in the new surroundings — by the election
posters, proclaiming the identity of his cause with that of
Water and the Reservoir, which had startled him when he was
arriving to begin his canvass. Some had been blown down,
and more torn or defaced by the enemy ; but others remained
flaunting still, though in a faded manner, their watchwords
to the now indifferent public. He fancied them less than
ever now, just as a man regards the exaggeration of after-
dinner deliverances when he reads them in cold print the
next morning. They seemed so forlorn there, like worn-
out beauties that no one would notice now.

When the train arrived at Great Gorge, Frankfort found
some confusion pervading the station. It appeared that the
down train to Brassville was stopped there for want of the
staff to enable it to proceed on its journey. What had
happened to the staff was not clear. The only thing known
was that, owing to some mishap, it was now at Little Gorge
Station, ten miles distant on the line to Brassville, and, until
it could be sent for, the down train must remain at Great
Gorge. Going through the crowd on the platform, which
was partly composed of his new constituents, among the
first he met were his two friends from The Blocks, the
Honourable Mrs. Lamborn and her daughter, Miss Lamborn.
They had unexpectedly prolonged their stay in town and
were now returning home. Both upon public and private
considerations, the least that our politician could do was to
devote himself to their service during this provoking
stoppage, and until he could see them safely in the train for
Brassville under Hiram Brickwood's charge. He found this
new phase of electioneering by no means as irksome as some
of those which he had lately passed through.

Soon the two ladies and our politician were seated at
the table in the spacious dining saloon, consoling them-
selves partly with Great Gorge refreshments, but chiefly
with the pleasure of mutual conversation. For what is the
recruiting of bodily wants compared to the pleasing flow

278 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

of soul between two interesting women and a man who
is bent upon making himself agreeable to them ? Mrs.
Lamborn comprehensively, though in her languid way, con-
demned the stoppage of the train, in all its aspects. It
was so unpleasant and disappointing bringing people home
to Brassville late for the eight o'clock dinner, and keeping
Mr. Lamborn waiting for them. And he would be quite
nervous about them too. Frankfort could only sympathise,
and inquire how they had enjoyed themselves during their stay
in the capital. It seemed that, owing to the arrival of some
distinguished visitors from Europe, who were supposed to be
connected with the aristocracy, a sort of early or premature
season had broken out in society in Miranda. As a fact,
the fashionable world was not quite clear who the notable
strangers were ; but though only two of them could boast of
titles (and these, it was whispered, of but recent creation),
and one was actually named Smith (still he was Haliburton
Smith, and was understood to be connected with the
Haliburtons), yet it was generally agreed that there was
something uncommon about the visitors, and they were
received by the local aristocracy with a greater fervour of
hospitality than it was their custom to display to one another
in their mutual intercourse. Accordingly, the number of
dances, theatre parties, race and polo meetings, four-in-hand
developments, picnics, ping-pong evenings, and revels
generally was prodigious. In fact, the common business of
life in the Province could not have gone on were it not that
these dissipations were confined to the upper circle, and
plain people were left to continue earning their daily bread as
before.

But Mrs. and Miss Lamborn, as belonging to the
territorial aristocracy, could not get away from their natural
engagements. Indeed, Mrs. Lamborn had written to Mr.
Lamborn to come to town, so as to be able to accompany
them to the more important functions ; but, as he was busy
with the shearing, and the wool was not turning out very
well, he had to deny himself that pleasure, and replied to
her letter, wishing her and Eilly ' a good time,' and hoping
that they would get away and come back to him as soon as
they properly could.

v AFTER THE ELECTION 279

' No wonder, then, that you did not come back as soon
•as you intended, with all this fun going on,' remarked
Frankfort.

' Oh ! we did enjoy ourselves so, Mr. Frankfort,' returned
Miss Lamborn. ' And we were not so bad as you might
think. We went to church on Sunday, and heard the great
Mr. Brookfield himself.'

' Yes ; and the choir is so well trained, you know. Lord
Kilgour himself told me that the singing was nearly as good
as in his own cathedral,' remarked Mrs. Lamborn.

' And, mother, was not the sermon fine ? It was all
about you and the other Members — the elections, you under-
stand, that are just over.1

' Indeed, and what did he say of us ? '

' Well, he has such a way of making you listen to him.
I assure you, with all the people in the church, strangers and
all, and the bonnets and hats too, I could not help attending
to him. His text was " Honour the king." I can tell you
all he said. He put it in this sort of way,' and Eilly
Lamborn turned her honest, sincere look straight upon our
politician — ' this is what he said. He described the good
man in old times — the honest one, you see — he would
honour the king then — no cringing or telling lies, or that
sort of thing, but fair, open sort of " honest honour," I think
he called it ; and he quoted something from Shakespeare
that I forget ; and then he went on, and next he made out
that the people were now the king, and the biggest king of
all, and no going against them or fighting them at all. He
spoke about that, and then he went on that all you Members,
at this election, should honour the king too, but not tell him
lies, or cringe to him either, or that sort of thing ; but give
the honest honour, and worked it round in that kind of way.
You see what I mean ? '

' Certainly I do, and a very good lesson it was.'

' Oh yes, and I was almost forgetting. He said at the
end — in such a solemn way, it made you feel solemn
listening to him — that every one of you would now have to
determine whether your object in life was to be useful or
only to be popular.'

' That is rather a serious question, is it not ? ' said

280 fACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Frankfort, his attention at the time, however, being chiefly
engaged by the earnest, natural manner of the speaker.

' To be sure. And Mr. Brereton was there, and, coming
out, he said to young Mr. Fooks — one of the strangers, the
young American, you know, who has come here about some
great American business company, who went with us, and a
very pleasant young fellow, too ; I rather took a fancy to
him ; Mr. Brereton said, out quite loud, in his odd sort of
way " That sermon ought to be pasted up in the bedrooms
of all the Members — over their beds." I could scarcely
help laughing — it was such an odd thing to say — though
I was coming out of church.'

' Well, now, that will do, Eilly ; you always go on in such a
way, talking about things. Mr. Frankfort has heard sermons
before, I suppose, at the chapels in the colleges and places.
You need not go over it all again, as if he had never heard
a sermon in his life.'

' Mother dear,' said the daughter, with a bright laugh,
and putting her hand in a deprecating way on her mother's
arm, ' I only tell Mr. Frankfort all about it because I want
to ask him a question.'

' A question, Miss Lamborn ? '

* Yes,' she replied still looking at her mother. ' Whether
he means to be useful or only to be popular ? '

' Well, and, Eilly, why should you ask such sort of
questions ? I am quite surprised at you. Of course Mr.
Frankfort will go in and work with the rest, just like your
dear father, and fight them and push his way, and become a
Minister, and make up his name and outdo Mr. What's-his-
name — the Premier man — and perhaps get a title, like Lord
Kilgour, in the end. What's the use of asking whether he
will be popular or be useful ? Of course he will be both,
like your dear father. You do take things in such an odd
way, Eilly. I never noticed these queer things in Mr.
Brookfield's sermon.'

' Now, really, Mrs. Lamborn, I must say that Miss

Lamborn has struck a note, so to speak ' But before our

politician could get any further, the little party were roused
from their discussion by the strong voice of Hiram Brick wood
calling along the platform, ' All aboard, down train, Brass-

v AFTER THE ELECTION 281

ville.' The staff had been secured, and the passengers were
hurrying to their seats. Brickwood was so put out by the
delay that he missed having a conversation that he in-
tended with our politician upon affairs generally, and was
only able to bid him the time of day, as he hurried to lock
up his train, and to utter one ejaculation, which indeed
seemed to take the form of an imprecation, about the failure
of the loan and the loss of the Reservoir. But though a
good deal ruffled, he showed Mrs. and Miss Lamborn into
their compartment with a considerable amount of polite-
ness, for he had the friendly feeling of citizenship for all
the denizens, high and low, of Brassville, the town of his
adoption.

' Be sure you come and see us when you are next in
Brassville, Mr. Frankfort,' said Mrs. Lamborn, smiling kindly
to him, though in her tired way.

'Certainly I will, and perhaps then we can finish our
conversation about Mr. Brookfield's sermon.'

' Oh, very well, if you and Eilly enjoy talking about
things like that. And Mr. Lamborn sometimes takes it into
his head to talk that way, too — I think she gets it from him.
He can tell you all about being useful and popular too, as
he is.'

Hiram's whistle blew sharply, the steam puffed away,
lost in the empty air, and the train moved off.

Not long after our politician was rolling away in the
express for the city. That alternative for the politician,
which Eilly Lamborn had reported Mr. Brookfield as so
eloquently presenting, kept recurring to him. He could not
help musing about it in that half-wandering way that people
think over things as they rumble along in a railway carriage,
with the continuity of thought impaired by the succession of
new scenes and trivial events which distract attention. Was
he then to seek to be popular or to be useful — to be successful
for himself or beneficial to others ? Why not both, as Mrs.
Lamborn had remarked ? She was a kind, good lady — a
true woman — evidently had more common -sense than her
daughter. Still, there was a ring about what the girl had
said — to be sure she was only repeating Mr. Brookfield—
that roused an answering note in his breast. Yet, certainly,

282 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

how different what he had seen of political life so far was
from the ideal that he and the other young men — Chadwick,
Myles Dillon, and the rest — used to conjure up in their
walks in Scotland. That was, of course, a mere ideal, and
Government in every age was far removed, in fact, from any
ideal — certainly from any ideal of perfection. One thing, at
least, was clear, that the whole conditions of public life were
changing and going into new channels ; no doubt improved
channels, but, improving or deteriorating, certainly new.
Was it not the same with all the other institutions of life ?
Politics was only one of them. Law, medicine, literature,
business, even the religious calling, was continuously develop-
ing into something different from what they had been. Look
at the military art, that played such an important part in
human government. How would we fare now if we opposed
cross-bows to rifles, or battering-rams to artillery ? Why,
one skilled rifleman of the present time at the siege of
Troy, properly posted behind the Scaen Gate, would, with
his rifle, have been more than a match for all the heroes
of that day, including wide- ruling Agamemnon and swift-
footed Achilles, or even man -slaughtering, gore -tainted
Mars himself! Not all the spears and shields of the
Greeks would have been a match for one little bullet
from that weapon of modern times. Political methods
and weapons were all changed too. But in whatever
age one might find himself, and in whatever new con-
ditions placed, a man's individuality always remained to
himself.

Thus our politician sped along his journey, occupied
with railway meditations, and mingling classical remini-
scences with political reflections. The time seemed short to
him when the whistle sounded as the train neared the central
station at Miranda. Frankfort hurried to his bachelor home.
He enjoyed mingling in the throng of the city, unknown and
unquestioned ; not a placard to challenge him with its cold
mockery — nay, not a soul to sound the praises of the
Reservoir. He enjoyed the success that he had achieved,
and his entrance within that public life which, as a youth, he
had contemplated from without. And he enjoyed, too, the
return to his quiet rooms, the familiar bookshelves, con-

v AFTER THE ELECTION 283

taining his silent though companionable friends, the books ;
the few family portraits, reminding him of the old land and
the old folk ; the homely furniture, the restful chair — plain
though all was and unblessed by the companionship of
woman.

CHAPTER VI

PARLIAMENT

FRANKFORT now turned his attention to what was congenial
work to him — his Lectures on Sociology at the William
Borland University. Like Sir James Mackintosh and some
other eminent politicians, he was now both a professor and
a Member of Parliament. He found that the practical
insight into political ways and popular ideas, and his ex-
periences of even the less noble aspect of politics as met
with in an election contest, were of use to him in his College
duties, in enlarging his ideas, giving him insight into the
working of affairs, and showing him how the ordinary man
regards them, and thus throwing side-lights upon the social
subjects that he was investigating. Gibbon and Macaulay
wrote history in a more effective manner from having been
in Parliament, and he, in his humbler sphere, was more suc-
cessful in teaching the science of social life and economy
owing to his having had to encounter and deal with the
ideas and wants of all sorts of men, wise and simple, just
and unjust. His lecture-room was well filled not only with
students, but with some of the general public, who, under
regulations which were sanctioned by the President, were
admitted to the back seats. When he gave his opening
address for the term, on ' The Precious Metals as Mediums
of Industrial Exchange,' no less a person than the President
himself was among the audience, and listened throughout
with critical attention. Money and the currency is such a
perplexing and misleading matter that one acute observer
has dramatically exclaimed, ' Money, I curse thee ! ' and

284

CHAP, vi PARLIAMENT 285

certainly there are few social topics upon which mankind
have been more misled.

Our lecturer got through his difficult subject well, and
made most of those present understand how it was that gold
had come to be generally accepted among mankind as the
standard medium of exchange between nation and nation.
The President, after the lecture, walked with him to his
rooms, and complimented him on the able manner in which
he had handled his subject He was also anxious to know
when the Professor would deal with the possibilities of Silver
and the great subject of Bimetallism. For the President
held the view that the world-wide depression in commercial
affairs was wholly due to the ill-treatment of Silver as a
medium of exchange. Soon he and the lecturer were deep
in questions concerning the demonitisation of Silver, the
ratio of Gold to Silver, the true value of the Gold standard,
resolutions of the German Reichstag and State Council, the
declarations of the French Government and the views of
the United States in favour of international Bimetallism,
the report of the Gold and Silver Commission in England,
the best means of fixing a par of exchange between the
precious metals, the relation of paper currency to coin, how
a baser medium drives out a superior, and other questions of a
like kind, as abstruse as those with which Milton describes the
lost angels as perplexing themselves in vain in the infernal
regions. The only thing left plain at the end of their
discussion was that the President declared himself to be a
firm friend to Silver.

' Doing justice to Silver,' said he, ' is a national question,
a university question, a world-wide question. We sink or
swim with it.'

' We will certainly sink with it if we take a wrong view
of it,' replied Frankfort.

' What unpractical fellows these bookmen are ! They
don't know what worldly wisdom is at all,' thought the
President to himself ; but he only said as they parted, ' Well,
well, thanks for the lecture, anyway. We all have something
to learn about the matter ; we will have to face the question
in a practical manner some day. It will come home to us
in the University too.'

286 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

" •;'; Our politician enjoyed the comparative rest that his
University duties afforded, before he had to take his part
in the exciting scenes of public life. But now the great
political event of the year was approaching. The Legislature
of Excelsior was about to assemble. We must not despise
the experiences of our politician in the ways and methods of
this small community. How much of the political ideas of
the world have been derived from the city of Athens, with
its twenty-one thousand free citizens exercising the political
franchise ? Indeed, it is only in small States that you can
get to the source and true meaning of the peoples' ideas
and analyse them. In a vast continent, such, for example,
as the United States, with eighty millions of people, you
certainly see an outcome of popular institutions, but you
cannot trace the principles and ideas that actuate men,
nor indeed can you truly say that the Government is
directed by the individual opinions of its citizens. In-
dividuality is lost in the crowd, freedom of voting in the
discipline necessary to direct millions of votes. The prac-
tical issue arrived at is not the resultant of electors' personal
opinions, but the outcome of the complex and artificial
action of the Machine directed by the Boss. In the first
contest between M'Kinley and Bryan there were 13,923,102
votes cast. Single electors or groups of electors are obviously
out of place amid such vast operations. They must either
march to the word of command as soldiers or become
useless stragglers. In such a field, therefore, you can see
the outcome of democratical principles, but not observe their
source. If there had been fourteen million electors in
ancient Greece we would not have had for our study the
wisdom of Solon, the ascendancy of Pericles, or the popular
arts of Cleon. These men, even Cleon included, would have
been too original and independent to operate through the
machine, and without it, though they could dominate a city, they
could not spread their ideas and influence over a continent.

But in a small, young community, apart from the rest of
the world, which is governed directly by the votes of the
men and women inhabiting it, you can see just what these
men and women do think and what they want to do. There
is nothing to interfere with this expression of their wishes,

vi PARLIAMENT 287

and little, in the early stage of their national life, to prevent
them from giving effect to those wishes. Their Government
is their servant in reality, not in theory only, as it is under
the Boss and the Machine. They are the real sovereign, and
none can succeed in their service unless by thinking their
thoughts and doing their bidding. It is a new state of
things, which can only exist in small communities, and in
the infancy of a nation's life.

Much disappointment has been expressed at the results of
popular Government. But in truth its critics commit the mis-
take of expecting from it a greater combination of merits —
and of merits that are of a conflicting character — than falls
to the lot of any human institution. And they overlook the
fact that in respect to all forms of Government, the question
with sensible men is, how much of what is faulty they should
put up with — whether they live in the Republic of America
or under the Autocracy of Russia. This is certainly no
reason why defects should not be exposed and endeavours
made to amend them. He is the best friend and the most
loyal subject of any Government who endeavours to correct
its abuses, and takes the first step towards that end by
clearly stating what they are and bringing the light to bear
upon them. But he can do all this and at the same time
believe that the Government he criticises is, with all its
faults, still one adapted to his country, and suited to the
age in which we live.

Popular institutions suffer from too much having
been promised in their name by those who heralded their
advent. A disinterestedness and a lofty devotion to high
principles was claimed for them which is not compatible
with the everyday wants and feelings of men under any
form of national life. They were also expected to combine
the self-restraint of select Governments with the vigour and
expansive power that comes with the inrush of numbers.
Hence arose disappointment to some sincere friends of
freedom. Washington, after a few years' experience of the
Republic which he had founded, plaintively deplored to a
friend the fact that they had expected too much from human
nature. Mr. Gerry, one of the leading men of his time in
America, says, speaking in 1789:

288 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

1 In Massachusetts the worst men get into Legislature.
Men of indigence, ignorance, and baseness spare no pains,
however dirty, to carry their point against men who are
superior to the artifices practised.'

Such was not our politician's experience of the Legisla-
tors of Excelsior. They did not claim to be an aristocratic
body, but they need not have feared comparison with aristo-
cratic legislatures in qualities that are essential to the useful-
ness of parliaments to peoples. They were sincerely devoted
to the interests of the masses ; they truly wished to serve
them, and they not only desired to relieve the wants and
privations of the poor, but they felt a personal sympathy for
the poor in their difficulties. They may have made mis-
takes at times in the means that they adopted, but their
purpose to alleviate the ills of social life was constant, and
their efforts to that end unceasing. And whatever imperfec-
tions may mark such efforts, it is surely a noble purpose
of human government, when compared with the ambitions
of princes or the policies of aristocracies. Our politician, as
himself a student, was impressed by the prompt thinking and
practical knowledge that was to be found outside books in
the daily experience of the political world, produced by the
converse of one man with another, when each are pressed
by the present need of arriving at a workable solution of
some problem of the hour. These experimental gropings
after truth and facts are the materials of books in their
making. In debate, if there was not the exact decorum of
the aristocratic Senate, neither was there its chilling repres-
sion of new ideas or want of sympathy with the outside
aspirations. The course was free to all — to the youngest
and most unknown, if he had aught to say. Though the
animating principle of all was devotion to the mass of the
people, the Members were not without a spirit of fair-play
even to those who were not dominant politically ; so that no
man in Excelsior need suffer a wrong without being able to
claim a hearing from the peoples' Representatives. It must
also be said for these legislators that their hands were clean
— no imputation of personal corruption attached to any of
them. Many of them were poor, but they remained so.
The spectacle of paupers engaging in politics, and in a few

vi PARLIAMENT 289

years emerging into the ranks of capitalists was not seen in
Excelsior.

Nor must we forget that they, plain men though they
were, did secure to their people a settled form of safe
and orderly Government, which enabled them to live their
daily lives in social peace and perfect freedom ; and also to
enjoy the relief of openly denouncing their rulers, and de-
manding new men, without any fear of being secretly seized
and exiled to Siberia. They had absolute liberty in making
their laws, so there was universal agreement in obeying them.
This is a great practical result in an age when you can only
govern advanced people by themselves. Compare it with
the seething unrest and violent coercion in some nations ;
the popular risings and appeals to the force of arms in
others; and the frequent changes in the form of government
in others still. To be sure, Excelsior was in the early stage
of national life. But we need only look to the continent
of Southern America to see other young communities who
have not learnt the secret of this peaceful, orderly public life.

There were defects in the ways of this Legislature,
some of which will appear in our story, but they sprung
from the characteristics and sentiments of the people under
whom it acted, and to which the laws that were made gave
formal expression. They were the results of social conditions
which would have made themselves manifest under any
possible Parliament. In Democracies such as Excelsior the
Legislature is what the ballot-box makes it. What the
people there say, it says ; what they want done, it does ;
what they condemn, it renounces.

A perfect people is the correlative of perfect representa-
tives ; the correlation goes on through all the gradations of
merit.

But the distinguishing feature of the Parliament of Ex-
celsior was its humanitarian spirit. The rights of Labour,
the maintaining of a living wage, the education of the young
and the pensioning of the old, the limitation of the hours of
work, the sanitation of the factory, the improvement of the
homes of the workers, took the place in its counsels that the
waging of war and the concerns of dynasties have held in
the imperial senates of the world. Righting the wrongs of

VOL. I U

290 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

women, protecting young people, saving inebriates, extending
merciful care to criminals, generally helping all those who
had failed in the race, and who, in the expressive language
of Scripture, were out of the way, was its natural work.
If it at times attempted too much, and sought to do more
by laws than the stern decrees of Nature render possible in
this hard life, at least its purpose was humane and generous.
This was the great element of its strength with the people —
also the source of some of its weakness. The danger lay in
the mixing of political motives with charitable aspirations.

It is a grand note that Democracy, taught by Christi-
anity, strikes of sympathy for the poor and the unfortunate,
and of which our legislators in Excelsior were the exponents.
That sympathy may at times be marked even with selfish
feelings, but the world is the richer for it. In what con-
dition would the human race be if it were to be lost, and we
reverted to the ideas of the ancients, who did not know what
a world-wide compassion meant ?

Our politician could not help comparing the new state of
things with that shown by Sir Samuel Romilly to exist in the
Imperial Parliament early in the century. Referring to one of
his Bills, to mitigate the severity of the Criminal Law, he says:

' It is but a few nights ago that, while I was standing at
the bar of the House of Commons, a young man, the brother
of a peer, whose name is not worth setting down, came up to
me, and breathing in my face the nauseous fumes of his un-
digested debauch, stammered out, " I am against your Bill :
I am for hanging all." I was confounded, and endeavouring
to find out some excuse for him, I observed that I supposed
he meant that the certainty of punishment affording the
only prospect of suppressing crimes, the laws, whatever they
were, ought to be executed. " No, no," he said, " it is not
that. There is no good done by mercy. They only get
worse. I would hang them all up at once." '

Unto such a legislature, then, was our politician intro-
duced, to work as his destiny might lead him.

Of the friends with whom he talked over his success and
prospects, one of the earliest was Arthur Hartpole, the
editor of the News Letter. Hartpole, while congratulating
him, could not help, as the conversation went on, and Frank-

vi PARLIAMENT 291

fort enthusiastically referred to the noble opportunities that
the position of Representative of the people opened out
before a man, striking a note of warning, not unlike that
sounded, as his parting salutation, by Karl Brumm, amidst
the cackling of his geese and the shrieking of his parrots.

' Yes, I am glad that you are in, old fellow, as you went
for it, and that you have such high hopes about the position.
But don't forget that sage advice given by wise men to
those about to marry.'

'What? Don't?' replied Frankfort. 'It's too late to say
that now. I am married — politically at least.'

' Oh no, not that,' answered Hartpole.' ' Only this word
of wisdom. Now that you are married — if you like to put
it that way — don't expect anything too ethereal from the
state. For one thing, you can't speak your mind now as
you used to do.'

' Why not ? Can't I speak as freely as you can ? I
intend to speak my mind, I can tell you. A statesman
should endeavour to form public opinion, as well as to
express it.'

' Good intentions, Mr. Frankfort — good intentions ! ' ex-
claimed Hartpole. ' Your flight is high, but it may prevent
you seeing the ground. If you don't take care you may
find yourself the right man in the wrong place. No; if you
want to create and govern public opinion, you should come
here and join me, and shed printer's ink. Neither of us can,
perhaps, say absolutely and merely what we think. But I
can speak out to some extent, and I partly form public
opinion, as well as express it. You politicians have to take
it as we give it to you.'

' Take whatever the Press tell us ? '

' Well, very much so. In fact, under our system, the
outward show of authority and the reality of power are
separated. You cannot combine them.'

'According to your view then, legislators are only so
many tongues of brass and lungs of leather, to bellow out
what they are told.'

' Oh, don't put it too strongly, my friend. I only
remind you of the trammels that your public position brings
with it ; and,' he added with a quiet smile, throwing himself

292 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

back in his chair, ' that in the political show one set figures
on the boards, another pulls the wires.'

' Come in there/ Hartpole exclaimed in response to a
gentle, irresolute tap at the door ; and the door half-open-
ing, the bare head of Mr. Walter Crane of the Water Bureau
appeared, pushing through, about half-way down, a little
above where the lock was.

' Beg your Honer's pardon — some papers from His
Honer, Mr. Lavender,' he said in the mildest tone, stiL
looking downwards along the side of the wall and creeping
gently into the room. As he looked round, he saw Frank-
fort, and the upper half of his body took a still more
decadent position ; his cap, which he held in his hand, was
dropped incontinently on the floor, as he touched his bald
head, in token that he would pull his forelock if he had one
to pull, and exclaimed —

1 It's proud I am to see your Honer, as an Honerable
Member, and to further ye my respects on your Honerable
election, and making them specially to your Honer after all
your kindness to M'Glumpy's boy ! '

' M'Glumpy's boy ! ' exclaimed our politician, startled
by this unexpected apparition of his blunder. ' Why, what
do you know about M'Glumpy's boy ? What have you got
to do with him ? '

' Sure, isn't his father Rimy and me cousins, your Honer ;
or leastways, anyhow, Rimy's father and mine were cousins
together, wern't they ? '

' Oh well, Crane, cousin or no cousin, don't thank me for
that : the whole thing was a mistake. The boy could not
read or write. I cancelled my nomination for him as letter-
carrier ; so he is out of it.'

' Indeed now, does yer Honer say so ? Well, now, and
that's strange. And Rimy, me cousin there, the other day
only, was saying '

But here Walter Crane was interrupted by a cough that
often troubled him at certain times, and on this occasion, in
fact, prevented him from finishing his sentence. Had he
been able to finish it, he would have said that Rimigius
M'Glumpy, the aforesaid Irish cousin, being on a visit about
some business to the city, had, only a few days before, told

vi PARLIAMENT 293

him triumphantly that all was right about young Terry's
appointment, and how the improved appearance of Mary
Garvin's shop, and the well-cleaned front windows thereof,
told of the industry and diligence of the new letter-carrier.
Walter Crane was not aware that a great man has said,
' Woe to him who tells all he knows upon any subject,'
nevertheless he instinctively thought that it would be wiser
to speak of something else. So he observed — his kind face
looking milder than ever, for he had an innate reverence for
all Members of Parliament, past or present — ' Honerable
Mr. Meeks, very nice gentleman, so kind-spoken and attentive
like to every one — very sorry for the Honerable Mr. Meeks.
But he kept us very busy about the Reservoir ; and I wonder

now, your Honer ' continued Crane, looking round

Frankfort's feet.

' Why, what's the matter now, Crane ? ' exclaimed our
politician rather abruptly, being put out by this dual
appearance of skeletons — M'Glumpy and the Reservoir.

' Oh, it was only, your Honer, the Honerable Mr.
Lavender was just observing the other day — he was saying
whether your Honer wouldn't be like thinking of a special
grant for it, as a national work, your Honer, according as
the Honerable Mr. Meeks used to say about it.'

As a fact, Lavender had said nothing about it ; but
Walter Crane wanted to know how Frankfort would take
the idea, comparing in his observant mind what Meeks
would have done. Our politician soon set his fears at rest.

' No, no, Crane, no special grant for me. The thing's
done for, for the present at any rate.'

If this was a relief to the head porter of the Irrigation
Bureau, it was also a surprise to him. He was somewhat
staggered by it, and wanted to think over what it meant.
So he commenced the series of obeisances with which he
usually prefaced his leave-taking of eminent personages.

1 An' it's proud his Honer Mr. Lavender will be to see
you, and also all the gentlemen and His Excellency the
Minister himself.'

' Thank you, Crane ; that's all right. Good-bye,' said
Frankfort.

' I believe he is a very honest fellow that,' he continued,

294 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

as Crane's bending figure seemed to creep or fade through
the doorway.

' He has one recommendation for all you politicians,'
replied Hartpole, ' that, at any rate, he professes to reverence
you. It is something to have even lip-worship ; though I
suppose every slave has, in his inner mind, thoughts of his
master which he regards as of no use to any one but the
owner.'

'Why, don't you think that the public have reverence
for us, then ? '

'Well, well,' replied Hartpole with a laugh, as they
shook hands at parting, ' we won't dispute about that now,
my honest politician. The question is that this debate be
now adjourned. Ask me that again twelve months hence.'

Hartpole was quite right in saying that Walter Crane
had reverence for the politicians. At the same time, this
did not prevent him from also having a pretty keen notion
of their weak points, which, however, he kept profoundly to
himself, except on the Sunday when he eased his feelings
by speaking out at his nephew's cottage in Grubb Lane.
The Ministers of the day he, to all appearances., worshipped,
especially the Minister of the Irrigation Bureau. When a
mysterious Providence dethroned them and put other objects
of worship in their place, it was a trial to him, but he sub-
missively transferred his devotion to the new ones. He
took no public part in politics, except that he had Liberal
sympathies when the Liberals were in, and Conservative
sympathies when the Conservatives were in ; but always
was an assiduous public servant.

For the political world in Excelsior was divided into
those two time-honoured parties. There was also a small
but .intrepid Populist party, which the two others secretly
feared and openly courted. As the Province was the home of
a young industrial community, with no privileged classes, no
unjust disabilities, no pauper masses, it was obvious that the
serious subjects of mere political difference between the
people must be few. All had started as struggling settlers
less than a century before, a handful of poor men, with a
continent for their heritage. They had as yet no great
questions such as have divided men in older lands ; none,

vi PARLIAMENT 295

for example, like the slavery problem in America or the
Irish question in England. They had, of course, their social
differences. Most of these centred in varying phases of that
most ancient, yet never out of date, controversy between the
better off and the worse off — the claims of property and the
rights of labour. The more fully popular power is developed,
the more what are called ' politics ' centre round and settle
down about this vital problem in human affairs. And here
there is something to dispute about. Here there are on the
surface motives for antagonism and conflict, though it is
quite true that at bottom the permanent interests of both
are identical. The action of the political sphere develops
and intensifies the differences, and is apt to lead men off on
a false scent. For in it all men are declared to be equal,
while, so long as freedom is allowed, they remain distinctly
unequal in the Social State, and there is a ceaseless struggle
to import by laws and political devices into social life that
equality which has been successfully, though artificially,
created in the political sphere.

But as neither of the two great parties in Excelsior had
accepted as yet the complete Socialist solution of this pro-
blem, though each courted the Populist party, there was, in
fact, no very marked difference in their principles. Several
of the most important Liberal measures had been passed by
the Conservatives when they were in power. Nevertheless,
they kept up due conflict with one another, the one being
stigmatised as fossil Tories, the other as reckless Revolu-
tionists. The Honourable William Brereton, the Premier,
was the leader of the Conservatives, who had been in
power for the past three years ; while Sir Donald MacLever
was the chief of the Liberals, and was expecting the
turn of his party for office to come round without much
further delay.

Mr. Brereton was a self-made and a self-educated man,
who early in life went to sea as a sailor boy, and by industry
and force of character reached, while still a young man, the
position of master of a ship trading to the islands of the
South Seas, with a share of the profits in each venture.
After a few years he was able to retire with a competence,
and having prudently invested, as a sleeping partner in the

296 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

leading soft goods store in Miranda, he was able to devote
himself to public affairs, for which he had that natural bent
which, when it possesses any one, never lets him rest till it
is satisfied, or he is soured. His frank good -nature and
practical capacity soon brought him to the front, notwith-
standing that his proclivities went in the Conservative direc-
tion. But he was not bigoted in his devotion to Tory
principles, nor indeed to any special lines of policy. He
did not pretend to mark out the course on the political
chart very far ahead. He preferred to navigate the barque
of State, as he used to do his ship among the islands, from
point to point as he went along, and as it seemed most
profitable or convenient to do so ; always managing the ship
on sound principles, and without any reckless navigation.
He was honest, sharp, boisterous, diffusive, and popular,
notwithstanding his politics. He might not be a statesman,
but he was a good manager for the everyday work of an
industrial community. He was blunt in his speech, and it
was to his credit that he was never blunter than when he
was dealing with anything that he thought was a job.
Indeed, at times the discomfited applicants in such a case
could scarcely help appreciating his indignation, enforced as
it was by sundry strong and picturesque expressions, that
were admired by all parties in Excelsior. Some of these
were drawn from the breezy atmosphere in which he had
passed his youth ; and his favourite invocation of the ' Lord
Tomnoddie ' was as well known and of as good standing in
Excelsior as the Duke of Wellington's ' Twopenny damn '
was some generations ago in the greater world of England.
He could not make a set speech ; but he got on very well
without that accomplishment, as he was fair enough in a
rattling reply or a forcible repartee. And though, in his
efforts to get his ideas afloat, he was apt to run them
aground, he had the clear eye of the man of business for
seeing through humbug. On the whole, it was to the
credit of Excelsior that William Brereton was a personally
popular man — worthy, serviceable, good-natured William
Brereton.

Sir Donald MacLever was of a different type. He came
of one of the ' best families ' among the early settlers of the

vi PARLIAMENT 297

Province. The country that his father took up, known as
' Land's End,' owing to its distance, then regarded as great,
from the city, turned out to be among the best country in
Excelsior for stock. Old Mr. MacLever, by his industry
and keen management, made it one of the most valuable
properties in the district, and adorned the home station
with an extensive orchard and flower-garden, which were
much admired by the public of the neighbouring village of
Land's End. The only drawback to the general satisfaction
with MacLever's plantations, as being a show place for that
part of the country, was that he employed a large staff of
Chinese gardeners, by whose patient handiwork it was that
the desert was made to blossom. And they were believed
to work long and irregular hours. This was distinctly
contrary to the popular feeling, and also to the law. But
the old man cared nothing for popular feeling, for he was no
aspirant for public approbation, and thought of little beyond
the interest of his property. And as for the law, it was
impossible to enforce it against him, as the Chinese worked
in the most confusing shifts, and were so hard to distinguish
one from another and to identify separately. He used to
say that he would rather see his garden smile than the
people smile any day. As young MacLever was intended
for the law, and the William Dorland University was not
then founded, his father sent him to London to study for his
profession. But, being more interested in men and manners
than in the antiquated intricacies of pleading or conveyancing,
he persuaded his parent to let him finish his education at
Heidelberg, with the view of making him more a man of the
world and preparing him to take a part in public life when
he returned to Excelsior. As the family estate justified
such an aspiration, his father consented, and in a few years
young Donald returned to Excelsior quite a gentleman, and
fully prepared to make a figure in public affairs and to elbow
his way to the front. He not only regarded this object as
the final cause of his own existence, but as a result to which
it was only right that others should also contribute their
exertions.

He certainly did not strike one as being designed by
nature for a democrat. Of the two men, Mr. Brereton

298 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

seemed to be rather to that manner born. Yet he soon
appeared as a prominent man among the Liberals. There
could be no doubt that theirs was the winning side in the
long run. When his respected father inquired rather
anxiously of him the reason of some of his early political
declarations, he replied, mitigating any tendency to sneer,
' Well, sir, I presume you would not desire a young man
to mortgage his life to lost causes.' While welcomed by the
Liberals as a valuable acquisition, he was still connected by
substantial ties with the ' respectable people.' It was a
feature in his career which surprised some that he always
managed to keep up this connection in social affairs.
However strong the display of his democratic principles
might be in public, he was ever, in a personal point of
view, the gentleman Donald MacLever, who was educated
in England, and who had completed his early training at
Heidelberg, and who was quite at home in the leading and
somewhat exclusive club of Miranda. Here the business
men and the landed gentry of the Province would greet
him with a warmth, mingled with a natural deference to the
popular leader, which, if not wholly guileless, was in fact all
the more pleasing to him on that account, as it testified
emphatically to his power and his personal importance.
When, at lunch or dinner around the club table, they would
deprecate some strong Democratic sentiment that he had
just favoured the public with, or denounce some proposal of
his party as pointing to nothing less than a ' dividing up '
among all of the good things of this world now enjoyed by
a few, the respectable Tribune of the people would gravely
listen to their arguments — he was rather a silent person in
company — deny their conclusions, and propose a game of
billiards. Over the billiard table he would turn the con-
versation to the prospects of investments in stock-raising in
the adjoining province of Amanta, and discuss in an expert
manner the chances, laying down in his authoritive style
that twenty per cent could be knocked out of them if the
Border duties were properly adjusted.

Then, though he adopted the most advanced views of
the day as they came forward, and made at times demo-
cratic declarations of an alarming character, he was ever,

vi PARLIAMENT 299

when in office, quietly accessible to little concessions in
practical administration to the landed interest and the
capitalist class generally; while Mr. Brereton, with all his
conservatism, fired up about what he denounced as 'jobs,'
and was perpetually in trouble with those interests about
claims such as those that Mr. Lamborn had enlarged upon
when detailing his Rabbit and other grievances to Frankfort
at The Blocks. In truth, many of the men of property
quietly preferred Sir Donald, with his revolutionary ideas
and administrative accessibility, to the noisy obstinacy and
little economies of his rival.

Hilljohn, the landowner near Brassville, would exclaim
to Hedger, his lawyer, ' Positively we ought to unite against
MacLever ! Anything more unprincipled than his conduct
in speaking in that indirect way to the Populist deputation
about the Single Tax I never knew.'

' Yes, yes,' the lawyer would reply quietly, ' that is all
right, Mr. Hilljohn. We can discount all that. The fact is,
the great point with us now is the rabbits. We don't know
how his politics may work out, but we do know that the
rabbits will work us out, if we can't get the Government to
buy the patent and plank down the half cost for the wheat.
We must really, my dear sir,' Hedger would continue, looking
up from his office chair in an explanatory manner to his
client — ' we must really think of the day that is passing over
us, or we may not live to see the later day that you are
afraid of.'

Whatever principles, then, he professed, the wealthy
people thought it better not to break with him, but to keep
him one of themselves, and in the social circle, anyway.
He was such a very respectable man. In fact, in the
personality of Mr. — afterwards Sir Donald — MacLever there
were three distinct interests involved. The Democrats were
interested in him because he was useful to them ; the
better -off people because they hoped to restrain, if not
ultimately to reclaim, the wanderer. And then there was
Sir Donald, who was deeply interested in himself. This
latter was the only sincere feeling of the three. The one
deep and genuine belief in the politician's nature was in
himself. To advance himself by some means — if not by

300 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the front door, then by the back — was the set purpose of
his life.

He soon became important to his party, and displaced
some bungling but sincere blusterers who had spent years in
advocating Liberal principles, and then, in the most respect-
able and severe manner possible, led his party, and led them
successfully. The chief result of this success was his own
instalment in office as the head of the Government, with a
Ministry made up of two or three small men who had ever
followed him with canine fidelity, and one or two thoroughly
rough diamonds of the party, who held alarmingly advanced
views, which, however, were much tempered by the mellowing
influence of official responsibility. The great recommendation
of his colleagues, in the Premier's eyes, was that they were
at such an undoubted distance from himself. A decoration
followed in due course, and Mr. MacLever became Sir Donald
MacLever, K.C.M.G. He was a man grave of aspect (his
grey eyes looked out upon you coldly), cynical in manner,
measured and slightly hoarse in his tone of speech. At
the time when we meet him, he and his party had been out
of office for the three years of Mr. Brereton's rule, and
they were now anxiously expecting the triumph of Liberal
principles.

The Populist party was the third party in Excelsior. It
was smaller in numbers in Parliament than either of the
other two, but was active, and powerful in a degree far
beyond its numbers. In fact, as far as law-making and
professing principles in politics, it had it all its own way.
It was in outside social facts that it found its obstruction.
Mr. David Stoker and Mr. Michael Caffery were its leaders.
Mr. Stoker was naturally so, as he was a Dissenter in
religion, as in all other things social, so far as he professed
religion. With his coadjutor the case was somewhat
different. Michael Caffery was in politics independent,
aggressive, defiant of authority, and all for what was novel
and progressive, and for discarding old Conservative notions.
The mere fact that a thing was new and subversive of the
ancient order in the State was a recommendation to his
favourable opinion of it. To tell him that the political
veteran, so-and-so by name, advised a certain course to be

vi PARLIAMENT 301

taken with regard to any proposed reform was to set him
against the advice. He considered it old-fogeyism. If some
boy politician made some startling, novel suggestion, he was
careful not to declare against it. If he did not think it well
to directly support it, he kept very quiet about it, and sought
refuge in ambiguous phrases. And this merely in obedience
to his sincere instinct to keep well upon the progressive line
of things. He watched from afar Bryan's first struggle with
M'Kinley for the presidency of the United States, and warmly
sympathised with Bryan because he was young, revolutionary,
and defiant of the old standards.

Such was Caffery in public life and on his political side. It
is an old saying, often repeated and often forgotten, that every
man contains in himself two men. And certainly Michael
Caffery, M.H.R., declaiming in the House of Representatives
or the market-place was quite a different man from humble,
devout Michael Caffery bending before the altar. He had
then left one world behind him and got into another and a
different one. In this latter world he reverenced everything
he saw, believed everything he heard, and obeyed all orders
implicitly. It never occurred to him to say, 'Why is it so ? '
or, ' Wherefore should I be told to do this ? ' He never
thought of objecting to anything, or even asking a question
about it. He started upon the principle that he had now
got into the region of faith and obedience, and that there
was no place here for argumentation or dispute. He had
only to believe, or at least have that state of mind which
he believed was believing. There was no doubt that the
religious and racial instincts from Ireland, his native land,
had much to do with his devotion to the Church. There it
was the Church, he considered, of the poor and the oppressed.
He had the natural liking of his countrymen for a personal
superior, and as this instinct was very much starved in the
political world, he compensated his feelings by luxuriantly
indulging it in the religious sphere.

On the other hand, the head of his Church, Cardinal
M'Gillicuddy, met the politician half-way. He was a man of
Christian feelings, warm benevolence, and absolute devotion
to his sacred duties. He was an admirable, but rather
severe, ruler of the clerical affairs of his archdiocese, and was

302 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

ceaseless in his attention to all the spiritual needs of his
people. This was his world. Outside it and in public
affairs he had the reputation of being rather a Liberal,
though how he earned it was not very clear. No one could
point to any distinct declaration of his upon any political
question, except where the interests of the Church were
concerned. Perhaps it was upon the principle that a man
is known by his friends, for in so far as he had any political
friends, they certainly belonged to the Progressive party.
He would have nothing at all to do with your staid old
Conservatives, but he was always particularly civil to Mr.
Caffery.

It is hard for any of us men to tell what is really in the
mind of a brother man. If we may speculate, unquestion-
ably the Cardinal's sole thought and real longing was for the
true Church. Founded upon the Rock, and rising high above
these mere temporal affairs of human government — fleeting,
changing, stumbling along, as they were, from one form into
another as the ages went on — that Church could view with
benevolent complacency all forms of polity without identifying
itself with any. A little extravagance here, or delusive theory
there, did not loom largely in the comprehensive view of the
observer from the higher standpoint, who was ever penetrated
by the sense of the ephemeral nature of the whole thing.
Viewed from the altar, the arena of politics seemed insig-
nificant. Thus the churchman, in his lesser character of a
citizen, could regard with dignified neutrality principles and
theories that seemed full of importance and danger to the
politician of the world. By his nature, as has been said, the
Cardinal was a benevolent man. He had deep sympathy
with the poor. He kept himself poor, and regarded with
contempt those who fought only for the rights of wealth and
never thought of its duties. The modern Socialist creed,
indeed, he absolutely condemned as contrary to the teaching
of the Church ; but he was well inclined to the socialism of
the Fathers, which assumed as its foundation the law of the
Gospel. He did not mix in party struggles, but outside
these he professed a keen interest in political affairs, and
never failed to record his vote in an open, not to say
ostentatious, manner ; and in all patriotic demonstrations

vi PARLIAMENT 303

he took a conspicuous part. Every effort to help the poor
had his blessing, and, though he did not commit himself to
all the demands of the unemployed, he was understood to
have no sympathy with the usual formulas of political
economy that were advanced in reply to them.

Mr. Caffery, therefore, as a good Catholic, felt quite safe
in advancing all Liberal projects, including the very strongest
measures for the help of the poor ; and also in going upon
Socialist lines up to a certain point. But he was careful
not to commit himself to any of the Socialist ideas about
marriage and the family ; and, in a quiet way, he even
supported the Catholic schools as distinct from the free,
secular, and compulsory of the State.

As has been indicated, Sir Donald MacLever had, like
most great men, his personal followers ; and they were
selected from those who could never be his rivals. The
most prominent among these was Mr. Edward Du Tell. He
was not a heroic style of man. But it is a redeeming
feature in the poorest natures when they have some one
object to worship, and Mr. Du Tell sincerely worshipped
Sir Donald. His name showed that he was of French
origin, but his family had been for many generations settled
in England. He rather boasted that he was a descendant
of that Captain Du Tell whom Pepys mentions as filling the
office of Yeoman of the Cellar and Cup-bearer to the Duke
of York in his time ; but now, after such a lapse of years,
there was nothing French left about his descendant except
his name. He was a little man, of sharp intellect, as was
partly indicated by the keen, inquiring way in which he peered
round upon you, and if not possessed of high political prin-
ciples, at least did not feel the want of them. He appeared
to be always looking about and looking into things, in search
of a satisfaction that he never fully got — unless indeed from
Sir Donald. His views on Liberalism were so advanced
that he was readily elected for one of the smaller popular
constituencies to the House of Representatives ; and in
public affairs he soon revealed an ancestral tendency by
acting as a sort of political cup-bearer to Sir Donald.

One important purpose in life which he served was to
give to the general public early indication of what it might

304 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

be supposed were his patron's views upon questions of the
day which were in the first stages of development. Per-
sonally he held the most advanced opinions upon all subjects.
He would proclaim his adherence to the most progressive
ideas of the hour ; and this was commonly taken to indicate
that Sir Donald, who was much slower to declare himself,
would in the end do the same. But it was found that this
supposition was not to be too implicitly trusted ; for, in case
of a reaction of public feeling setting in, or the new idea
being found, in fact, unworkable, Sir Donald would discard
it at the proper time, as a thing not to be thought of; and
then Mr. Du Tell would say nothing more about it, nor
would anything more be heard of it in the Liberal leader's
circle till it became popular again. But once his chief had
declared his opinion in favour of some progressive measure,
there was nothing to hinder the fullest expression of his
own advanced views.

Du Tell had carefully observed the contest between
Meeks and Frankfort at Brassville, and made a note, when
our politician was returned, that he had better be looked
after. He was just the sort of man to be useful to Sir
Donald, so long as he went quietly in harness and minded
the bit. At this juncture, just before the meeting of Parlia-
ment, Du Tell spent a good deal of his time on the steps
leading up to the broad verandah of the House, where he
could meet Members as they came for their letters or to
keep appointments for seeing their constituents. It was
useful to fall in with them in this casual sort of way, when
the nature of the interview could be regulated at discretion,
and a useless or hostile man dismissed with a few words,
while an easy retreat could be made with others to one of
the Committee rooms and matters discussed at leisure. As
Frankfort, a few days after his return to the city, was walk-
ing up the steps of the House, he naturally fell in with Du
Tell.

' Ah, my dear sir,' he exclaimed, taking his usual survey
round our politician, ' come to join the great cause ! Let me
shake you by the hand. He is quite pleased about it ;
Meeks run down — worked out — no account. Yes, indeed,
he is quite pleased ; and it takes a little to please him, and

vi PARLIAMENT 305

no mistake, I assure you.' Du Tell generally referred in
conversation to his chief by an impersonal designation.

' Sir Donald ? ' inquired Frankfort.

' Yes, and he wants to see you too — he does indeed.
He is out of town just now ; but I think that old Borland,
at your University up there, is arranging for a little spread,
you know, for you both to meet He'll go — I am almost
sure he'll go. You'll be in luck to meet him on the quiet.
He sometimes comes out with a few people like that — if
he takes to them.' And Du Tell looked again round our
politician.

' Yes, I should be very glad to meet Sir Donald. I
have been only casually introduced to him. There are some
public questions that I would like to talk over with him.'

' Well, as to that, d'ye see, I can tell you what he will
say on most things that are to the fore now, you know.
The great point — I heard him say it only the other day — is
to get this Tory crew out. Why, my dear sir,' continued
Du Tell, contracting his eyebrows this time into a positive
frown, ' where, I ask, is progress, where prosperity, where
safety for our institutions, so long as the country is smothered
under the incubus of Brereton and Company ? '

' But they tell me,' remarked our politician, ' that the
first measure of the session which the Government will
bring forward is the Bill to enfranchise woman ; and we all
support that.'

' You don't say so ? ' exclaimed Du Tell in genuine
surprise. ' I knew that old Brereton had given in to it ; but
I didn't think — well, really, he is 'cuter than I gave him
credit for, the old delinquent. But is it so really ? How
do you know ? I thought that I would have '

' Why, a Miss Hannah Gazelle, a constituent of mine,
and secretary to one of the woman's leagues, waited upon
him, with a few ladies, at a private interview, to present
some resolutions that had been passed ; and then he told
them that the bell of freedom was ringing, as he expressed
it, and that it would be his first Bill — only to keep it quiet.
But these things get out in a country town. Some people
from Brassville mentioned it to me.'

' Now, that is clever of B. B. I didn't think that Billy

VOL. I X

306 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Brereton had it in him, I didn't indeed,' replied Du Tell,
who could not restrain some admiration for this astute move
on the part of the Premier. ' But I know what he will say to it.
Since the Loan failed, B. B. is up a tree. No plank to float
on. So he launches lovely woman. Never mind — never
mind,' continued Du Tell ; ' we can put him out and pass the
Woman's Bill ourselves, can't we ? '

' Are the Government likely to be put out any way,
then ? ' inquired our politician.

' Sure to be. He means it. Shoulder to shoulder we
stand, and down goes Monopoly and Toryism. Ah, Billy B.,
knowing old card,' Mr. Du Tell went on, peering this time
into space, as he apostrophised the unconscious Brereton —
' ah, Billy B., Woman's Suffrage ain't able to save you — not
good works enough. He has got you this time. Your day
is over.'

' I suppose they have had about their turn now ? ' re-
marked Frankfort.

' Their turn ? I should say so. Why, in these advanced
times, should old-fogeyism have a turn at all ? Why, even
in old Europe they advance. You see the cablegrams : the
Autocrat of Russia proposes to abolish war.'

' Well, I am afraid it will be found easier to abolish
Brereton than to abolish war/

' Both must go, my dear sir — both must go,' said Du Tell,
almost relaxing into a smile at the noble prospect of the
joint abolition of War and of Brereton. ' What are standing
armies and war but devices to prevent people from asserting
themselves? And as for old Billy Brereton — why, sure
enough, speak of him and here he comes along. Never met
him ? I will introduce you.'

And Du Tell waved his hand, in a manner quite cheer-
ful for him, at the Honourable Mr. Brereton as that gentle-
man came walking down the steps, having just left an
informal meeting of some of his newly-returned supporters
in the Ministers' Room.

' Ah, Mr. Premier, glad to see you looking well and
strong, like your Government. Let me present to you one
of your new supporters — a good staunch one — stand by you
at a pinch — when the numbers are close, you see. Never

vi PARLIAMENT 307

say that the Du Tells were wanting in the loving cup, from
the days of the Duke of York downwards — ha ! ha ! ha ! '
and he laughed at his joke with a hilarity that did not seem
to sit very easily upon him.

' Why ? who ? what are the bearings now ? Where have
we run on to this time ? ' inquired Mr. Brereton, who it so
happened had not met Frankfort before, and in his matter-
of-fact way supposed on the moment that Du Tell had
met one of the Government supporters coming late to the
meeting.

' Ah, why ? who ? indeed. This is Professor Frankfort
of the University — Brassville, you know. Old Meeks
defunct. Good man, I say, always support you — when
you are right, d'ye see ? ivJten ! ' said Du Tell. ' Sorry to
leave you, gentlemen — sorry to leave you,' he continued ;
' but friends are best left alone, you know ' ; and with waving
hand Du Tell hurried away rapidly to the Opposition Room,
to write a line to Sir Donald, so as to catch the afternoon
post, informing him of Brereton's clever move in putting
Woman's Suffrage in the forefront of the coming campaign.

' I really don't know,' exclaimed Frankfort, as he and
Brereton shook hands, ' that my friend Mr. Du Tell, though
he was speaking jocularly, was far from the truth when he
said that I would support you when you were right. Though
I am a Liberal, I should always like to support any Govern-
ment that was doing the right thing.'

' More fool you if you did, my friend,' cheerfully re-
sponded Mr. Brereton, as he gave him a lively tap on the
chest to emphasise his remark. The Premier was in appear-
ance something like a nautical model of the typical John Bull ;
and he looked straight out at you when he spoke to you, as
if, while he wanted to see through you, he was also quite
willing that you should see through him.

' No ; no good, sir,' he continued ; ' Mr. Dillon, friend
of mine — friend of yours — he tells me that you are a
Liberal.'

' Certainly I am a Liberal,' said Frankfort in an emphatic
tone.

' Oh yes, to be sure ; but I mean, you see, that he says
you really believe all about it — genuine case. Yes, he does

3o8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

indeed,' continued the Premier, giving his companion a con-
fidential nod. ' Well, then, all right, say I ; go it Liberal
horse, whatever you are, hack or charger, straight gallop
ahead, and good luck to you.'

' Thank you, Mr. Brereton. But I was only saying that
I would not care to oppose any Government in trying to do
the right thing upon any great public question.'

' Why not, my blessed Liberal, if your party wants to ?
What use is a man to his party if he only supports them
when he likes to? Wait a bit, you'll see. Battledore
and shuttlecock — ping-pong business — it's all right. But
here,' continued Mr. Brereton, as some of his followers came
down the steps — 'here are some of my recruits — taken the
shilling. Come along, gentlemen — come along ' ; and giving
Frankfort a cheerful nod in parting, he walked away with
them down the street.

Sure enough, as Du Tell expected, when Frankfort got
back to his rooms he found a note from Mrs. Borland, in-
viting him to dinner that day week in order to meet Sir
Donald MacLever and a few friends. The Honourable
William Borland's principle in politics was much the same
as some great men's principle with regard to religion — to
find out the strongest and most feasible principle, and then
to adhere to it without cavil. He therefore cultivated
friendly relations with Sir Bonald, as he regarded his party
as the more powerful of the two, and as the one best fitted
to deal trenchantly with the great Currency question. This
was not the result of a sordid personal self-seeking. He
had shown his public spirit in founding the University.
Mixed considerations influenced him. While he and the
University too had a deep interest in the cause of Silver,
he also had a belief, which he accepted without any deep
scrutiny, that industrial progress generally in Excelsior, and
indeed in the world, depended on that cause. How far that
belief was induced by that interest is one of those things
that belong to what philosophers have termed the sphere of
the unknowable. Conscious bias and unconscious : who can
discriminate between them? Then he had the natural wish of
every powerful, successful man to belong to the cause that
was waxing rather than to that which was waning. This

vi PARLIAMENT 309

feeling rested in him upon the conviction that it is only the
part of common-sense to accept the inevitable, and that it is
no duty of man — certainly not of the practical man — to
keep conning over abstract questions of wise and unwise.
Another consideration that influenced him was that Mr.
Brereton had proved intractable in Government business
matters connected with the great Van-Dorland Mine, and had
refused some concessions which, when mentioned incidentally
in conversation with Du Tell, that gentleman said he hap-
pened to know Sir Donald thought ought to be granted to
all mine-owners in similar circumstances. So William
Borland gave his general adhesion to Sir Donald, and Sir
Donald, in his cold way, reciprocated the confidence of the
Silver King. It was, as has been said, part of his policy
to keep up, in the private sphere, fair personal relations
with the representatives of the great interests of the country ;
while politically, as head of the popular party, he held a
severe tone, in a vague sort of way, towards them in public.
Each of these men, eminent in their respective walks of life,
understood one another, and did not weigh in golden scales
the respective values of their mutual confidences. Both
regarded our politician with some interest, as being probably
a useful pawn on the political chess-board. Why not ? It
was natural that he should be useful, as obviously his
interest was the University interest, and both were identical
with the William Dorland interest.

Frankfort had not, as the reader may have gathered, much
experience in society, and on the evening of the dinner
he found that he was the first to arrive at the President's
mansion. The minutes, however, passed quickly, aided by the
vigorous conversation of Mr. Dorland and the quiet, sensible
refrain of his wife's remarks. Mrs. Dorland was a middle-
aged lady of a comfortable and rather sleek appearance.
Without seeking to make any display, she showed con-
siderable common-sense in what she said. She was homely
in her habits, one of which was to have always on hand a
piece of knitting of a special description, which she continu-
ally worked at, even on festive occasions, sitting among her
guests. Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, defines knitting or
network to be ' anything reticulated or decussated at equal

3io JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

distances, with interstices between the intersections.' This
sounds complex. But the work in Mrs. Borland's hands
seemed to be simple, for she pursued it rapidly and serenely,
while all the time she carried on the conversation with
activity and vigilance. Indeed, the conversation seemed to
get mixed up with the knitting ; for she had a way of en-
forcing the point of her remarks by giving an emphatic dive
or dig with the right-hand needle as if to fix, once for all,
the truth of what she was saying or the mistake that she
wanted to expose.

Before Frankfort could get very far in a discussion with
Mrs. Dorland about her proposed new Regulations for the
Cookery School, which was affiliated to the University, he
was agreeably surprised by the announcement of Mr., Mrs.,
and Miss Lamborn of The Blocks. The shearing being now
over, the Senator was at liberty to come to town, and though
personally he preferred The Blocks to all other places, it was
ever a pleasure to him to gratify the natural wish of his
wife and daughter for a change of scene.

Meeting them was to Frankfort like meeting old friends,
and Mrs. Lamborn was as kind and as languid as ever.
The other guests followed in quick succession. There were
Alderman Jortin, one of the Board of Overseers of the Uni-
versity, and his two daughters, who were generally described
in society, with that keen sense of one another's failings that
comes naturally to us, as ' the plain Miss Jortins.' Mrs.
Jortin, who always felt devout feelings of thankfulness to
Providence when she could escape a dinner-party, stayed at
home with her eldest child, who was known in Miranda as
the ' pretty widow.' She had made an unfortunate marriage,
and generally left it to her two younger sisters to represent
the family upon festive occasions. The business relations be-
tween the Alderman, who was the owner of the great Anvil
Iron Works of Miranda, and Dorland were extensive. Each
regarded the other as a sound man. Mr. Lavender, the
Secretary of the Irrigation Bureau ; two of the Professors of
the University and their ladies ; Mr. Urias Carson, proprietor
of the Rising Sun newspaper (who held quite a dignified
aspect to his own paper, and had, it seemed, no idea of what
the editors would put into it till he informed himself by

vi PARLIAMENT 311

looking at its columns each morning), and Mr. M'lvor, the
President's confidential clerk, made up the party to meet Sir
Donald, Mrs. M'lvor being absent owing to indisposition.
The great man himself was yet to come. He never made
the mistake that Frankfort in his inexperience fell into of
coming too early. On the contrary, he generally came last,
rather late, and thus found the company waiting for him and
ready to receive him. So when the attendant announced
' Sir Donald MacLever and Mr. Du Tell,' there was a slight
stir among the guests, and Mr. Dorland moved down to the
door at the end of the long drawing-room to receive him,
bringing Frankfort with him, so as to specially introduce
him before they joined the general circle.

Lady MacLever was absent in Europe for the sake of her
health, and so Sir Donald had only Mr. Du Tell to accom-
pany him. As he bent forward in a stately manner to shake
hands with the President, Frankfort felt that the two gray
eyes were resting upon him.

' Sir Donald, let me introduce to you our very latest
politician, Professor Frankfort, one of your party. He
represents a link of union between the University and the
Parliament.'

' Ha, indeed. How do you do, Professor ? I have heard
of you.'

There was nothing very much in this remark of Sir
Donald's ; but it was said in a slow, slightly gruff tone, with
a little drawl in it, and as he spoke it, it seemed as if there
was a good deal in it. He continued, looking at the new
politician, as he went on —

'A link of union? Is it a valid marriage or only a
temporary attachment.'

' Oh, a valid union by all means, Sir Donald,' replied
Frankfort — ' honourable conditions on both sides.'

' What ? No incompatibility of temper ? '

Sir Donald rather prided himself upon saying grating
things, and did not discard the flavour of a sneer. It was
congenial to his own feelings to do so, and was besides, he
considered, much more effective in the world than the easy
manner of the good-natured man. So he was rather pleased
than otherwise when Dorland said, in a deprecating way,

312 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

as he led back to the ladies, ' Come now, Sir Donald,
surely you can see no just cause or impediment to this
union.'

Du Tell, who in the stir had been overlooked, came
slipping up behind, and looking inquisitively round Frank-
fort's shoulder, remarked to him, in an undertone —

' Not bad that, is it ? Marriage or temporary attach-
ment. Not bad. It's his way, you know. But he's right.
You will find him right.'

The party being now complete, the dinner procession
was soon arranged ; Sir Donald, of course, taking Mrs.
Dorland, and Miss Lamborn being given to Frankfort, with
a jocular remark by the President about the special need
that he now had to make himself agreeable to any one from
Brassville. As Mrs. Lamborn passed by, with her hand
resting in a languid manner on Alderman Jortin's arm, she
remarked that now he and Eilly could enjoy themselves
talking about sermons and all the odd things they were able
to think of. They had not the full complement of ladies
to gentlemen, so Mr. Du Tell had to go by himself ; but he
was favoured by having a seat sufficiently near to Sir Donald
to enable him to hear that gentleman's remarks in conversa-
tion distinctly.

Mr. Dorland's entertainments and company were rather
of the substantial than the highly fashionable type. To
refer to the common dairy metaphor, they represented
rather the skimmed milk of society than the cream that
settles on the top. But, after all, where would the cream
be if it were not for the milk from which it is skimmed ?
There was a good deal of money in Dorland's parties, and
not a little influence, both territorial and political. Ex-
celsior high society regarded them as not properly within
the charmed circle ; but Dorland, on his part, manfully
held his own ground socially, and even maintained at his
table a tone of conversation which was quite in defiance
of the elegant and exclusive topics of high life. As Presi-
dent of the University, he rather affected literary topics ; and
his converse with the College men, assisted by his own
natural intelligence, enabled him to deal with them in a
respectable manner.

vi PARLIAMENT 313

' Sir Donald, I admired your address in opening the
Land's End Free Library, — something, a bit of stuff in every
sentence.'

' When you ask a number of your fellow-creatures to sit
still for an hour on a deal form, there should be something
in your sentences to sit still for,' slowly remarked Sir
Donald.

' Just so, something to put into your mouth mentally and
chew, like in Macaulay's writings,' continued the President.

' Macaulay, — do you swear by Macaulay then?' inquired
Sir Donald.

' To be sure I do. If you have a ten minutes to spare,
take him up, and you will find something to remember in
the ten minutes,' returned Dorland.

Sir Donald only shook his head.

' You consider him, Sir Donald, I presume, too highly
coloured to be accurate?' interposed Frankfort, whose atten-
tion had been attracted by the name of a favourite author.
He was rather interested to know what the shake of the
head indicated.

Sir Donald leant back in his chair, and partly turning
towards him, observed —

' Too popular for my taste. He said he would beat the
last fashionable novel at the lending library, — perhaps
he has.'

There was a slight pause after this judgment, and one
of the Professors appeared to be about to interpose some-
thing, possibly on the historian's behalf, when Sir Donald,
clearing his voice and speaking in a decisive manner, as if to
stop the coming intervention, continued, ' Macaulay in litera-
ture and Gladstone in politics have been so lavishly rewarded
in their own day that the account is overdrawn, and there is
nothing left for the future. They have already eaten their
cakes.' And Sir Donald looked up, and slightly elevated
his eyebrows, as if to see if any one either would or could
dispute what he had said.

Our politician could not help thinking that whatever
plausibility there might be in this criticism, it was rather an
odd one to come from so pronounced a champion of popular
ideas in Excelsior. But he only replied—

314 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

1 As for being popular, Sir Donald, Byron has been very
popular too ; but no one can deny his genius.'

' Byron, the cranky rascal ! ' exclaimed Mr Lamborn.
' Why, when we were sending Woodall the order to go home
for the books for our Brassville Literary Institute, Mr. Keech
insisted that the complete edition of Byron should not be
included in the list, and I believe he was not far wrong.'

' Really now, is that so ? ' remarked Lavender. ' Leave
out Byron ? Why, that is like my old friend Barlow, when
he was furnishing his new house there at Cowpasture, he
sent home an order to his London agent for two tons of
well-selected books ; but no Byron or Shelley. Some one
had told him something bad about them' — and the Secretary
of the Water Bureau looked up with a quiet laugh.

' Why, was Byron such a bad man as that ? ' inquired
Miss Lamborn, turning to Frankfort. ' When I was at
school at Dresden, I remember we had, for the breaking-up
examination, to turn " The Isles of Greece " " of the English
Boet Lord Byron," as old Dr. Glugg called him, into German.
I thought it very fine, but it was difficult to get the right
German words for it. It took me the whole afternoon.
And was he so bad really?'

' Well, yes ; a poor creature in one way — a grand genius
in another. Bad heart — unhappy in his marriage. His own
fault'

' Why, do you know now,' said Eilly Lamborn, full of
interest in what she was going to say — 'do you know, that
reminds me. We were dining at Mr. Brookfield's last evening,
and he was saying to father — do you know what he said ? '

' No ; but I should like to hear you tell.'

' Well, he said,' she continued, desirous to hear what a
Professor's comment would be on this strange statement of
Mr. Brookfield — ' he said this, that most men of genius were
unhappy in their family life. Was not that an odd thing to
say? '

' Really ? '

'Yes, and he mentioned several, Shakespeare, Bacon,
Milton, Addison, and others that I forget, and then he spoke
of Byron and Shelley. And he mentioned Carlyle and
Dickens too ; but Byron particularly.'

vi PARLIAMENT 315

' And did he say why ? ' inquired Frankfort, more in-
terested in the speaker's manner than the story itself of the
mishaps of genius, which was already familiar to him.

' Why ? Oh, I did not follow all he said. It was about
want of sympathy, you know, and vanity and genius being
irritable, and things of that sort, — in fact, that they should
not get married at all.'

' And what did you say, Miss Lamborn ? '

' I say ? I was only listening. I said nothing. But
that young American, Mr. Fooks, who was sitting next to
me, said in a quiet tone, as if he were speaking to himself,
when there was a pause — he has such an odd way with him
— " I am so glad, then, that I am not a man of genius." It
was so comical, we could not help laughing at him.'

' Or with him ? ' queried Frankfort.'

'Well, at him or with him — as if any one cared what
he said. And, do you know,' added Eilly Lamborn, looking
seriously at her companion — ' do you know, I don't think
that Mr. Brookfield quite liked all the laughing about it.
And he went on to say, in just a cross sort of way, that
most of the great men never married at all. He mentioned
such a number — Newton and Locke and Kant, and all the
philosophers, and the great authors too.'

'It is a grave subject after all,' remarked Frankfort.
' WTreck of hopes of genius, noble barques but sunken rocks,
and so on. However, I suppose it is that genius cannot
stand the discipline of marriage.'

' The discipline ? ' inquired Miss Lamborn.

' Yes, the discipline ; that is what one of these unhappy
great men terms it. Let us hope it did him good, however
unpleasant.'

But here this interesting conversation was cut short by
Mrs. Borland and the other ladies rising to go to what in old
times was called their ' withdrawing-room ' — not now, as of
old, to enable the gentlemen to get comfortably drunk by
themselves, but merely to allow a short half-hour's temperate
enjoyment, the feeble survival of the coarse customs of our
rude forefathers. In these days of enlightenment and rising
independence of woman, there is a growing jealousy of all
exclusive customs and privileges of men, and in some of the

316 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

more advanced quarters this earlier flitting of woman from
the festive table is being shaded off to an irreducible
minimum. The next stage will be for the men to rise with
the ladies and meekly follow them to the tea-table. Where-
fore not ? Too much wine is as bad for man as for woman ;
and as for smoking, why not neither or both ?

Mrs. Borland, though opposed to these very advanced
views, yet allowed Mr. Borland but a short interval for
gentlemen's time, so there was only a few minutes available
for men's talk, which soon turned towards the political
situation, that was getting more and more exciting as the
meeting of Parliament drew near.

' Awkward fix for Brereton. No Loan. Fierce dogs
you politicians when hungry ' — Mr. Borland led off from the
head of the table.

' I hear that he means to feed us on females. Woman's
Suffrage first on the legislative mahogany,' remarked Sir
Bonald, slowly moving his wine-glass at arm's length from
him, and holding it up as if to get a good look through and
through it.

' Not half bad that. Quite himself to-night. Feed us
with females — good/ whispered Bu Tell to Frankfort, next
to whom, in the reshuffling of the gentlemen consequent on
the departure of the ladies, he was sitting.

' You support Woman's Suffrage, I think, Sir Bonald ? '
observed our politician.

' Eh ? I support ? ' replied Sir Bonald, looking past our
politician but not at him, with some surprise in his tone, as
if it was rather a liberty to ask a man in his position what
he did support. He continued, with an indifferent air — ' Yes,
I do support it. I support all that is progressive — harmless.'

'That's it — progressive, harmless, bull's-eye hit again.
Progressive, harmless — may we not add just, sir ? ' inquired
Bu Tell.

' Whatever is progressive is just,' replied Sir Bonald.

' Quite so. True indeed — I had not thought of that.'

' It is a great reform,' said Frankfort, with some emphasis.

He felt the cold eyes turned towards him, as Sir Bonald
remarked in a deep tone of voice, ' Ah, just so, but who are
you going to reform ? Men or women ? '

vi PARLIAMENT 317

' Both,' replied our politician.

' Ah well, having reached such a satisfactory status quo, I
think we may join unreformed woman in the drawing-room,'
said Sir Donald, as he rose solemnly from the table. He
held such an important position in the President's estimation
that this usurpation of the function of the host was readily
acquiesced in, and Mr. Borland and the rest rose with
him.

Mr. Du Tell, always anxious to conciliate the Press, in
going out deferentially made way for Mr. Urias Carson to
precede him, and took the opportunity to observe to him,
' That's good. You can appreciate a thing put neatly.
" Join unreformed woman," that's neat, it is.'

' Sir Donald is sound on the question though, is he not ? '
inquired the newspaper proprietor.

' Sound ?— all sound,' replied Du Tell.
' Do you know, Mrs. Dorland,' said Sir Donald, advanc-
ing to his hostess as he entered the drawing-room, and
making rather an angular bow to her — ' do you know that
our Professor here says that he will reform both men and
women by Female Suffrage. What do you say, madam ? '

Mrs. Dorland was sitting next Mrs. Lamborn, as being
her chief guest among the ladies, conversing with her on
the subject of the proper age of girls to come to the cooking
class, and also whether the food cooked for practical instruc-
tion should be used for a mid-day meal for the poorer pupils
or sent on to the Convalescent Hospital. Both ladies were
quite interested in their discussion, and Mrs. Lamborn, who
had a really kind heart, forgot her languid manner in a keen
advocacy of the claims of the poor weakly people at the
Hospital ; while the knitting needles of Mrs. Dorland went
fast as she debated the conflicting interests concerned in the
daily distribution of this food. She was, in fact, slightly
impatient when Sir Donald came up with his half-mocking
interruption. So she looked up at him in a rather hurried
manner, and exclaimed —

' What do I say, Sir Donald ? Why, what I say is that
I pity them' (Dig with the needle on ' them''}

' Now, really, Mrs. Dorland, you are so brief that you are
enigmatical. Pray, pity whom — man or woman ? '

318 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Whom ? Why, you men to be sure. Poor creatures'
(Dig on ' creatures?}

' But, Mrs. Borland, may I make bold to ask why ? '
inquired Frankfort, who was standing by Sir Donald, with
Du Tell just behind the two.

' Mr. Frankfort, you have no wife, so you don't under-
stand.' (Dig on lyou'} ' But if you had, perhaps you wouldn't
like not being able to go out of a morning to the city to
transact business without first getting her permission what to
do.' (Dig on ' her.'}

' Come now, Lizzie, that's too bad, giving the cause away
like that ! ' exclaimed, with a laugh, Mr. Dorland, whom the
discussion had attracted. ' You know that I do nothing
without your leave. And here is M'lvor — he can't go
across the Divide to inspect a mine for me unless he gets his
wife's consent'

' I assure you it is quite true, Mrs. Dorland,' joined in
M'lvor, who also had been drawn over to the little knot of
disputants.

' It is quite true, Mrs. Dorland. It really is. My poor
wife is always nervous about my chest, and she insists upon
knowing where I am going into the mountains. And the
President here always kindly allows me to consult her —
indeed about everything. What he has said is quite correct.'

' Ah, and what do you say now, madam ? ' remarked Sir
Donald, with rather a stately air of jocularity and a heavy
accent on ' madam.'

' Oh, I say, Sir Donald,' answered the lady, clearing her
throat for a slight laugh — ' I say that I don't mind men
being a bit humbugs, so long as they are men' (Dig on
' men'} ' I know William of old' (Dig on ' old'}

' Ha, ha,' laughed Du Tell, just behind his chief. ' Not
bad that. Had them there. And, to be sure, some men
are humbugs. Strange though, sir, is it not,' he continued,
looking at and round Sir Donald and speaking into his ear
— ' strange how some women seem to lag behind the spirit
of the age. Is it not, sir ? '

' Very,' said Sir Donald, as he turned round to the maid
who was holding the coffee tray for him.

' It seems to be a drawn fight over there, Miss Lamborn,'

vi PARLIAMENT 319

remarked Frankfort, sitting down beside his fair constituent.
' But the President's wife seems to be more decided in her
views than the President, or, for that matter, than Sir Donald
himself. How does your vote go ? Or have you not
troubled yourself with the question at all ? '

' I ? Oh, I am waiting till father and mother finish their
argument about it. And it is a pretty long argument, I can
tell you. Father says that women ought to vote. And
mother says that it is all nonsense, she is quite sure of it.
And they can't both be right, can they ? '

' And so you say nothing ? '

' Well, do you know, I sometimes think of what old Dr.
Glugg at Dresden used to say to us at school. " Young
ladies," he would say, " if you do not know the right answer,
do not say the wrong one." And then he would look round
the class, through his big glasses, and say with such a lofty
air, " Besser gar nichts als was dumm ist zu sagen," so I say
nothing for fear of saying a silly thing.'

' You are the only person who would make such a
criticism,' said Frankfort, quite sincerely.

' Oh well, let us talk of Brassville and the dear Blocks.
Did you not like our lake ? Father said that you admired
the English trees. Ah, if we only had the Reservoir we
need never water the trees at all ! '

Here is this skeleton again, thought our politician, and
just as the conversation was getting interesting. So for
refuge he dived off into the ordinary topics of the day : the
famous opera company that was coming out to Excelsior
direct from Covent Garden, it was said ; the expected return
of Lady MacLever after her trip to Europe for her health,
and the brilliant receptions she was going to hold when she
got back ; the recent departure of the English visitors ;
and whether Mr. Fooks, who had to remain looking after
some contracts for the American Ethereal Starch Company,
was likely to permanently settle in Excelsior — these and
similar topics filled up the short time remaining, till Sir
Donald gave the signal for the general break-up of the party
by taking his leave, followed by the faithful Du Tell.

The recollections of the evening were pleasant to Frank-
fort as he mused over them on his way home. Sir Donald

320 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

had not impressed him very favourably ; but he was aware
of the cynical mood that public life imparted to some
men. What a queer creature Du Tell seemed to be ! yet
clever too. In fact, he had such an admiration for Sir
Donald that he appeared to be unable to see not only the
merits of other men, but his own in due proportion. Homely
Mrs. Dorland too, with her knitting and the emphatic dig
on the point to be emphasised. And yet, with all her
common-sense, she could not see the simple fact that women
should have a voice in their own government. Strange that
so many of the women did not seem to care about their
obvious rights. What Eilly Lamborn had mentioned — that
her mother said it was all nonsense. And, by the way, there
was something pleasant in the conversation of that girl — if
it were not for the Reservoir coming in, with its jarring
note. He certainly thought that her conversational powers
were better than those of most young women whom he met.
She interested him some way, and evidently without knowing
or specially intending it. And this was partly because she
was so natural, but a good deal because the standard of
general conversation had fallen off in later times, and her
simple, direct way of speaking was the more pleasing in
comparison.

Here he followed out in his mind this idea of the decay
of conversation. It has been laid down that for conversation
it is necessary that one should have knowledge, command of
words, imagination, presence of mind, and the resolution not
to be overcome by failures ! It certainly was becoming a
lost art. You met in society, high and low, talk and small
talk, chaff, joking, gossip, scandal, monologue, and all the
varieties of boredom — but conversation ? Like most valuable
things, it demands some self-sacrifice : you must take as well
as give, so as to make it a throwing backward and forward
of the ball, as in tennis, not a continuous bowling on one
side till the other is knocked out, as in cricket. Then,
while willing to take as well as to give, you must have some
presentable thing to give, when your turn comes. In other
words, you must have something to say, some reasonable
thought that wants articulate expression ; not only jokes,
banter, or mere personalities. In true conversation, too, the

vi PARLIAMENT 321

simple rule, so often neglected, must be observed of two not
speaking together. One must wait till the other has finished
what he had to say. It is surprising how much this obvious
rule is forgotten. Many people are incapable of listening ;
they can only go on like a dripping tap. And they cannot
stand hearing what they disagree with without contradicting
it then and there. But, after all, can you have real conver-
sation in a crowd — or only a conflux of words ? For true
conversation you must have only a few companions, so that
each one as he speaks can have the whole party well in
hand. Perhaps, indeed, mused Frankfort, the perfection of
conversation is between two. But between two or more, to
make it the perfect thing, there must be a certain community
of feeling between the people, however much diversity of
opinion may exist. Was it owing to this that he felt the
simple, natural talk of Eilly Lamborn to be so agreeable —
so much more so than the formalism of Sir Donald or the
obsequious chatter of Du Tell. In fact, the only unplea-
sant note throughout the whole of his talk with her was the
reference to that wretched Reservoir. It came in, too, just
when the conversation was taking a pleasant turn. Musing
in this manner, while he walked along slowly in the tranquil
and composing moonlight, he reached his rooms. One of
the first things upon the table that caught his eye was an
official -looking letter directed ' E. F. Frankfort, M.H.R/
It was a printed circular, signed by Du Tell, calling upon
him and all true Liberals to be in their places on the
Opposition Benches at the approaching opening of Parlia-
ment, in order to support their esteemed leader, Sir
Donald.

Soon after the first session of the new Parliament was
opened, and the war between the Liberals and the Con-
servatives was again renewed.

There was no doubt that Mr. Brereton was much
weakened by the failure of the Loan. All men are easily
satisfied when there is plenty of money to spend. But he
had recovered himself a good deal, by the prompt step that
he had taken in putting the great question of Woman's
Emancipation to the fore. It was announced as the very
first measure of the session, and as Sir Donald and his

VOL. I Y

322 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

friends were pledged to it, there could be only unanimity, it
would seem, on the first move in the political campaign.
The sole difference on the subject was, that the more
advanced people held that the right to sit in Parliament,
which was so obviously connected with the right to vote,
unless women were to be still considered inferior creatures,
should be granted simultaneously with the other ; while the
less advanced preferred that it should come after woman's
political experience was more developed.

The history of this movement was interesting, as
illustrating the nature of political progress in our time.
That there are arguments against it as well as for it no
intelligent man will deny. But argument had little to do
with the advance of the cause in Excelsior. When it was
first suggested a few years before, it was regarded as a joke.
But soon certain active interests came to realise that it
might be a very powerful weapon for whoever could get
hold of it ; and some people declared in its favour, with the
single-minded and disinterested purpose of having woman's
aid in political life to further social reform, and in particular
in putting down the curse of drink, and also of general
immorality. Mr. Seeker, Secretary of the Workers' Associa-
tion, at first doubted whether the advanced party would be
able to direct the woman's vote as absolutely as they did
the men's. He ruled in his own home very firmly indeed ;
in fact, he was rather a despot there. But he was not so
sure of the power of all men to direct their wives as abso-
lutely as he did his. It was rumoured that, when it was
first proposed, he used to exclaim irreverently, ' Lord, not in
our time ! ' But after a while he came to be satisfied that
the women of the Workers, at least, would all go with the
men, and that thus the vote that he directed would be
doubled. Also, he saw that the thing was going to succeed:
He had always inwardly smiled at those stupid people who
stuck to their own opinions, and were destitute of the slip-
pery skill to join the winning side at the right time. How
foolish they looked, he thought, when success was achieved
and the winning ones could laugh at them and their belated
ideas. Discarding now all vague and uncertain phrases,
such as in the early stages of the discussion he had indulged

vi PARLIAMENT 323

in, he would, when his opinion was asked, reply, as he
looked with open gaze upon the inquirer —

' Sir, every Liberal man must be in favour of justice to
woman. Come it must unless the sun goes back. Person-
ally, as you do me the honour to ask my opinion, I can
only say that I am an enemy to all despotism, mental,
political, and domestic.'

Once the question was adopted as an advanced principle,
then mere arguments, or mental conclusions, had little more
to say in the matter. These could not impede its advance,
for it was not by argument that it had got thus far. It
must come in with the tide. As a fact, neither the men of
the Province wanted it nor yet the women, generally. But
the few in favour of it were active, the rest passive. Some
wanted it, and fought for what they wanted with personal
zeal. But who is to get zealous about remote consequences
and general considerations of the public weal ? The success
of a measure depends not so much upon how many want it
as upon how many oppose it. When it was classed as a
Liberal, advanced thing, all who wished to rank among
Liberals accepted it as a matter of course, as one of the
natural heads of the true creed. And if you accept the
creed, you must say it right through. Then several who
did not believe in it, but who yet could not separate them-
selves from the winning side, consoled themselves by think-
ing, or at least saying, that it would make no difference —
that it only meant the family vote. Whether on the right
side of the blanket or the wrong side did not much matter, it
was such a little one. This was not, perhaps, statesmanship,
but it was successful. To this must be added the natural
feeling that, as some women really wished for it, it was not
the part of men to disappoint them. Many men prided
themselves on disregarding reasons, figures, and forecasts,
and in simply obeying their kindlier impulses. While some
political aspirants were influenced, more or less consciously,
by this simple consideration : It is certainly coming, wise
or foolish. When it does come, what of those who have
beforehand condemned half the voters in each electorate?
Risk not to be contemplated without emotion ! There was
safety in supporting it, and no political enmity excited

324 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

by adhering to it. Thus it was that this most fundamental
change that any community could adopt came about almost
as a matter of course in Excelsior ; and in that happy
Province women were made as powerful in Government
as men — in so far as putting black marks on white paper
could do it.

Among the few who supported the movement from deep
personal conviction of its value was our politician. As the
reader knows, he ardently desired the political enfranchise-
ment of women ; and he looked forward with pleasurable
enthusiasm to fleshing his maiden sword, as the phrase goes,
in the legislative arena in defence of the rights of the better
half of the human race. But the prospect of making his
maiden speech in the House of Representatives was an anxious
one. It was a new experience to speak for the first time in
the Legislature, and one scarcely less agitating than that
earlier one in Scotland, when he had broken down in the
attempt to address the College Debating Society. Some
curiosity had been excited about his speech, for the Woman's
Rights League had, in a leaflet just published, referred in
glowing terms to the support that the cause would derive
from Professor Frankfort's aid, both moral and intellectual.
He devoted some time and thought to preparing his line of
argument. And this is needful if a good speech is to be
made, however well a man may be informed generally upon
his subject. If you have to deliver a choice parcel of goods,
it is not enough to have a full warehouse to take from. You
must know where to put your hand on the right pieces, and
how to pack them, so that they may be easily dealt with
and promptly delivered when wanted. Our politician had
reasoned out his subject in his mind, and thought over
appropriate illustrations, and even some topics of a declama-
tory character. He prepared to meet the objections that
opponents would raise, and which he resolved to candidly
admit did call for an answer. As for the hackneyed argu-
ment drawn from war, he would scout it with contempt.
' Was the human race to be for ever governed only by ideas
drawn from the conditions of brute force/ etc. etc, passed
through his mind as the natural form for the reply to take.
And note, reader, that the skilful orator can think over and

vi PARLIAMENT 325

prepare parts of his speech which not only seem natural and
spontaneous when spoken, but which are then natural to
him. Thus our politician had not only the advantage of
believing in the justice of his cause, but he had, by thinking
over his subject, generated the necessary amount of enthu-
siasm to fuse the mere cold conclusions of the intellect, and
project them effectively on an audience. He looked forward
to coping successfully with adversaries and vindicating the
rights, not this time of men, but of women. To be sure, too,
it was not unpleasant to feel that, upon this great question,
he had the people — or, at least, the people's representatives —
with him, and was on the winning side — that cause which Mr.
Gladstone once described as having time on its side. Even
weak arguments and shallow deliverances loom large through
the atmosphere of public favour. How much more, then,
should the thoughtful and sincere words of our politician ?

Frankfort was thus all prepared for an effective speech
as he took his seat on the back Opposition Bench on
the evening when the Premier was to move the second
reading of the Bill for the Franchisement of Woman. He
was soon struck by the listless air that seemed to permeate
the House. No one seemed to feel very deeply either the
advantages or the disadvantages of the proposed reform. No
one appeared to realise, or to trouble about, the vast change
that was being taken in hand, or its many-sided as well as
remote influences on national life. It was taken as a fore-
gone conclusion that it must come ; so there was no fighting
against it possible, and no fighting for it necessary ; there-
fore, what was there to talk about ?

This view did not commend itself to our politician. He
was the more disappointed at it since, as it seemed to him,
the question had never been clearly put to the public, nor
had the reasons for and against ever been discussed at any
election. This was no reason why Parliament should not
pass a just measure ; but it was a reason why the causes for
so doing should be clearly stated and left on record. Else
this new principle, grand as it was, would be engrafted on
political and social life without ever having been clearly
discussed or explained inside Parliament any more than it
had been outside.

326 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' I think that I will speak early in the debate, Sir
Donald, after the Premier and yourself and a few of the
other leaders,' observed our politician to Sir Donald.

' Speak ? What for ? It is our Bill, and they take it —
unless, to be sure, you want to pitch into them wearing our
clothes ; you only give them importance otherwise/ replied
Sir Donald, looking fixedly over Frankfort's head to some
Members beyond. He continued, ' If I speak it will only
be to show them up, and then for five minutes. There is
no fight in it, my good sir.' And he passed down to his
place on the front Opposition Bench.

'Ah, that's it — just the point, isn't it, Professor — no
fight in it ? ' he heard a voice saying in his ear, and looking
round saw Du Tell sliding past to his place behind his
leader, and near where Frankfort sat.

' How he hits the nail ; pity he ain't a carpenter,' he
continued.

Before Frankfort had time to think over this, to him,
new view of the debate the Premier rose to propose his Bill.
To make formal speeches was not one of the gifts that
Nature had granted to William Brereton ; and he was the
less at ease in making his speech now, as in reality he had
no very fervid convictions about Woman's Rights. He
openly declared that he would never consent to their sitting
as Members. That he would fight to the last : they should
come in over his dead body, if at all. However, he plunged
at once into such aspects of the subject as struck his fancy
first.

People's will — fiat, he might say. Women, God bless
them ! better than men anyway, though that was not
saying much ; yet you shut their mouths — clap a padlock on
their tongues politically. Vote ? Why not ? Heaven knows,
I don't. Cut up rough and break things ? Wherefore ?
Property female as well as male. Widows. Spinsters. Fair-
play the brightest jewel in the crown. By the way, the
late glorious Queen was a woman. He could not be contra-
dicted there. People's voice, mandate. Breeze all fair this
trip anyway — right aft — only, as he might say, to rig out
the stunsails and bear right in. As he proceeded, he
warmed to his subject, and he put strongly the view that

vi PARLIAMENT 327

women should get the right to vote, not so much to govern
others as to protect themselves from injustice. He referred
to 'John Stuart Mill — there in the library — the philosopher
of the universe.' Many loudly applauded this aspect of the
question, seeming to feel that it reflected credit on all con-
cerned, that the husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers of their
enlightened Province should hereafter be compelled by the
political power of the women to do justice to their wives,
daughters, mothers, and sisters. They cheered with enthu-
siasm this advanced view of the relations between man and
woman. In the midst of the cheering the Premier, who had
never felt quite comfortable during his speech, sat down,
exclaiming that he knew woman was beyond us and above
us. We could not paint the lily, gild the refined gold, or
add another hue to the rainbow ; but one thing men could
do, and that was, give them the vote. (Loud cheers.)

Sir Donald MacLever then rose and briefly addressed
the House. He spoke in an imperious, deliberate style that
gave his words a greater weight than intrinsically belonged
to them. The ordinary man is apt to take self-assertive
people at their own estimate of themselves. On the merits
of the question he said nothing. The national voice having
declared itself, the great Liberal party that he had the
honour to lead naturally was its exponent in the Legislature.
He would only observe that he, and all his party, rejoiced as
each link in the chain of human slavery was broken.

Before the cheers that greeted this Liberal sentiment had
died off, he turned to the real point of his speech, which was
to denounce Mr. Brereton and the Conservatives for seeking
refuge behind the petticoats of their wives, sisters, and
daughters from the just vengeance of the people, for their
multiplied failures, blunders, and crimes. Having dwelt on
this topic for a few minutes, he concluded, saying with a
tone of vehemence —

' But, Mr. Speaker, if I may venture to predict — and
my predictions are rarely falsified — I would say that the
Ministry will soon find that by their female subterfuge they
have earned not a pardon from the public, but only a re-
prieve, and that a brief one. And none will join in their
condemnation with more enthusiasm than the very women

328 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

behind whom they so shabbily try to shelter themselves from
public indignation.'

This attack upon the Government promptly brought up
the Honourable Cornelius M'Grorty, Minister for Education
and Public Knowledge and the Post Office. He was a
polished man, but he loved the war of words. He began by
asking, in a mild tone and sarcastic manner, whether the
Honourable the Leader of the Opposition was possessed by
such a whole-souled devotion to the rights of either men or
women that he considered that he held an absolute mono-
poly of all generous measures, whether behind petticoats or
before ; so that no noble thing could expect to see the light
unless it was first nurtured in the gray, cold bosom of the
Honourable Member for Land's End ? (Loud cheers from
the Government Benches welcomed this inquiry, and Sir
Donald smiled himself, with more satisfaction than he would
have felt for any mere jovial sentiment.) After enlarging
upon this aspect of the subject, the Minister went on to his
next topic, which was to declare that it was as well known
as the Post Office clock in Miranda that the honourable
gentleman took up Female Suffrage not because he believed
in it, not because his heart warmed — Heaven save the mark !
— to that noble principle, but because he feared women's
sovereign and avenging hand at the ballot-box. In support
of this view he declaimed at some length, and indignantly
asked how it was that the honourable gentleman, though so
concerned about the links in the chain of human slavery, had
never sought to touch this one during his long term of office?
If the honourable gentleman was once safely in power
again, when might they expect to hear the cheering ring of
that avenging stroke that would free their sisters? They
might expect it when the Day of Doom arrived — a time
when the Honourable Member would feel quite at home.
After dwelling with increasing fervour upon this aspect of
the question for some time, the Honourable Cornelius
M'Grorty suddenly faced round at the scoffing figure who
sat opposite, enjoying his eloquence, and extending in a
dramatic manner his right arm towards the enemy, wound up
by exclaiming that he, for one, was prepared to meet the hon-
ourable gentleman opposite in any manner or description of

vi PARLIAMENT 329

encounter that he might desire, physical, mental, moral, or
even spiritual, either inside the House or outside, so long
only as it was above-board — a qualification which he trusted
would not absolutely decide the honourable gentleman to
decline the encounter.

Renewed ministerial cheers greeted this peroration, and
Sir Donald threw his head back, this time with an unmis-
takable smile mantling over his countenance. Mr. M'Grorty
had his attention so much occupied by the task of hurling
defiance at the Leader of the Opposition that he had no time
left for the consideration of the Bill itself. The first person
so far, not excepting the Premier himself, who attempted
to deal with the question on its merits was old Mr. Brandreth,
the Member for the remote pastoral district of Towrie, which
his critics generally alluded to as the Sheep Walk. He was
commonly regarded as an old Tory, so that the mere fact of
his saying a thing was apt to put Liberals against it. And
people often attach as much weight to who says a thing as
to what is said. Thus it was considered a sufficient answer
to Mr. Brandreth's best points to ask him in a jocular manner
how many sheep were on the rolls for his district. He
seemed to be a conscientious old man, but to be overborne
by the general feeling in favour of what were considered
more enlightened views than his own. He spoke, therefore,
in an apologetic tone, and began by hoping he would not be
misunderstood when he opposed the second reading of the
Bill. He expressly disclaimed the slightest want of sym-
pathy or respect for woman. But, he asked, was it intended
that woman should do the same public work as men ? If
not, was it quite fair that she should have the same voice in
directing it ? He tried to quote some figures to show that
a greater number of women would be able to vote than men ;
but was baffled by indignant inquiries from several Members
whether they were not human beings, few or many ? Here
he looked awkwardly round the House, and rubbed his
sleeve across his mouth in a nervous way that he had ; and
after a rather long pause said in as positive a manner as he
could command that he had never denied that they were
human beings. He only wanted to say that there would
be more women to vote than men. To the cries of the

330 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

question, ' Well, what then ? ' he did not seem to have any
answer ready, so he only looked towards the questioners
in a disconcerted manner, and repeated the inquiry in a
bewildered tone, ' What then ? why, that's what I want to
know ! ' Amid the ironical cheers that the situation provoked,
he managed to jerk out something about the universal ex-
perience of mankind ; who were to do the rough work of
Government and the fighting ? whether women wanted it ?
and so on ; and at last sat down, amid some confusion and
merriment.

This feeble demonstration against the Bill brought up
Mr. Slater Scully, the popular Member for Biggleswade, not
so much to defend the measure as to denounce the people
who opposed it. He said that he was ready to make every
allowance for his honourable friend — for so, despite his be-
lated views, he would still term him — considering the sluggish
nature of the animals he represented. It was just as well to
hear what could be said on the other side. It only showed,
in its blank absurdity, the nature of the argument against
justice to women. This, then, he exclaimed, was the answer
to the cogent reasoning by which the Bill had been sup-
ported on all sides. It was asked, Were women to rule the
country ? But he would ask another question, Were women
to be treated as babies, lunatics, or criminals ? Let any
man lay his hand upon his heart and answer that question.
His honourable friend had asked, What about the home ?
He asked, What about the home ? too. Or rather, What
about the harem ? for some people wanted to keep the
homes of the people of this noble Province down to the level
of the harem. They, on the contrary, wanted freedom in
the homes, not slavery by the fireside. They must purify
politics, and how could they do it better than by the divine
touch of women ? He would invoke as angels of deliverance
those whom his honourable friend would doom to the
dreary routine of the nursery and the scullery. (Mr. Brand-
reth — ' No ! no ! ') His honourable friend said No ! no !
But it was a world -resounding Yes! yes! After some
further general remarks, Mr. Slater Scully came to his per-
oration. He observed in a solemn tone that the hour of
deliverance was at hand. The Sun of Progress was rising

vi PARLIAMENT 331

fast, and his penetrating rays would soon search out all
murky recesses. The belated insects of the night had better
creep away, and that betimes, into the few remaining dark
and damp holes in which they could find shelter from the
intolerable brightness of the ethereal rays.

Loud cheers followed the honourable gentleman's fervid
appeal. There was a stir in the House, and then a general
settling down, as if further argument was now unnecessary.
And cries of ' Question ! Question ! ' to close the fruitless
discussion arose. The House did not appear disposed to
go on with the debate. It was understood that the Bill
would be carried on the voices. There was no party in-
terest to satisfy, and therefore there was no fight in it, as
Sir Donald had said. Still, our politician felt that much re-
mained to be said if the subject was to be put in its true
light. He was aware that the public outside were not so
unanimous about the new rights of woman as the House
seemed for the moment to be. And even the unanimity of
the House was much on the surface, and arose a good deal
from the way in which, in popular assemblies, a minority when
overborne are apt to acquiesce in the successful cause, or at
least to be silent. Was it not the duty of a representative
of the people to put the arguments for this far-reaching
reform before the thinking public ? It was plain that the
true reasons for woman's claims had not yet been analysed
or enforced. And poor Mr. Brandreth's points, though so
feebly put, still had not been answered by any one. It
certainly was disheartening to be full of fervour on a ques-
tion when, apparently, no one wanted to be convinced, and
when there was no forcible statement of the adverse view to
be grappled with. Such conditions damp the enthusiasm of
a speaker.

Still, nothing daunted, he stood up and claimed the
attention of Mr. Speaker, and as that honourable gentleman
announced 'Mr. Frankfort,' the name of the new Member
attracted attention, and not only ensured silence for a
maiden speech, but evoked some good-natured ' Hear, hear's'
for his encouragement. This kindly reception, which is
always accorded a first effort, reassured him, though he had
been disconcerted when he rose by Du Tell half rising from

332 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

his seat, craning his head towards him, and saying in a stage
whisper, ' You need not trouble, Professor : the numbers
are up ' ; while, at the same moment, Sir Donald looked
slowly round with an aspect that was certainly not inviting
to enthusiasm for any cause. But on he went, and soon
got interested in his subject. While stating forcibly the
arguments for the enfranchisement of woman, he admitted
the magnitude of the change, in its remoter perhaps more
than in its immediate consequences, and he devoted some
attention to answering the objections that Mr. Brandreth
had indicated without clearly stating or enforcing them.
The sentiment which he had thought over about men not
being always governed by brute force came in naturally, in
reply to the old gentleman's reference to fighting, a topic so
hackneyed in relation to Woman's Rights. He made a strong
point of the fact that society left numbers of single women
to work for and look after themselves, and gave authentic
figures on this point. He dealt with effect on the influence
women would have in elevating politics and introducing the
element of conscience and morality into them ; while on her
behalf he disconnected the present movement from the com-
plete Socialist programme, which contemplates the gradual
decline of the functions of the mother and the duties of the
home, and the substitution of a new method of social life in
their stead. As to the general arguments drawn from the
personal feebleness of women in their inability to cope with
men in national struggles, they could happily, in their young
province, be postponed to the future. He concluded a
rather full examination of the question, which the House
listened to with commendable attention, by an eloquent
tribute to the spirit of the age which was every day mini-
mising the power of mere brute force and elevating that of
reason, the moral sense, and the kindlier feelings of mankind.
There was considerable applause when he had concluded,
and it was generally felt that he had made an effective
speech. But there was a general whisper of surprise along
the Opposition Benches at his not making any reference to
what seemed to be the main point that the debate had
evolved, namely, the conduct of the Government in taking
up the subject at all. He seemed to have forgotten this as

vi PARLIAMENT 333

much as the Honourable Mr. M'Grorty had forgotten the
Bill. Still, many Members felt that he was the speaker who
had brought the real merits of the question before them.
Hence that happened which is not unusual in Parliamentary
discussions. The debate took a new turn. The House,
when he rose, seemed to be tired of the question, and only
anxious to come to the foregone conclusion. But now a
fresh interest in it appeared to be developed, and an interest
that demanded a fuller consideration of both sides of the
controversy. As a fact, only a few Members had any strong
convictions in favour of the Bill ; while some, who were
opposed to it, had felt themselves overborne by apparent
unanimity of the House. But the speech of our politician,
by the very fact of his dealing with adverse arguments, had
shown that there was much in the question calling for
debate, and for limitation as to how far the reform ought at
present to go. We will not say, as was said of the country
parson's sermon on the existence of the Deity, that he raised
doubts as well as satisfied them ; but nevertheless his speech
had operated like the letting -out of waters. Those who
opposed the Bill on principle took courage, and urged
their objections with a new-found boldness. The women
champions also roused themselves for this new aspect of the
fray, and the evil designs of the Ministry were, for the
moment, lost sight of in the merits of the question itself.
The more the matter was discussed, the more it seemed to
want discussion. One or two Members from country dis-
tricts declared that they felt themselves placed in a condition
of difficulty, owing to the fact that the opinions of their
constituents were nearly equally divided upon the question ;
while some other Members, who were generally rather silent
men, went with much practical force into the subject,
generally, however, ending by supporting the Bill — rather
unwillingly, as they admitted.

But arguments no more alter party feeling in the House
of Representatives of Excelsior than they do in older Parlia-
ments, and before long the debate naturally worked round
again to the conduct of the Government in taking up
Woman's Rights at all. The battle now raged fiercely
round this point of attack, and, as the more pronounced

334 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

friends of woman were on the Opposition side, laudation of
the Bill was mixed with dire invective against Mr. Brereton,
who sat looking as jolly as ever, and occupied himself with
making happy shots of interjection whenever the enemy
gave him an opening.

As the renewed attack in this direction showed so strong
a development, it occurred to Sir Donald that an amend-
ment, stating that while this House was determined to do
justice to woman, it declined to accept it in the discreditable
manner in which it was now presented to it, might succeed.
This, he observed to Slater Scully, Du Tell, and a few other
friends near, would at once oust the Government, which, as
he observed, was a matter of more importance to the country
than even the immediate Liberation of Woman. When the
Liberal party came in, they could pass the Emancipation in
a more complete form, including also the right to sit in
Parliament. Gait Birnie, the young and useful Member for
Crick Creek, was put up to speak against time, while Du Tell
went round their side of the House to ascertain (entirely on
his own account, and without any reference to Sir Donald)
whether the friends of woman would agree to this temporary
postponement of the Reform, in order to oust the Govern-
ment He mentioned confidentially that he knew that if
they would accept this proposal they might consider the
admission of women to sit in Parliament, as well as to vote,
as good as in the Bill that the new Government would at
once introduce. As he crept along at the back of the
benches, from Member to Member, with head anxiously in-
clined and keen, inquiring gaze, asking each Member for his
support, he found that he was making good way, especially
with those who felt that the best part of their speeches had
been their attack upon the Ministry. But some were too
deeply pledged to the principle of woman's freedom to vote
against it in any shape, while others wanted to know what
Professor Frankfort would do, as he had been recognised
in the Woman's Rights' League manifesto as one of their
representative men, and he had shown such earnest interest
in the cause that night. Were he to oppose such an amend-
ment as endangering woman's cause, what would the Woman's
League outside say if they were to support it ? Du Tell

vi PARLIAMENT 335

felt the force of this, and hastily slipped back from the end
of the benches to his seat near Frankfort.

' We have it this time, Professor, safe as houses. It's all
right. Sure to win the double event/ he whispered.

'What's all right? Double event — what?' inquired
our politician.

1 Put out this untrustworthy lot on the Government
Benches, and then make Woman's Emancipation complete.'

' I don't understand you, Du Tell. There is nothing
before us but the second reading of the Bill.'

' Ah, but there will be soon if we hold together ' ; and
Du Tell explained to him the nature of the proposed
amendment.

' And does Sir Donald approve of that ? ' asked our
politician.

' Well, you see, I am just inquiring round what they
think. But I have little doubt — indeed, I know that I can
get him to speak again, and support the amendment when it
is moved.'

' Why, I could not agree to that ! ' exclaimed our
politician. ' I want to see the Bill pass, and pass now.
If such an amendment were to be moved, I must speak
against it.'

' Speak against it ! ' replied Du Tell, whispering his
loudest and clearest, and in his most measured tones, while
he looked in an uneasy way, apparently at Frankfort's
waistcoat pocket. ' Speak against it, when I tell you,
between ourselves, that he would be sure to speak for it ! '

' I am truly sorry, then,' replied our politician, ' not to
be able to support it.'

Du Tell had already some idea that our politician was
an impracticable sort of fellow, so he only raised his eyes
with a baffled air as he observed, as a last hope —

' But his Bill would put women straight into Parliament,
as well as give the vote. Do you particularly want to keep
the old Tories in ? '

Frankfort felt the awkwardness of differing from his
party. Still, the whole thing appeared so clear to him. He
was asked to defeat a measure of great public value in order
to get the Ministry out of office, upon what even its pro-

336 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

posers would admit to be a mere subterfuge. The promise
of another Bill might or might not be effectually carried
out. And as to the added bait of its including women
sitting in Parliament, which was thrown in on the spur of the
moment, though of course that must come in due time, he was
inclined to think it would be better taken up by itself after the
first step in reform was secured. The noble principle of the
elevation of woman seemed all at once to become involved
in an atmosphere of trickery, insincerity, and mere selfish
purposes. And how could he agree to this after having
earnestly urged the House in his speech to pass the Bill ?
So, facing the questioner as directly as he could a man who
would only look at him askance, he replied :

1 No, I really could not vote for it, Du Tell. I am very
sorry. But I want to see this Bill pass, and pass now. I
am pledged to it.'

Frankfort's decisive tone sent away the perplexed
strategist in despair to his master. The countenance of
Sir Donald fell when he heard of his rebellion. Had he
then looked into the sweetest dairy there would have been
small hope for the cream that day. He calculated for a few
moments, and then determined that it would not do to risk
the defeat that the defection of this impracticable politician
and those who would follow him might entail. So he told
Du Tell to beckon to Gait Birnie to stop, and to let the Bill
be passed at once on the voices. Nothing more was to be
said of Du Tell's mission round the House. In fact, it was
to be ignored. The Bill passed in triumph, the few declared
opponents not caring to call for a division.

Our politician felt pleased that the evening's work had
ended so well, though it had begun in an unsatisactory
manner. The great cause of justice to woman had triumphed.
He was glad that he had spoken, and he felt that he had
spoken well. It was the right thing to have a full discussion
of so large a question. As for Sir Donald, an instinctive
distaste that he had felt from the first for our politician was
certainly not mitigated by the events of the evening. His
dissent was responsible for the failure of the project to defeat
the Government by the amendment that was to be suddenly
sprung upon them. Clever though MacLever was, he was

vi PARLIAMENT 337

not such an expert at clearing away the look of ill-humour
from his countenance at the proper time as one would have
expected an experienced politician to be. Seeker Secretary
was quite a master of that art compared with Sir Donald.
Though he was anxious to conceal his dissatisfaction, there
was an unmistakable air of vexation about him as he looked
in the direction of, rather than at, Frankfort, when he passed
him going out, and observed —

' If you had not got up, Professor, we could have taken
the division hours ago. We have lost an evening over it.'

' But surely, Sir Donald, it is a question worthy of
discussion,' answered our politician.

' I thought that you wanted the Bill passed,' drily
remarked Sir Donald.

' Certainly I did.'

' Well, it could have been passed before dinner if we had
kept quiet ; unless we wanted to glorify the Government
over it — or Professor Frankfort.'

Sir Donald then promptly passed on out of hearing of
any reply that might be coming. This was a habit of his
when he had said anything that he meant to be decisively
cutting.

' Do you know, sir, I am thinking,' remarked Du Tell
in an undertone as he hurried up beside him — ' I am
thinking that we have not made much by the change at
Brassville. Meeks would have agreed to anything. Safer
man !'

' Much,' responded Sir Donald.

This, however, was not the general feeling. Frankfort,
as he walked among the Members who were standing about
after the House had risen, received many congratulations,
especially from the ardent champions of woman, who hailed
him as their spokesman. It made his heart glad to feel that
his first effort in Parliament had been to further the cause
of humanity and progress. As he passed along one of the
corridors he became sensible that some one was quietly
following him. He looked round, and there was Walter
Crane sidling along, looking straight before him, with the
mildest expression possible on his countenance, bearing the
bag of M'Grorty, which that gentleman had just given him.

VOL. I Z

338 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

He had been an attentive listener to the debate from the
gallery. In a moment Wally's cap was off and his bald,
venerable head bowing down towards the flags.

' Ah, Crane ! You there ? Why, have you been here all
the evening ? '

' To be sure, your Honer, in the back seats there
beyond. Haven't I to wait for His Excellency's bag ? '

' Oh, to be sure, yes ! And what did you think of the
debate, Crane ? '

' Very fine speech your Honer made. All the people
about praising your Honer. Thanks be to Heaven ! '

' Why, then, Crane, are you one of our side ? You stand
up for Woman's Rights too ? ' said our politician, gratified to
find enlightened principles permeating, even though slowly,
the humblest ranks.

' I, your Honer ? '

' Yes, what do you say about it, Crane ? '

' I say, your Honer ? Why, then, to be sure, I say
that the likes of me look to what your Honer and the other
honourable gentlemen say and the wishdom of Parliament to
tell us poor folks — to explain these things like to us, so that
we may come to understand them. Yes, your Honer, that
we may come to understand them,' said Crane, casting his
eyes meekly from one side to the other, as if he were looking
all round for information on the subject

Walter Crane, as has been said, made it a fixed rule of
his public life never to express any opinions about politics,
except on Sundays to his most private and select circle of
acquaintances at his nephew's cottage down in Grubb Lane.
There he used to declare the most profound contempt for
Woman's Rights in every possible aspect. For, truth to say,
his own experiences had been rather unfortunate with the
other sex, and not such as to conduce to an elevated view
of their mission in life.

' What nonshense, Mick,' he would say in a self-assertive
manner that would have astonished any one who had only
seen him bending low about the Water Bureau — ' what
nonshense, Mick, this woman's rights and privileges and
things — cock and hen business for managing any decent
man's poultry-yard.'

vi PARLIAMENT 339

' Why, then, ole man, which do you go for — cocks or
hens ? ' Mick would cheerfully inquire.

' Either, me boy, would be better than the two trying it
on together, and the hens flappin' their wings about and
trying to crow as if they were cocks.'

This figurative way of putting the question was much
admired by the company in Grubb Lane, which consisted
wholly of the male sex. Mick was unmarried, and Crane,
ever since he had become a widower, never willingly was
in the same room with a woman, except when his official
duties required him to conduct some fair constituent on
business to His Excellency the Minister. Once he had to
show the way to a deputation from the Woman's Rights
League. Though groaning inwardly in spirit, he main-
tained a placid countenance and bowed his lowest as he
led on. But the next Sunday he relieved his feelings in
Grubb Lane by sundry vigorous criticisms on the personnel
of the party that were immensely enjoyed by the company
there, though they do not admit of being set down here.

But outside of Grubb Lane Walter Crane was dumb and
inexplicable as the Sphinx upon this and all other public
questions. So he only repeated to our politician, ' Yes, your
Honer, we looks to the like of your Honer and to the
wishdom of Parliament to fix us up in our minds like on all
these great questions ' ; and with his old bow he disappeared
down the steps with the M'Grorty bag, which was full of the
Bills designed to exercise this wisdom for the next few
months.

As our politician followed on towards the street, he heard
some hurried footsteps coming on behind, and felt the touch
of a hand on his shoulder as he looked round. It was the
hand of Mr. Seeker, and walking arm-in-arm with him was
Mons. Froessolecque, the editor of the Sweet-Brier. They
apparently had no time to lose, so they pressed on, and in
passing Seeker Secretary could only hastily observe, as he
looked round at Frankfort :

' Thank you, Professor — thank you. Noble ! noble ! '

A stranger who heard this might have been in doubt to
what it referred. But could the man who had just delivered
a successful speech on Woman's Rights be ? Frankfort was

340 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

quite pleased to think that an experienced politician like
Mr. Seeker thought so highly of his speech.

When our politician reached the quiet seclusion of his
rooms and stretched himself in his chair to enjoy the bed-
time pipe, his retrospect of this, to him, eventful day was
certainly pleasurable. He had undoubtedly spoken with
effect He was recognised as the exponent of the just
claims of woman. Many men in the Legislature of Excelsior
felt a satisfaction in honestly acting up to their principles,
but none more deeply or sincerely than our politician.
After all, there was something worth living for, even in
this much-aspersed public life. What could be nobler than
to fight for justice to your fellow-creatures ? What he had
done that evening was at least one good work scored up to
the credit of his life's labour — completed, beyond the power of
envious Fate. Certainly the episode of the proposed amend-
ment and Du Tell's efforts to get him to agree to it was
unpleasant. But, looking back upon the incident, he felt
quite satisfied that he was right. Were questions that
concerned directly the happiness and welfare of men and
women to be made mere counters in the political game ?
As he lay in his bed, the sour visage of Sir Donald seemed
to appear before him. Grim-looking customer he is, to be
sure, he thought. However, what need he care for him ?
He wanted nothing from him. Seeker was certainly com-
plimentary about his speech, and he was a power in politics
— deep man too. He did not know Froessolecque, who was
going away with him, except by appearance ; but Seeker
was said to have great influence over him, so perhaps
the Sweet-Brier would be complimentary too. As for
himself, our politician was conscious that his object in
public life was to be of use to his country. So he sank
to sleep a happy man.

It would be vain to deny that the next morning he
opened the daily papers with some trepidation. Would
they give a good report of his speech ? Would they praise
him or belittle him ? Would there be any mention of the
contemplated amendment that was to throw out the
Government by the temporary sacrifice of the Bill ? It
is an agitating thing to the beginner to see his name, his

vi PARLIAMENT 341

own particular proper name, flaring in print, the subject of
observation and comment by that great impersonal power,
the Press, and through it made, as the beginner thinks, the
common talk of all men. A great power, truly ! Some one
gets hold of a machine, by means of which he can scatter
broadcast among millions of men whatever he pleases to put
upon the flying sheets. He may be wise or foolish, judicious
or the reverse, acquainted with the facts or not acquainted,
nay, he may be a good man or a bad man ; but anyway he
has got the machine, and by it he can plant in print what he
likes in every home in the land. Overnight he makes his
machine put upon the white, innocent paper, ' Smith is an
unmistakable rogue,' and before the morning is well advanced
hundreds of thousands of Smith's brother-men read that fact
(as it is termed). Smith may not be a rogue at all, but
nevertheless the world is well assured of the fact about Smith
before the day is over. But has Smith no remedy ? Yes,
he has a remedy. Society says to him, ' Dear Citizen Smith,
if, as you say, you are not an unmistakable rogue, and if
you have money, you can bring an action against the man
with the machine, and in a year or so, if the judge makes no
mistake and the jury don't disagree, you can have a verdict
stating that you are not an unmistakable rogue — to leave
as a soothing legacy to your children.' Such is the remedy
of Citizen Smith.

Our politician, however, had little cause to complain of the
press. The Rising Sun congratulated him upon his effective
treatment of the Woman's question, while it expressed sur-
prise at his making no reference to the peculiar position of
the Government in dealing with the question at all. The
News Letter declared that Mr. Frankfort's speech was the
one of the debate, so far as treatment of the subject was
concerned. The little unpleasantness about the amend-
ment did not seem to have spread outside the Parlia-
mentary circle, so far as these papers were concerned. He
had not seen the Sweet - Brier yet. He did not know
much about it, except that it was generally understood that
the editor, Mons. Froessolecque, was a friend of both Seeker
and Du Tell. But then Du Tell made it a point of business
to know everybody. Sir Donald himself always nodded to

342 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the editor in the street in a rather less abrupt manner than
he did to other people ; and Lady MacLever used, before she
went to England, occasionally to invite him to her ' At
Homes.' But she would explain to her select circle that
at these public entertainments she did not mind what
Calibans she asked — the wilder the better. She rather
liked the mauvais goilt, she said, and plenty of it. And
yet all that was against poor Froessolecque was that years
ago, in his native Paris, he was accused of being one of a
party of patriots who attempted, in the cause of freedom,
to blow up the Prince President of the Republic with a
destructive bomb. To avoid difficulty he fled to Excelsior,
where he had lived ever since, his destructive tendencies
being gradually mitigated, and now only displayed in
attempts to destroy the enemies of Freedom there by
explosive articles in the Sweet-Brier.

The tone that the paper was recently taking was believed,
by those who were behind the scenes, to be owing to the fact
that Seeker Secretary was becoming more and more dissatisfied
with the prospects of getting his Bill to Classify the Workers
adopted by the Government. It was quite a question
whether he would not throw over the Government altogether
and attach himself to Sir Donald. However, this is what our
politician read when he opened the Sweet-Brier:

The work done in the House of Representatives last night
was more than noble. Plus royaliste que le Roi. Woman's fetters
were knocked off. Poor Mr. Brandreth, with his belated mumblings
about home life ! We trust that they are acceptable to the sheep of
Towrie. They certainly are not so to the men, much less to the
women, of Excelsior ! The feature of the evening was Sir Donald
MacLever's crushing and irrefragable indictment of the Ministry for
seeking to shelter themselves from the indignation of an at-length-
awakened people by parading before them a Liberal measure that
they had no right to contaminate with their soiled touch. His
denunciation of hiding behind petticoats was grand, and will long
ring in the ears of the people of Excelsior. Professor Frankfort, the
lately-returned Member for Brassville, also spoke at some length,
but seemed to miss the real point of the debate — whether a Govern-
ment by appropriating, and that dishonestly, a Liberal measure
should be held thereby to atone for a lengthened career of political
turpitude. That Brereton and Company ought to have been kicked
out by an indignant amendment is indisputable. It was freely

vi PARLIAMENT 343

rumoured in the House among Members that this would have been
done only for the pusillanimity or treachery that was suddenly and
unexpectedly developed in a certain quarter that shall at present be
nameless. Au revoir.

Pusillanimity or treachery ! Could that refer to him ?
It really looked rather like it. How unjust ! And how
could the Sweet-Brier people have heard of the whispered
conversation between Du Tell and himself? Then Seeker,
who was known to have influence with the editor, had praised
his speech. Noble, he called it. The paragraph surely could
not point to him. At any rate, he had done the right thing,
let them slander him as they pleased. This was a consola-
tion. Whether it was sufficient to quite deaden the sting of
a public accusation of cowardice or treachery must be left
undetermined, or left, at least, for each reader to determine
for himself. But what was his surprise and indignation
when he opened the Sweet-Brier the next morning to read
as follows : —

POLITICAL ON DIT

Suspicious — very. It is, we regret to say, positively rumoured
in political circles that the failure to move the righteous Want of
Confidence Amendment on the second reading of the Woman's
Emancipation Bill was a good deal owing to a questionable
influencing of several members of the Opposition by the Honour-
able and newly-returned Member for Brassville. It is positively,
but we hope inaccurately, stated that that honourable gentleman,
though sitting on the Opposition Benches, came on this critical
occasion, for some unknown reason, to the rescue of the Govern-
ment that he opposes ! All sincere friends of the learned gentleman,
who are, like ourselves, anxious that his escutcheon should be without
stain in this early portion of his political career, will be anxious to
have an explicit contradiction of this unpleasant and, we trust,
erroneous suspicion.

' Just look at that ; it is really monstrous ! I will write
to them at once ! ' our politician exclaimed to Myles Dillon
when that gentleman called in on his way down town to
have a laugh about the paragraph, which had also caught
his eye on looking over the Sweet-Brier.

' I will contradict it at once,' he repeated.

' Do nothing of the sort, my noble M.H.R.,' said Dillon.

344 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Why not ? The thing is so untrue. I spoke to no
one but Du Tell — to answer his question.'

' That's all very right, Mr. Frankfort. This thing is
untrue. But as you get hardened things may be put in
these paragraphs that are not untrue. If you contradict
now and not then, where are you ? '

' But is a man to have no remedy, no protection against
slanders like this ? '

' My dear boy, if your character is not strong enough for
the place it's not my fault,' remarked Myles Dillon, looking
round the room in his easy-going manner.

4 But I called in to say,' he continued, ' that I want to
ask myself to dinner here with you this evening.'

' I hope you will come ; I want so much to have a talk
with you.'

1 Yes, that's what I want too ; I want to cut up your
speech a bit. None of the papers criticise it properly.'

' All right. I will be ready for you. Dinner and argu-
ments will be both waiting for you ; and I will do nothing
about this rascally paper.'

' No, don't touch the Sweet-Brier} replied Dillon, as he
left for the hospital. ' Admire it from afar. Scent it on the
gale. Masterly inaction. Remember the motto of the old
University — "They say. What do they say? Let them say."'

That evening, when the two friends met, Myles Dillon
soon began his comments on ' the event of the debate about
the women,' as he, in a half-jocular manner, described our
politician's speech.

' Ye did it well, Edward Fairlie, they all say. Like the
Frenchman with his cooking, it is a pity that you haven't
got a piece of solid meat, as ye can make so much out of a
nettle-top.'

' Well, I know you of old, Myles. You remember our
discussions in the walks in Scotland. You are a stickler for
your side, Myles, right or wrong. But they do all say
that I made a good speech.'

' Oh yes, you are all right now, with the crowd cheering
behind you. Wait till something turns up that you don't
believe in, and then what about your personal conscience,
my noble M.P. ? Faith, you'll want a political one then.'

vi PARLIAMENT 345

And Myles gave a deep pull at his cigar, followed by
something like a sigh. Without noticing this last presenti-
ment of his friend, our politician only replied :

' At any rate, Dillon, I do believe in it. I would have
laughed, though, to have heard you get up and pitch into the
question in your old style. You would have got into a row
over it, contradicting them.'

' Well, that's just where an outsider like me can look
into subjects in a fairer manner than you fellows who are in
the jostle. Sitting on the hedge — you know the rest. But
then speaking in public is not a trick that I have learnt.
But,' Myles continued, with a grave, resolute look upon his
face, ' I am going to write a book about it. And publish it
too.'

' Bravo, Myles ! That's the style ! ' exclaimed Frank-
fort, laughing. Send me an early copy, and I'll have it
reviewed in the Sweet- Brier — The New Woman Question,
by Myles Dillon, F.R.C.S.T. Advance copy for Mons.
Froessolecque. With the author's compliments.'

' Now, ye needn't laugh, Edward Fairlie, for I am going
to print it. But it won't be that way at all. It would not
do to give my name, you see. No, it will be this way :

' " The Man and Woman Question. By a Human Brute." '

' A Human Brute ; what's the sense in that ? ' inquired
Frankfort.

' Why, I'd be going, ye see, to tell some straight truths ;
so I'd begin by not taking too poetical a stand at the
start.'

' Well, there's some sense in that, if you are going on in
the old-fashioned style that you used to.'

' That's what I am saying, Edward Fairlie. I'd begin in
the introductory part, you know, fair and square, something
like this —

' " I am a Brute. I know it. But I am an honest brute,
and an honest brute may at times tell more truth than a
deluded or equivocating man." '

'That's right, Myles. Good start clears the ground.
Ought to make every one comfortable to begin with,' said his
companion with a cheerful laugh. He rather enjoyed the
idea of the new book.

346 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Very well, now ; just let me get on. I would divide
my volume into two parts. I will just run over the headings.
Part I. would be, " To my noble brothers, the men." Part
II., "To my dear sisters, the women." The men I would
tackle first.

' " My noble brothers," I would say,' continued Dillon,
lying on his back upon the sofa, cigar in hand and gazing up
to the ceiling —

' " My noble brothers, who are so anxious for your sisters
to share government with you, I would like to respectfully
ask you one simple question, Do you really mean it now ? "
And I'd make the printer put " mean " in big black letters
— or italics for the matter of that, whichever he had handy.
Then I would have several columns of figures, returns,
statistics, decimals and all complete, showing how there
would be more women available to vote than men at any
one time or place. Then I would go on :

' " My heroic brethren, do you really intend to hand over
Government to women ? Do you propose to do all the
rough work of life, all the outdoor political work, maintain
the public peace, control the criminals, man the fleets, explore
the wilds, but to have women direct how it is to be done ?
Or do you mean that your dear sisters are only to vote
as you tell them, and that you are feeding your women on a
sham ? "

' Then I would have a scientific chapter. It would go
this way :

'" Effect of Woman's Suffrage on a Full-grown Nation. —
At present one difficulty about democracy — The Chasm
between Political Life and Social Life : this intensified
when you enact that in the political world women are the
same as men, while in the social they remain different —
Makes Political Government to fit less than ever with Social
Facts — Infant Communities can do this : they could give
every child a vote and still get on. But in a full-grown
nation manhood suffrage could not continue to carry
woman suffrage on its back. In time it will have enough
to do to carry itself."

' Next, the argument would be varied skilfully like this : —
I would suppose one individual, John Bull sort of shop-

vi PARLIAMENT 347

keeping fellow, like that grumpy old Silas Hardegg down
the street there, and I would go on to apostrophise him :

' " My worthy trader, I know that your soul is bound up
in hard money. You think that you will become bankrupt
if soft money triumphs, and that instead of ruling like
an autocrat your prosperous wheat and flour business, you
will have to go cap in hand to beg your own bread. You
support the Woman's Rights man. But are you ready to
see hard money wrecked by the soft voices of the amiable
females that inhabit your handsome villa being given against
your own manly vote ? Or would you not scout the mere
idea of their crossing you in business ? And if you would,
where, my noble descendant of John Bull, is your sincerity
in supporting woman's vote ? "

' I would expand this a bit, and then I would vary the
tack a little :

1 " My thoughtful brethren, if the political sphere is truly
one for women, they must sit in Parliament and in the
Executive in proportion to their numbers. Now, my
brethren, do you mean this ? " (Note to the printer — " this "
in black letters as before.) " Are you willing to see your
Parliament half filled with women ? Or are you only hum-
bugging your dear sisters by conceding to them the hollow
gift of being able to hang about the sawdust of the political
circus, but never to mount to the boxes ? "

' You are like one of your own patients, Myles — doing
very nicely. I only wish we had you in the House. It
would be fun to hear M'Grorty and Slater Scully denouncing
your fallacies, and denouncing you too for talking so. We
would have some sport over it anyway.'

' Oh yes, Teddy. Sport at my expense. But I am not
ambitious. That's why I won't give my name to the book.
But let me get on now.

' I would then have a chapter headed, " Argument from
the Oppression of Women." It would begin : " My noble
brothers, some of you say that women must have votes to
protect them from the injustice of man. Brute though I am,
I do assure you that I think nothing is nobler than the
voluntary deference of man, the stronger, to woman, the
weaker. But, my high-minded brethren, when you boast

348 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

that man is going to be compelled to do right by reason of
woman's power to make him, I humbly conceive that the
situation is quite altered. Your law is to enable women to
force men to do them justice, which otherwise the men
would deny them. How is that for common-sense ? Were
this really possible, then I fear that the position of man, how-
ever amiably he acted, would become rather contemptible,
and true women would cease to respect him." '

' So that is your sage answer to the oppression of woman
for ages,' remarked Frankfort.

' No, I would deal with that in a fresh chapter with
headings — "Evils of Dark Ages remedied in civilised
countries already, without woman's vote. Continuous im-
provement now going on by action of men alone. Are laws
now unjust to women ? " and so on, Teddy, at great length,
and in an exhaustive and exhausting manner.'

' Well, get on, Myles. I am really getting a bit tired of
your headings and divisions. Come on to your Part II. —
The Women Themselves.'

' Now that's just it ; you get tired of it, because it don't
agree with you. I'll come to the women directly, but I
must have a last chapter for my moral friends who want
woman's vote for temperance and other good things.

' " My moral and temperance brothers, I know that you
are eager for woman's vote to advance your good objects
and make laws suppressing drink and other bad things.
I admire your purpose ; I sympathise with your object.
Indeed I do. But, my moral men, have a care lest you are
counting without your host. Brute though I be, I joyfully
own that the genus woman is better than the genus man.
But it remains to be proved by experience whether the
species political woman will be much better than the species
political man."

' I would put it in that general sort of way, you observe,'
continued Myles Dillon, ' and then I would wind up with
the men something like this :

' " Finally, my worthy brothers, I come back to my first
question, Do you really mean it ? Are you ready to divide
your power with your dear sisters? Or is it all really a
huge make-believe, partly conscious and partly unconscious ?

vi PARLIAMENT 349

If the latter, then, my worthy brothers, it seems to an honest
brute that you are in the sad case of men who, in order
to keep popular, accept a revolution in the hope and belief
that it will prove a sham." '

' Very fine indeed, Myles — striking, if not logical,' said
Frankfort, laughing. ' You have settled the men, anyway.
But how are you going to answer your sisters when they ask
to be treated as human beings ? '

' I answer them in Part II. ; but it is so exhaustive in
its character that I can only give you the headings — like
the "Argument" that you see put before great poems—
on this wise :

'"PART II

' " THE ARGUMENT

' " Brute sympathises with women's wrongs from man, and
also from Nature. Honours their aspirations for a higher
life. Questions whether it will be found in politics. Right
to the political vote ? If it is to be exercised independently
of husbands and fathers, of no use, unless women sit in
Parliament in proportion to their numbers, and share the
government. If husbands and fathers are not to be trusted
to vote for their wives and daughters, no more can they
be to legislate for them. Brute questions whether com-
posite Legislatures and Governments of men and women
will be a fact in nations. Will woman's dignity be
raised by being admitted into politics only as an inferior
race, denied share in higher duties. The world's idea, thus
far in its history, of a division of the work of life between
man and woman is more honourable to the latter. Can-
not expect to combine under the new system power over
men and also the consideration hitherto extended to the
want of it.

' " Hard case of women who cannot marry considered.
Sincere sympathy for them, but also wonder at the vast field
of work for women, now willingly handed over by them to
men or left neglected.

350 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' " Medical attendance on women ; the sole management
of women's schools and colleges ; the reform of charitable
work ; clerical work in women's institutions ; shops and
businesses connected with the clothing and wants of women ;
the vast social question of the reform of domestic service
and the reorganising the conditions of the home. These
as great as any political questions. Why not tackled first.
Good practice for the others." '

' Why, these are only the old platitudes on the subject,
Myles,' interposed Frankfort. ' When will you get to your
peroration ? '

' I am coming there now, if you can only keep quiet
a while and listen to what you don't fancy.

' " My respected sisters," I would say, " while you must
ever be weaker than men in the public sphere, you will ever
be stronger than them in other spheres. Your morality is
higher, and you are as much superior to them in home and
social duties as they are to you in politics. And which are
the grander ? Yours surely. You mould the conditions upon
which all human government depends. Politics are but
a small part of life, and not the highest part. For those of
you who are anxious to undertake them, your case is made
the harder by the fact that you are only a small minority
among your sisters. Most women who have homes of their
own will keep there. Nature, I admit, has been a bit unfair
to you, and some tell you that you can overcome this natural
disadvantage by public meetings and ballot-boxes, and
general politics, and Acts of Parliament, which expressly
declare that you are to be the same as men. If all this
does come to pass, the melancholy, but still respectful, senti-
ment of the Brute will be ' Here's to Woman, once our
superior, now our equal.' "

' That would be my peroration,' added Myles, looking
round at his friend. ' It's fine, isn't it ? '

' Yes, very,' said Frankfort ; ' and, like most perorations,
it has not much to do with the subject in debate. You
don't grow wiser as you grow older, Myles. That's just the
way you used to harangue Chadwick and the rest of us on
our walks in the old country.'

' Well, and I suppose common-sense is not geographical

vi PARLIAMENT 351

in its character. What was common-sense in Scotland is
common-sense in Excelsior too.'

' Ah, if it is common-sense. But your book will be too
late. The Bill is passed — become a reality.'

' Yes, but the metamorphosis of woman into man is not.
Perhaps never will get itself passed.'

' Ah, say or write what you please, Myles Dillon, the age
is beginning to realise that the human race is not made up
of men merely.'

' I agree with you there, Teddy. It would not be for
long anyway.'

' Well, well, Myles, let us leave the women. We are
now going to take in hand in Parliament what will please
you.'

' What's that ? ' asked Dillon.

'Why, to reorganise the Border Rangers, and prevent
in the future bungling such as sent you that bugler boy
patient that you took such an interest in. You will give us
credit then, anyway.'

' Yes, if you do it in the right way, that is, outright.'

And soon the two were busy discussing this subject,
that was now beginning to stir the political world of the
Province.

Dillon, with a feeling that he did not always display,
urged his friend, now that he was a public man, to see that
the reform was thorough. His earnestness arose from the
fact that, after all his efforts to save the boy, treacherous
after-effects from the wound had developed, and the lad had
died. No honest surgeon likes to lose his man or boy, and
Dillon relieved his feelings by maintaining in conversation
with his friends that some prominent member of the Govern-
ment ought to be hanged for his murder.

This question of reform of the Rangers, simple though
it was, was destined to involve our politician in further
party complications.

The subject was becoming, as the phrase goes, a live
one, for the outbreaks of the natives on the Border were
making settlement there insecure, and the public, while slow
to heed the mere logical demonstration of public evils, are
sensitive to realise them when practical experience brings

352 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

them home to them. The Government called upon General
Dowden, the General of the local troops, for a report upon
the best means for securing the good management and
efficiency of the force. The General was only an old soldier,
and knew nothing of politics. He soon sent in his plan for
reform, the main feature of which was a system of pensions
for men and officers after twenty years' service, in connection
with a rather lower rate of pay to begin with, which should
gradually increase as the years went on. In this way, he
maintained, there would be an inducement to men to wait
in the service and get experience, while the fear of forfeiting
the pension would operate to prevent misconduct.

Such was the plan of General Dowden, and it might
appear to be a plain matter of business to deal with it. But
it was by no means so plain as might be thought. Not a
few public men, in fact, were much perplexed about it.
They wanted to be guided by public opinion upon the
matter, and the question was, What was political public
opinion ? or rather, What would it develop into when the
subject came to be agitated ? For though there was a
general feeling in favour of doing something effective to
improve the force, there was also a feeling, powerful among
many, though as yet dormant, against any system of
pensions.

It was hard to say how these two tendencies would
develop. Even Seeker Secretary was not clear upon the
point. In these early days, when any one asked him what
he thought of the General's proposals, he would reply, look-
ing straight at the questioner, and slightly elevating his
eyebrows, as if with surprise :

' Think, my dear sir ? I think nothing. I think what
my Executive think, and, sir, they do not meet till next
week.'

This week seemed to belong to a class similar to that of
the Moveable Feasts, as it was hard to say when it began
or ended, or where it was to be found.

Sir Donald MacLever, when he was asked his opinion
by the blundering Mr. Larkins, Member for the agricultural
district of Doublestow, eyed him for a while in a freezing
manner, and then replied in a deep tone of voice :

vi PARLIAMENT 353

' My good sir, when you have a little more experience,
I hope that you will understand that it is not usual for the
physician to prescribe until he is called in.'

He then walked away, leaving poor Larkins to realise
that he was rather a fool. Being only a country member,
and a young one, he did not understand that the fact was
that Sir Donald did not wish, at present, to commit himself
either way upon the subject. Du Tell, however, hurried
about among all classes of political people, particularly among
those who were connected with the Press, remarking that
they might take his word for it, old Billy Brereton would
put his foot in it, and propose something reactionary. And
certainly it is only too true that often ill-bodings are justified
by events.

The political excitement upon the subject continued to
grow and spread as the time came near for the Government
to announce their policy. It even reached the quiet pre-
cincts of the University. The position which the Honour-
able Mr. Borland took up struck our politician as being
peculiar. They had met about some University matters in
that same spick-and-span chamber of the President, sur-
rounded by the busts and the portraits and the beautiful
books. After they had settled their business, political affairs
in which they were both interested naturally were referred to.
Mr. Borland praised Frankfort's speech upon the Woman
question, but regretted that the Government were not turned
out upon it. Our politician was surprised to notice that the
President seemed to know all about the hurried proposal of
Bu Tell to move a hostile amendment. To his remark that
he could not see the wisdom of losing a great measure of
public justice for the sake of turning out the Ministry, the
President replied that the material interests of the country
were languishing for the want of the progressive policy that
Sir Bonald MacLever would adopt ; and that, moreover, he
would do justice to woman as well as Mr. Brereton, and
perhaps even more completely.

' You see we have great material interests to consider,'
said the President, stretching back in his chair and turning
in a confidential manner towards Frankfort. ' Brereton is an
obstinate fellow — impracticable.' He went on to speculate

VOL. I 2 A

354 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

with some keenness upon the prospect of the Government
being turned out on the Rangers' Reorganisation Bill.

' I hope that they will propose some effective plan,'
remarked Frankfort.

' Brereton is sure to put his foot in it,' said Borland.

This was just what Du Tell had said, and he had darkly
hinted that it originally came from Sir Donald himself.
It thus became the accepted formula of the party. But
Frankfort did not feel disposed to pursue the topic, so he
rose to go. The President, who had appeared ready to
settle down to a discussion on the best way to get Mr.
Brereton out, after a momentary pause, said :

' Well, Professor, if there is a change of Government,
you are safe for the Education and Public Knowledge
Bureau. Great chance of usefulness there — both for your-
self and for us here.'

' Why, really, Mr. President, I had never thought about
that'

' But you ought to think of it,' emphatically replied the
President as they shook hands and parted.

While politicians were thus speculating, and the public
interest in the subject was daily rising, one of the two secret
political institutions in the English form of government, the
Cabinet, was understood to be daily sitting, debating what
policy the Government would adopt. The Cabinet, a body
unknown to the English Constitution, has come to be its
ruling authority. It sits in secret ; there is no law directing
its proceedings ; the people have no direct voice in appoint-
ing it. But there is no popular jealousy regarding either its
power or its private cogitations. Generally it is merged in
its chief, and if he is a popular idol, like Mr. Gladstone, it
partakes of his popularity, and enjoys under him a free
hand over a wide range of matters, so long as all is done in
the people's name. For the people like an autocrat, so long
as he is a people's autocrat. It would no doubt have been
interesting to the public of Excelsior to have read a verbatim
report of what Ministers in their Cabinet said about this
Pensions question — the frank avowals as to the right thing
to do ; the limitations suggested by obvious expediency ; in
what way the fewest points of attack would be presented to

vi PARLIAMENT 355

the foe ; plausible methods of shaping what might be un-
popular, or modifications to catch doubtful votes ; casual
meetings with sundry magnates, not forgetting those of the
Press, planned to usefully happen. Nor let us, in justice,
forget that other simple alternative, not wholly unknown to
Cabinets, the plain and direct resolve to do the right thing
and fear not. But the public make no claim for this infor-
mation ; though politicians speculated upon the subject with
eagerness, for all agreed that, whatever it was, the Govern-
ment must stand or fall by it. If it was unpopular,
Borland's hopes would be realised, and there would be an
end politically to Brereton.

They were not kept long in suspense. It was announced
that the Bill was ready, and a few days later the Premier
and Minister of Militia moved for leave to introduce it, in a
crowded House, with a still more crowded gallery, in which
Seeker Secretary and Mons. Froessolecque sat conspicuous,
and Mr. Walter Crane lurked unseen. Mr. Brereton adopted
the course sometimes taken of explaining the provisions of
his Bill upon this motion. He could not help at first getting
involved in some of his facts, and putting several propositions
the wrong way. But he expressed himself with rough
power, as his subject cleared before him, on the solemn duty
to put a stop to this bungling management of the force,
which led to the needless shedding of blood, ' black and
white,' as he exclaimed, with some feeling. He made an
allusion to the death of the young bugler that rather went
home to our politician, as he already knew the facts from
Myles Dillon, and incidentally paid a compliment to the
skill and ceaseless attention of that gentleman, which had
unhappily proved to be all in vain. He boldly stated that
the Bill substantially adopted General Dowden's plan, and
that it carried out the double principle of a system of
pensions, with its natural correlative of a slightly lower daily
pay. Finally, he broke out into a rough-hewn peroration,
in which he challenged any man, on whichever side of the
House he sat, to come out into the open and say that the
Government were not having an honest try to deal with a
' life and death sort of a question,' and he denounced in an
imperfect figure of speech those who would ' turn the bodies

356 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

of the slain, white men or brown men, into a stalking-horse
for the ins and outs to fight around.'

Applause from the Ministerial Benches greeted him as
he sat down, and indeed in the House generally, and in the
galleries, there was, for the time, sympathy for the speaker
and his cause.

The House then adjourned the debate for a fortnight,
in order to give the country time to understand ' the startling
proposals ' which had been made, as Sir Donald termed
them.

The great question of reorganising the Rangers, and
particularly of pensions or no pensions, was thus fairly
launched before the people of Excelsior. To the observer
from the outside of politics it would seem, as has been said,
to be a not difficult question. The force ought clearly to
be placed upon a sound footing, and whatever means were
best for securing that end ought obviously to be taken.
Any clear-headed practical man could say what to do, after
a few hours' inquiry into the facts. But the simple-minded
looker-on, who should conclude that this was the only, or
even the primary, question that now agitated those who had
to deal with the matter would be misled by the outward
appearances which play so large a part in all human affairs,
but particularly in the affairs of Government, whatever the
form of Government may be — autocratic, aristocratic, or
democratic. There were factors in the political equation
that was to be worked out quite independent of any plan
for organising the Rangers. They were not set down in
black and white in the sum, but nevertheless they were there.

Firstly, there was the standing issue : Liberals versus
Conservatives. Could the Conservatives be defeated on this
Border Rangers question ? If so, what Liberal can hesitate
about securing the triumph of his principles ? When looked
at from behind the scenes, this abstract controversy between
the Liberals and Conservatives becomes in the concrete the
question whether Sir Donald should not be in office instead
of Mr. Brereton. And here again a variety of personal
ambitions, discontents, grudges, dislikes, come into play, and
votes are given for reasons quite disconnected with the best
plan for reorganising the Rangers.

vi PARLIAMENT 357

Then there was the dissatisfaction of some of the great
business interests of the Province with Mr. Brereton. The
fact that Mr. Dorland and the Silver power distrusted him
on the Currency question was not a logical reason for
opposing his plan for dealing with the Rangers, but yet it
might, in fact, determine several votes on the division.
Added to this was the hostility of many of the country
party on account of the Premier's obstinacy about Govern-
ment aid for suppressing the rabbits. The fecundity of
rabbits therefore indirectly influenced the result.

Mingling in the crisis, too, came the other causes, in-
terests, platforms, propaganda, all thinking about themselves
more than about the Rangers — the Temperance party, the
Labour party, the Socialists, the Capitalists, the City interest,
the lately victorious Woman's party. Further, there was
the feeling that turn about is fair play. And had not Mr.
Brereton and his party had their legitimate turn ? This,
again, is a practical rather than a logical reason for voting
against his plan for reorganising the Rangers. But it is a
reason.

Still, when we have taken into account all these different
forces, social and political, we have not yet reached the
determining factor in the solution of this problem. That
determining factor was, in truth, none other than Seeker
Secretary.

The threatened political crisis had stimulated Seeker
Secretary into a high condition of activity, much in the way
as the first touch of summer heat sends the restless flies
buzzing about upon their mission in life. His immediate
purpose now was to secure the adoption and passing into
law of his Bill for classifying the State Service, the principal
proposals of which, it will be remembered, he had mentioned
to our politician at the Brassville interview. He would
prefer getting his Bill from the Liberals, for he was a
thorough Liberal in all things, except his own personal
affairs, but he would much rather get it from the Conserva-
tives than not get it at all. Whichever party would give
him that Bill would have his support and the active aid
of the Association and the organisation that it commanded.
That organisation was spread over the whole Province.

3$8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

This being the position of Seeker Secretary, he lost no
time, after hearing the Premier's statement introducing the
Rangers Bill, in ascertaining how the facts stood which
would determine his action. He respectfully asked for an
interview with the Premier, and when they met, in a defer-
ential manner begged his attention for the session just
opened to the Bill to Classify the Workers. He did not
make the least reference to the Rangers Bill, or the probable
action of the Opposition with regard to it. Far from it, he
looked frankly into Brereton's honest countenance, as he
merely asked about the Classification Bill, and expressed
the anxiety of the Workers ' to know their fate,' as he
expressed it.

William Brereton was a sanguine man. He was rather
misled by the good reception of his speech introducing his
Bill. He believed that the public feeling was with him in
regard to the Rangers. All things considered, he determined
to hold by what he had said when Seeker Secretary last saw
him — that the rates of payments and increases proposed in
the Workers Bill he could not ' swallow,' but as to some
minor points of the regulations, he might meet them, though
' he would say straight out that he liked the tinkering of his
own Bill better.'

He was civil, for he knew Seeker's power ; but he made
so little actual concession that at last that gentleman rose
to go, with the feeling that he had small hopes from the
Government. As usual, the Premier had been rather dis-
cursive in his observations. So Mr. Seeker, as he stood
calmly folding up the two Bills which had been the subject
of the conversation, observed with an aggrieved look :

' Why, then, Mr. Premier, I think the only remaining
inquiry I have to make is, to ask in what terms you would
like me to present your answer, as Head of the Government,
to the respectful request of the State workers ? '

The only answer that honest William Brereton could sug-
gest was that the State had not the money to meet their
demands. Where was it ? Did they expect him to fill a
lucky stocking for them, so that they should find all they
wanted in the morning ?

' Well, then, Mr. Premier, I think that the interview

vi PARLIAMENT 359

that you have done me the honour to grant me may
here terminate, and that I may respectfully take my leave,
with many thanks,' observed Seeker. Brereton briefly said
' Bye-bye,' as he waved his hand in adieu.

As the Secretary walked slowly away from the Premier's
office, he felt that he could not calculate upon any willing
action by the Government, though of course it might be
possible to force their hand. It was a question whether
that would be the wiser course, or whether it would be
better to join Sir Donald MacLever and turn them out on
this Pensions issue. It was important then to know what
Sir Donald would be ready to do about the Workers'
Classification Bill. So he directed his steps next to that
honourable gentleman's office. The first person he met
there was Du Tell, who informed him that his chief had
gone to the country for a brief holiday, being somewhat
indisposed ; but he was going up to see him next day,
and would carry any message for him that Mr. Seeker might
like to send.

Seeker Secretary was aware that it was Sir Donald's
habit to make himself difficult of access when a political
crisis was impending ; while Du Tell was always in the
way — in fact, he was never out of the way — to make
statements, which, from his known intimacy with his chief,
had weight with the public, yet were not binding on the
principal. Seeker was not deceived as to the true position
of affairs ; but, after a moment's hesitation, resolved that it
was better to confide to Du Tell his wish, with a view to
future action, to know Sir Donald's attitude to the Workers
Bill. Could he, Seeker, tell his Executive that Sir Donald
was right on the Bill ? Du Tell assured Seeker that Sir
Donald was right; but that he would see the Secretary
when he got back to town, and would let him know
particulars.

The two friends parted — for, personally, friends they were
— each understanding the position of the other in this
negotiation ; and a couple of days later Du Tell was back
in town, and met Seeker Secretary with the satisfactory
intelligence that he had seen Sir Donald, and, just as he
anticipated, he was liberal on the Workers Bill. Of course,

360 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

he (Du Tell) could not give pledges on details, as he had
not a copy of Seeker's Bill with him, but as to justice to the
State workers, he might be relied upon for it. The Secretary
asked a few general questions, apparently for information,
but really to get time to think whether it would be worth
while to try to exact a more specific pledge. Then he
warmly pressed Du Tell's hand, thanked him for his valued
service, and took his departure, only remarking —

' It is pleasant to deal with honourable men, Mr. Du Tell.
I take to them naturally.'

He went straight to the central office of the State
Workers' Association, and passed through the outer rooms
into his private apartment, saying to the messenger in a
peremptory tone, as he passed, ' Let no one disturb me.
He sat down at his desk, and swung round in his revolving
chair in an unconscious sort of way, till the handsome
portrait of Major Stephen Trounce, the Chairman of the
Association, which was hanging on the wall, faced him as he
turned. To any one then able to look into the room un-
observed, it would have seemed as though he was intently
studying the aristocratic features of the Major. But, as a
fact, he was not thinking of the Major at all — did not even
realise that his portrait was before him. He was deeply
cogitating over the question whether it would be wiser for
the State workers to join Sir Donald and put out the Govern-
ment on the Pensions question, or to use their power in
the House to keep Brereton in, to let him know this and
exact the best terms from him. He had to decide at once,
and he knew that his decision was that of the Association.

Seeker felt some difficulty in making up his mind.
True, he mused, old Brereton won't now agree to what I
want, but though he is an honest sort of fellow, yet all men
have an eye to the main chance, and if I can persuade him
that I have a majority of members for my Bill, he might
come to some compromise rather than be beaten by Sir
Donald. But I am not sure about Sir Donald, if he was
once firmly seated. Still, Brereton has absolutely refused
my demands. All new Governments are pliable at first.
Brereton has been in for the natural term of a Government ;
would it not be wise to make friends with the coming party ?

vi PARLIAMENT 361

I may not trust Sir Donald, but then it would be to his
interest to work with me. And what a lesson to politicians
to turn out the Government ostensibly on the Rangers Bill,
but to let it be understood that it was really because they
refused justice to the State workers ? Finally, the Opposition
would certainly raise the cry against Pensions, and could he
refuse to join it ? And, on the other hand, what a capital
cry it would be — and shall be, he concluded, bringing down
his hand emphatically, it so happened, on the bell on the
table, which he had not noticed, as he was still gazing uncon-
sciously at the portrait of Major Trounce.

The messenger promptly came to the door, and stood
waiting for orders. The fate of both Rangers Bill and
Ministry was sealed on the stroke of that bell. Seeker, in
his calm, measured tone, instructed the man to go round to
the Public Offices to Major Trounce, and ask when it would
be convenient to him to see the Secretary. Soon the
answer came back from the Major that he would himself
call upon Mr. Seeker after office hours ; and when the two
met later in the afternoon, it was arranged that the Execu-
tive should be summoned without delay to finally settle the
draft of the Bill to regulate the State workers. At the
meeting of the Executive the proceedings were private ; but
it was understood that the details of the Bill took a long
time to finally settle.

However this might be, what was certain was, that
immediately after the meeting a strong opposition to the
Government measure for reorganising the Border Rangers
seemed to spring up spontaneously and simultaneously in
a number of different directions.

The Sweet -Brier had hitherto opposed the Bill, but
not in its really fierce style. Now it came out with one
of those scalping articles that its readers so much admired,
which was said to be written by Mons. Froessolecque him-
self, but discerning readers held it must have been from the
pen of even a greater man than Mons. Froessolecque. As
Slater Scully remarked when he read it, it came refresh-
ingly straight from the shoulder. It called loudly on the
country to take vengeance on a Government whose policy
unblushingly disclosed the twin monsters of Despotism and

362 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Corruption — the corrupt Pension system of England together
with the autocratic militarism of Germany.

The note thus sounded by the Sweet-Brier was faithfully
repeated by a number of journals throughout the Province,
who made it a point to be on the Liberal side of every
question once it was declared by the Sweet-Brier what the
Liberal side was. Meetings were organised ; speeches were
made ; statistics were furnished ; figures spoke as they were
wanted to. At a vast mass gathering in the City Hall, Mr.
Du Tell, having apologised for the absence of Sir Donald
MacLever owing to a cold, made an impressive speech,
announcing that the issue before the people was whether
their industry was to be mortgaged for all time to provide
pensions for Billy Brereton's nominees. Mr. Theodore
Bunker, M.P. for Leadville, concluded a stirring oration by
assuring his hearers that the people from his side of the
country would rise as one man and fight to the last man
against the nefarious and mediaeval proposals of the Govern-
ment. What the last epithet meant, many in the hall were
not clear, yet it was felt to be effective. But the impas-
sioned speech of the evening was made by Mr. Slater
Scully, the Member for Biggleswade. He declared that at
last the old Tories had been and done it : had brought the
poisoned arrow out of the quiver, the stone from the sling,
the bolt from the blue. The Pension system was to be
inaugurated in Excelsior : the corrupt pension systems of
Europe in their fair Province. The brow of the country
grew pale at the proposals openly avowed to adopt in their
fair new land the worst devices of the worn-out countries of
the old world. Let the men of Excelsior, nay, let the lately
enfranchised women, the one in their might, the other in
their loveliness, arise as one man and declare in tones of
thunder that they would never be enslaved in this, their
native land, by one of the most hoary abuses of the old
world.

Other inspiriting addresses were delivered, and at the
close a vote of thanks to the council for the use of the hall
was moved by our old acquaintance, Mr. Meeks, the late
Member for Brassville. He was brief, but said with emotion
that though at present retired from politics, his soul was so

vi PARLIAMENT 363

stirred by the daring nature of the recent proposals of the
Government that he could hold his peace no longer. They
knew that he was a man of few words, and quiet words too,
but he felt his spirit so moved by the monstrous evils which
they were threatened with, that he was afraid himself of
getting beyond his own control if he did not sit down with-
out saying all he felt, which accordingly he did.

Other meetings throughout the Province followed, and
the public mind gradually got agitated, like the sea, by the
process of continued blowing upon it. It was coming home
to all politicians that they must be up and doing upon this
burning question. Among others, it was coming home to
our politician. What was his attitude with regard to it ? He
was inexperienced, and had started by considering the ques-
tion upon its own merits, just as a man outside of politics
might have done. Thus considered, it appeared to be plain
enough. The plan of General Dowden seemed well adapted
to secure the desired end — the proper control of the Rangers.
It was, in fact, upon the lines that any business man or
business institution would have adopted in similar circum-
stances. He did not know the inner history of the fierce
agitation that had sprung up against the Bill ; nor had he
realised the political aspect of the subject — the need of turn-
ing out Brereton, and the excellent cry for such a purpose
that the proposals for pensions might be made to serve.
This had not occurred to him, and, as he was in the habit
of saying what he thought, he soon found himself drawn
into an embarrassing position, from which he could extricate
himself only by recanting views that he had openly ex-
pressed, and which he did hold. He had, in fact, forgotten
Quiggle's advice, to keep her free. We can only stand by
and wish him a safe deliverance.

He now frequently went to the Opposition Room at the
House, for the purpose of meeting with his brother Members
and discussing the impending crisis with them. Here he
found waiting for him daily his bundle of letters. Dealing
with these was always a perplexing business for him.

' What a bother these letters from constituents are ! ' he
involuntarily exclaimed, as the jovial presence of Slater
Scully presented itself at the door.

364 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' That they are, my friend, if you make them so ; but
they are not if you don't make them so,' cheerily replied
that legislator, with glances towards Frankfort that might be
termed glowing ; for he wore large gold-rimmed spectacles
that appeared to be of high magnifying power. His eyes
looked large and mellow behind them.

'Why, Mr. Scully ' began our politician.

' Slater Scully, if you please,' interposed the bearer of
that name. He attached importance to the Slater, as it in-
dicated his connection, remote though it was, with the family
of the famous fox-hunting Slaters in his native Ireland.

' Oh, I beg pardon — Mr. Slater Scully. You'll excuse
me, I know. But how can you avoid the trouble of these
letters ? '

' Simple as lying, my good sir. Do as I do. Only
open your box once a month. Then you will find one-
third of the letters have settled themselves ; another third,
concerning subscriptions, you couldn't, at least I couldn't,
settle whenever I opened them ; and as for the third
third '

' Yes, the other third ! ' exclaimed Frankfort, laughing.

' Well, as to the third third, I send, in reply, answers
mainly composed of imprecations on the red-tapeism, delays,
bungling, haggling, belated doings and dilatory transactions of
an unpunctual, postliminious, and utterly Tory Government.
The two or three things of real importance will have kept,
and you can fix them up then, if they are fixable, you see.'

And Slater Scully glared on our politician in a confi-
dential manner.

' Truly, not a bad way either ; but are your constituents
satisfied ? '

1 My constituents ? Of course they are, or would I be
here to-day to tell the tale ? Every now and then I give
the noble men of Biggleswade — and now the dear women
will have it too — a harangue of a thrilling nature on some
question that touches them up, like this Pensions business ;
or on the imperious need of at once constructing a railway
out of their town to nowhere in particular, as a distinctly
national work; or, if there is none such to the fore, then
something on the primeval and inalienable rights of men in

vi PARLIAMENT 365

general — and now of women — to carry out their own en-
lightened wills in all things, and they forget about their
letters for the time. When you are a bit longer in the yard
here, you'll find out all about it'

And Slater Scully looked tenderly on our politician
through his spectacles, as feeling for a beginner. Then
wheeling round in his chair, he exclaimed, with emphasis —
' Grand topic, these blessed pensions.'

' But, do you know, Mr. Slater Scully,' said our politician,
not wishing to have his position misunderstood, ' I am afraid
I must differ from you there. I saw the report of your
eloquent speech at the City Hall. I must confess that the
Government plan seems to me to be fair enough.'

Slater Scully looked round at him with some surprise in
his countenance, which soon, however, gave way to a musing,
contemplative look as he exclaimed — ' Differ from me, dear
friend ? Or I differ from you ? Wherefore ? Can indi-
vidualistic differences have place in the even tramp of
heroes marching in the same regiment ? Do differences
exist? As to that I never administer interrogatories. The
question is, to be or not to be in the ranks ? There's the
respect that makes the sea of troubles of so long political
life to the euphemistic politician.' And Slater Scully went
out to the verandah to have a quiet cigar.

Our politician, in his amused interest in Slater Scully's
frank exposition of his principles and confused metaphors,
had not noticed Mr. Du Tell coming into the room. Turn-
ing round he found that Honourable Member's keen eyes
peering down his neck, apparently, as he stood behind him.

' Government plan fair enough ? ' he repeated interroga-
tively to Frankfort. Du Tell had already some experience of
Frankfort's impracticable way of conducting himself, but was
quite taken aback by hearing, in the very Opposition Room
itself, a distinct avowal that the Government plan was fair.
He knew that Sir Donald calculated positively on putting
out Brereton and Company, as he, rather gaily for him,
phrased it ; and as for himself, he was already considering
what office he had the best chance of getting in the new
Ministry. He scarcely knew how to proceed with such an
unusual and also dangerous display of mutiny in the ranks.

366 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

At this moment the deep tones of Sir Donald Mac-
Lever's voice were heard on the verandah complimenting
Mr. Slater Scully on his last speech on the great Pensions
issue, and congratulating that gentleman and some other
Members who were standing around on the near triumph that
was in store for their principles. He now entered the room
and greeted our politician with more cordiality than usual.
This was no time for private likes and dislikes. Having
recovered from his recent cold, he was now busy gathering
his party together for the coming struggle. He was not,
perhaps, more amiable than before, but he was ever prudent.
He therefore greeted Frankfort with some cordiality, and in
a mode slightly hilarious.

' Why, yes, I rather think it is done this time,' he
remarked, continuing the thread of what he had been saying
outside — ' I think it is done this time. As for the Honour-
able William Brereton, sometimes irreverently styled Billy
Brereton, B.B., we may promote him in the alphabet, and
declare him now D.D., with a dash.'

And he did smile, relaxing into unwonted cheerfulness
at the prospect, and evidently enjoying his ponderous joke.

' But, sir, here's the Professor approves the Government
plan, and says that it is fair enough,' remarked, or rather
gasped out, Du Tell.

The style of Slater Scully could not exaggerate the
sudden fall in the countenance of Sir Donald as he heard
these few words from his faithful henchman. He saw the
seriousness of the position. For though there was much
noisy feeling abroad about the Government Bill, there was
also, and still to be dealt with, the good sense of the country,
that cared little for the party aspect of the question. In
the House of Representatives this element was fairly strong;
so that, while he spoke to his followers in confident tones,
he, in fact, expected to have only a small majority against
the Bill. This odd-man-out might possibly influence two or
three votes to support the Government proposal, and then
where would the majority be ? Three going from one side
to the other counted on a division as six. The prospect
was serious.

So Sir Donald composed his features as well as he could

vi PARLIAMENT 367

into their usual staid and slightly scornful aspect, and sitting
down as if proposing to enter fully into the question,
observed to Frankfort, in a tone of constrained quiet —
1 Why, what's the matter ? Not going to join the enemy
on the day of battle, I presume ? '

' To tell the truth, Sir Donald, I had not given much
attention to the effect of the question on the Government's
position. Some time ago I became acquainted with the de-
moralised condition of the Rangers, and the loss of life thereby ;
something must be done, and certainly the Government pro-
posals seem to me at least to deserve candid consideration.'

' Candid consideration ? ' Sir Donald repeated in a tone
partly satirical, partly scornful.

Rather roused by this manner of treating a question of
urgent public need, our politician was recapitulating in an
earnest manner the gravity of the evil that had to be
grappled with, the absolute need of doing something, and
the really superficial nature of the objections raised against
the present proposals, when Sir Donald, stooping down
nearer to him, as if desirous to impress some obvious fact
upon a stupid mind, and thus prevent waste of time by
useless talk, said in a slow, imperious tone — ' My good sir,
can't you see that the people are in no humour for pensions?'

Before our politician could answer, the conversation was
interrupted by the bending figure and soft voice of Walter
Crane, who had slid quietly into the room, and presented
himself at Sir Donald's elbow.

' Beg pardon, yer Honer,' he said, addressing Sir Donald,
and bringing his head down near the table — ' beg pardon ;
his Excellency the Minister sent me to tell yer Honer that
he and the Honerable Mr. Dorland and the mining depu-
tation are waiting as soon as yer Honer can come over.'

' Tell the Minister that I will be over directly. I have
promised my friend Dorland — your President, by the way —
to introduce this deputation on the mining difficulty,' he
said, turning to Frankfort, and concealing his feelings as
well as he could. He felt that it would be wiser not to
break absolutely with our politician till he had exhausted
all possible means of influencing him, or at least restrain-
ing his adverse action. So, as he left, he added : ' This

368 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

interesting discussion must stand adjourned till a later
day. Meanwhile, both you and I still belong to the Liberal
party, do we not ? '

As Du Tell hurried after him, he had only time to send
one Parthian glance of scrutiny at the mutineer, as he half-
whispered to him : ' That's the point, you see. Same party
both belong to. A party can't move different ways at the
same time, can it ? '

' Certainly not, Mr. Du Tell — certainly not,' answered
our politician, acknowledging to himself that there was no
denying that proposition.

As the day approached for the debate to be renewed on
the Pensions Bill, as the Government measure was adroitly
designated by the Opposition, Frankfort was made more
and more sensible of the attention that a good many people
were devoting to the action that he proposed to adopt with
regard to it. He early had a note from Quiggle begging
him to keep her free, so as to be able to bear up a bit, and
tack if necessary. Meeks had just paid a flying visit to his
old constituents, and had created a favourable impression by
the fervid language in which he had denounced the old-
world abuse of pensions at some committee meetings that
he had attended. Miss Gazelle, as Honorary Secretary for
the Liberal Persons Club (both sexes), forwarded a copy of
the resolutions that the Liberal Persons had unanimously
adopted, expressing their ' lively hope and fervid trust ' that
the fair Province of Excelsior was not coming under the
Pensions Blight. There was a confidential note from his
uncle, Mr. Fairlie, telling him that the popular feeling in his
constituency was all against a Pensions system ; and one
from Mr. Lamborn, congratulating him on the excellent
chance that now offered of getting in a Government that
would do more for the Rabbit suppression and the country
districts. Old Karl Brumm sent him a cutting from the
Trumpeter, which contained a quotation from the English
Black Book, wherein were revealed the iniquities of the
Pension system of the old land, showing in detail the vast
sums disposed of in that way, and for what services they
were many of them originally granted. Under the extract
Mr. Brumm wrote only ' Ecce signum!

vi PARLIAMENT 369

Jacob Shumate wrote at some length, reminding our
politician of the great pension scandal which he had ex-
posed in his presence at Glooscap, and begging merely to
observe that it was now, at last, made apparent why the
Minister had refused to stop that malversation of the
municipal funds, since at the very time his Government was
arranging for a more extensive plan of public plunder of
its own.

Even Neal Nickerson, the schoolmaster, who generally
differed from his neighbours, this time agreed with them,
and wrote to Frankfort reminding him of what he termed
the standard definition of a pensioner — ' A slave of State
hired by a stipend to obey his master.' Finally, there was a
kind note from Mrs. Lamborn, this time all written by her-
self, as Miss Lamborn was, she mentioned, away for a few
days staying with the Le Fanus, asking him to spend some
of the approaching Christmas holidays with them. But she
too alluded to the crisis. She had no idea what all the
excitement was about, or what Mr. Lamborn and Mr.
Hedger and Mr. Le Fanu were so eager for, but she hoped
that Frankfort would distinguish himself, and make a long
speech, and put out What's-his-name and the Government,
and become Premier himself, and end by getting a peerage,
like Lord Kilgour.

About this time it so happened that Mr. Borland asked
him to lunch quietly with them on a Saturday. When he
came he found it was indeed only a quiet lunch, as there was
no one there but Mr. and Mrs. Borland. The President was
graver than usual. When lunch was over, Mr. Borland asked
him to come into the library to see some new classical books
that had just arrived, and when they had turned over the
books, conversation naturally verged from mere records of
the past to the events of the present, and to the crisis that
was now becoming acute in the political world of Excelsior.

' I am told,' said the President in his most deliberate
manner, ' that the thing is closer than they thought, owing to
all the Bordermen having to go for the Bill, pension or no
pension. To tell you the truth, Professor, I hear that it
very much depends on yourself. I have heard a rumour of
your supporting Brereton. If so, three or four others may

VOL. I 2 B

370 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

want an excuse for doing the same, and Sir Donald is
out of it.'

Frankfort was surprised to find how he was getting
involved in this apparently simple Pension question, and
forced either into a position of political difficulty or to dis-
avow the opinions that he had already declared, and which
he sincerely held. He could not be false to his own con-
victions, so he made a direct answer to the President's
indirect appeal.

' As to supporting Brereton, that is rather a misleading
way to put it. I vote for the Bill because I think it is in the
main right. I see no objection to a sensible system of pen-
sions, as they are the best means for securing what we want.'

' No more do I, Professor. I adopt it in my own busi-
ness. But that's not exactly the point In politics we
must look a little abroad, and a bit ahead. The fact is,
that the question of all for Excelsior now is the looming
Silver question : I, you, all of us are concerned in it. In
fact,' continued the President, bending forward and bringing
his open hand down on the table, as he looked in his solid
way at Frankfort — 'the fact is that the University very
much depends on it '

' Upon what, Mr. Borland ? ' inquired our politician.

' Upon silver keeping its value.'

' Really ? '

' Yes, Professor ; if something cannot be done to check
the depreciation, how can we maintain our present establish-
ment ? How is it to done ? '

' To be sure, the fees are so low ; they could not do it
without the endowment,' replied Frankfort.

'Just so. Low fees are the popular thing — the right
thing. The public want everything good, by all means, and
without paying for it It is all right if some one will en-
dow you, and' added the President emphatically, ' if the
endowments keep up their value.'

' But, may I ask, Mr. Borland, how this question, serious
as it is, affects the Bill for regulating the Rangers ? '

' Even thus, my friend. Sir Donald and the Liberals
are the only party that are strong enough to handle the
Currency question. That, by the way,' the President added

vi PARLIAMENT 371

in a confidential manner, ' is why I was so pleased when
you entered Parliament as a Liberal. Sir Donald, you see,
cannot take up Silver for any good unless he has power. If
he loses next week, Brereton is as good as in for the next
four years. Where, then, is Silver ? Nay, where our Uni-
versity endowments ? You see, there is more in these
political issues than often meets the eye. The real point is
to get Sir Donald in. The thing is serious.'

' It has also a serious aspect for me, Mr. Dorland. Am
I to vote a useful and necessary reform to be bad in order
to get Sir Donald in ? '

' If thereby you can secure a greater good ! Let me
ask you, Professor, one question,' continued the President.
' Do you say that in politics you are to do only what you
personally fancy ? '

' The question is getting rather spread out, Mr. Dorland.
The issue before me is, that here is a good bill for a neces-
sary public object ; am I to vote against it simply to defeat
Brereton ? '

The President was about reiterating the point that
pressed on him, the absolute need of silver keeping up,
when Mrs. Dorland came quietly into the room, busy, in
homely fashion, with her knitting, to ask whether she should
send them in tea or coffee. She also felt some natural
curiosity to know what the discussion was about, of which
she heard the refrain in the drawing-room. She knew from
her husband's manner that there was something of conse-
quence in hand. The President, who made a confidante of
his wife in most affairs (except those which concerned
finance), as she came in exclaimed in a half-jocular manner
— ' See here, Lizzie, here is the Professor going to upset his
party on the Pensions Bill and to support the Government.'

' Why ? ' she asked in a quiet, precise manner.

' Because he likes pensions.'

' That's not it, Mrs. Dorland,' Frankfort interposed. ' It's
because I want to give a true vote.'

' Against your party ? ' inquired Mrs. Dorland. She
always accepted her husband's politics.

'Well, Mrs. Dorland, if my party is wrong?'

' Ah, what is your answer to that, Lizzie ? ' said Dorland,

372 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

partly forgetting his vexation in his quiet amusement at his
wife's intervention.

'Well, what / say is' (dig of the right-hand knitting-
needle on ' / ') — what / say is, that I would be a sheep or I
would be a goat, but I wouldn't be a straggler* (dig on
' straggler ').

' Ye hear now,' said the President with a grave laugh.
1 So that's all you have got to say, Lizzie ? '

' All, except that I want to know whether I will send
you in tea or coffee. But perhaps you can't make up your
minds about that ' (dig on ' that ').

' Oh now, my dear, don't be too hard on us. We will
come in to you, and you shall decide what we shall
take.'

The President thought it better to push the dispute no
further then, but to end as pleasantly as possible ; and soon
the three were seated over their coffee, talking about the
new books that they had just been looking at in the library.

When the House met again to resume the debate, Sir
Donald spoke briefly. He was satisfied that the Government
would, notwithstanding Frankfort's defection, be defeated by
a small majority, and that therefore he would have the task
afterwards of dealing with the Rangers himself. So he was
careful not to say in too explicit a manner what ought to be
done ; but rather to indulge in general, though emphatic,
condemnation of the Government and all its ways. He was
particularly severe in his denunciation of the Premier's object
in bringing in the Bill at all, which he declared was mere
popularity-hunting, because there was some excitement about
the disturbances on the Border — a repetition, in fact, of the
Woman's question. But, while reprobating the Ministerial
proposals, he only incidentally condemned Pensions ; in fact,
only condemned them as proposed in the Bill before the
House, and left it vague what particular aspect of Pensions
he referred to. ' Do we want an aristocratic system of
Pensions here — an old Tory scheme for them ? ' he inquired.
He concluded his speech by moving an amendment that the
House declined to saddle the country with an ill-regulated
and wasteful Pension system, or to trust a reactionary
Government with the management of the important interests

vi PARLIAMENT 373

at stake. He left it to the lesser men who would speak
after him to raise the direct cry against all Pensions.

Honest William Brereton then made a short but warm
speech, the main feature of which was a denunciation of the
evasive nature of Sir Donald's position. He vindicated his
Bill, and forcibly denounced the evils that beset the present
management of the Rangers. But the chief and the exciting
part of his speech was directed towards exposing ' the
baneful, tortuous, conscienceless tactics of the honourable
gentleman opposite to get into office.' He concluded his
invective, which quite amused Sir Donald, by asserting, as
he looked straight at the Opposition Benches, that he was
proud to believe that there were still men on those benches
who would vote for ' staunching the wounds of their country,
and refuse to go on shedding innocent, and sometimes
youthful, blood to serve the sinister tactics of any party,
be they from the east or from the west, or the north or the
south, or from any other quarter of the political compass.'

Mr. Du Tell then rose, and, looking inquisitively round
the House, referred to the 'excited and excitable peroration
of the Premier,' and expressed the hope that, ' while there
were patriots on all sides, there would be traitors on none.'
Point was given to this remark by the outburst of Opposition
cheering that greeted it ; even the harsh voice of Sir Donald
being heard in the din, and it was an unusual thing for him
to go beyond the dignified ' Hear, hear.' He then gave an
elaborate account of the abuses of the English aristocratic
system of Pensions. The details of the bad, and even odious,
nature of the origin of some pensions produced such an im-
pression that, though the self-contained Seeker Secretary, who
with Mons. Froessolecque occupied front seats in the gallery,
gave no outward expression of his feelings, the more excit-
able Frenchman made slight exclamations, and turned round
in a demonstrative way to speak to his companion.

Mr. Du Tell next asked the House what was the real
meaning of pensions for the Rangers. ' Did they not see
the cloven foot ? ' he exclaimed. What was the real meaning
of the Pension system ? The Pension system really meant
a lower daily wage. (Loud cheers.) It was seven shillings
a day and a pension (if a man ever lived to enjoy it), instead

374 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

of the normal wage of eight or nine shillings. Was the
House going to sanction this insidious means of invading
the ruling rates of wages ? There might be loss of life by
starvation wages as well as by blackfellows' spears. If they
were to talk of blood, let it be about the blood of living
people who wanted their daily bread. Turning to the recent
' National Outpourings of the People's Voice,' he asked if
this House was a House of Representatives or a Council of
Autocrats, who had only to do what seemed right in their
own eyes ? (He uttered the word ' Autocrats ' in a sharp,
biting, incisive manner.) He disputed the disorganisation of
the force, and depreciated General Dowden in an indirect
manner. Even if there was some temporary disarrange-
ment, it could, he maintained, be regulated by an appeal to
the intelligence of freemen, without their being bamboozled
by any vicious system of rewards. Finally, he wound up
with an appeal to the House to be as united as the country
against any attempt to impose upon the Province the yoke
of effete systems for the government of a great and sagacious
people.

When Mr. Du Tell sat down, the discussion was for a time
carried on by several of the less conspicuous members from
both sides, who did not enter very warmly into political
conflicts. Some of these spoke plain, strong words about
the disasters on the Border, and said that they would
support the Bill. Several of them were from the Border
districts, and they and their constituents felt the evils of the
present system too strongly to be over -critical as to the
remedy that was proposed. And there was also to be
counted with the general element of common -sense in the
House and the desire to do what was right. The danger in all
popular assemblies is that when a cry is got up you may not
get the individual convictions of men, but only an expression
of the general impulse that has been generated.

But the debate went on. Old Mr. Brandreth, Member
for the Sheep District of Towrie, supported the Bill, as was
expected ; but his speech was spoiled by a mishap at the
outset. He began by saying that it was a serious thing to
shed blood, upon which Mr. Mirehouse, the Member for
Bundle Flat, interjected, ' How can you get mutton without ? '

vi PARLIAMENT 375

At this senseless question there was considerable laughter,
for, as a relief to the tension of debate, men will catch at
anything for a laugh. Poor Mr. Brandreth was quite put
out, and prevented from taking up the thread of his
discourse. And yet it was not the intention of the inter-
jector to stop the speech, but only to throw in a lively
remark and get the credit of having made a joke. But it
silenced Brandreth, who, after a confused and confusing
effort to explain that he did not desire to support any
extravagant, corrupt Pension system, such as had prevailed
in Europe in past times, sat down, leaving on the careless
observer the impression that such was the very system that
was now being proposed by the Government. Mr. Brandreth
could sometimes show fight, and blurt out some effective,
perhaps dangerous, rejoinder to an interrupter ; but he was
not in good fighting form this evening.

Mr. David Stoker, Member for Dead Hatch, spoke next.
It so happened that Stoker had personal knowledge of an
incident in Frankfort's career which at first sight could be
made a plausible ground of reproach to his proposed action
now in voting for Pensions. He had sat with him some
years before on a Board to inquire into the question of Old
Age Pensions to the Poor. Frankfort, though then not
known to politics, had been appointed as being an authority
upon sociological subjects. When the time came for drawing
up the report, he and Stoker were found on opposite sides,
as he voted with the majority of the Board (it was only a
small one) in favour of requiring some slight co-operation
from the recipient towards earning his pension, while Stoker
agreed with the minority, that the annual allowance should
be granted to every one upon his attaining a certain age,
' by virtue of his manhood.' Thus Frankfort could be
popularly said to have opposed a liberal system of pensions
to the poor, while Stoker had supported it.

The Honourable Member for Dead Hatch would seem
to have risen wholly for the purpose of calling attention to
this report. He referred to no other aspect of the matter
under debate. He first dealt with himself, and showed why
he supported pensions then as strongly as he opposed them
now. There was a wide difference between pensions given

376 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

to the minions of power and pensions the inalienable
birthright of the sons of toil ; between the grant to a
privileged few and the general possession of the people.
He was pleased to feel that his fellow- worker on that Board,
Mr. Frankfort, would now have a clear field on which to
display his opposition to the Pension system, and, though
he had failed to be convinced by that honourable gentle-
man's reasoning on the wrong side at the Board, he looked
forward to being comforted and supported by his arguments
on the right side now.

Du Tell looked round inquisitively at our politician, and
Sir Donald smiled for the second time that evening.

Frankfort thought that it was time for him to declare
himself, so he rose, not without some trepidation, for he was
by this time sensible of the difficult position in which he
stood.

He began by glancing at the speech of Mr. Stoker, and
observed that he did not appear to see the difference between
a pension as a method of payment for services rendered and
a pension as State gratuity to all. He then went on to the
main question. The evils of the present management of the
Rangers were admitted by all practical observers. The only
question was as to the best remedy. The officer responsible
for the management asked for the Pension system so as to
be able to enlist, and then continuously retain, the most
efficient service. The perversion of the system in the old
countries to bad uses was no reason for rejecting it where it
could be usefully and economically applied. That pensions
were a useful means of getting good service was shown by
their being adopted in many of the best-managed business
concerns throughout the world. Most Governments adopted
them for certain callings — the military especially. It had
special claims of its own. If men were wounded, they must
be provided for ; if killed, their families must. Was this to
be done on a system that all could depend upon, or by means
of personal appeals to the House and political influence ? It
was of the last importance that all appointments to the Public
Service should be made and promotions given by merit, and
not by favour, and this applied more emphatically to the
military branch than even to the others. He denied that

vi PARLIAMENT 377

public opinion was so pronounced upon the question as some
Honourable Members assumed it to be. Some feeling arose
from a misapprehension of the facts, and they, as statesmen,
and knowing the truth, ought to inform the country, and to
act for its best interests. He showed the fallacy of Du TelFs
point, that pensions meant low wages. He concluded a brief
statement by expressing his regret that he could not see the
subject in the same light as some of his friends around him.
But to his mind the distinction between the use and the
abuse of pensions was so clear that he could not refrain from
giving his vote for this Bill, which was so required in the
public interest.

In speaking, our politician felt the difference between
when you are voicing the general fervid sentiments of your
hearers and when you speak to combat adverse feeling and
hostile critics. As Myles Dillon had said, it was one thing
to harangue with the crowd behind you, another to argue
with the numbers against you. It was one thing to declaim
on the generous side of the Woman's Rights question and
another to defend Pensions, surrounded by his party, who
regarded him as a deserter for so doing.

When he had concluded, Slater Scully stood up, his look
gleaming with the satisfaction of a coming triumph. He was
genial even in his invective, so his attacks, though loud and
boisterous, never wounded, as did often the more measured
but blistering utterances of Sir Donald.

Slater Scully commenced by expressing his unfeigned
amazement at the unprecedented sentiments of his friend,
Professor Frankfort. To him his honourable friend was an
enigma as perplexing as the Pyramids, as insoluble as the
Sphinx. Far be it from him to deny that his honourable
friend was straight Indeed, he was so straight that at
times he felt out of the perpendicular, and sometimes on the
wrong side. His honourable friend had said that he doubted
if public opinion was against pensions ; but could he have
been present at the gigantic and tumultuous meeting at
Biggleswade the other evening, he would then have had to
admit that public opinion on this national question was,
he would not say growing, but bursting out into dazzling
bloom.

378 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Coming to the great question of the evening, Slater Scully
said that he would be brief. Argument had been exhausted
in demonstration of the outrageous nature of the proposals
of the Government. Every term of obloquy had been applied
to them by indignant critics inside and outside the House,
and had been happily applied. He declared that ever since
the Honourable the Premier had introduced the Pensions
Bill — evil omen, ugly sound to free men — he had pondered
over what could have been his motive in so doing. He had
thought of it in his waking hours, and it had even flitted
through his dreams. Was it his deliberate intention to
fasten upon Excelsior the horrors of the European Pensions
system ? If so, let him beware. He would find that the
people of this great Province would still assert themselves as
free men, and that the tyrant would brandish his whip before
them in vain. (This last outburst was excited by the fact
that the Government Whip was going the round of the
House, trying to make up his numbers for the division that
was now imminent.) Finally, as was written in the Sweet-
Brier next morning : ' The Honourable Member for Biggies-
wade wound up a convincing and impassioned oration by
declaring that some men were ever willing to sell their
country, and some were glad to have a country to sell ; but
the heavens forbid that the finger of posterity should ever
be able to point the eye of scorn at the recreant roll, and
there read the name of Slater Scully.'

Amidst the applause that the eloquent peroration excited,
the cries for a division were loudly heard. The Honourable
Mr. M'Grorty was put up by the Government to wind up the
debate with one of his rallying speeches, but though he spoke
with vigour, especially in denouncing the Opposition, he did
not produce his usual effect. He needed popular fervour to
support him, and the popular fervour was now the other way.
In political affairs we are very much led by names. Who
does not know the value of being called a Liberal ? And
the ancient abuses of the Pension system in Europe, by-
gone though they were, had created among many an innate
popular feeling against them, unless for the poor. Still,
there were many in the House who looked behind the names
of things, and there were others whose districts had suffered

vi PARLIAMENT 379

from the Native disorders ; so that, when the Speaker an-
nounced the result, though the Government were defeated,
it was not by a large majority. Still, they were defeated.
William Brereton was out, and Sir Donald was in — or, at
least, would be sent for. The Border Rangers' organisation
must stand over till things took another turn. Du Tell
turned to his patron more admiringly than ever, and Slater
Scully beamed through his glasses looks of benevolent
satisfaction, and felt at peace with all men — even with our
politician.

Great was the excitement in and around the House of
Representatives, and on the broad steps leading to the
verandah, when the defeat of the Government was an-
nounced. But of the thousands who discussed that event,
and expressed various opinions as to its significance and
upon the incidents that marked it, — how it showed that the
people were resolved never to allow the Pension system a
footing in the free land of Excelsior ; how Sir Donald had
proved too much for B. B.; how great the influence of the
Press had been in rousing the people to the true issue ; how
exhaustive was the speech of Du Tell ; how extraordinary
that of our politician ; how impassioned that of Slater Scully, —
of all those who talked and speculated thus, only a very few
knew that the crisis had in fact been brought about by one
man, popularly known as Seeker Secretary. Had he been
able to come to terms with Mr. Brereton about the Workers'
Classification Bill, the machinery of agitation would never
have been set going, and the Government Bill, modified in
some of its details, would have been quietly passed.

But all history tells the same tale. Things are not what
they seem. The true story of great events is often different
from the surface appearance. It was not the great Napoleon,
but others behind him, who planned the revolution which
placed him on the steps of the throne. It was not MacLever
and the Pensions Bill that overthrew Brereton, but Seeker
Secretary and the Workers Bill.

During the periods of changing Governments, Walter
Crane had a trying time of it. Though in his Sunday
seclusion, at his nephew's down in Grubb Lane, he would,
as has been said, express himself with freedom about

380 JACOB SHUMAl^E CHAP.

political questions, yet he ever had so cultivated all the
outward signs of reverence for Ministers that the feeling
itself became something of a reality to him, and with his
kindly disposition, he really did evoke a liking for each new
Minister, as he came. Thus, no Highlander was more
devoted to the chief of his clan than was Walter Crane
to the ' Excellency ' that was for the time being presiding
over the Water Bureau. Still, he had to accommodate
himself to these rude events of the political world. He
knew all about each crisis as it threatened. Time had a
healing influence on his wounded feelings, and though he
would have preferred to concentrate his devotion on one
master, he loyally adapted it to all changes. A week ago
he had carefully gone over the names of the Members from
one of the printed lists, and, allowing for the possible con-
sequences of the defection of our politician, with the current
probabilities as to which he had made himself familiar, he
had arrived at the conclusion that the fate of the Ministry
was sealed, and that he must serve another lord. The
division just taken had borne out his calculations.

As our politician was coming away from the House
he found Crane, who had passed an exciting evening in the
gallery, quietly standing near the Ministerial Room, waiting
dutifully to the last for the bag of his dethroned chief. His
naturally kind face, which always bore a pensive air, looked
longer and sadder than ever. He bowed low as usual when
he saw Frankfort coming.

' Well, Crane, it's all over. The Government are out,'
remarked our politician.

' Out, your Honer ? '

' Yes ; out of office, you know, Crane.'

' Out of office, your Honer ? '

' To be sure. Defeated by Sir Donald. He is the man
now.'

' Well now, and look at that, your Honer. And the
heavens be above us all — defend us ! Them pensions, I
suppose, your Honer?'

' Why, Crane, do you think the pensions wrong ? '

' I, your Honer ? What do I think ? How should
I know what to think about them abstruse sort of things ?

vi PARLIAMENT 381

Only the people talking and rumouring about the General
getting so many thousands, and country growing poorer.'

' Oh well, he won't get them now, Crane/ replied our
politician, smiling to himself as he heard this favourite illus-
tration of the Sweet-Brier reproduced.

' But I was only thinking,' said Crane, inclining his head
to one side in such an inquiring manner that Frankfort, who
was about to hurry away, had his attention arrested.

' Thinking ? What about, Crane ?

' I was only thinking about the Reservoir, your Honer.'

' The Reservoir ? What on earth has it to do with the
crisis, Crane ? '

' Yes, your Honer, I was thinking — at least the Honerable
Mr. Scully was just now saying among the crowd beyond,
that now the country would have a grand policy of repro-
ductive works. So we would be sure to have the Reservoir
anyway, now — so we would, your Honer.'

Crane merely wished to say something polite and kind
to console our politician, as from his quiet corner in the
gallery he had observed the troubles that had beset him
during the debate. So he addressed to him the most con-
soling topic he could think of.

'Well, as to that, Crane, we must wait to see who the
new Minister for the Water Bureau is to be. They said in
the House that Mr. Slater Scully was to be the man.'

' The Lord be praised ! ' ejaculated Walter Crane.
However, he would have said as much for any new head of
his Department.

But here Mr. M'Grorty came out of the Ministers'
Room, where Mr. Brereton and his colleagues had been
arranging to submit their resignations to the Governor next
day, and gave to Crane the expected bag. He congratulated
Frankfort upon his speech ; but there seemed to be a hesita-
tion about him, as if there was something more to be said,
which led to their walking away together, joined by Mr.
Brereton, who came out after M'Grorty as the impromptu
Cabinet meeting was over. The Premier also congratulated
him on his ' fair and square speech,' and declared that it
came up like a breeze in the tropics, fresh and healthy, by
the ' Lord Tomnoddie.'

382 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Quite that,' chimed in M'Grorty. ' I was only going to
observe, when the Premier joined us, that you will now have
to consider on which side of the House you will sit when
Sir Donald comes in. You have spoken for us on the two
great questions of the session. I am sure you won't desert
us now that we are banished for the right cause.'

' Oh, that's all right, M'Grorty ! ' exclaimed Brereton.
' Let him pick out his own place to drop anchor. Don't
you, at any rate, bother,' he added, giving Frankfort a friendly
clap on the shoulder, ' to shake hands with a certain person,
however respectable, till you meet him. Time to think
about that when old MacLever and his crew come back
from the country.'

As they went down the street together, they discussed
the incidents of the evening. The Premier appeared deter-
mined to be jolly in the circumstances. Perhaps he was
not sorry to be released from the worries that go on accumu-
lating the longer a man is in office. He nodded in a familiar
way to Seeker and Mons. Froessolecque, who hurriedly
passed them, as much as to say, ' All right, I am out. You
and I know more about it than most people.'

He was quite good-humoured in his remarks about the
different points in the debate.

' Du Tell and Slater Scully were not bad. That point
about the rate of wages was sharp — very — told too. Just
the sort of thing to go down. Slater's peroration too —
posterity and his name on the roll, etc. etc. When I see
him I will tell him that the only roll his name will appear
on will be the roll of the new Ministry. Whether the eye
of posterity will study that — query.'

' And what about the Rangers then ? ' inquired our
politician. ' If there are no pensions, how are they to be
managed ? '

'Oh, that's all right, my friend. That's all right — or
will be after a while. Wait a bit, and they'll take up the
Bill right enough, under some other name. Some time you
will know all about how it's done. By-by, I turn off here.
The missus only excuses me, crisis or no crisis, while the
House is actually sitting.'

Our politician, when he laid his head upon his pillow

vi PARLIAMENT 383

that night, had at least the satisfaction of feeling that he had
done his duty. At the same time, he had a growing sense
of the difficulties that beset the position he had taken up.
How would his constituents, who were against pensions, and
the public take his action ? And what would the Press say
— the mouthpiece of the public ? No doubt the Press was
at times unjust to public men ; indeed, it could scarcely help
being so. It had to back up its own side. Certainly the
Sweet-Brier was unjust to him in that unworthy suggestion
about the amendment on the Woman's Bill. However, the
morning papers would show. His stand-by was that he was
doing his duty as a representative of the people. The way
of duty had never been a primrose path.

It so happened that the papers were unusually late in
coming the next morning, owing to the extra amount of
matter occasioned by the report of the great debate. Our
politician was thus kept in some suspense, waiting to be
informed of the state of public feeling regarding the import-
ant and unusual position he had taken up. The Rising
Sun came first, and he was quite disappointed to find that
it had very little to say about him either way. It seemed
to have overlooked the significance of his action, while it
gave full prominence in clear type to the speeches that were
devoted to the party attack and defence. It, however, gave
a brief summary in lesser type of what he had said ; and
remarked that he had spoken in an intelligent manner.
Indeed, so intelligently that when it appeared he was going
to vote against his own party, the general feeling throughout
the House was that he was more intelligent than intelligible.
But he was more than satisfied with the News Letter, as
it not only gave a fairly full report of his speech, but in its
leading column rendered a passing recognition to ' Mr.
Frankfort's evident desire to support what he believed to be
for the public good, by whoever proposed.' Yes, that was
just his case. The Press was not so bad after all. He had
not yet seen the Sweet-Brier. It was very late in coming.
When it came he opened it, rather expecting to find some-
thing severe. This is what he did find : —

Startling anomaly. Significant. The surprise and marvel of
the evening was the enormous apostasy of the new Honourable

384 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Member for Brassville, Mr. Frankfort. He betrayed his party in
order to support the Tory Government and Pensions ! No wonder
that, as it is asserted, and we are assured correctly, he walked away
after the division arm-in-arm with, not his own leader, the patriotic
Sir Donald MacLever, but with the Tory Premier, Mr Brereton.
The reasons that induced the honourable gentleman to take this
unprecedented step he did not make very clear. Perhaps, indeed,
it would not have been easy to do so, since, as Mr. Stoker pointed
out in his well-argued and unanswerable speech, this same gentleman
voted at the Pensions Inquiry Board against Pensions to the poor !
To say the truth, he seemed, as might have been expected, ill at
ease in making his speech. Its most emphatic point was the great
need of having all appointments to the service of the State made
only on their merits. Admirable doctrine surely ! But what will be
the astonishment, nay, horror of the intelligent people of this Province,
when we tell them, on the most undoubted authority, that it is the
habit of this same high-principled legislator, among other exercises of
his public patronage, to nominate as letter-carriers in the post office
men who can neither read nor write ! ! ! As we proclaim it, vox
faucibus haesit. It seems to be incredible. Yet the particulars
of at least one instance have been forwarded to this office by an
indignant fellow-citizen of undoubted respectability. The name of
the lucky, though illiterate, individual is Terence M'Glumpy ; the
post-office town Glooscap ; the situation that of letter-carrier in His
Majesty's Post Office in the town of Glooscap. And we take upon
us to affirm, with a full sense of our responsibilities, that the aforesaid
Terence M'Glumpy was appointed on the nomination of Mr. Frank-
fort, when he was unable to read either print or writing, and so
could not decipher a single direction upon the letters that it was his
duty to deliver to the much- and long-suffering inhabitants of Gloos-
cap. We repeat, it seems incredible :

JTis true, 'tis pity ;
And pity 'tis, 'tis true.'
Pro Pudor !

If the public were expected to read this with astonish-
ment and horror, there could be no doubt that our politician
did in fact read it with those feelings. With all his
good intentions, appearances were against him, and he did
not seem to be getting on as quietly and as free from
reproach as Meeks would have done. There was no deny-
ing that, though a Liberal, he had refused to follow the
Liberal leader, Sir Donald, upon two important measures of
the session. Then it was quite true that he did declare

vi PARLIAMENT 385

against unqualified pensions to the poor on the commission.
Yet he voted for pensions to the Rangers. Then there was
that unpleasant fact that he had nominated as a letter-
carrier a man who could neither read nor write. And there
was the awkward episode of the letter to the Postmaster-
General, to which he got no answer. Also, to be sure, he
had walked away in friendly conference with the leader of
the party he was opposed to. He might be conscious of his
own innocence, but it did not follow that other people were.
None can tell the concern with which an honest man sees
for the first time his name proclaimed in print as being
identified with dishonesty. Wounds by the steel or the
bullet are not the only ones we suffer from — nor, perhaps,
the most painful ones.

Our politician thought for a few minutes what he had
better do, if anything. The well -recognised rule of wise
men — lately enforced upon him by Myles Dillon — never to
contradict criticisms, seemed scarcely to apply here, as the
statement was so specific. It needed explanation, and then
it could be substantially explained ; though, to be sure, he
was still to blame, perhaps, for not inquiring into the quali-
fications of M'Glumpy. Then, as to that note, had M'Grorty
filed it ? Would he remember it ?

All difficulty as to the best course to take was obviated
by the action of Mr. Stoker. When the House met, and Mr.
Brereton announced that he and his colleagues only held
office pending the appointment of their successors, the Mem-
ber for Dead Hatch rose, he stated, to a question of privi-
lege. Du Tell looked quite surprised, but turned to listen
attentively. Mr. Stoker said that he wished to call attention
to the audacious statement made about the Honourable
Member for Brassville in the public press that morning, and
which directly affected the honour of the whole House. He
alluded to the paragraph in the Sweet-Brier to the effect
that he, Mr. Frankfort, had nominated as a letter-carrier in
the Post Office some person named M'Glumpy who could
neither read nor write. He need scarcely say that such
a statement must be wholly without foundation ; but it
would be only fair to his honourable friend, and, he might
add, to the House, which was also concerned, that he, and

VOL. I 2 C

386 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

also the late Minister of Education and Public Knowledge
and the Post Office, should give an explicit and unqualified
contradiction to such an assertion.

Frankfort at once got up and stated that the paragraph
in the Sweet -Brier was true except in some important
points, namely, in not stating that he had no idea that the
lad he recommended could not read or write, and in omitting
to say that as soon as he ascertained that fact he had written
to cancel his nomination. For greater promptitude he had
written a personal note to the Minister direct. He pre-
sumed that the Minister would have acted upon it.

Mr. Du Tell here rose and begged leave to observe that the
House would be gratified to hear the explanation of his
honourable friend. It would make it complete if the Minister
would kindly state that, on receipt of the personal letter
which his honourable friend alluded to, he had stopped the
appointment.

M'Grorty said that, on his attention being called to the
statement in the press by Mr. Stoker earlier in the day, he
had sent for the papers, and unfortunately the note cancelling
the nomination that Mr. Frankfort alluded to was not among
them. He had no doubt that he received it, but, not being
official, he must have omitted to send it on ; and the
appointment being only a small one, he had put the whole
thing out of his mind, and now forgot all about the facts.

Some Honourable Members were disposed to continue
the discussion, but Sir Donald MacLever, in solemn tones,
insisted that further debate would be unjustifiable at that
stage, as there was no motion on the subject before the
House. He laughed at the whole thing to himself, and
thought it only useful for embarrassing our politician. His
view was generally accepted. Honourable Members were
too much interested in the possible developments of the
crisis to care much whether M'Glumpy could read or could
not. Du Tell, who wanted to make the worst of it, knew
that the worst had come out. The nomination of a man
who could not read was admitted, and as to the revocation,
where was it ? A private note, and that not among the
papers ! As a fact, he had no doubt that the note had been
written as Frankfort stated ; but, for the purpose of damag-

vi PARLIAMENT 387

ing our politician with the public, there was all the material
necessary. As for Frankfort, unscrupulous or tricky conduct
was so foreign to his nature that even now he did not fully
realise the ugly aspects that "evil tongues might give and
suspicious minds might accept from the incidents of this
affair — the private note included. So the House adjourned,
leaving on its reports the record of this unpleasant business.

The next morning the Sweet -Brier returned with re-
doubled vigour to the ' astounding admissions ' of the Mem-
ber for Brassville last night Its amazement at these was
only equalled by its consternation at the assertion that there
was a private note sent to the Minister, forgotten by him
and nowhere to be found.

It certainly had plausible ground to go on, and Mons.
Froessolecque, or some other ' We,' made the most of it. It
further appeared that the matter was exciting the most
lively attention throughout the Province, for a large number
of letters appeared in the columns of the Sweet-Brier, coming
from the most distant and widely apart districts, from persons
of all descriptions who were deeply and simultaneously
affected by the incident. ' An Anxious Inquirer ' ; ' O Tem-
pora ! O Mores ! ' ; ' Boss Tweed ' ; ' Perplexed ' ; ' Croker and
Co.' ; ' Indignant Letter-Carrier ' ; ' Surprised Lady Elector ' ;
'What Next? ' — all these and others poured out their wounded
feelings into the inky bosom of the Sweet-Brier.

Why is it that we are so unamiably constituted as to be
ever ready to believe the worst of one another? If by
chance one takes the opposite direction, and thinks and
makes the best of what his fellow-men do, he himself is con-
demned as insincere, on the ground that no man could, in
fact, feel as he professes to. Is it because we derive a secret
pleasure from contemplating evil things in others from which
we are free ? or is it merely for the sake of pungent conversa-
tion ? or is it because, as Robbie Burns has it, that, after all,
men are an ' unco lot ' ? Whatever be the cause, certain it
is that many in Excelsior took a bad view of the Glooscap
incident, and quite relished the vigour and glow with which
the Sweet-Brier had exposed another job of the politicians.

In due time Sir Donald formed the new Ministry, and
the crisis was over. Du Tell got one of the junior places,

388 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

and generally it was composed of small men, as Sir Donald
preferred to be himself the only considerable figure in any
combination. The most popular appointment was that of
now the Honourable Slater Scully, the Member for Biggies-
wade, as Minister of the Water Bureau. Though Walter
Crane felt some uneasiness at transferring his allegiance from
his old chief, it was a good deal mitigated by the fact that
the new one was a man after his own heart, with a disposi-
tion at once jovial and generous. Slater Scully wished well
to all men, but he could very imperfectly gratify his naturally
kind impulses out of his private means. This difficulty
vanished when he was able to draw, or promise to draw,
upon the public. There was soon a vast increase of deputa-
tions, for all found the sunshine of hope when they came
into the presence of the new Minister. One from Brassville,
introduced by the Honourable Mr. Lamborn, wished to know
what prospect there was of the Government undertaking the
Reservoir by a special advance as ' a National work.' Slater
Scully assured them, as he beamed seriously on them through
the large glasses, that having given to that great project
' some of the best thought he was capable of,' they might
consider it un fait accompli whenever European complica-
tions settled down, so as to allow the Government to ' launch
a comprehensive loan to enable them to carry out their
grand scheme of Reproductive Works for the nation.'

The Minister had an invincible repugnancy to pressing
districts for the payment of overdue interest on advances, at
least beyond the point of a letter full of very strong threats.
He agreed to the Secretary, Lavender, writing any number of
these, but made that official's life rather a trial to him by
raising a variety of objections to taking any more effective
means of enforcing his demands. Sometimes it was :

'Will you, my dear friend, explain by what process,
official or demi-official, chemical or litigious, you propose to
get blood out of a stone — to take the breeks from a High-
lander ? ' Or it would be : ' Lavender, my right hand — but,
thank Heaven ! not my conscience -keeper — where is your
conscience ? I believe it is seared by long official injustice.
Don't we know that these Bungletap Waterworks are so
named, on the ancient principle Incus a non lucendo,

vi PARLIAMENT 389

because there is no water in them. Look me in the face
now and say if these hapless and soiled miners from Bungle-
tap don't speak truly when they declare that the only tap in
the district is in its name. They ask for water and you
give them the stones of empty channels, and then, by the
superior powers, ye want to charge them for the stones.'

' But, sir,' Lavender would reply, ' you must really allow
me to point out that, though these works are partly a failure,
they were the design of the District Board, for which they
asked and got the Government money. The Government
only ask for their own.'

' Well, and aren't we a Liberal Government ? Any old
screw can ask for his own. Why, even Blanksby, your own
engineer, tells you that they don't get as much water as
would moisten the invisible leg of a flea.'

Perhaps it would be a question of taking security for
future payments and waiving present claims.

' My noble Secretary and coadjutor,' he would say, ' these
poor lack-alls of Tumble Derry offer to you to levy at
once a charge of one-sixth of a penny per thousand gallons
— thirsty souls, they must have water — and to put the rest
to a suspense account, sinking fund attached, irrevocable,
inexorable, inflexible yearly payments in futuro ; sealed
bond, wax and parchment to suit.'

Here a stern expression swept over the kind face of the
Minister as he looked down upon the Tumble Derry new
conditions that lay before him on the table, and contem-
plated the heroic undertakings to pay in the future into
the suspense account and sinking fund. Then he would
continue :

' It may not be much, but 'tis their all. Have you the
heart to refuse them ? '

In all phases of official dealing where money was con-
cerned there was the same liberal view of the difficulties that
so often attend the payment of debts, and Lavender had a
series of new experiences. Perhaps he would object to
making an advance for further works to some locality that
was not paying the interest on its present loan. To this
official parsimony the large -souled minister would make
answer :

390 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' True for you, Lavender — what you say is true. But
you do not hearken to the plea of these sunburnt sons of the
land of Obo. They plead — here is their humble petition :
" The new works must be undertaken in order to make the
old ones useful, and so produce enough to pay the interest
upon the whole." Where is your rebutter plea in answer to
that ? Where even your plea in abatement ? These Oboites
say : " Now we can pay you nothing. Have patience (and
make a small further advance), and we will pay you all."
And yet you will not, but want to catch them by the throat,
saying, " Pay me that thou owest." No, no, Lavender,'
continued the statesman, varying his imagery, ' let us on
this occasion throw a sprat to catch a salmon. As we are
now we will get neither sprat nor salmon. We don't even
get a bite,' and he would look up through his glasses in a
helpless manner at the Secretary.

Upon one occasion Lavender rather lost patience, and
exclaimed, ' Well, really, sir, I must say that as matters are
going now we find all the districts come crying to the State
like so many babies the first pinch they get ! '

To which his imperturbable chief made answer, ' And,
my dear coadjutor, how can you find it in your heart to scold
them ? Are we not a maternal and paternal Government too ?
No, you deny the infant its first and most imprescriptible
right to turn confidingly to the mother's breast. Lavender,'
the Minister would continue, looking up through the spec-
tacles on his Secretary, who could not help smiling with all
his vexation — ' Lavender, let us be sweet Lavender this time.
I am afraid that the official heart tends to become a hard
one. Too true the sentiment of the poet, a man may smile
and smile again, and yet — have a hard heart.'

Things would have come to a serious pass were it not
that, when these generous arrangements came within the
purview of Sir Donald as Treasurer, they entered a medium
that was quite devoid of the sympathetic tone of the Water
Bureau. Though even he was more liberal than Mr.
Brereton, still his veto made many vague promises of the
Minister of none effect, and the optimistic proposals of Mr.
Slater Scully were subjected to a damaging scrutiny. But
the tenor of his joyous official career was not marred

vi PARLIAMENT 39 «

thereby; and even the deputations continued to like coming
and being filled with fair promises and kindly hopes. So
Slater Scully continued to the end to be a most popular
Minister.

As for Walter Crane, he fully realised the popularity of
his new chief, and endorsed the favourable public opinion
about him. He even felt a reflected lustre on himself as
he ushered in expected suppliants to the jovial presence,
and afterwards conducted them downstairs rejoicing. He
enjoyed all this, and really admired the Minister's generous
vays. At the same time, in the recesses of Grubb Lane, he
vould be slightly critical, and when his nephew asked him
\rhat the new boss was like, he replied :

' An", to tell ye the truth, he's a real fine gentleman ;
and he speaks so nice and tender-like, and cockers them all
up with promises. An' it's he who would pay everybody's
debts, if he could, and his own too, to be sure. But between
you and me and the bank, when it comes to getting the
cheque, I would rather have it signed by some one else.'

It may be well here briefly to trace out what happened
about the proposed reform of the Rangers. Sir Donald
found that his victory over Brereton and the agency by
which he had won it left two matters upon his hands that
he must deal with — one the reorganisation of the Rangers,
the other the satisfaction of the demands of Seeker Secretary
for the workers. He was too clear-headed a man not to
know that the Rangers must be ' tackled before long,' as he
expressed it. Further troubles took place on the Border,
and the public began to say that something must be done.
When the public say this in earnest, public men are apt to
go and do it. That a thing is the right thing to do is, after
all, a great fact in politics. Then, as to the concessions to
the workers which Seeker demanded, Sir Donald did not
trouble himself about the abstract reasons in their favour.
What he did know was that it would be practical wisdom to
make such concessions as would secure a compromise with
Seeker. He determined to deal with both difficulties in the one
Bill ; and next session, when the excitement of the previous
year had subsided, he brought in ' a Bill intituled an Act
to amend the State Workers' Regulation Act, and to provide

392 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

compensation in certain cases and for other purposes.' This
Bill with regard to the civil side of the army of State
workers conceded several of the demands that Seeker had
made, and in particular provided compensation in the shape
of retiring allowances in case of accident or ill-health, and
also in certain other events. In Part II. of the Bill, which
dealt with the Border Rangers, these principles were a little
extended, as was natural considering the dangerous nature
6f the occupation, and those who were wounded or disabled
by sickness or otherwise, and also those who had reached a
certain age, had ' allowances ' secured to them, which practi-
cally became pensions. Slater Scully always called it * The
People's Compensation Bill.'

Seeker was satisfied that he had got as much as he
could at present secure, and he influenced Mons. Froessolecqu2
and the Sweet-Brier by assuring him that the principle of the
Bill necessarily led to a generous system of old age pensions
for all the wage-earners. Parliament had got tired of the
subject, and wanted it settled some way. Some of Brereton's
supporters urged him to denounce the whole thing as being
his proposals thinly disguised. But he declined to commit
infanticide, as he said, upon his own child. If he did such
a thing it would be upon some one else's. So the Bill
passed quietly, and the Border Rangers and Seeker were
settled for the present.

The only point about which some Members who were
always giving trouble raised any question was the expense.
In fact, they asked what it cost to pay for the increases and
concessions on the civil side, which had nothing to do with
the reform of the Rangers. Old Mr. Brandreth said it
would come to over ;£ 100,000 a year, and was going on in
his slow way to object to this expenditure, when Mr. David
Stoker called out, ' Well, what if it does ? ' He was discon-
certed at this, and could only reply, as he generally did to
such interruptions, ' Why — that is what I want to know.'
On this Mr. Stoker called out, ' Whatever it is, is it not all
wages spent among ourselves ? It all comes back to us,
don't it?'

The cheers that broke forth from the Populist Members
in support of this view prevented Mr. Brandreth from

vi PARLIAMENT 393

collecting his thoughts, so as to pursue the thread of his
argument, and he sat down after a few discursive remarks
about its not being their own money that they were spend-
ing. He was observed to be moving about restlessly in his
seat when he had sat down, the fact being that an answer
to Stoker's interjection had just struck him. It came too
late for the debate ; but afterwards he went into the smoking
room, and finding there Stoker and Caffery and several
Populist Members, with all of whom he was personally
friendly, he challenged them again upon the point, in the
hope of recovering the position which he had lost owing to
David Stoker's interjection.

' After all, there is nothing in David's notion,' he said,
1 about the money being spent in the country. I see the
answer to that, though it did not strike me at the time.'

1 Pitch it out, then, old friend, if you have it about you,'
David Stoker exclaimed in an encouraging manner.

'Why, you might as well say that ;£ 100,000 a year
would be well spent in wages to men to dig trenches in the
sand at low tide which would be rilled again each day as
the tide came in, because it was wages, and would come
back to us. At least that is how it strikes me.'

They all laughed at Brandreth's argument and his still
bewildered air ; but when he left to go into the House again,
Stoker remarked to the others that he did think him an
honest old fellow, and that he really believed what he said.
In the event everything ended satisfactorily. There was, of
course, the Bill to be paid — by that impersonal friendless
entity, the Public.

This episode of the Rangers and their pensions, com-
monplace incident though it was in everyday politics, seemed
to our politician, looking back upon it, to present some
topics that were worthy of thinking over.

The weapon used by Sir Donald to fight this battle, the
popular hatred of pensions, was an instance of the force
of inherited feeling. The abuses of the English system of
pensions in the past, and especially the fact that it was
worked in the interest of the aristocracy, have created, by
the process of continuous experience, in English peoples,
wherever situated over the globe, an instinctive popular

394 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

prejudice against all official pensions. Jacob Shumate had
the sympathies of the little crowd in Glooscap in his favour
when he denounced the pension of £1 a week to Sandy
M'Givern, and Sir Donald in his wider sphere was able to
win with it too. That the adverse feeling was one inherited
from the experience of aristocratic abuses was shown by the
fact that pensions for the mere poor were the most popular
and advanced thing that any man could propose. There
was obviously no sense in the cry against pensions as
pensions. Apart from the prejudice, it was simply a ques-
tion of what was the best business arrangement to make in
order to get efficient service.

But though the cry did its work at the time, the common-
sense of the community prevailed in the end. The incident
in this aspect represents the true hope of the popular dis-
pensation under which we live. It would be too much to
expect that men would not make mistakes. We look to
the general intelligence in due time correcting them, pur-
suant to that divine law that ordains the steady general
onflow of human progress, though not without occasional
eddies backward. And this general intelligence depends
upon and is mainly directed by experience. In Excelsior
the continued disturbances on the Border largely contributed
to the result.

And here was to be observed a weak point in our
popular system. Experience teaches. But who is to
enforce upon a people its teaching? In the main they are
left to find out its lessons for themselves. True, it is the
duty of public men to proclaim the truth, if need be, in
reproof of popular mistakes. But who among public men
is ready to undertake this useful work — useful to others,
but not safe or profitable for himself? When it was found
necessary in Excelsior to put the Rangers on a sound basis,
it was all done quietly. Those who were behind the scenes
knew that the people had made a mistake, and that the
mistake was being reversed. But the thing was never
pressed home to the people.

In China there is a Board of Magistrates, said to be
independent, who are entitled to criticise even the doings of
the Emperor. Some years ago this Board made a remon-

vi PARLIAMENT 395

strance to His Majesty on the wasteful cost of some cele-
brations that had been held in his honour while, as they
urged, whole provinces were suffering from famine. But the
Emperor rebuked them for their boldness, and handed them
over for punishment to the proper authorities. Their heads
were cut off. And if it is unbecoming in subordinates to
lecture an Emperor, who is entitled to lecture a people ?
So they go unchastened by rebuke. What if there had been
in Excelsior some daring politician to speak plainly to the
public? He would have said, 'My fellow-countrymen of
this province, you did a foolish thing in causing the first
Rangers Bill to be rejected. Many of you were in-
different about your political duties, and did nothing,
while several of you were simply humbugged by the
cry about aristocratic pensions. You now see the results
of your mistake. Like wise men, take a note • of this,
and don't be so easily misled another time ! ' The daring
politician would share the fate, in another form, of the
censorious Board of China. Thus it is that, though
peoples learn from experience, they do so only in an
imperfect way, and are slow to withdraw their confidence
from men who have misled them, if they continue to please
them for the present. The lessons from political experience
are like those from Nature — felt, not proclaimed ; silent,
though pitiless.

The power of the Press in our time was also brought
home to our politician. It was become a part of the repre-
sentative system, and was even more powerful than the
political side, as it represented general public opinion and
not alone the voice of the ballot-box. It partook too of the
weaknesses of the system to which it belonged ; but it had
the merit of being open to all and of voicing the wants and
ideas of all. No man can be wronged by power in secret
and unheard, if there is a free press ; and if the press itself
wrongs a man, it does so openly, and it too is to be judged
by the opinion of all. When it abuses its high prerogative,
people come to know of it, and in time wrong works its own
remedy.

But the most impressive fact which the inner history of
this movement taught was the political power of the State

396 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

workers. The social consequences that follow from the
State having a large number of its citizens in its industrial
employment have been considered by thoughtful writers,
but not the political consequences. The more Democracies
enlarge the scope of State employment, the more dominant
becomes the Industrial Praetorian Corps. They are united ;
they are free from the distraction of the social struggle, for
the State provides for them ; they have devoted leaders,
and are able to concentrate the energy that others have to
expend on getting a living, upon securing what they judge
is fair from their employer — the State. Governments come
and go, but they remain a permanent body. Their claims
are the more irresistible politically, because in addition to
their direct power, theirs are claims by the worker and the
wage-earner upon the capitalist. Nor can we blame them for
looking after their own interests. When the Socialist ideal
of the State employing all is realised, where would Govern-
ment be under Democracy ? All would be struggling for
themselves, and there would be no strong centre of authority
to regulate the rival claimants for the State bounty. Ad-
vanced Socialists realise this, and decline to admit that the
Government under Socialism will be Democratic. Their
ideal of the future is a benevolent despotism, so long as it
is the despotism of the man in the street.

Our politician had a personal lesson, too, on the circum-
spection that public conduct demands. The only thing that
he could be blamed for in nominating Terence M'Glumpy
was the natural oversight of not personally ascertaining that
he was able to read and write. But who would have thought
it necessary in such a country as Excelsor to make the in-
quiry ? Yet, for want of it, what a plausible ground of attack
was given to the Sweet-Brier ! One should learn, he con-
cluded, not to take to heart railing accusations in public
affairs ; but still more carefully should he study to avoid
even the appearance of deserving them.

Finally, the difficult question was raised, how far a
politician is entitled, or required, to insist upon his own
opinion on public questions. How much weight ought a
practical man to give to that peremptory question of Sir
Donald's :

vi PARLIAMENT 397

' Can't you see that the people are in no humour for
pensions ? '

That politician regarded this as conclusive. Even Solon
did not claim to give the best laws to the Athenians, but
only the best that they could bear. This is a difficult and
many-sided problem, which admits of a wide range of solu-
tions from that of the conscious political rogue who is busy
hunting after the spoils, to that of the man possessed by a
high ambition to be useful in his day. The people's will
certainly must prevail, but should not the people have the
benefit of the truthful expression of the opinions of their
public men before they decide ? If so, should men be
banished from political life for saying truly what they think?
Is it a sound system that compels men not alone to refrain
from giving true advice to the people, but further, to them-
selves give the weight of their apparent personal belief in
whatever may be, from time to time, to the fore, as the
successful thing ? There is a screw loose in all this, thought
our politician.

But the merry time of Christmas was now approaching,
and a truce was proclaimed to politics and its perplexities.
This time was as welcome amidst the sunshine of the new land
as it is among the snows of the old ; and it was especially
pleasing to Frankfort, as he proposed to relax himself after
the perplexities of the session and the labours of the lecture-
room, by going for a holiday to The Blocks, as Mrs.
Lamborn had proposed. He had no doubt of a kindly
reception from all his friends at Brassville, though it was
undeniable that his Parliamentary career so far had some-
what disappointed several of his well-wishers in the con-
stituency. Mr. Lamborn could not understand what he
meant by differing from his party and backing up Brereton,
who had been so niggardly about the rabbits ; while Mrs.
Lamborn, though she never touched mere politics, was dis-
appointed that he did not, as she had suggested in her letter,
make a long speech to turn the other man out. She had
an inward feeling that he was getting no nearer to the
peerage. Hedger, the lawyer, considered that he had shown
himself to be impracticable ; but Neal Nickerson, the school-
master, argued that he was quite right to contradict his

398 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

friends if they were wrong. Barney Clegg, of the Brown
Jug, maintained that his action in favouring pensions showed
that he was no friend to the people, the more particularly so
as his own name had not yet appeared in any new roll of
justices. Karl Brumm, though hating pensions much, yet
had such an innate sense of the need of military discipline,
that in the end he excused our politician, while at the
same time he smiled in a superior way at all such feeble
attempts at soldiering. But, on the other hand, Jacob
Shumate gave up our politician as past praying for, being
now clearly identified with pensions and the wrongful
financial institutions of modern society. He was thus quite
convinced that, so far from seeking to induce the Minister
to disallow Sandy M'Givern's pension, he had actually
advised him the other way ; and as he sat in his cottage in
Glooscap brooding over the matter of an evening, when the
children were in bed and he was alone, he recalled several
small circumstances that, now when he looked back upon
them, quite bore out this conclusion. To his dying day he
retained a firm belief, founded on his own reason as to what
was likely, that Frankfort had seen the Minister, and by
some legal quibble induced him to put a wrong construction
on those sections of the Act relating to the power to disallow
the wrongful expenditure of corporate funds. M'Glumpy
senior was rather hurt upon reading the statement of our
politician that he had withdrawn his nomination of Terence
upon such a trifling ground as that the boy had not com-
pleted his education. But on reflection he came to the
conclusion that this must only be a Parliamentary way of
putting things, as, in fact, nothing had come of this with-
drawal, and the lad had been established as the official letter-
carrier of Glooscap. He had begun learning to read, and
meanwhile the neighbours got their letters pretty much as they
did before, and he cleaned up the place for his aunt and went
with special letters where he was sent. None of the neigh-
bours were so ill-natured as to object. So the public were
satisfied. On the whole, Mr. M'Glumpy enjoyed the in-
cident in all its phases, took any adverse comments of the
Press with the equanimity of an old politician, and regarded
with interest the discussion in Parliament about it as tending

vi PARLIAMENT 399

generally to the importance of the clan M'Glumpy, of which
he was the chief.

Several of our politician's constituents supported him ;
and Woodall, the bookseller, used to argue with some of the
dissatisfied ones, when they came for the city papers, and
point-blank say that even Harry there, his blundering shop-
boy, could see that the Pensions cry was merely a political
blind. Miss Gazelle and Seth Pride were sadly put out
about the Pensions, but overlooked all in consideration of
Frankfort's noble stand for the emancipation of woman.
Besides, though the late Premier had fallen away on the
Pensions, were they to forget that it was he who had
brought in the Emancipating Bill ? Also a few inde-
pendent electors, without going into the merits of the
question, defended the Member on the ground that there
was no doubt that he had done what he believed to be the
right thing. Among these last must be classed Eilly
Lamborn, her only contribution to the animated discussions
that took place upon the subject at The Blocks being the
remark that she did not see why a man should not say what
he thought, even though he was in Parliament.

' My dear young lady,' remonstrated Hedger, the
lawyer, ' a man goes there to say what other people
think.'

However, they were all glad to see him, especially Mr.
and Mrs. Fairlie and the cousins, who were often at The
Blocks, though Mr. Fairlie, while he personally agreed with
his nephew's views, was beginning to fear that they would
not pay in a business aspect. But pleasure ruled the hour.
Picnics, dinner-parties, dances, concerts made days and
nights fly by. As for politics, and Frankfort's supposed
desertion of his party, they could not be wholly avoided in
conversation, nor was it possible to escape some natural
joking about the unique M'Glumpy appointment. Neal
Nickerson repeated, more than once, an offer to teach young
M'Glumpy free at his school, to read and write, ' wholly on
national grounds, for the sake of my country,' he would
observe, and then look round in the confident belief that he
had made a joke. Once, when they were all gathered round
the piano to hear Miss Corney sing ' Faithful and True,' by

400 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the author of ' Life's Lullaby,' Hedger thought that he made
a good point by saying aside to Miss Lamborn, who was
standing with Frankfort near : ' Ah, " faithful and true,"
that's what Sir Donald wants him to be. But he is faith-
less, and — Sir Donald is in tears.'

Eilly Lamborn disliked the tone in which Hedger spoke,
and as she and Frankfort sat down on a sofa when the song
was over, said to him in her open, explicit manner : ' Now,
tell me what is this that father and they are all talking
about. They say, do you know, that you deserted your
party. But did you really do such a thing as that ? ' and
she looked straight at him with her trustful eyes.

' I did what I thought right, Miss Lamborn,' he replied.

' Then how is it that they all say that you did wrong ?
Father and Mr. Hedger, and even Mr. Keech, partly. Father,
you see, said, when I said that a man should say what he
thought — father said positively that he was no use to his
party if he did not think as they did.'

'Then you defend my saying what I think.'

1 No, I don't know that I really do, if, you see, you are
in Parliament. But then, to be sure, one ought to speak
truly wherever they are. But Mr. Hedger says no.'

' Well, I say what you say. So we agree,' replied
Frankfort, not heeding the argument much, but interested in
her earnestness.

' Yes ; that is very right. But do you know what Mr.
Keech said, when I told him about Mr. Brookfield saying
that a politician must choose between being popular and
being useful.'

' Why, surely he approved of making a right choice ? '

' No, what he said was this : that if a man did not take
care he might end by being neither popular nor useful.'

1 Really ? '

' Yes, and you know what a good old man he is,' said
Eilly Lamborn, looking up at Frankfort, as if she deprecated
any disparaging criticism on his remarks.

' You see, he put it this way. This is what he said — he
said that a man to be useful must be popular, in a way at
least, you know.'

' Ah well, Miss Lamborn, I am afraid I could not live

vi PARLIAMENT 401

up to Mr. Keech's mark. It is no great purpose to be
popular merely, is it?'

'Yes, just so,' said Eilly Lamborn in a musing way.
' But you see you are there — in Parliament, I mean. I
know,' she added, with a laugh, ' that I should not care to
be anywhere I could not speak as I thought.'

'Well, Miss Lamborn, I must say that I deeply
appreciate your way of looking at the subject. Indeed, it
is exactly my own. You asked me just now to explain my
position to you. But you seem to me to understand it
yourself. Often, indeed, a high moral instinct leads us
better on such questions than mere argument.'

But here he observed a changed expression pass over
the honest countenance that was looking up at him — an
expression of disappointment, almost of pain. Some new
and evidently disparaging reflection was passing through the
mind of Eilly Lamborn. What could it be ? She seemed
to hesitate. He turned towards her with sympathetic atten-
tion, as if to assist the expression of this new idea.

The fact was that, when he had spoken of the high
moral instinct, the M'Glumpy incident had at once occurred
to her. She had only heard the ill-natured version of it —
that it was done to pay for the M'Glumpy votes. To talk
of high morality after this seemed to savour of hypocrisy.
If Eilly Lamborn could hate anything, she hated hypocrisy.

At last she said, in an accusing tone : ' But how, then,
could you appoint that letter-carrier, who could not read,
whatever his family had done for you ? ' The 'then' evidently
applied to his high moral tone.

' Gracious Heavens, you don't suppose, Miss Lamborn,
that I did it knowingly ? I took it for granted that, like all
the boys about, he had been to school. I cancelled my
nomination the moment I knew. Really, I am surprised
that you '

' Now, Eilly, you have got into another of your long
arguments about sermons or something, I suppose. And
here is Mr. Hedger waiting for you to play his song. You
know,' Mrs. Lamborn continued, turning to Frankfort — 'you
know, Mr. Hedger says that she is the only one who plays the
accompaniment properly to his song " Good Men and True.'"

VOL. I 2 D

402 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

There was one thing that Frankfort could not help
noticing whenever political matters came up in conversa-
tion, and that was that Eilly Lamborn was the one of the
party who realised clearly that the abstract question of
right or wrong, principle or no principle, did come into the
consideration of the subject. It evidently came naturally
to her — to be sure, a girl's view — though she spoke little,
leaving the arguments to Hedger and Neal Nickerson, with
her father coming in every now and then as umpire.
Hedger regarded the whole thing as a game, and concluded
that it was obvious that if a man went into any game he
must play according to the rules. Neal Nickerson agreed
to this conclusion, but said that, as Hedger stated it, it was
quite misleading, for that man had a right to dispute any
rules that he thought wrong and try to get them altered ;
but he agreed that, so long as the rules stood, all should
play the game in the same way. Mr. Lamborn thought
simply that a man should stick to his party and do the best
for his district All concurred that if a man did go into
politics it must be for some intelligible object. Mrs.
Lamborn thought a peerage. But Eilly Lamborn seemed
to have the innate idea that truthfulness and sincerity were
as right in politics as in everyday life.

This sympathy of feeling upon any subject — religion,
music, literature, politics — between a young woman and a
young man is very apt to develop into something deeper
and fonder still. It brings together and forms close
unions even between men. And then it is in holiday hours
and country scenes like these now at The Blocks — not in
the glare of the ballroom, for a few hours' interval amidst
business life — that young hearts are apt to grow fond.
Life seems then so bright and easy. We naturally turn to
pleasant visions. And the keen, though apparently languid,
observation of Mrs. Lamborn, whose whole soul was wrapped
up in her only child, soon discovered a possible danger, for
danger she was coming to regard it, the more she heard of
the conversations upon politics, and Frankfort's odd views
about them. It seemed less and less likely that he would
succeed at them, as she had hoped he would. And did she
want her dear child married to a man who was a failure?

vi PARLIAMENT 403

Personally she liked him well enough, and, like a good wife,
was anxious to be civil to him, as he was a brother legislator
of her husband's ; but she could not help thinking that the
brilliant young American, Mr. Fooks, who was coming to
stay next week, would be a better man to encourage.
Certainly the Ethereal Starch Company, which he had come
over to manage in Excelsior, did not sound in any way
aristocratic ; but then he was said to belong to one of the
F.F. (first families) of Virginia — more ancient, in fact, than
Lord Kilgour's, which only came into notice at the time of
the Union with Ireland. The good lady, as was natural,
secretly confided her views to her husband, who much
respected her superior wisdom in such matters. But he was
disposed to take rather a different view of the situation, as
he thought it was quite possible that, after getting a little
experience, Frankfort would prove after all to be a success-
ful man. However, he agreed to her suggestion that he
should not on this occasion be asked, as had been intended,
to prolong his stay into the following week, for the purpose
of meeting the popular young American. But he did this
rather unwillingly, and said that Frankfort, at any rate, was
as much a gentleman as any of them, and that whenever he
visited the district he would be always glad to entertain
him, ' starch or no starch.'

' Well, you need not be vulgar about it, in any case,
Tom,' was the just rebuke with which Mrs. Lamborn closed
the curtained conference.

When Frankfort, hearing no suggestion for the prolong-
ing his stay, announced his plans for departure, Eilly
suggested to her mother that she should prevail upon him
to wait, as was arranged at first, to meet Mr. Fooks, as
they would be good company together, and it would be fun
to hear them arguing. But the mother skilfully excused
herself by saying that she did not feel her heart strong
enough to ' entertain all the people together,' as she put it, in
a general way, and that he must come and stay with them next
winter when things were quieter. As her mother did suffer
from weak action of the heart, Eilly said not another word.

He left them, then, at the end of the week. At break-
fast the day before he went away the old question about

404 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP, vi

politics suddenly came up again, introduced by Hedger,
who had ridden over early to get Mr. Lamborn's signature
to a notice of appeal under the Rabbit Assessment Act
Eilly Lamborn broke in more positively this time, and
rather confusedly, with her view that it was a right and true
thing for a man to say what he thought. Mr. Hedger was
just beginning his reply in the usual way, ' My dear young

lady ' when Eilly exclaimed, slightly flushing, that, as

she could not explain clearly what she meant, and as Mr.
Frankfort had to go away, she would write her views and
send them to him. This idea annoyed Mrs. Lamborn, but
she was too kind a mother to say much. So she only
remarked — ' Well, Eilly, you are always doing something
odd, so Mr. Frankfort will not be surprised when he gets
your reasons and writings and things about politics.'

'Why, Mrs. Lamborn,' he said, quite truthfully, 'the
writing will only be a continuation of this conversation, and
I am sure it has been nothing but pleasant.'

They all parted most kindly. Frankfort never suspected
that any coolness lurked beneath the tranquil manner of
Mrs. Lamborn. He could not but feel, yet he scarcely
owned to himself, the spell that Eilly Lamborn, unconsciously
on her part, seemed for the time at least to cast over him
by her noble natural insight into the higher view of human
life, and, to be sure, also by that delightful open and sincere
manner, and especially by the magic of that eye. It is a
terrible organ the eye, for the sway it can establish at certain
times. He recalled the words of his Burns —

She charm'd my soul I wist na how ;
And ay the stound, the deadly wound
Cam frae her een sae bonnie blue.

But as he rolled away in the train, he began to recover
himself. He repressed tender feelings, for he knew that his
position was precarious, and was beginning to think that his
career might not be destined to be what is commonly con-
sidered a very successful one. And he held that it was not
only unwise, but dishonest, to contract obligations in the
most serious affair of life without a reasonable prospect of
being able to meet them.

CHAPTER VII

PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION

THE history of the political and social movements in
Excelsior is instructive as showing how the forces that are
at work in our time operate in an advanced community of
intelligent and prosperous men, placed amid conditions of
perfect freedom, relieved from old-world trammels, starting
afresh upon their national career, and able from the easy
conditions of their life to try what experiments they please,
not alone in matters of political Government, but in the
more perplexing sphere of industrial life. The Province
dated from its infancy scarcely three generations. The
pioneers were hardy and enterprising emigrants who won
and made their home in the primeval forests. They started
fairly together, equally poor, their little world of enterprise
open to all alike, with no distinction between them except,
indeed, that fundamental and determining difference that
Nature makes when she drops the baby into the cradle. At
first they were wholly occupied with the struggle to secure
their footing in the new land, and to control to their use its
great natural capabilities. As time went on and new immi-
grants came in, from all the nations of Europe, but chiefly
from Britain, which they proudly claimed as their mother-
land, their attention became more directed to the form of
Government under which it would please them to live. The
home authorities gave them full scope to constitute this as
they liked, and to alter it as often and in whatever manner
they thought best. If they even desired to separate alto-
gether from the Empire and set up a Republic of their

405

406 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

own, no serious objection would, at that time, have been
raised. They were far away at the Antipodes, and had
their fortunes within their own grasp.

It is not in many periods of man's history that we can
see such an experiment tried. A civilised, instructed people,
sprung from a race with such noble political traditions as
the English, placed in a new and bountiful land, and left to
mould their institutions at their own pleasure. They were free
from the hard conditions of life that weigh down peoples in
old lands. They had no smouldering religious feuds, ever
ready to burst into flame at the breath of bigotry or faction ;
no perplexing problems of race ; no privileged classes with
ancient vested rights ; no antiquated institutions, burden-
some to retain, yet difficult to pull down ; no army or navy
to support ; no foreign relations to distract their energies or
tax their pockets. They had no pauper masses, the sad
inheritance from past ages. If there were to be the poor
among them, they must produce them from themselves. They
had an abundance of land, fertile to cultivate, and possessing
also other elements of wealth — coal, iron, silver, timber.
Their climate was gracious to man, enabling him to live and
work in the open air the whole year through, not hindered
by an inclement winter, as in the other hemisphere. They
were free from many deadly forms of disease, which in the
long centuries of man's habitation had been ineradicably
acclimatised in the old world. The kindly observer, seeing
these things, might well apply to the new settlers the
ancient benediction : ' May the gods grant you long life !
As for all other good gifts, they are already your own.'

The form of their Government soon naturally engaged
the attention of the settlers. This was moulded upon
English lines and upon popular principles, as they were
then understood. The Queen, operating through her agent,
the Governor, was the head of the Government. This
royal framework of the Executive gives a tone or style
to the most extreme forms of popular rule. They consti-
tuted two chambers of the Legislature, in one of which all
the men of the Province were represented equally ; while in
their Senate they sought to give effect to what philosophical
Liberals, such as Mackintosh, Mill, and de Tocqueville, lay

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 407

down as essential to the success of Democracy — the principle
of some centre of resistance to the immediate impulse of the
popular vote, so as to give the public time to ascertain what
the settled will of the people was. But soon more advanced
ideas prevailed, and their Senate, which had been repre-
sentative of only a part of the people, was turned into a
Nominee Chamber, to which the people's Government
appointed men who could be relied upon not to obstruct or
delay the carrying out of the people's wish. Soon universal
suffrage, equal electoral districts, the ballot, payment for
members of both Houses, and short Parliaments gave the
Government into the hands of the male population of the
Province. All remnants of exclusiveness, or privilege to
property or social position, were swept away. All stood
level before the ballot-box, the man of thousands casting in
his one vote upon equal terms with the day-labourer.

But still the political machine was felt to be incomplete.
A generous sentiment soon called for the concession to
women of equal political power with men ; and soon the
electoral rolls of Excelsior were doubled by the inclusion
of the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters of the Province.

After these reforms something was yet felt to be want-
ing— indeed, much was felt to be wanting. The enthusiasm
of the people for their Parliament did not increase as they
came to be more completely identified with it. It may
seem strange that this should be so, but such was the
fact. Defects appeared clearer upon closer acquaintance.
There was among the public no submissive deference, such
as their fathers felt in the old land for the Parliament,
placed as it was at a distance above them, to restrain too
independent a scrutiny into its failings. The people were
directly mixed up with the institution, and perhaps found in
it a reflex of their own infirmities. They saw through the
so-called party system, which in their young industrial com-
munity meant the contest between the ins and the outs.
The Populist or Socialist element, which was a real power,
owing to its aggressive qualities and its ceaseless activity,
complained that they were not able to get their social
reforms carried out promptly. Parliament, they averred,
often trifled with those reforms, taking them up for party

4°8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

purposes and then neglecting them, or adopting them in
some mangled shape owing to political considerations.

One of the more advanced proposals for coping with the
evil was to abolish this same Party Government, and have
affairs carried on by a standing committee of the House of
Representatives that would be always ready to do what the
public wanted. But the more popular project was to have,
in one form or another, direct legislation by the people ;
though in Excelsior they had not reached the still more
advanced stage that some American States have arrived at,
which prohibit their Legislatures from meeting at all oftener
than once in so many years. In Excelsior the desire was
to have the ultimate decision upon proposed laws resting
with the direct popular vote. In passing, it may be
remarked that the ideal towards which advanced democracies
are now tending is that of a central authority, absolute in
its scope of action, but dependent upon the people for
periodical election, which would promptly carry out the
measures of social relief that are now the chief concern of
peoples, political power having been won. The feeling is
that Parliaments have had their day. The enthusiasm for
individual liberty has cooled. The need for it is not so
much felt ; while impatience at delays in getting what is
wanted suggests the practical advantage of a benevolent and
popular despotism. In this feeling we are coming back to
older times. The social reformers in France in the middle
of the eighteenth century, who propounded wise measures for
ameliorating the lot of the people, which, if adopted, might
even have saved the French Monarchy, always maintained
that these could be best carried out under an absolute king.
The Manchester school, which was for giving votes to the
masses, left them to find bread for themselves.

In Excelsior it was not long before the inevitable trend
of modern democracy to make politics a social science was
made plain. The political constitution of the little com-
munity was changed and changed again, modified and
expanded at pleasure, till all men and women voted as they
pleased, and nominated delegates to do their bidding. Not
a vestige of caste or class remained. No one was born
superior to any one else. Even the few who were better off

vn PROGRESSIVE LEGISLA T1ON 409

than the rest were a constantly changing quantity, being
continually and rapidly recruited from below, and they, or
at least their children, evermore tumbling down into the
crowd.

Yet life remained a troublesome matter even in this new
land and under such conditions. After all was done that
could be done to complete the political machine, things still
went awry on the social side of life. There was no such
poverty as in older lands appals thinking men. On the
contrary, wages were higher and the necessaries of life lower
than in most other parts of the world. Still, unquestionably
some men were able to jump upon the shoulders of the rest
and gain position and affluence at the top ; while others, and
they not idle men either, had to toil on for their daily bread,
and, even in Excelsior, at exceptional times, found difficulty
in getting the work at the established wage by which they
could win this bread. Why should this be so ? is a question
that any man can readily ask, but to which a direct answer
is not so easy to give. At least, while you may state the
reasons for the fact, there is more difficulty in showing the
justification for the reasons. But when the less fortunate,
who are the great majority, have power placed in their
hands by a system which proclaims that all men are equal,
when they ask this question it is evident that they will not
be contented with any mere scholastic treatment of the
problem. They will set themselves to remedy this faulty
state of things if they can. And whether they will abolish
or will tolerate industrial freedom, with its necessary inci-
dent, competition, upon which modern society so far rests,
depends upon whether it can be so moulded as to make the
worse off, or at least a large proportion of them, personally
interested in preserving it.

But, as regards Excelsior, only the initial stage of the
contest had been reached. The people had power, and
being dissatisfied with mere political results, turned all their
energy to the task of improving the lot of the toilers by
labour laws and by Government assistance. Politics were
merged in social effort — the effort to turn to useful account
those new and all-powerful forces that were now vested in
the people.

4io JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Much that tended in this direction had been accom-
plished already. A simple narrative of what had been so
far done would impress any observer who came from the
heavily-laden populations of the old world. From the first
the people of Excelsior had been impressed by the truth,
which was so frequently proclaimed by the early social
reformers, that ignorance was one of the prime causes of
poverty ; and they had early established in the Province a
system of free, secular, and compulsory education, under
which the present generation of the people had been brought
up. It was free even to the extent of finding books and
slates for the poorer children, and also under special circum-
stances paying a small sum to the parents to defray the
cost of sending them . to school. Liberal scholarships were
provided to help promising students to go on to the William
Dorland University. Expense was not heeded in carrying
out the system. Wherever a few settlers' huts, a store, and
a blacksmith's shop were to be found throughout the bush,
they were followed by a school. Want of a sufficient supply
of good land for the people to work upon has ever been
considered another pregnant cause of poverty. This diffi-
culty did not exist for the people of Excelsior. They had
more than they knew what to do with. It was given all
over the Province at a nominal rent, that after a few years
purchased the freehold, to those who undertook to settle
upon it and to carry on cultivation. The laws were so
framed as to exclude the capitalist, and give it to the poor
man whose labour was his property. In bad seasons the
payment of the rent was postponed. Railways were made
by the Government at a vast cost over the Province, to bring
the produce of the land to market ; and were worked by
the State, without regard to profit, for the purpose of giving
a cheap service to the public, and also so as to maintain a
good standard of wages for the employees.

After a while the distance from the seaboard and the
metropolis was, railways notwithstanding, held to be too
heavy a handicap to the producer. Some large estates of
the best lands were accumulated in the natural course of
events. So laws were passed taxing specially large holdings,
and also enabling the Government to buy, if need be com-

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 411

pulsorily, good properties near the best markets, and to
lease them out to the people upon easy terms of long-dated
payments. Large sums were borrowed in Europe to carry
out this policy.

Cheap money is often a want in industrial work. The
Government of Excelsior borrowed large sums, lent it out to
the small farmers, and made the repayment extend over a
prolonged term of years. To further assist the worker, small
contracts to clear forest lands were let out to the unemployed,
and the cleared parts were then leased to them in perpetuity
at a rent that was to pay, ultimately, the cost of the con-
tracts. Bonuses were given for special agricultural products.
Stores to facilitate their export were erected at the cost of
Government, and a Minister of Lands and Agriculture,
assisted by a staff of experts, gave all practical help and
instruction to the workers in prosecuting their industry.
Similar aid was given to the mining industry by the Minister
of Mines and his experts. A large yearly endowment was
paid to the Local Boards throughout the country to assist in
making roads, promoting local improvements, and affording
employment. The Public Works Department also expended
money obtained by loans freely upon national works through-
out the Province.

But the chief attention of the Government and Legis-
lature was bestowed upon the people in the towns. It was
held that there must be a diversity of occupation for the
young, and to promote this a strong system of Protection
was adopted. Whatever could be made in the country was
prevented from being imported. Several factories sprang
up, giving employment to many ; but as production in-
creased, and they could not produce so cheaply as to be
able to export, falling profits led to declining wages and to
generally unsatisfactory conditions of employment. There-
upon what was considered the most advanced Factory Act
in the world was passed. All factories were put under
strict Government inspection. A minimum wage was fixed,
and the further arrangement of wages was handed over to
Boards. Home work was discouraged to the utmost, and
all articles made in private dwellings had to be labelled.
The hours of work were strictly limited, and numerous

412 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

provisions, including directions for holidays, were made to
protect the workers of all ages. A change truly from the
time when children under ten used to be found upon the
forms asleep from the exhaustion of their twelve or fifteen
hours' a day toil !

The Industrial, Conciliation, and Arbitration laws en-
abled seven workpeople to bring the employer before the
Board to answer any complaint, and compelled the settle-
ment of industrial disputes by the appointed tribunals. The
Employers' Liability Act protected the wage -earner, as far
as possible, from injury. Numerous laws provided for the
supervision of shipping and the safety of seamen. The
Master and Apprentice Act guarded the young ; the Coal
Mines Act regulated the coal mines ; the Servants' Registry
Act, the engagement of servants ; the Contractors' and
Workmen's Lien Act gave a lien over property to those who
had done work upon it ; while the Wages' Attachment Act
prevented wages of less than £2 a week from being attached
for the debt of the wage-earner. Shops were not overlooked.
The hours that they could be kept open were fixed by law,
and all had to give one half-holiday a week to every person
employed.

The Minister of Labour, supported by the Secretary for
Labour, Chief Inspector of Factories, and a staff of local
inspectors, male and female, throughout the Province, took a
sympathetic care that the laws were strictly enforced and
the wage-earner protected. Their inspection was continuous
and minute, and extended to every industry and to every
district of the Province. As one of the official reports of
the Secretary for Labour states, the inspection was not con-
fined to cities, though no doubt it was most searching there.
He says : ' Men scattered widely at the various occupations
of colonial country life — shearing, harvesting, bush-felling,
road-making — or sailing coastal vessels, etc., require legal
protection against the dangers and disabilities to which their
callings expose them. This general dispersion of industry
necessitates not only a wide system of supervision, but legis-
lative measures of a peculiar character, at once sufficiently
elastic to comprehend many varieties of function, and yet
rigid to crush any apparent abuse.'

vn PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 413

In their yearly reports to Parliament, the officials dis-
cussed all the wrongs and incidents of industrial life — strikes,
the unemployed, sweating, co-operative contracts, State
farms, charitable aid, the truck system, shops and factories,
accidents to the workers, and convictions of the masters for
infringements of the law.

It is evident that a large expenditure would be required
to maintain this system of Government. In Excelsior the
yearly estimates of expenditure showed an outlay that would
have astonished the old nations of Europe. The revenue
was supplied by a high scale of taxation upon income and
property, by heavy Customs duties upon imports, and also
by loan money that was freely supplied from the London
market. In earlier times large sums were got by the sale of
Crown lands, and some income was still obtained from the
rents of the leaseholders. There was a graduated Land Tax
that exempted all improvements from taxation, and which
applied only to properties that were over £500 in value;
and an Income Tax that left all incomes under £300 a year
untouched. As these taxes only fell upon a few, they did
not produce much, and the bulk of the money required had
to be got from the other sources mentioned.

A considerable portion of the public expenditure was
owing, directly or indirectly, to the duty which the State
latterly undertook of finding work for the unemployed.
Notwithstanding the favourable conditions of the Province
for industry, it was not long before the unemployed difficulty
presented itself. At first the Government declined to admit
that it was the duty of the State to find employment for the
people, unless at some exceptional crisis, and then at works
upon which a wage, somewhat lower than the full market
rate, would be paid. It was then argued that if they were
to provide for the manual workers, they should equally pro-
vide for the many unemployed clerks and governesses in the
Province. But later on in its history, at a season of indus-
trial depression, and when, to whatever cause owing, there
was a good deal of distress, this attitude of the Government
was departed from, and its duty to provide work was quietly
conceded. The accepted formula for expressing the claims
of the workers was, that the State should find every willing

414 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

man work, or at least put him in the way of finding it for
himself. The work thus given was paid for at the full
market rate of wages, which was above the value of what a
man's labour would produce if employed in tilling the soil,
though not above what the combined action of the protection
of industry and the enactment of the minimum wage secured
to the workers in the limited home market of the town
industries. Public works were undertaken partly with a
view to their usefulness, but also in consideration of the
work that they would give to the unemployed. And in
this way active interests and particular districts were able to
secure the carrying out of works that would not have been
undertaken upon their intrinsic merits.

The Minister of Labour superintended the administration
of this part of State service. An office was opened for
registering applicants. Books were kept which recorded the
names of thousands of manual workers (for these only were
entertained), and they were provided for in the order of
priority of registration as far as a vigilant Government could
provide for them.

There could be no doubt that the social state of Excel-
sior was a happy one, nay, a blessed one among nations.
Its natural conditions made the production of wealth easy.
Large sums of money raised by the Government went in the
wages of labour, which in Europe would go to war or the
preparations for war. Stringent legislation and the constant
vigilance of a people's Government promoted the distribution
of wealth among the people at large. Still, there were poor
in the land. The social reformers were eager to take
measures to prevent the growing up among them of evils
similar to those which afflicted older lands, and some of
which they discerned to be creeping in among them despite
all their efforts and amid all the conditions of prosperity that
surrounded them. The call for progressive legislation to
cope with them was constant. Some citizens said, or rather
whispered to one another, that a main cause of the want of
employment was that the settlers could not cultivate the
land at the wages fixed by the Government standard and
under the uncertain conditions of labour. They could only pay
the wage that the land produced in the world's market. Thus

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 415

they got out of the way of employing, and the workers of look-
ing to them for employment, or adapting themselves to work
on the land. But the view of the authorities was different.

The pages of the provincial Hansard contained frequent
references to the struggling position of many of the workers,
and the difficulty they found in rising in life or bettering
their lot. Thus it seemed that one effect of the very
stringency of the labour legislation, and the benevolent
activity of the Government, was to increase the need for the
extension of the system, and to discredit the old-fashioned
individualistic methods for coping with the evils of life. The
advanced party held that all things led up to a point when
a further departure in progressive legislation was demanded,
if they were ever to solve effectually the problem of poverty
in their province.

When a new Government takes office in a self-governing
country, it is expected to announce a fresh and vigorous
policy of some kind — something stirring and something
attractive. In Excelsior this had always to include some
proposals for the industrial relief of the worker. There
were many social ills still to be dealt with. But what
specially challenged attention was the increase of poverty
among the aged. For as the province grew in years, the
proportion of old people in the community increased, and
the many — and even there there were many — who had failed
in the battle of life were being faced with the twin evils of
painful want and sad old age. The operation of the
minimum wage, too, had been to displace workers who were
past their prime. As they were prevented from earning a
living by the law, which benefited the younger men at their
expense, it was not unreasonable that they should look for
another law to provide for them. To do this was one of
the advanced proposals of the day, but there were many
other plans mooted for the relief of the people. Some of
those announced by the very progressive party were considered
to be wild and even impossible ; but so many ideas which
had been regarded in the same light in the past were now
accepted as obviously right and reasonable, that it was hard
to say where the line was to be drawn in the future. The
presumption was in favour of anything new and striking.

416 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Leaving now Sir Donald and his colleagues to select
which of the progressive reforms they will take up for the
session's work, we find that our politician was not idle
during the Parliamentary recess. In Excelsior the most
exacting work of the Member of Parliament was outside
Parliament, attending to the business of his constituents.
This naturally increases the more paternal the government
becomes, and the more the State has to do for districts and
private interests. The public are impatient of delay in
having their wants attended to. The result has been, in all
countries that have popular government, the rapid development
of the agency functions of the political representative, and
that a new double-sided profession has been developed, with
a business side and a political side, but of which the business
side is the more laborious of the two. For the wants of a
district seem more important to its residents than do the
wants of the country. A special rush of deputations always
sets in upon a new Government, and the skilful spokesman
who at such a time introduces a deputation does not fail to
convey to the young Minister what a good opportunity he
has of showing how broad and generous are the views of the
new Cabinet.

Among the letters that our politician found upon his
table one morning about this time was one from Birnie
Farrar, the Town Clerk of Glooscap, asking him to attend
' a grand united Deputation from Brassville, Leadville, and
Tinville,' on the following Tuesday, to the Minister of Lands,
which was to be introduced by Mr. Theodore Bunker, the
Member for Leadville. It was to urge upon the Minister to
grapple with the Rabbit question, which the circular stated
' had now reached an acute stage.' They were to meet at
eleven o'clock at the Tramway Arms Hotel, in order to settle
the line of action before the Minister.

A few days afterwards Frankfort called at the Water
Bureau to see the Minister, Mr. Slater Scully, who had
written to him asking his opinion upon a constitutional
question that had arisen with regard to Riparian rights in
the Water Conservation Bill. Slater Scully, though himself
a lawyer, had no taste for intricate phases of any subject, and
was rather perplexed over the complex questions of public

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 417

and private rights that his Bill had raised. Our politician
chose a Friday afternoon, as he knew that the Minister
would then be more at leisure than he was during the earlier
days of the week. He found the faithful Crane in the
waiting-room, as placid and as obsequious as ever.

' It's proud I am to see your Honer, and hope your
Honer's well. It's just this very minute that Mr. Lavender
has left — most special, particular business took him. I
wonder your Honer did not meet him straight upon top
of the steps there, going down into the street.'

Thus Crane spoke, moving round and round before
Frankfort, and at the same time slightly receding back in
his movement, as if mutely to express his willingness that
he should come in.

' That's all right, Crane. I don't want Mr. Lavender :
I want to see the Minister. Is he in ? '

' His Excellency ? He is in beyond there. Only he is
so dreadful busy. But His Excellency would see your
Honer at any time, I'm thinking — he would, to be sure.'

And Crane, with bent head and a complaisant motion
forward, led the way to the Minister's room.

To the gentle tap of the head porter at the door, a loud
and jovial ' Come in ' responded, and as our politician entered
the Minister waved him a welcome from the depths of a
capacious arm-chair, in which he was reclining, smoking a
cigar.

' Glad to see you, Professor. The very man I like to
come to me. When soul meets soul, then comes — the solace
of human life. Office is killing me. Official life is shorten-
ing my natural life. It 'is a relief to talk with a man who
wants nothing.'

' Yes, to be sure, I don't want anything just now — not
till next week ; and then it is not in your line either. The
rabbits go with the Lands, I think ? '

' Rabbits ! Did you say rabbits, my learned friend ?
Why, there's that miscreant, my colleague, Sammy Winkley,
by office Minister of the Territorial Lands, has gone and
shunted off on me a deputation upon the very subject of those
multitudinous little creatures — a grand monster, triple-exten-
sion combination of a deputation. " Prevented by severe

VOL. I 2 E

4i8 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

indisposition," the rogue says. I say — severe indisposition to
stay in town for it. But I will be even with you, Master
Winkley. I'll give you away, wicked Winkley. Whatever
they ask, I will grant and promise in your name.'

' Why, that must be the deputation that I have been
written to about, from Glooscap.'

* To be sure it is. Theodore Bunker, M.P., came about
it. Triple extension, as I say — Leadville, Brassville, Tinville.
Whatever you want shall be done, to please you, and pay
out Winkley. If it is only difficult, it is done. If it is
impossible, it shall be done.'

' Thank you deeply in anticipation, Mr. Minister,' said
Frankfort, with a laugh. ' You are just in the mood for
Theodore Bunker.'

As Slater Scully sank back gently in his deep chair,
and looked up at the ceiling with a resigned but restful air,
Frankfort added :

' About those Riparian rights ; perhaps you are too busy
to take up the question now ? '

' Busy, dear friend ? Yes. No. Not now. Exhausted
nature will no more ; this week, I mean. Slight intellectual
recreation ; mutual converse, friend with friend, mind to
mind ; or, as I say, soul to soul ; that is what my soul now
demands. Have a cigar ; these are the real superfine ; beat
opium-smoking. Let us talk — let us talk.'

As Frankfort passed round to another capacious arm-
chair on the other side of the table, his eye was caught
by a large invitation card, which lay on the top of a bundle
of letters. It was marked by a deep border of gold. Two
plethoric golden letters, R. and F., were interlaced at the
top. It proclaimed that Alderman and Mrs. Jortin would
be at home at ' The Anvil ' on a certain afternoon.

' I have got one of these too,' said Frankfort. ' What
does the gold mean, and the letters ? And how does he
come into the " At Home " ? Something new, is it not ? '

{ Ah, there's where I have the pull on you. You have
no lady of the house to explain these arcana. The gold ?
Don't you see it's the golden wedding ? Jortin was married,
a boy of nineteen, fifty years ago ; the only precipitate, yet
one of the wisest things he has done in his wise life. That

viz PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 419

is why his name is on the card, and the letters R. and F.,
Robert and Fanny, interwoven together, like the owners of
the names. Most poetical, dear friend.'

' I suppose we should all go then ? '

' Well, you observe it stated that he is at home as well
as she. That is, I am credibly informed, a polite hint to
men to come. He calls his home "The Anvil." No silly
pride about Jortin. The money made at the ironworks
founded his home, and he appropriately names it " The
Anvil." '

' I shall go then, by all means. The Jortins have been
civil to me ; and then he is one of the Board of Overseers of
the University. But these daylight " at homes " — well, any-
way, you go through a great deal to get very little.'

' They are unquestionably,' Slater Scully responded sen-
tentiously, ' an integral, and, I presume, an essential portion
of Nature's mysterious, penitential, and disciplinary dispensa-
tion for the race of man. I talk not now of woman. But
I am going. You will find Slater Scully there, following
Mrs. Slater Scully about in a docile manner. And, indeed,
I hear that old Jortin means to come down handsome and
do things in a grand style ! '

' Yes ; and I suppose he is an old friend of yours. But
what sort of fellow is Jortin ? One hears all kind of
things about him. I know him only as Overseer at the
University. I have not seen much of him.'

' Friend of mine? He is more. He is a client — one of
my best. He made my fortune at the law without meaning
it. A youth tried to rob him ; but I satisfied a jury of his
countrymen and mine that he was the true criminal of the
episode.'

' Really ? Gracious Heavens ! why, how did all that
come about ? '

4 Well, if you have a noble thirst for knowledge, list,
Hamlet, O list. The afternoon is long ; I have cast aside
the cares of State till next week, including rivers to be
dammed and rabbits to be exterminated. But that cigar
you have got is not one for my story — it won't last it out. It
is from what I call the Opposition box. Take one from
the de Cabana^ the Ministerial lot — fine long-winded fellows.

420 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

And Slater Scully touched the electric button at the
table, and when Crane's head appeared at the door, he called
out in a commanding tone that he, the Minister of the
Bureau, was on no account to be disturbed while he trans-
acted important business with Professor Frankfort ; unless,
indeed, Sir Donald, the Premier himself, should require to
see him. He then reclined back in his chair to enjoy what
he dearly loved, a restful repose of the body, together with a
gentle and interesting excitation of the mind, produced by
indulgence in his favourite pastime of telling o'er one of his
eventful stories.

' It was even thus, my friend,' he continued. ' Old Jortin
had a daughter, generally spoken of by the critical social public
as Jortin's pretty daughter, to distinguish her from the two
others called the plain Miss Jortins. Of course, married
early against his will, — well-looking fellow, receding fore-
head, faultless shirt-front, black heart. French— by name
Gustave Hilaire d'Ade. Troubles followed in due course.
Stern Jortin first disowns her ; then forgives her. Faultless
Shirt Front deserts her — no more money to be got — dis-
appears, afterwards lost at sea ; but left as parting gift one son,
precious to broken-hearted mother. Only son grows up in
dutiful recognition of precedent set by faultless Shirt Front :
unstable young chap ; no holding him ; gambling from his
marbles upwards. At last, as a youth, gets into gambling
speculations ; ends by forging grandpapa Jortin's name to
transfer of mining scrip. Usual thing, deposit for security to
raise a couple of hundred for a week ; easy resale of shares
he was buying to make his fortune, at large profit, all be put
straight again, — grand speculation in silver ; at worst, grand-
father would never prosecute. But things go awry with
men and mice. Lo, attorney for lender, entering transfer, by
chance blots it. Better make fresh copy ; get Jortin sign
again. Presented accordingly. " What may this be ? ''
" Your transfer of those shares." Forgery discovered.
Jortin furious. Attorney hurries away; takes out warrant
to arrest youth. Superintendent of Police goes privately to
Jortin. " Warrant issued, my dear sir. Your own grandson,
you see, the forger — if it really be a forgery ; quite a boy.
Perhaps he thought he had your authority — some misappre-

vn PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 421

hension. If you concede authority, case over — end of un-
pleasant business."

' Jortin's blood up, but only inside ; cold and calm out-
side.

' " I own to a falsehood, Mr. Superintendent ? No, sir.
No authority. Don't mind my feelings, I beg."

' Officer retires. Declares Jortin hard as his own iron ;
money more than blood, bad blood to be sure — faultless
Shirt Front.'

' Well, it does seem an inhuman thing. His own
flesh—

' Dear friend, you talk like a D.D. Still, there was this
in it,' continued Slater Scully, looking with a half-reflective
and half-inquiring air at the curls of smoke from his cigar
as they floated gracefully upwards. ' There is this in it,
dear Frankfort, that the thing was known, the warrant was
issued, the lender was proceeding ; the only way out was
for Jortin to do two things, neither of which he took a fancy
to. One was to pay the money ; the other was to own his
authority to the transaction. To be fair, Jortin was a per-
fectly truthful man, and as straight as the shortest line be-
tween here and the door. A Philadelphia lawyer could not
disentangle all the motives that actuated him ; but he satis-
fied himself, at least, that it was his duty not to cover up
crime, and so on and so forth. However, the young mother
came to me, broken-hearted, to defend her boy. Pretty
widow — pretty widow, you damaged the heart of Slater
Scully at that interview. Twenty years of law and politics
and iniquity generally have not scorched away the feeling
from my breast of the sympathy that swelled up within me
as I saw her distracted between the devotion of the mother
and love of the daughter. For she loved old Jortin all the
while. " Madam," I said, " don't distress yourself. This is
not a matter for me at all. Go to your father ; he won't
refuse you ; get him to stop the thing and pay the money
himself."

4 " I have gone," she sobbed, " and father has been kind to
me. But he said he couldn't — was not possible, or legal, or
something of that sort."

' And then she described the interview to me between

422 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

father and daughter, and the image of it yet remains in the
brain of Slater Scully. The father, stern by nature, still
with a kind feeling for his belongings, but hardened as to
all business affairs by the struggles and conflicts of a life-
time ; seated at his business desk, outwardly cool, and
impervious to any considerations beyond the principles of
the counting-house, and roused to the deep solid anger of
which he was capable by the outrage that had been done to
him morally, and even more financially ; yet he was touched
by the moving spectacle of the young mother — for she had
married when quite a child — pleading in such sad case to
her father, for her son. He knew that he felt for her ; but
what did she feel for the boy?

' " Father — grandfather," she said, with broken voice,
"you must save my boy — the little boy I used to bring to
see you ; so good he was, and looked so pretty. I can't
think of his being in prison with bad men and dreadful
things all about him."

' He would be a strange father, my friend, who would
not be moved ; and Jortin was deeply moved. He was on
the point of giving way and telling the pretty daughter to
dry her tears, as he would do everything as she wished, when
some bad spirit that must have been hovering around in the air
suggested various considerations to check him. There was
the loss of the money. He could not claim the scrip if he
admitted the transfer. Then the audacious example of the
young scamp in forging his, Robert Jortin's, signature ; and
its effect upon the clerks in the office, one of whom he had
recently prosecuted and had convicted for embezzlement.
Further, would it be right in him to admit an authority, or,
at least, a tacit sanction to the signing of his name, which, in
fact, did not exist ? Still, he was moved. He did feel for
his daughter. True, she had defied him in marrying the
man with the faultless shirt-front ; but had she not suffered,
and had he not forgiven her and received her for several
years past ? He paused for a moment before he replied ; and
then, I suppose, the evil spirit came on with a rush, for he
slowly said :

' " It is dreadful, my dear Fanny — dreadful. But can I
help it now? I cannot, as they say in law, compound a

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 423

felony. It is not the money. It is — I am a Justice. I
cannot be a party to a crime."

1 " Was that his answer to you ? " I asked. She only
replied with a sob.

' " Very well, madam," I continued, " you can dry your
tears. I will defend your boy. We shall win — we shall
win. He will be a free boy again with you directly ! "

' " But what can you say ? He does not deny it," she
said, looking up with a sudden surprise through her tears.

' " Leave that to me, madam — leave that to me. It is
enough for you that we shall win."

' " Well, do get him off some way ! " she exclaimed with
sobs. " But don't say bad things of father, either. It is the
law he thinks of, you know. He is a Justice." '

' You had not much of a case on the merits,' remarked
Frankfort.

' Merits ! Hadn't I, though. Poor boy ; rich grand-
father ; flesh and blood more than gold ; human nature
before bank notes, and so forth. And I was in luck, my
friend — I was in luck. The judge was old Flatley, who
would confuse any twelve men if he tried to explain that the
whole was equal to its parts, or that two and two didn't
make five ; and as for the jury, several of them were so well
stricken in years that they might have been the grandfather
themselves, and they could only hear now and then what
was going on. So I let them prove everything : asked only
a few questions to show the wealth of the Alderman, and that
the prisoner was his grandchild. When the Crown case
closed, the Judge asked me if I called witnesses. I did look
surprised, you may believe me.

'"Witnesses, your Honour? To answer what?" I
exclaimed. " Certainly not ! "

' " Oh, I merely wanted to know," said old Flatley, " so
as to put it on my notes. Perhaps you will address the
jury, then, Mr. Slater Scully ? "

' " Well, perhaps I may as well, your Honour," I replied.
Then, turning to the jury, I began in a subdued, indifferent
tone by saying that the case was so plain that I was quite
in doubt whether I should address them at all or not.
Obviously that innocent -looking boy before them assumed

424 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

that he had his grandfather's authority for the transaction.
What more natural when one considered Nature's crimson
thread between parent and grandchild ? When there ap-
peared to be some unexpected trouble about the authority,
the poor boy and widowed mother offered to repay all. Was
there a criminal in the transaction ? Far be it from me to
deny it. But where was he ? That was the question the
jury should ask themselves with trumpet tongues. " Not
there is the criminal," said I, pointing to the dock ; " but
there ! " I exclaimed with outstretched arm and withering
glance directed towards where old Jortin was sitting, the
very image of calm respectability. " None of them," I
continued, " were old enough to have reached grand-paternal
dignity ; but yet, as even young men, they could have some
idea of what the feelings of a natural grandfather would be.
What, then, were they to say to one who disowned his own
offspring, and whose heart could only beat hard, metallic
strokes, like the clinking of his own coin ? Good Heavens,
was it come to this ! A new sort of Shylock in their fair
young province, who claimed not only his pound of flesh,
but his pound of flesh sliced from his own offspring. The
five -and -thirty thousand a year that Alderman Jortin
enjoyed " — I thought it better to mention a good sum while
I was about it, and several of the jury took a note of the
amount — " was certainly an income that a plain man might
manage to live upon. But as for me, I would rather live
and die plain, penniless Slater Scully than possess money
that would freeze up the genial current of my soul." I
wound up, my friend, with a general denunciation of ill-
gotten gains, and with an expression of my confident
assurance that their verdict would be based upon the
immutable principles of truth and justice.'

' I suppose you were all right till the Judge came to sum
up?' remarked Frankfort.

' Yes, friend, and I was all right then too ; for, d'ye see,
old Flatley also thought the case too clear to call for much
comment — no defence, in fact — so he began just as I began,
" Plain case, gentlemen, needn't trouble you much about it " ;
read some of his notes, commenced explaining the law about
authority, and no authority, and want of previous authority

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 425

supplied by subsequent ratification, and dating back, and the
Lord knows what. All the while I kept my eye upon
several of the grand -paternal members of the jury, and
nodded assentingly to all the wise sayings of Flatley, so
that they took it all as in my favour, and directly he
stopped they acquitted the young scamp in a prompt,
decisive sort of way, as if they quite agreed with me that
it was clear that the real criminal was Jortin himself, not
Gustave Robert d'Ade, the hapless youth at the bar." '

' To be sure, why, you cannot wonder at it. Grandfather
against grandson, — the pound of flesh, as you say, with a
vengeance.'

' True for you, Professor. And then there is this more
in it. We don't feel so acutely about the rights and wrongs
of property in these latter days as men did when laws were
made and opinions formed by the propertied class. Then
the respectable indignation against the criminal would have
been so great that it would have dulled the feeling about the
harshness of the grandparent. It is just the other way round
now.'

' Still, the difference between honesty and dishonesty is
permanent. We have not got beyond that, have we ? '

1 No, we have not,' deliberately replied Slater Scully,
again gazing musingly as he lay back in his chair, this time
apparently at the end of his Habana. ' What you remark is
just, Professor. Honesty and dishonesty are still among
men as before. But, after all, may not the principle of
honesty have varying manifestations in varying ages ? In
one age, caro mio, it may centre all about meum and tnum ;
in another it may reveal itself in fair-play between man and
man — man and boy, if you like.'

' Ah well, if you had ordered a case for a good speech,
you could not have had a better one. Just the thing to give
a man a fair start.'

' Yes. When the jury gave their verdict and the court
was adjourned, all the people crowded around, talking and
denouncing Jortin to one another, and congratulating the
jurors upon their just verdict. The Alderman, as he walked
away quite cool and collected with his attorney, Jimmy
Tugwell,of the big firm of Tugwell and Co. — you know them

426 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

— quietly said, " Mr. Tugwell, be good enough to give Mr.
Slater Scully a general retainer for me at once. He is just
the sort of man we want for our bad cases." Jimmy told
me his instructions straight when he came to give me the
retainer. We had a laugh over it. He can see a joke, can
Jimmy.'

' And did you meet him often afterwards ? Had you
opportunity to see what sort of fellow he really is, old
Jortin ? — to come back to the question with which we
started.'

' Yes, I have met him about several of his bad cases.
These he honoured me with chiefly. He really is a very
fair man. He provided for the pretty daughter when she
was deserted, and after a while became quite reconciled to
her and took her to his home. The whole strange, eventful
story is now, to be sure, forgotten. But I always feel
grateful to him. I dare not blame his hard nature, my
friend. Indeed, to say the truth, I bless it. A man may
not be feeling himself, yet may be the cause of feeling in
others. He may not be eloquent, my friend, yet may be the
cause of eloquence in others — in Slater Scully, to wit.'

While he and his companion are finishing their cigars
and their afternoon's conversation, the reader might like to
learn something more about this story of Alderman Jortin,
his pretty daughter, and his grandson, which was for some
years one of the most prominent social topics and, as it
was generally regarded, social scandals of Excelsior. Slater
Scully's rapid summary had given not incorrectly the general
outlines of this strange story.

Jortin had unquestionably acted a cruel part. But his
action was not so inhuman as it seemed at the time to those
who looked at it in the light of public opinion, which accepts
its own impression of men's conduct as seen from the outside,
and does not trouble itself about those mitigating considera-
tions which an inside knowledge of all the facts often
presents. At the outset of the unfortunate affair the officer
of police had taken him by surprise, seated as he was in his
business chair, cased round for the day in the inflexible
counting-house attitude, which he assumed every morning
as he left the hall door of The Anvil. The sense of wrong

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 427

and injury from the pretty daughter's hapless match also
was still alive within him, though, as far as she was con-
cerned, he had forgiven her ; and then suddenly all this
smouldering bitterness against the bad husband and the
unhappy marriage was revived by the audacious crime of
the boy who was the offspring of it. Despite his deep
self-control, for the moment this feeling carried him away,
so that he rejected all the friendly and humane suggestions
of the official. c Proceed, sir. Don't mind my feelings,' he
said. This outburst of the old sense of deep resentment at
the marriage was the determining factor in his action.

But this once entertained, there were other considera-
tions to support it, and to disguise from himself the reality
of what he was doing. When the Superintendent came to
him the fact of the forgery had been made known to the
public. As a man of business, he was well aware that no
one would believe the story that he had given the lad
authority to sign the transfer with his name. He had
before his eyes the case of the young clerk, also a mere
boy, whom he had, as Slater Scully mentioned, only lately
prosecuted for embezzlement, and who was now expiating
his crime among the other convicts in the State prison at
Miranda. That boy, he said to himself, had a fond mother
too, no doubt, and a father, and perhaps an honest, worthy

father, not like Then Jortin was a very clear-headed,

matter-of-fact man. He had an instinctive hatred of the
glossing over of facts, and presenting them in an untrue
light by any sentimental make-believe. And he certainly
considered that it was not the right thing for a Justice of
the Peace, and a man upon whose word so many depended,
to back up a sham pretence, and also to condone a felony.
This consideration had much weight with him ; or, at least,
one of the personalities bound up in him used it with great
effect on the other personality and silenced the milder
feelings which it might entertain, making it seem to be a
mere plain duty to punish crime, instead of shielding it. To
state the different proportions in which these varying impulses
contributed to the tragic result would be a task which no
man could successfully undertake, certainly not Alderman
Jortin himself.

428 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

However, the outcry against him throughout the Province
was for a while terrific, and would have quite upset a man
who was framed upon milder lines than he was. What ! a
grandfather allow the prosecution of his own grandson, break
the heart of his own daughter, about a wretched affair of a
couple of hundred pounds ! A mere boy, a little free with
his pen. ' The monster ! ' said all the women ; ' his wife
should poison him. He don't deserve to live as either
husband, father, or grandfather. Why don't these talking
Parliament men do some good and make a law to deal with
such wretches ? ' ' Leave him alone,' said the men ; ' he
can't live for ever. In due time he and all his silver, and
his iron too, will be melted down together.' Jortin faced
the world with a steady, undaunted aspect. He did not,
in fact, care much what it thought or said either. But most
wrong things done in this world do bring some retribution,
and the real trial of the unhappy man was in his own home.

In ordinary times he was undisputed master there. He
was a fond husband and, despite his outburst of anger
against the foolish marriage of the pretty daughter, a kind
parent ; but no one presumed to cross him in his home.
Mrs. Jortin as a general rule took a pride in depending
upon and being led by the strong man, her husband. But
there was one other love which was as powerful in her nature
as the love of the wife, namely, the mother's love. She
had from the first pleaded the cause of the foolish, pretty
daughter, and sought to make the best of the forbidden
marriage, urging that what was done could not be undone ;
that you could not have an old head on young shoulders ;
that boys would be boys and girls would be girls, do what
you could ; that some of the best matches made had been
runaway ones ; that her father's aunt had done the very same
thing seventy years ago, and had lived happily ever after ;
and sundry other unanswerable but unsatisfactory arguments.
When the worst came, and the faultless Shirt Front dis-
appeared, she wanted to bring the daughter and the little
son back home at once. This Jortin would not then agree
to ; but he readily provided a comfortable home for her, and
though he for a while would not meet her himself, he was
glad enough to know that the mother looked after her, and

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 429

had her and the boy quietly at The Anvil to mid-day dinner
when he was in town at the works.

At last the good mother arranged one visit of the
daughter and boy for the Saturday afternoon ; and when
Jortin walked calmly into his house, relaxing his rigid
business tone into the kindlier mode that was suitable for
his home at the close of the week's work and the prospect
of the coming day of rest, there he saw, in his little drawing-
room (it was before he had enlarged The Anvil), the pretty
young widow, Fanny d'Ade, dressed in half widow mourning,
most becoming of costumes. Standing by her was a small
boy, some five years old, bright and handsome, full of the
pleasure of his visit, with no thought of ban or shadow-
anywhere in his little world, and, oh ! the very image of the
fascinating, faultless Shirt Front. The young mother looked
prettier than ever in the slight confusion into which she was
thrown by the father's entrance, and the colour flushing
tremulously over her cheeks, gave that indescribable charm
which the glow of agitated feelings will impart to much less
comely features than those of Fanny d'Ade.

He would be a hard man indeed who could resist such a
situation ; and though one Jortin, the public one, was hard,
the other Jortin, the domestic one, had within him a fair
substratum of kindly feeling. He did not hesitate one
moment. He embraced his child fondly and greeted the
grandchild kindly, though still he could not wholly rid
himself of a feeling that was unsympathetic to anything
that was identified with the faultless Shirt Front. But the
boy looked up so cheerfully and so confidingly to his grand-
father, and, tossing back his curls cheerily, as he looked up
and held out his hand, said so prettily, having been care-
fully taught by his mother, ' How do you do, grandpa ?
I hope that you and grandma are very well,' that he quite
relented, declared that the boy did his mother credit, gave
him a present of a bright half-crown, and tried his best to
forget all about the other parent.

It was this little boy that had committed the forgery.
Mother and child were soon established in the old home.
The son grew up to be more handsome each year he lived,
and was a very affectionate son to his devoted mother. But

430 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

he early showed unmistakable proclivities that reminded
unfavourably all who observed him, except the fond mother,
of the faultless Shirt Front. He had a special turn for games
of chance, for hazarding his all of pocket-money upon some
lottery from which he was certain he would get a big cash
prize. When his mother would give him a few shillings
to buy something nice at the church bazaar, he forthwith
expended them in getting sixpenny tickets in the most pro-
mising raffles. When, at the end of the day, he found that
somehow all his numbers were blanks, he was for the moment
disappointed ; but his general faith in raffles was not in the
least shaken. At the next bazaar he was as ready as ever
to venture all again. He quite enjoyed the excitement,
being able to hug the secret hope all day that when the
drawing came in the evening he would find himself the
happy owner of the golden sovereign that the promoters of
the gamble assured the numerous holders of the sixpenny
tickets would be handed over to whoever held the right
number. When he was old enough to study the newspapers
— a stage in life that the youth of Excelsior reached quite
early — he read with deep interest, and not without some
amazement, the wonderful opportunities that mining ventures,
racing, and other events that depended upon chance offered
of making a fortune out of nothing. Just think of it. For
one pound — and a pound was not so much — you might
win five thousand pounds, and be able to set up as an
independent man at once, ride a showy horse and enjoy
life, or go to Europe and be happy there.

Still, these were only boyish freaks after all — the
diversions or dissipations of a sanguine temperament He
was a distinctly gentlemanly lad in his manner, his appear-
ance, and also in his disposition. The grandfather, though
one of the Board of Overseers at the University, did not
value college training, and took him into the office at the
Anvil Works when he was only fifteen. But after giving
him a fair trial for nearly a year, the chief clerk (confidential
man), when questioned by Jortin about the lad's progress,
reported truthfully that he had better take to something else,
as he was not adapted to steady office work. He was very
slow in learning to write the proper business hand ; he was

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 431

at times late in coming to the office ; and he every now and
then got mysterious telegrams that seemed to require his im-
mediate attention and an early visit to the Mining Exchange.

' I know, sir,' the confidential man added, ' that you
expect me to tell you the facts straight, sir ; and the fact is,
sir, that he don't seem to have his heart in the work.'

' Certainly, Mr. Towers — certainly. I do expect you to
tell me the facts, whatever they may be. I am much
obliged to you, Mr. Towers. I will attend to it,' replied
Jortin in his composed office manner. When Towers with-
drew he gave some minutes' consideration to the question,
what he should do with his grandson. He wished to do
what was best for him, though some bitterness still mingled
with his reflections as he recognised in the lad's character traits
plainly inherited from the faultless Shirt Front. Evidently
Gustave Robert d'Ade did not belong to the Jortin side of
the house. In deciding what to do with the boy, he thought
only of the business question — what he would be best at, and
never considered the danger that was run by a speculative
youth, such as he was, being brought into close contact with
mining ventures. He asked his friend Borland to give his
grandson a place as a junior on his inspecting staff for mines ;
and he was appointed as clerk to M'lvor, Borland's managing
man, and to attend him when he went out on his visits to
the mines.

He proved to be a most agreeable companion, and
had an excellent manner in dealing with people. To
M'lvor he was quite deferential ; yet in conversation and
address he appeared to be the better man, involuntarily and
as if he could not help it. In telling a good story he was
an easy first. The homely and rather diffident M'lvor could
only listen respectfully. He had the knack of saying the
right thing at the right moment. He looked at all the
mining managers and speculators that they met in busi-
ness in an open, engaging manner, as much as to say,
' All right, let us be good friends, even though we are
trying to do one another.' But unfortunately he was now
right in the middle of a little world of gambling, venture,
chance ; where men lived on, and a few prospered by, not
work, but speculation, lucky hits, fortunes made out of

432 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

nothing, or out of the ruin of other people. He was really
not a bad youth ; but he had not ballast enough for the sail
that he carried — not enough, at least, in the dangerous
latitude in which he now found himself. It was inevitable
that, with that nature of his, he should speculate, a little at
least. It was a small thing that he intended when he began.
He got two hundred shares in the newly-projected Syphon
Silver Mining Company at sevenpence-halfpenny each. In
a few months they struck the ore, and he sold the shares for
.£150. He thought that his fortune was made. But it was
only his fate that was being accomplished. Naturally, he
went on from one venture to another, sanguine, cheerful,
excitable, till at last he got, by the well-worn downward
steps, into that pit from which his only possible means of
rescue was to get an immediate advance of a couple of
hundred pounds from somebody. But from whom ? Where
is the two hundred pounds to come from ? This is a
question that has been asked by thousands, before and
since, who have been in a similar perplexity, but which has
been satisfactorily solved by few. As spending money when
you are in no want of it is one of the easiest things possible,
so getting money when you must have it is one of the most
difficult things in the world. So who was to give this large
sum to young d'Ade ? In this fatal perplexity, confident
as ever of the success of the very latest speculation that he
had taken, when all could be repaid, if only he could tide
over the immediate difficulty, he had sought escape by the
means that Slater Scully's story describes, and with the
result that the reader knows.

But when this unhappy event had been completed, as far
as the public were concerned, by the acquittal of the forger,
and the storm of public indignation had broken, not upon
him, but upon Jortin, the chief trial of the unhappy Alder-
man was, as we have said, in his own home. It was in vain
that he reminded his wife, usually the meek Fanny, that he
was not only a man of business, whose word was his bond,
and who dare not compromise himself by acting a sham,
but also a Justice of the Peace for the Province of Excelsior,
and thus specially charged with maintaining the law ; or
that he explained to her that the thing had, in fact, gone

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLA TION 433

beyond his control when the officer of police came to him.
With that instinct that women have for seeing intuitively
straight into the right of a matter, she decisively rejected all
excuses and explanations, with the result that he was very
unhappy about the whole affair, mainly, as he persuaded
himself, upon his wife's account. For, as to himself, he still
maintained that he had acted rightly, and that no man
or justice should cover up a crime. He tried to placate
Mrs. Jortin by all those little devices that prudent husbands,
taught by experience, learn early in married life. Among
other peace-offerings which he thought of, he now went
regularly with her on Sunday to meeting ; with the result,
however, that several of the congregation only denounced
him afresh to one another, walking home from prayers to-
gether, as an audacious hypocrite. More than one of the
very good said as much to the pastor, the Rev. Silas
Flinders. But he rather avoided committing himself upon
the subject. He only replied to one of his leading female
worshippers, who expressed her feeling that destruction
awaited Jortin in the next world, if not in this —

' Well, Mrs. Mogg, yes, 'tis sad indeed. It is, you
know, written of old " that the way of transgressors is
hard"' — leaving it quite an open question which of the
parties in the sad affair he was pointing at.

After a while, and as the result of many marital discus-
sions, the Alderman arrived at a basis of agreement with
his wife. She had demanded as the terms of peace that
they should have the pretty daughter home again with them.
When the storm burst, she had fled to the son's lodgings, so
as to stand by him through it. Further, Mrs. Jortin de-
manded that, as for the boy, he should be forgiven too, and
some small place given to him again in the Anvil office, as
the only way to conciliate wounded public opinion. As a
fact, Jortin was quite willing to agree to the first condition.
He was indeed anxious to have his own child again under
the shelter of his roof. But as for the second condition of
peace, he was resolved not to concede that ; and he deter-
mined, in his fixed business way, rather to break off the
negotiations and to resume the status quo ante bellum.

So he artfully made answer to his wife that, to please

VOL. I 2 F

434 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

her, he was willing to have the daughter in the home in her
old place, as the eldest daughter of the house, and that he
would provide work for the son with one of his business
connections in the neighbouring province of Amanta. But
he positively refused to employ him himself, or to meet him
or recognise him in any way. Mrs. Jortin, after private con-
ference with the daughter, thought it better to accept these
terms, for the present at least. The youth was sent off to
Amanta, and the mother joined the home at The Anvil.
Her first impulse was to go away with the boy ; but she
saw how much her mother would feel the separation, and
also she thought that the goal of reconciliation ultimately
between the boy and his grandfather, which she had ever in
view, would be more likely to be reached if she kept her
place in the home. The father was quite pleased to have
her with him again, and installed her in her old place as the
eldest daughter, just as if all that had happened was only a
dream — though a hideous one. And Fanny d'Ade, who
had all the warm feeling of an impulsive nature, despite
what had happened, returned him the tender affection of a
daughter — an affection which was all the stronger since her
heart had been so cruelly wounded as a wife, and so sadly
tried as a mother.

But can any other affection make a true mother forget
the son whom she has borne ? Certainly not when he is a
wild one. Though Fanny d'Ade became more cheerful, and
accordingly looked brighter and handsomer than when the
light of her countenance was darkened in the great sorrow,
she still had a constant longing to have Gustave Robert
near her again — at least within reach of a visit. ' I want to
be near him, to see that he gets into no more mischief,
mother,' she would say. Not that the accounts which they
had from his employer gave cause for further uneasiness.
Quite the contrary. The shock of the trial, and especially
his mother's misery and despair, had made him a new being.
As if with a supernatural touch, it had crystallised into one
firm, clear form all the latent and scattered good in his
nature. The business letters from Amanta to Alderman
Jortin often contained paragraphs bearing testimony to the
diligent and meritorious behaviour of young d'Ade, and he

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 435

always reported these to his daughter, as he knew that they
made her so happy. Once or twice, on his telling her the
good news, she had answered, ' Oh, I am so thankful. But,
father, he only speaks of Robert' — she was now in the
habit of speaking of the boy by his second or grand-parental
name — ' he only speaks of Robert as he knows him in the
office ; I wish he had some one to look after him at other
times. He may get into some other mischief, and I don't
want him to do anything wrong ever again.'

'Well, well, let us trust not, Fanny dear,' the father
would say kindly, and then quietly resume his paper, giving
no encouragement to the obvious meaning of his daughter's
remark. But before long wife and daughter combined their
forces afresh, and opened out new lines of circumvallation
around the father to compel his surrender to their demand
that he should become reconciled to Robert, and have him
back in Miranda, in lodgings in the city ; for even they did
not ask that he should be admitted as one of the home at The
Anvil. To this advance Jortin opposed a firm front. He
wished the youth well, but he would not meet him again.
The wife and daughter, however, determined that he should.
Each belligerent was resolved not to give way — rather to
die on the field. So here were the conditions of a struggle
like that which scientists have imagined between an irresist-
ible force and an immovable obstruction. It is clear that in
this case either one or the other must in the end prevail.
Time alone can reveal which.

Meanwhile we must, for the present, leave Alderman
Jortin and his affairs and return to the Minister's office at
the Water Bureau, where we left Frankfort and Slater
Scully. As the jovial Minister finished the story of his rela-
tions with the Jortin family, he touched the electric button
at the table, and directly Crane's head appeared at the half-
opened door. He addressed to his faithful attendant a
formula of speech with the interpretation of which a pretty
frequent experience had made him familiar.

' Mr. Crane, I am anxious to present my compliments '
(he laid special emphasis upon the word) ' to Professor
Frankfort. Would you kindly help me so to do? He has
been talking so long in an improving manner to me that he

436 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

is dry, and,' the Minister added, looking round through his
large spectacles, as he leaned back in a languid manner
— ' and, for the matter of that, so am I.'

' To be sure I will, your Excellency, and that quick,'
responded Crane, as he hurried to the well-known cupboard
at the end of the room, muttering the while to himself, as a
sort of commentary on, or a descriptive chorus of, what was
going forward. ' To be sure I will, your Excellency. An*
I had that confidence in your Excellency that ye would be
wanting some support after this working away all the after-
noon, not to mention its being at the end of the week, and
the long hours so trying, to be sure now.'

The needed refreshment was soon produced, and Slater
Scully explained the various brands and their respective
values. The Ministerial was the true liquor — sound, nourish-
ing, agreeable. The Opposition was crude stuff, and though
some people fancied it, it wanted a lot of keeping before it
would suit judicious palates. But the Independent brand
was the worst of all. It was, the Minister declared, ' a mere
teetotal tipple. I keep it for the Rechabites. It has no
sustaining power at a pinch. You cannot rely on it for
support.'

Frankfort and the Minister drank success to one another
for the coming session, and Frankfort rose to leave, having
at least passed a pleasant hour with his genial companion,
though certainly no progress had been made with the per-
plexing question of Riparian rights. He had nearly reached
the door, when Slater Scully called after him :

' By the bye, I had forgotten — I want a pound from you.
Here, read that ! '

He handed him a printed circular, which called on all
men to subscribe to a fund which was to purchase an annuity
for the Honourable Joseph Hatchett, who had been for thirty-
five years a Representative of the people ; and who, ' as a
Minister of the Crown, by his generous policy of distributing
the public lands had enabled thousands of citizens to secure
smiling homes upon the soil ' ; but who now, alas ! was old,
penniless, and in failing health.

' Certainly,' said Frankfort, as he glanced over the cir-
cular— ' certainly, I'll give my pound. A man who had the

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 437

worth of hundreds of thousands of pounds in his hands to
give away to be pitched aside to starve is all wrong. I
never knew much of him myself; but I believe he was a
very honest man.'

' Honest, my friend ! Joe Hatchett was and is an honest
old bear, a conscientious Caliban, a growling grampus, spout-
ing, but not voracious like his species. Hence the empty
condition of the animal. Professor,' added Slater Scully,
leaning back and passing his hand, as if in thought, over
his forehead, and then holding it out in an explanatory
manner — ' Professor, old Joe was honest He knew not
how to fleece others, nor yet how to clothe himself, and I
must respectfully maintain, despite the authority of Holy
Writ, that the wind is not always tempered to the shorn
animal.' Slater Scully was such an admirer of the Bible,
that it was his custom to credit the sacred volume with any
quotation that appeared to be suitable and as to the source
of which he was uncertain.

' It is a hard case, then,' said Frankfort ; ' it would seem
to be rather a fit one for one of those pensions that you
denounce so eloquently.'

' Hast thou found me out, O mine enemy ? No more o'
that. Give me the coin.'

' Certainly. Here it is. But it will take a good many
pounds, even at his age, to get the annuity. A few pounds
from friends and Members won't do it.'

' No. But they will relieve his present want ; and,'
Slater Scully added, with a graver air than was usual with
him, ' he is in want. He must be fed. Pensions to the aged
poor are not yet law. If he gets over the present pinch,
perhaps we could get a grant from the House for a thousand
or so for the old man, on some make-believe or other.'

Just then a strong knock was heard at the door. It
could never have been Crane's — that confident rap. With-
out staying for answer, too, the door was opened, and in
walked Sir Donald MacLever himself. He shook hands
with our politician in a more hearty manner than was his
wont ; for, like him or dislike him, he could not but recog-
nise the disinterested support that the Government got from
the Member for Brassville. Turning to his Water Minister,

438 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

he asked when he would have the question of Riparian
rights ready for the consideration of the Cabinet.

' I am wearing myself out upon it, Sir Donald, day by
day — not to mention night by night. But, if I survive, it
will be ready next week. Meanwhile, I was just having a
word with Mr. Frankfort here about old Hatchett. Could
we not ask a generous House to give him a small grant?
Just read that affecting circular. Old Hatchett is hard up —
hard up a tree, in fact.'

Sir Donald took up the circular and glanced rapidly
through it.

' Yes,' he observed slowly, ' I got one of these in the
usual morning's batch.'

' Well, sir, what say you ? Can I tell the venerable
Hatchett that the Government will ask Parliament to buy a
small annuity for him — say five pounds a week ? Is there
balm in Gilead to the tune of a thousand ? Most of them
have known Hatchett from his political youth downwards —
from spring's early promise to now, the winter of his
discontent.'

' Buying an annuity is rather like a pension, is it not ? '
asked Sir Donald, smiling grimly upon the open, kindly up-
turned countenance of Slater Scully. 'And last session I
understood that you and other eloquent gentlemen demon-
strated that pensions were a public iniquity. At least, I
thought so. Perhaps,' he added, with a slight drawl,
— ' perhaps I misunderstood you.'

' Oh, come now, Sir Donald. Let us think a bit of old

Hatchett, nearing threescore and ten, and ' Slater

Scully sat up in his chair in some indignation at the cold
cynicism of his chief, and was going off into an eloquent
expostulation, when the latter quietly interposed, looking at
the paper again :

' Besides, with great respect to you, I don't quite see
where the pressing need is for a pension from the Govern-
ment. Your own circular shows that there is no need for it.'

'The circular — shows — no need!' ejaculated Slater Scully,
looking up in a more helpless manner than ever.

'Yes, certainly. It says that his spirited distribution of
the public estate among thousands gave them happy homes.

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 439

I would respectfully suggest that these thousands give ten
shillings a-piece to relieve the wants of their benefactor, and
if they do he will be a great deal better off than most of his
brother ex-Ministers are.'

Here another tap was heard at the door, and the Ministers
who had been hastily summoned came in, headed by the
Minister of Works, who was laden with maps and plans. They
were followed by Du Tell, who threw around our politician
an inquisitive glance as he shook hands with him, as much
as to say, ' What brings you here just now ? ' It seemed
clear to Frankfort that an impromptu Cabinet meeting had
been summoned suddenly ; though why at the end of the
week, and why not at the Premier's office, he did not know.
However, it did not need Du Tell's searching survey of him
to satisfy him that he was not expected to stay, so he took
his leave without delay.

In Europe this hasty meeting of the Cabinet would have
probably indicated some unexpected foreign complication.
In Excelsior it was owing to the need that had suddenly
arisen of finding work for the unemployed ; and Sir Donald
had arranged for holding it quietly in a junior Minister's
room, instead of his own, so as to avoid exciting public
attention to their deliberations.

In Excelsior it had become the custom to expect the
Government to be ready with work for unemployed artisans
and labourers by the beginning of the winter, at the end of
May ; but this year the season threatened to be an early
one, and now, even in April, meetings of the unemployed had
begun in the city. That day a formidable gathering had
been held on one of the vacant places of the town. It was
a representative meeting. Mr. Caffery and Mr. Stoker were
there as the leaders of the Populist party. The Rev. Simeon
Sinclair, the philanthropic minister, Mr. Eneas Birt, the town
missionary, Mr. Tom Blunt, the well-known worker in social
reform, and Commander Soyer, of the Salvation Army,
represented the non-political element which supported the
movement. Reporters from the leading newspapers were
ready, book in hand, for note-taking. Mons. Froessolecque
had been early upon the ground, so as to be able to secure
a full account of all that passed for the Sweet-Brier.

440 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

The reader already knows something of Mr. Stoker
and Mr. Caffery. Mr. David Stoker being as much a
dissenter from the old order in church matters as in
politics, was quite at home with the town missionary and
the Salvation Army commander. And Mr. Caffery, the
devout Catholic, was all in favour of the most democratic
methods for helping the poor. In this he was understood
to have the approval of Cardinal M'Gillicuddy ; though the
Cardinal by no means committed himself to all the demands
of the unemployed, and in his addresses to the Convent and
other Catholic schools he often insisted upon the supreme
merit of work, and self-denial in the struggle of life.

Some five or six hundred men had gathered round the
rickety wooden stand which was to serve as platform for
the speakers. A few saddened-looking women, some with
babies in their arms, mingled with the crowd, while around
it was the usual fringe of street arabs, who sported about
as if they had satisfied themselves that there would never be
such a thing as an unemployed question as far as they were
concerned.

It was certainly a depressing sight, take it how you will,
to look upon those five or six hundred independent but
impoverished citizens. The spectacle of a man asking for
work in order that he may get bread, and not able to get
work, nor therefore the bread, is surely saddening anywhere.
But what are we to think of it in a young country, sparsely
populated, with free lands, and full of wealth that asks
only for man's labour to bring it forth ? To complete the
problem, too, money was very cheap in Excelsior. Some
millions of it, the savings of the people, lay in the Govern-
ment and in private banks at two-and-a-half and three per
cent interest. Thus in this province there were idle lands
and idle money, and a Government struggling by a lavish
expenditure on public works to find employment for idle
men. Here certainly is a problem. A full-grown nation
would have to solve it or perish.

As you looked upon the crowd, with their upturned faces
speaking of grievances and discontent, you could see some
who, though young, had not been trained to hard work ;
some who were too old to be expected to do anything but

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 441

rest in peace ; a few who were mere idlers ; a few who were
mere agitators. But the majority were decent men, who
were willing to work, but who could not get it upon the
terms that they wanted. This was the fact, whatever be
the explanation of the fact. And they were not only suffer-
ing distress, but they felt that they were wronged in not
being provided for. They did not do, what few of us are
willing to do, blame themselves for anything. They did
not stay to inquire whether any want of energy or foresight
upon their part, or of self-denial or thrift — if such want
there was — had aught to do with their present distressed
condition. They sincerely blamed the Government for not
looking after them in time, and seeing that proper provision
was made for the winter's work. In the spring and summer
they might get along, but what were they to do in winter ?
They felt want, and they asked what was the use of a
Government that did not protect its people ? And, to do
the men justice, the Government did not disown the duty
thus cast upon them. If they did not explicitly admit the
right of every one to be provided with work by the State,
they practically conceded it, at least as far as the manual
worker was concerned. They excused any limit to the
extent of State employment only upon the ground of the
want of funds. They tacitly accepted the duty to find work
for every labourer, if they could find the money to pay
him. Their poverty, not their will, stood in the way of
employing all who could not find employment for them-
selves that they liked to take. The restless crowd who
pressed around the little rickety platform, from whence
they looked for hope and deliverance in their troubles,
did not regard themselves as suppliants for aid, but as
citizens with a grievance against the Government. Behind
it was the feeling that they had no need to be helpless
suppliants. They could redress their wrongs at the ballot-
box.

Mr. Caffery and Mr. Stoker were both anxious that
there should be no violent language used at the meeting,
and had determined that, to promote that end, there should
be few speeches, and those only from people whom they
knew. For, while willing to get political credit for vigorous

442 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

action on behalf of the workless, they also did wish to see
the distress relieved, and they knew that mere invective
against the Government, and extravagant demands, would
not assist their object. They had asked Seeker Secretary of
the State Workers' Association to speak, knowing him to be
a safe man ; but he always avoided identifying himself with
the unemployed movement. He was a practical man, and,
exercising his right of private judgment, he held that there
' was a paling out in the fence,' as he mused to himself, in
the methods of the Government in undertaking to provide
for the unemployed. The complete Socialist scheme he
could understand, but not one-half of it by itself. Besides,
he did not wish to mix up the State workers, who were the
aristocracy of labour, with the unemployed outsiders, though
he helped the casual workers in the Service. So, in answer
to Mr. Caffery's appeal for his aid, he made a sympathetic
reply. But what could he do ? His President, Major
Trounce, was out of town for a week, and he could not think
of appearing without his sanction. So it was arranged that
Mr. Caffery should make the principal speech of the day,
and the proceedings be brought to a close as promptly as
possible afterwards.

That gentleman accordingly mounted the little platform,
while Mr. Stoker and the other gentlemen stood around,
giving their moral support to the proceedings. At once the
crowd was hushed. All were anxious to hear what hope
there was of present aid in their troubles. Under the old
system, when men were threatened with want, they had to
ask themselves the question — ' What shall I do to get bread ? '
In Excelsior this question was put to the Government. The
crowd now surrounding Caffery as he began his speech were
waiting to see it answered. It was not a crowd such as one
sees at a jovial election meeting, when only the impersonal
wants of the country have to be considered. Jokes, sar-
casms, the love of fun that the mere presence of numbers
together generally develops, the sense of humour, the
readiness of repartee that spring up spontaneously at the
ordinary political meetings, were all wanting. The needs
that pressed were too real. They were needs that came
home to each one personally.

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 443

So they all were still as Caffery began to harangue
them. They eyed him with anxious scrutiny, as if to ascer-
tain if he really could and would show them how to get
bread. Only the few loafers shambled about the outer
fringe of the crowd with an air of indifference. It was a
performance that had lost the charm of novelty to them.
Three or four street -corner politicians, who were painfully
pushing themselves into public notice, in the hope of stand-
ing for the House of Representatives in due time, bustled to
the front of the crowd, so as to be able to express their
feelings for the people by vigorous applause and appropriate
exclamations, in aid of the speakers, if they could not get
a chance of speaking themselves. With that good feeling
which the crowd in Excelsior commonly displayed, room
was made for the few women present in front of the stand.
There they stood facing their deliverer, not unlike the
stricken Israelites looking up to the Divine symbol of help
in the wilderness, only now and then turning their faces
away from the speaker to hush to repose the restless infants
that they carried in their tired arms.

Mr. Caffery began by stating that he would read the
resolution that he had the honour to move. It was, ' That
it is the acknowledged duty of the Government to provide
work for the unemployed at the market rate of wages.'

He said that he always felt for the man who could not
get work. But he never felt so strongly as he did now,
when he looked upon that crowd of idle but willing workers
before him. They were all willing for work if they only
could get it. If there was a man among them who was not,
would they like to know what he would do with that man ?
He would put him straight into the Miranda penitentiary
and make him work. No flies about that little lot. But
they all wanted to get work, yet could not get it ; and their
honest wives and youngsters wanted food. Was not that a
slap-up, downright shame in any land calling itself civilised,
let alone Christian ? Every citizen who stood there in that
meeting before him was worth at least a pound a week to
the Province of Excelsior, if he and useful work were brought
together. There were some six hundred of them there. So
in this unemployed lot alone there was a loss to the public

444 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

wealth of the State of at least £3 0,000 a year. This was
a score for the Premier to chalk up and have a good look at.
They were all taken a bit unprepared owing to the winter
having set in so early. Well, the wage-earners were blamed
for a good many things, to be sure. In fact, like the eels,
they were getting accustomed to be skinned. But they had
not been blamed for the seasons up to this, and he respect-
fully thought the matter lay between the clerk of the weather
and the Government. It was the straight-out duty of the
State to provide work for honest men that needed it. Sir
Donald MacLever did not deny it. What were the Govern-
ment for? What were they kept up and paid for? Not
for making up political ructions and show, but for the good
of the people ; and where did the good of the people come
in if they were left starving ? He did not want to be
hard on the Ministers, but he must say straight that they
ought to have had their public works determined on and
ready beforehand, so that the men could have been put on
directly the pinch was felt. There was not so much need
in summer, when men could hump their swags and walk the
track on the look-out for a job. But when winter sent them
all in a crowd into the city, what were they to do unless
there was something got ready for them to tackle ? If this
laissez-faire business continued, the best workers would have
to make tracks for Amanta, while they had yet a note left
in their pocket, leaving their wives and families here to pick
up charity; whereas it was the right, the birthright he would
say, of every citizen to remain in his own land and to get
a living there. Likely enough, when the husbands were
driven out of the Province, they would find statists and
political economy men boxing right round the compass to
find out why the population of Excelsior did not increase.
However, though the Government had been caught napping,
he believed that they were now waking up, rubbing their
eyes, and having a look round. He wanted to go in and
give them a gentle shake like. The resolution which he
moved, when adopted by a representative meeting such as
he saw before him, would enable him and the other gentle-
men to go to the Premier with the majesty of the people
behind them, and demand that the Government should do its

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 445

duty, and start different sorts of works, to suit the different
needs of the men who were assembled there that day, and
the larger number right over the Province whom they repre-
sented. Then their sufferings would clear right away like
one of their winter fogs when the sun tackled it straight

Hearty applause followed all the points of this speech
and loudly greeted its close. The people felt that Mr.
Caffery meant to serve them, and that they might rely upon
him to see that the Government did something for them
directly. The motion was seconded by the Rev. Simeon
Sinclair. A hint was given to him to be brief, as it was not
intended to prolong the meeting, and he was brief. He
felt for the sufferings of the poor, and was the head of
an unsectarian society that did good work among them.
Mixed up with his charitable feelings there lurked an ambi-
tion, at once enlightened and practical, to be known as the
social reformer, the clergyman of advanced liberal views, no
mere sayer of smooth things to the well-off in their smug
churches. His constant contention was that the Govern-
ment should put the unemployed upon farms, and he fre-
quently quoted the verse from Proverbs, ' He that tilleth his
land shall have plenty of bread.' He was so persistent in
accompanying philanthropic deputations to the Premier
upon a wide range of subjects, and spoke so pointedly at
them, showing in each case the urgent claim that there
was on the State, that Sir Donald had come to regard
him as a troublesome person ; besides, he always felt con-
tempt for the sanguine, plausible, benevolent type of people.
Also, he agreed with Bismarck's objection 'to long-robed
politicians, whether feminine or ecclesiastical.' The Rev.
Simeon Sinclair was brief, but he managed, in the few
minutes that he spoke, to say some effective things for the
purpose in hand, which were based chiefly upon the noble
injunctions of the Bible to help the poor and those who
' had fallen by the wayside.' In this, as in so many other
respects, human society has fallen sadly short of the Divine
standard, and the reverend speaker had little difficulty in
impressing his audience with that fact.

The motion was carried by acclamation, and Mr. Stoker
then proposed the second resolution, which ran thus : ' That

446 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the Government be called upon to commence, without delay,
the public works that are required to alleviate, before it is
too late, the prevailing distress, and the danger, if it is pro-
longed, of starvation of the wives and children of those who
are without employment among us.' He spoke briefly, for,
as he truly said, the resolution spoke for itself. It was
seconded by Mr. Eneas Birt, and carried unanimously. The
proceedings then closed, and a deputation was formed of the
leading men present to conduct the workless workers to the
Premier and lay their needs before him.

When the crowd of unemployed, headed by their leaders,
arrived at the Public Treasury, Mr. Caffery sent in to request
an immediate interview for the Deputation, and as many of
the unemployed themselves as the Premier's office would
accommodate. Sir Donald at once put aside other business
and sent word that he would be pleased to see them, but
desired that twelve of the crowd should be selected to repre-
sent the rest, as his room was so small. This was readily
done, and the party was soon in Sir Donald's presence.
Whatever his personal feelings, he realised, and perhaps the
more especially as he was connected with the better-off, that
his official position required him to pay marked attention to
the representatives of the poor.

Mr. Caffery formally introduced them, and handed in
the two resolutions which had been adopted at the meeting.
Something must be done at once. He gave full particulars
of the impoverished condition of many families, and stated
generally the relief that was wanted. As a large number of
the men were married, it was desired that, as far as was
practicable, work should be found for them in or near
Miranda, else, if they were sent up country, their families
must be supported by charity in the city. Here Sir Donald
inquired whether, when any of the married men took work
at a distance from town, half of their wages might not be
paid direct to their wives and families who remained behind.
But Mr. Stoker considered that this would look too like a
reflection upon the men, who would naturally prefer to send
their families the money themselves. The true way was to
find work for them without sending them from home.

For the unmarried men who might be sent up country,

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLA TION 447

the Government were asked to see that, before they were
despatched away to a distance, they were suited in strength
and otherwise to the work upon which they were to be
engaged. Some variety of employment was pleaded for to
meet the case of the weak, the unskilful, and the aged.
Mr. Birt, the town missionary, supported this view of the
question, stating, from his personal experience, that many
were unfit to do rough work. Mr. Blunt, the social reformer,
urged that if any of the married men were required to go
up country, it should be to some habitable region, where
their wives could go with them and their children have the
advantage of schooling. He also suggested that, with regard
to any men who were sent away from town, arrangements
should be made to enable them to vote at elections in what-
ever district they were registered in.

Sir Donald was most attentive to all the speakers. The
only slight friction that happened was while the Rev. Simeon
Sinclair was speaking. He spoke rather late, when all were
getting tired, and was enlarging upon his favourite remedy
of putting the people on farms, and as usual fell back upon
his old quotation from Proverbs, chapter xxviii., the first
part of verse 19 :' He that tilleth his land shall have plenty
of bread.' Sir Donald, after a Free land deputation some
time before, where the rev. gentleman had cited his favourite
text, had told Du Tell to look up the reference, and they
found that the verse when completed was this : ' He that
tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread : but he that
followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.'
Inwardly he was rather ruffled by the sudden coming of the
deputation, and personally he had no liking for the Rev.
Simeon Sinclair. So he could not refrain from interjecting,
as the familiar quotation came out, turning his cold gray
eyes upon the speaker, together with the MacLever smile :

' Suppose, my dear sir, we complete the quotation.
Perhaps we may derive some instruction from the latter
portion of the verse as well as the former.'

It so happened that no one present except Mr. Sinclair
and the town missionary, Mr. Birt, knew what the ending of
the verse was ; and they were so put out by the satirical
interruption that they could not summon on a sudden the

448 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

necessary pugnacity to fight the matter, so the rev. gentle-
man hastily concluded with a feeling reference to the
extent of the existing distress. Sir Donald quickly shook
off his ill -temper, and made a sympathetic reply to the
Deputation. The unexpected need created by the early
nature of the season had already engaged the attention of
the Government. He and all the Cabinet were deeply
impressed by the reports which they had received of the
want of employment. He hoped to be able to announce
the particulars of the State works that would be undertaken
on Monday next.

Mr. Caffery then thanked him, in the name of the
Deputation, for his courteous reception of them ; and the
unemployed dispersed to pass the next two days as best
they could, being sustained, however, by the feeling that by
Monday the Government would be prepared to look after
them. As for Sir Donald, he at once arranged for the
special Cabinet that afternoon at the Water Bureau, in order
to give effect to his promise to the Deputation. Hence the
sudden irruption of Ministers of the Crown upon Slater
Scully that our politician had witnessed.

At the Water Bureau Slater Scully forthwith resigned
the best arm-chair to his chief, and Walter Crane, in a very
deft manner, swept away his master's representative brands
— Ministerial, Opposition, and Independent — and consigned
them to the cupboard. The position of affairs was then
discussed. Sir Donald, in a few words, told them about the
Deputation, and the men by whom it was supported. He
observed in measured tones —

' As for the unemployed, there is no doubt there are a
good many of them. How can it be otherwise ? ' he con-
tinued, leaning back in the large arm-chair and looking round
the ceiling with a dissatisfied air. ' How can it be otherwise,
when you are always promising to find them work in the
city at a wage that they could not earn on the land ? '

He seemed to address himself more especially to Slater
Scully.

' But they are starving now,' that gentleman replied,
' the wives and children — that's the ugly fact that faces His
Majesty's Government. The people starve.'

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 449

' Yes, I am afraid that is so/ slowly answered Sir
Donald. ' At any rate, we inherit a system of Government
to help all and sundry, and all and sundry want our help
now and evermore. The question is what we are to do.'

' Feed them — feed them/ exclaimed the generous Minister
of the Water Bureau. Then, as he threw himself into a
restful attitude, he continued, speaking in a deliberate,
sententious manner :

' It is the foundation duty of the Government, the bed-
rock of State obligations to citizens, the easy first, with the
rest nowhere, of Ministerial responsibility — to see that the
people are fed. We would be the mere simulacrum of a
Government, nay, a fearful phantasmagoria, a camera obscura
of the real thing, a mere spectre '

' Do stop a moment, Slater Scully/ interposed Du Tell,
who had been with Sir Donald when he received the Depu-
tation, and was fully impressed with the need of immediate
action. ' The point is, what works can we get ready by
Monday ? There is no time to be lost. We must find
work for at least five hundred. Humanity forbids delay/
As he made the last remark he looked keenly round the
circle. He then added in an aside to Sir Donald :

' I have gone over the lists, and I find that next session
Caffery will lead from fifteen to twenty straight votes/

The Cabinet were all agreed that the Government must
act without delay, and Sir Donald closed the short prelimi-
nary conversation by observing in his absolute manner :

' Yes, we must act, and act decisively. There is no one
to object if we do too much ; but if we don't do enough,
why, then ' — and here he smiled his grim smile again —
' why, then, we will soon be among the unemployed ourselves.'

The revenue was in a fairly good condition, so a liberal
scheme of public works was soon resolved upon. Some of
these were designed to be immediately useful to the country ;
others were expected to become so in time ; others again
were what might be called national luxuries — expensive
buildings that were justified ostensibly upon the ground that
they were needed by the public, but were really taken in
hand because of the work they would give and the money
that they would distribute in wages. None of them would

VOL. I 2 G

450 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

have been undertaken at that particular time were it not for
the need of providing for the unemployed. A large propor-
tion of them were to be done about the city, so as to provide
for the married men. But a good deal of employment was
offered for clearing forest land, with the arrangement that
the worker could become tenant, upon easy terms, of the
land which he cleared. Some painting of public buildings,
repairing of fences, and work about State gardens was pro-
vided for the weaker workers. The local boards throughout
the Province were urged to put in hand whatever could be
undertaken in the country. Even the poor churches were
appealed to to spend what they could in the cause of labour.
Amid these vigorous efforts to give help to labour, no notice
was taken of the mercantile, scholastic, clerical, or genteel
paupers.

The mixed motives that actuated men in dealing with
this problem of the unemployed were not inaptly reflected
in the different actors in this movement that has engaged
our attention. Mr. Caffery was urgent a good deal no doubt
because he really felt for the unemployed, but also because
every enlargement of the Government functions as an
employer was a step towards the realisation of the full
Socialist programme, when the Government will be the
employer of all. Anything leading to this was as grateful
to him as industrial competition and private enterprise were
distasteful. Obviously the more the State employed, the
more it might employ ; and as its range of employment
widened it would find in time that, in order to be fair, or
even to be able to work effectively, it must employ all.

Sir Donald MacLever accepted the burden as part of
the day's work, without asking questions as to how it came
there. Simply, it was one of the things that the people
demanded. The politician has to provide for the day that
is passing over him. He was the leader of the Liberal
party, and intended to remain so. In order to do this he
must accept whatever progressive ideas were brought to the
fore. It was better he should do this than a worse man.
The wisdom or unwisdom of the thing was an abstract
question that did not enter into practical politics. As for
Du Tell, he felt deeply upon the subject when he totted up

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 451

the Division Lists. Slater Scully regarded only the distress,
and smiled in a vague manner at the warnings of political
economy and perturbation about remote consequences. The
Rev. Simeon Sinclair was full of humanity, slightly leavened
by a love for personal distinction. He believed that he had
a mission, and at the same time derived a pleasure, which
he scarcely acknowledged to himself, in being regarded as
the minister with large, bold views of social questions, who
had too much practical power about him to be contented
merely with the singing of hymns.

Mr. Blunt, the social reformer, and Mr. Birt, the town
missionary, were simply charitable. The most powerful
factors in the movement were Caffery and Stoker, for they
were deeply in earnest ; they regarded all objects in politics
as trivial compared with the one they had in hand ; the
success of their personal careers was bound up with its
success, and they had the force of numbers behind them.
For underlying the whole matter was the determining fact
that all the unemployed had votes. That they were failures
on the industrial side of life did not interfere with their power
on the political side. They still governed the distribution of
wealth which others produced and saved up. And for one
man who was wealthy, there were hundreds who were hard
pressed. Caffery could then truly say that not only ought
they to be looked after, but they must be looked after.
Whoever paid, so long as there was any one to pay, they
must be provided for. Thus it was that the Government in
Excelsior came, almost as a matter of course, to drop into
the position which was defined in the first resolution : ' That
it is the acknowledged duty of the State to provide work for
the unemployed at the market rate of wages.' The full
meaning and necessary consequences of that declaration
were never deliberately considered. It was drifted into.
The practical limitation to its scope was the want of pence.

The following week the combined deputation from the
towns of Brassville, Leadville, and Tinville came to Miranda
to see the Minister and invoke his aid in dealing with the
rabbits. It consisted of the mayors of the towns, the
presidents of the District Boards, several Members of Parlia-
ment, among whom were the Honourable Mr. Lamborn, of

452 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

the Senate, and our politician, with Mr. Bunker and other
Members from the House of Representatives, together with
a large number of local celebrities, prominent among whom
was Mr. Birnie Farrar, the Town Clerk of Glooscap, which
was the centre of the district where the rabbits most
prevailed.

Mr. Theodore Bunker, the Member for Leadville, had
undertaken to introduce the Deputation.

Introducing deputations is a weighty part of the Mem-
ber's function in all countries which enjoy popular govern-
ment, from England downwards. To perform it properly a
good deal of trouble has to be taken, and considerable dis-
cretion is required. The time at which the Government is to
be approached must be well chosen, not too late, nor yet too
soon. Then the personnel of the deputation has to be arranged,
and on the appointed day the members of it have to be met
before the Minister is approached ; the precise demands to
be made have to be agreed upon, the line of advocacy
arranged, and the speakers appointed. A good deal of skill
is required in arranging who shall not speak. Upon the
gentleman who heads the deputation rests the duty of
introducing its members formally to the Minister, and ex-
plaining generally what is wanted. He then calls upon the
appointed speakers in turn, and he has to endeavour to keep
any inexperienced men from saying too much, or saying the
wrong thing, and possibly exposing some weak point in the
case that they are presenting.

It had been arranged that the members of the Deputation
should forgather at eleven o'clock on the appointed day at
the Tramway Arms Hotel, where the travellers who would
come from the country could get some refreshment, and the
final arrangements would be made for meeting the Minister.
It was wisely determined not to weary him with too many
speeches ; the more so as it was known that the Minister of
Lands being absent, owing to indisposition, his place was to
be taken by Mr. Slater Scully, who had thus, during his
colleague's absence, a double set of deputations to receive.

When it was half-past eleven o'clock all was arranged
for the advance upon the Minister ; but it was found, on
mustering the forces, that Mr. Fred. Dubbs, M.H.R. for the

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 453

Tinville district, and his contingent had not yet arrived ; so
Mr. Theodore Bunker and the others determined to go on to
the Water Bureau and await the coming there of the Tinville
party ; and accordingly all were marshalled in due order into
four capacious cabs, which had been engaged by Mr. Birnie
Farrar, the Town Clerk of Glooscap, who, as acting for that
part of the district that was most concerned, took a promi-
nent part in the arrangements.

Walter Crane had been for some time on the look-out for
them on the top of the long flight of steps going up to the
Water Bureau. When he saw the four vehicles coming up,
he hurried in to inform Mr. Thomas Blinks, the Secretary of
the Department of Lands and Agriculture, who had come
over to attend the Minister, as this was a matter that con-
cerned his Department. He was back at the steps as Mr.
Bunker and his party came up, bowing low, and with a
pleased expression upon his aged countenance, as if it made
him quite happy to meet them. He considered it a dis-
tinctly respectable deputation, including so many Members
of Parliament and several substantial-looking country gentle-
men. Crane had rather a leaning towards the landed
interest, and preferred to the spare, restless city man the
solid countryman who owned fat oxen ; though he had all
the Irishman's indignation against the oppressive landowner
who would grind the faces of the poor. It was now twelve
o'clock, and Mr. Bunker thought it better to go in with the
main portion of the Deputation, and let Mr. Dubbs and the
Tinville men follow them in when they arrived. So Crane
led them down the passage to the Minister's room, and
ushered them forward in a reverential manner, and with
some sense of responsibility upon his part in connection with
the demonstration.

Mr. Slater Scully, with Mr. Thomas Blinks by his side,
to keep him right on his facts, received them in his open,
jovial manner, bidding them the time of day, and asking, to
begin with, could he oblige them in any way. Mr. Bunker
bore himself with much gravity. Indeed, the duty he now
had in hand belonged to a serious part of his work in life,
and he spared no pains to perform it properly. He was
in a slight difficulty about Dubbs and the Tinville men, and

454 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

thought it better to mention their temporary absence to the
Minister, so that, if he went on at first without them, at the
Minister's desire, they could not blame him.

1 Dubbs unpunctual ? Dubbs behind time ? Then fall
Caesar ! It's the first time I have known him so. But pray
proceed, Mr. Bunker — make me acquainted with these worthy
gentlemen here, and perhaps before we have got thus far into
the bowels of the question, Dubbs and the men of Tinville
will be here.'

Accordingly the party settled into their places, Crane
bringing up chairs as they were wanted, and when all were
seated, retiring to his own perch at the end of the room, to
be ready if required for anything, and to listen attentively,
as was his wont, to the proceedings.

Mr. Bunker then introduced them to the Minister. He
was at pains to be accurate in giving the name and descrip-
tion of each one correctly, right down to the town clerks and
other municipal officers, beginning with Mr. Birnie Farrar, as
he had managed all the details of the deputation.

Sure enough, when he had got to the end of the intro-
ductions, a knock was heard at the door, and Mr. Dubbs and
the Tinville men entered. All looked round to greet the
missing wing of the party, and our politician, as he nodded
to Dubbs and some of those whom he knew, was somewhat
surprised to see the face of a new-comer who followed in at
the back — none other than the keen, grievance-laden counte-
nance of Jacob Shumate, the shoemaker of Glooscap. His
dark eyes took a sweeping glance round the room, and then
he sat down upon about the last chair in the back row.
Birnie Farrar had mentioned to Bunker that he suspected
Jacob intended to come, but with what object or for what
purpose he could not find out. He had kept to himself on
the journey up, and he slipped in now, coming not with the
men of Glooscap, but apparently on his own account. Mr.
Theodore Bunker greeted the new-comers, and commenced
calling their names over to the Minister. When he had
gone through all down to where Jacob was, experienced as
he was in such matters, he felt quite uncertain what to do.
He knew Jacob of old, and that he was a dangerous man.
He had no right to appear with a deputation — certainly not

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 455

to speak at one — unless he belonged to it. Still, it would
not be wise to cause trouble till the question was raised by
Jacob Shumate trying to speak, if he did mean to make the
attempt. One of the most obvious rules of life for the
sensible politician is to make as few enemies of any sort as
possible. So he only blandly remarked, ' Ah, Mr. Shumate,
you here ? '

' So it would seem, Mr. Bunker,' replied the shoemaker,
as he inclined forward in his chair with a half-bow towards
the popular Member. His soured but self-reliant look
seemed to proclaim openly —

' Yes, I have a grievance, and I am able to look after it
without your assistance.

Mr. Bunker glanced at the perturbed countenance for a
moment or two with an aspect of mild inquiry, and in his
most conciliatory manner, in order to pave the way for any
explanation. But none was forthcoming, so he then turned to
the Minister and explained shortly the object of the Deputa-
tion. The districts represented were overrun with rabbits.
Ruin threatened the farmer and the grazier. Their demands,
the Minister would see, were not extravagent. Their request
was that he would put a sum on the Estimates to purchase
for general use the well-known Brand's Patent for poisoning
wheat to destroy rabbits. The ' people ' would be prepared to
pay half the cost of laying down the stuff, the Government
paying the other half ; for which sharing of expense between
Government and ' the people ' in public improvements there
were several precedents in the affairs of the Province. Mr.
Bunker laid stress upon his pronunciation of ' people,' to
show that it was a distinctly popular thing that he was
proposing. Unless this was done there was no use in the
people holding their land. As Government tenants, it was
impossible that they could continue to pay their rents, and
the districts affected would become depopulated, and the
State rails and trams would have nothing to carry. Rents
were in arrear in several localities at present. He begged to
call upon the Honourable Mr. Lamborn.

Mr. Lamborn was, as the reader may imagine, a very
respectable-looking man — indeed, a weighty and solid-looking
man. His voice was deep, also grave in tone, and he had a

456 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

natural, plain-speaking way of expressing himself, as if he
felt that no human being could question the fairness of what
he was saying ; and he would, from time to time, look round
the room to see if any man could contradict him.

He said that what Mr. Bunker had stated was quite true.
Unless something was done, ruin stared most of them in the
face. No crop was safe unless it was wire-netted ; and as
for grass, it cost a small fortune to keep on poisoning the
land. They only asked the Government to bear a hand.
They were willing to bear a hand themselves, too.

Here Mr. Blinks, the Secretary for Lands, whispered
something to the Minister, and Slater Scully thereupon
interposed.

' You must excuse me, gentlemen, as this great question
is rather new to me. But a little bird has whispered to me
that the Government already supply the wire netting on long
terms of repayment, and free from the noxious and burden-
some imposition of interest.'

Mr. Lamborn admitted that that was so. But who put
up and paid for the posts and rails ? Were the people ex-
pected to do everything ? He went on to say in his emphatic
manner that, by right, the Government should do much more
than was asked, since the rabbits were chiefly bred upon the
Crown lands and then came on to them. But yet they were
willing to pay half-cost of laying the poison if the Govern-
ment bought the Patent. He then looked around him, and
came to a natural peroration inspired by his deep feeling
upon the subject. If they were to be saved, the Government
must come to the rescue promptly. Delay meant death to
the small farmers. He appealed to the Minister as a man
and as a father not to spread desolation over a lot of homes
— and, he might add, happy homes.

Slater Scully looked up through the large spectacles in
some amazement at the mere idea that he could do such a
thing, and was beginning a deprecating reply, ' Touch me

not so near ' when Mr. David Blow, who represented

the cattle interest of Glooscap, interposed with a brief but
emphatic expression of his views. These, upon this occasion,
were much the same as those which he held in reference to
the proposal that the parents should devote a Saturday

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 457

afternoon to making the fence around the State school. And
he fell naturally into the same form of expression which the
reader may remember he used with reference to that sugges-
tion. He declared that it was not the square thing by a
long way for the Government to put them on short commons
about this rabbit business.

Some of the other gentlemen enlarged upon the serious
nature of the evil and the reasonable nature of their demands ;
and Mr. Birnie Farrar gave full statistics as to the extent and
great value of the lands that were in danger. On this Mr.
Blinks again whispered to the Minister, and Slater Scully
remarked with solemnity —

' Would it be possible, my respected friends, that the
Municipal Boards of this most valuable district could be
induced to give something in order to supplement the short
commons that have been so feelingly alluded to ? '

To this Mr. Hedger, as the lawyer of the deputation,
briefly replied that the Acts of Parliament under which they
acted did not allow of any such application of their funds.

' Would, then, the landowners agree to raise the interest
on the purchase-money of the Patent for a term of years ? '
inquired the Minister, prompted thereto by the frugal-minded
and assiduous Blinks.

Mr. David Blow felt that this would be impossible,
owing to the simple fact that the smaller landowners had
nothing to give. There seemed to be nothing for it, then,
but the accustomed resort to the State chest for the money.
The Minister was beginning to weave a conciliatory answer
to the Deputation :

' Mr. Bunker and gentlemen, I must say dispassionately
that I feel satisfied within my own convictions that I can
report to my honourable colleague who presides over this
Department, and who, I hope, will soon be here again in the
full bloom of recovered health, that you have made a most
striking — indeed, I must say, most moving — case for the
Government '

When he had got thus far, Jacob Shumate, who had been
pushing his way up to the front, interposed, and, with a
deep bow, began :

' Honourable Minister '

458 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Directly he had risen from his seat at the end of the
room, Birnie Farrar had whispered to Bunker to object to
any intervention from one who was not included in the
Deputation that was nominated by the districts concerned.
He did not know what Jacob Shumate was going to say ;
but he had an instinctive feeling, based upon prolonged ex-
perience, that it must be something unpleasant, and might be
something dangerous. Mr. Bunker, as having the conduct of
the proceedings, felt bound to interpose here, so he observed
in a bland tone :

' Really, Mr. Shumate, I am afraid we cannot have this.
The Honourable the Minister is only entitled to hear upon
this occasion those who were duly designated by the people
to interview him.'

He added with a smile, in his most amiable manner,
leaning over towards the shoemaker and speaking in a lower
tone :

'You know, Jacob, you can arrange for another deputa-
tion on your own account, if you like.'

' I am much obliged to you, Mr. Bunker, for your kind
offer. I must admit too that your constitutional views are
quite correct.'

Jacob Shumate spoke, having his head sarcastically in-
clined upon one side, and this time with an expression of
pleasure on his face. He continued :

' I am quite aware that I have to be nominated by the
people to entitle me to address the Honourable the Minister
upon this occasion. And I beg respectfully to state that I
am so nominated. Persons who own land do not constitute
the whole of the population about Glooscap — whatever they
may do in other localities.'

Here Mr. Blinks again whispered to the Minister, and
Slater Scully addressed the shoemaker in an affable manner.
He was quite interested, not to say amused, at this unex-
pected apparition.

' My good friend, may I ask whom you represent ? For
whom do you stand and who stands behind you ? '

' And where is his authority ? ' interjected Birnie Farrar.

' In reply to the Honourable the Minister, I would
respectfully state that I represent the struggling rabbit-

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 459

trappers of Glooscap and the district, making together several
hundred souls, many of their bodies being, I regret to
say, ill fed and scantily clad. As to the inquisition of the
respected Town Clerk as to where my authority is, I beg
to hand in my nomination by the people. It is not, I must
admit, on parchment, and there was no wax convenient in
their humble homes for sealing it ; still, as they are all human
beings who sign it, and indeed citizens, I hope that the Town
Clerk will not hold the objection to be fatal.'

And Jacob slowly, and with great deliberation, unfolded
and spread out upon the table a very soiled sheet of foolscap,
upon which was written his appointment to represent the
undersigned on the Rabbit Deputation before the Minister.
The undersigned for the most part wrote their signatures in
a finished style of handwriting. A few signed in the clumsy,
blurred manner that marked the old days of imperfect edu-
cation. The shoemaker with bended head glanced round
the circle of civic magnates and men of broad acres with an
evident sense of triumph, as he presented his credentials,
while the magnates and broad acre men looked on with
a heavy, puzzled air, as if not knowing how to meet this
unexpected attack in the rear. Mr. Birnie Farrar wanted
Mr. Theodore Bunker to object that Shumate should have
got an appointment for a separate day for his side of the
question. But some new and rather disturbing lights were
breaking in upon the prudent mind of the Member for
Leadville. As he glanced over the names, he recognised
some of those who were electors within his own district.
Then the cause of the trappers was obviously the cause
of the poor man. They had no land at all. They only
caught the rabbits on other people's land and Crown lands.
But each of them had as good a vote as Mr. Lamborn
himself. He thought it would be better to hear Jacob
Shumate, and whispered to Birnie Farrar that it was
safest to do so — ' under protest, you know,' he added, to
placate that gentleman. The Town Clerk, by no means
appeased, was turning to enforce his objection and speaking
eagerly into the Member's ear, when the Minister cut short
further discussion upon the subject by exclaiming —

' Well, well, Mr. Shumate, high authority enjoins us to

460 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

give each man thine ear, but to reserve thy judgment. So
pray unbosom your soul as to these hapless and multitudi-
nous rodents, dire enemy, it seems, in your district to man
and beast, and known to science, my learned friend here,
Mr. Blinks, informs me, as the Lepus cunicuhts.'

And, undisturbed by Blinks's look of astonishment at
this unexpected and hitherto to him unknown information
about the scientific name of the rabbit, Slater Scully glared
about in a pleased manner as he lay back in his chair to
listen while Shumate would unfold his tale. He enjoyed
the prospect of hearing something unexpected on the subject.
Mr. David Blow, however, who had been regarding the shoe-
maker's interruption in a dazed manner, began to realise that
there was danger in it. His thoughts, though slow to ignite,
upon due attrition did burn up within him. Looking round
straight at Jacob, with all the weight of the man who
represented the cattle interest, he exclaimed, taking up the
thread from Bunker's objection, which was as far as he
had got :

' Yes, yes, Mr. Shumate, what do you want ? You ain't
inconvenienced by our poisoning, are you ? You aren't on for
cobbling up odd lots of objections to our clearing our lands
of varmint, are you ? ' And then he indulged in what was
for him something without precedent, a stroke of sarcasm at
the shoemaker :

' We don't ask you to eat our poison, do we ? Though
I don't let on that it nor anything else would quiet you.'

Jacob Shumate, glowing with satisfaction and rising to
the occasion, began his reply in a subdued and polite tone.

' In response to what the Honourable the Minister and also
the honourable representative of the cattle interest here have
asked, I beg leave to observe, most respectfully, that neither
I nor the poor fellows whom I represent have the slightest
objection to Mr. David Blow and other princely proprietors
clearing their vast estates of whatever they may please.
That is a matter entirely for their own consideration.'

' Then what are you getting on and riled about, Mr.
Shumate ? ' pursued Mr. Blow.

' If the honourable representative of the cattle interest
will permit me, I have not stated, as far as I am aware, that

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 461

we were riled about anything. The only possible repugnance
we feel — perhaps the Honourable the Minister will pardon us
for it — is to having the money taken out of our pockets in
order to take the bread out of our mouths.'

Jacob then glanced round with bent head at Mr. David
Blow, who kept looking at him in a helpless manner, much
as one of his oxen would survey some intruding stranger who
was approaching him. Following up his thrust, he added :

' We have no desire, certainly, to eat Mr. Blow's poison.
In fact, what we do hope is that we may be allowed to eat
our crust without it. We only ask,' he continued, with a
resigned air, ' to be allowed still to make a living — even a
precarious one — by trapping rabbits.'

' Where are we now — where are we now ? ' exclaimed
Slater Scully, looking round the company in a half-contem-
plative and a half-pleased manner. He was rather enjoying
this unexpected display of conflicting human motives. To see
several unhappy creatures dangling and twisting from the
gallows in a confused manner was said to have a special
fascination for Beau Selwyn. The twistings and strugglings
of men in wordy conflict had a similar stimulating effect
on Slater Scully. It was to him one of the chief alleviations
of the long hours of boredom in the House of Representa-
tives. So he repeated as he looked round :

' Where are we now ? Stands Glooscap where it did ? '

Theodore Bunker felt that the situation was getting
serious. He, as the general in command of the Deputation,
must take immediate steps to meet this unexpected danger.
So, in order to get time to arrange some compromise, if
possible, while Shumate was speaking, he expressed to the
Minister the willingness, and even the desire, of his party
that Mr. Shumate should state his claim fully, and Slater
Scully waved the shoemaker to proceed.

This invitation to speak was precisely what Shumate
desired. To make a set speech at any time was a pleasure
to him, and if he had a grievance to talk about he was
quite happy — before a Minister of the Crown, too, it
was delightful. Slater Scully relished the keen thrusts
of the shoemaker, and, as a popular Minister, desired
to show all deference to the advocate of the poor man.

462 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Jacob had carefully prepared himself for the opportunity,
and he had put a plausible case for the trappers. No
question, he said, arose as to people clearing their own lands
of rabbits as much as they pleased. If it was expensive to
do this, owing to the vast extent of any one's land, all he
could say was that he tendered the landowners his deep
sympathy. (Dark glance at Lamborn and Le Fanu.) The
proposal before the Minister was to take his money for the
purpose. The rabbit-trappers, poverty-stricken though they
were, still did contribute to the State Revenue ; though, to
be sure, to persons whose path of life was paved with gold,
the amount of their contributions might be regarded as
beneath notice. Still, they were felt by them. Out of the
State Revenue, thus partly made up of their own money, the
great landowners were to be paid for clearing their estates of
rabbits ; and at the same time the industry that those he
represented lived by was to be destroyed, and with it a cheap
and useful food for the poor. The traps, the nets, the imple-
ments that they used in their work were all taxed heavily at
the Customs.

Further, to suit the private owners, the Crown lands, now
mostly consisting of barren hills, were also to be poisoned, and
thus rendered unsafe and useless for the purposes of the
trappers. If the rabbits did eat some of the grass of the large
estates, he would like to see a short sum worked out of the
proportion which this loss bore to the gain by the unearned in-
crement of the land. If the Honourable the Minister listened
to this application, the very least he could do would be to
compensate the persons whom he represented for destroying
their means of living. He would not at present dwell upon
the compensation that would be due to the poor of the Pro-
vince generally for depriving them of a cheap and whole-
some food. As everything was done in Excelsior in the
name of the poor man, this would be a good opportunity, he
respectfully submitted, for the Government to show how
deeply it sympathised with him.

Jacob Shumate, as he concluded, looked round the dis-
concerted circle with exultation in his countenance, the
display of which, however, he suppressed as well as he
could.

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 463

Slater Scully enjoyed having the two sides of the
question agitated before him, but while he saw both views
he grasped neither, and he was now perplexed as the time
approached that he was to decide between them. His
natural wish was to satisfy all parties, and he had the Minister's
feeling against making enemies among a considerable class
of voters. Personally, he did not like the idea of depriving
the poor trappers of their means of gaining a livelihood.

He was a good deal relieved, then, when Theodore
Bunker, who was himself moved by very similar considera-
tions, threw out a suggestion, merely for consideration, as he
said, that the Patent should be bought by the Government,
and that a Government contribution, at present undefined,
should be made to meet the cost of laying the poison on
lands that had been alienated from the Crown ; but that the
State lands should be left free for the operations of the
trapper, that all his implements should be admitted free
of duty at the Customs, and that a Government bonus should
be paid upon the export of frozen rabbits, so as to keep up
the price. This was accepted all round as a fair solution of
the difficulty. Jacob Shumate was so elated at the general
success of his intervention that he could not concentrate his
attention so as to criticise it closely. He still felt in a
vague manner that sufficient weight had not been given to
the fact that the rabbits only consumed a small part of the
unearned increment of the rich man's land. But did the
great public who was to pay the bill of both parties to this
settlement object? Apparently not. At least, in the
person of its representative, Slater Scully, it appeared to
be pleased. The Minister dismissed both sides with his
blessing.

' Farewell, gentlemen,' he exclaimed. ' The right thing
has been accomplished. Even-handed justice has been
done — justice to the individual and justice to the country.
The only unhappy parties to the settlement are those
hapless little rodents, the Lepus cuniculus of my friend here,
that both of ye will now be slaughtering by a grand and
unprecedented combination of poison and traps.'

And so the Deputation withdrew, and at a jovial lunch
at the Tramway Arms the members congratulated each

464 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

other upon their success, and upon the generous, public-
spirited views of the Minister. All except Jacob Shumate,
who went off on his own account, to join some Populist
friends at the People's Coffee Palace, where, after par-
taking of tea and biscuits, he spent the time till the after-
noon train in criticising the proceedings at the Deputa-
tion, and expatiating generally on the grievances of the
trappers.

Walter Crane had been an attentive listener to the dis-
cussion at the Deputation. He sat on his stool at the end
of the room in his usual meek attitude, but making keen
mental notes of what was going on. The experience he
gained in this way was one of the most valuable elements of
his political education. Next Sunday, at the festive board
at his nephew's cottage in Grubb Lane, he gave at leisure
the full details of the proceedings of the Deputation, and its
happy termination for all parties.

' Very powerful orator that Mr. Shumate — shoemaker or
no shoemaker. My word, I can tell ye,' he said, throwing
himself back in a free-and-easy manner, and nodding in a
significant way to the company — ' my word, I can tell ye, he
tossed some of those big land bosses like one of their own
bulls would. He did, I tell ye. Sarve them right. Not like
real landed gentry : trying on to take away the poor man's
food — and his living too ! '

' Well, if they take away his food, it follows up straight
enough they take his living, I suppose,' said Ben Mule, the
argumentative cabman.

' Ye needn't be driving ahead so fast, Ben,' said Crane,
with some dignity. ' Them rabbits are food to the poor
man as eats them and they are living for the work they
make for the trapper who catches them. D'ye see now ? '

' I can see no call to interfere with them rabbits,' said
the nephew ; ' they are sweet enough to eat and handy to
cook. You can think them chicken if you shut your
blinkers.'

' Ye see, it's this yer way,' said Ben Mule. ' They are
too cheap and common like for the 'stocracy. If they were
a crown each, my word, wouldn't the big ones take on to
them ! And there it is, the big 'uns have their way all

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 465

along the road. Talk of the people in Excelsior, where are
you ? If you talk of the big 'uns, you are on the spot,
right enough.'

' Ay, so I suppose, Wally,' said Mick, ' you had a lot
of the big 'uns there, going on about the rabbits and their
feelings for the farmer and the poor man ? '

'To be sure. A great many fine gentlemen there, and
grand estates they have for certain,' replied Crane. 'Mr.
Shumate waited a bit behind and told me. Mr. Le Fanu
and Mr. Lamborn, and all the rest, very fine gentlemen in-
deed. But why don't they think of the poor man trying to
live, let alone paying for his bit of land to Guv'ment ? '

' I'll tell ye when they'll be well quit of the rabbits,' said
Ben Mule, looking up as if a new light had struck him.

' When's that, young feller ? ' asked Mick.

'When they go where the land won't go after them nor
the rabbits neither,' answered the cabman.

'Well, and the boss promised to pay both on 'em, did
he ? ' inquired the nephew.

1 He did that, Mick,' replied the uncle, taking a long
drink of tea. When he had finished, he added, with a
significant nod to his relation —

' But not out of his own pocket, me boy.'

The recess was now drawing to its close, and politicians
were busy speculating what would be the leading proposal of
the Government for the legislation of the new session. For
every Government is expected under the English system to
announce each new political year a long and, if possible,
striking array of fresh measures. It is a political rather than
a social need. A healthy community, like a healthy man,
often wants to be let alone. Legislative measures are, like
medicines, needed in the case of any ailment in the body
politic, also to provide for the changes caused by social
growth. But the real need for changes does not come round
periodically every year like the King's Speech. This habit
of responsible Government has the advantage of securing
early attention to all popular wants. But it also tends to
create fictitious wants, and to foster the love for having some-
thing new continually upon the boards. Thus whenever there
is any social depression or difficulty, people are apt to look at

VOL. I 2 H

466 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

once to some new Government proposal as the only possible
relief; whereas the true remedy may rest rather with the
people themselves, and may require some abstinence or
exertion upon their part which would perhaps be more
difficult, but would also be more effective, than any new
legislation.

One reason why a long list of important measures and
reforms was proposed each year in Excelsior was that so few
of them were carried through during the session. If they
had all been given effect to, the Province would have
been in the position of a man who should seek to keep
himself in health by undergoing one or two operations, at
least, every year, besides trying a system of massage and
electric baths to stimulate his vitality and prevent any
tendency to the insidious advances of crippling rheumatism.
But the Legislature wisely refused to accept and assimilate
more than a certain proportion each year of what was
offered, and had sundry methods of its own of making what
it did not want disappear, otherwise than by actually
swallowing them. They were thus left to garnish the board
for the next time, when, if it was still so desired, they were
put under the table as before.

However, Sir Donald and his Ministry were busy pre-
paring their catalogue of measures. It was easy to fill in
the ordinary Bills, many of which figured year after year
in the Governor's speech, and which were known among the
legislators as ' hardy annuals.' The difficulty was as to what
should be the leading and striking measure of the year ; and
this was made the greater by the fact that there was nothing
then that the people of the Province were very eager about.
Still, there were several proposals, any one of which would
make a good stir in the political world, and all of which were
advanced in their character, and might therefore be properly
taken up by progressive politicians. The Ministry had held
a series of Cabinet meetings in order to consider these.

Du Tell asked Seeker his opinion privately as to the
best thing for the Government to take up.

' Why, as for urgent things, they stare you in the face,
my dear sir. There is that question of the hour — Pensions
to the Aged Poor. That is bound to come. With Fame it

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 467

is often first come first served. Why should not Sir Donald
take up and get the credit for that great measure ? '

Seeker spoke this time sincerely. Not only did he
believe in helping the poor liberally, but he felt what a
decisive effect a general pension system must have upon the
interests of the State workers. If the State were to pension
every one, what should it not do for its own faithful servants ?

' Yes. A right good tip, well worth considering,' said Du
Tell, speaking in a deliberate manner, partly to himself. As the
two shook hands, about to part, Du Tell stood for a moment
apparently contemplating the broad vest of the Secretary,
really anxious to know what Mons. Froessolecque and the
Sweet-Brier would be likely to want done. At last he said :

'And our friend of the Sweet -Brier?'

' He, sir ? You know him. He is a truly advanced
man. He holds for a universal pension, so as to relieve the
poor from any stigma in taking it.'

' And the money? ' interposed Du Tell, with an inquisitive
look at the Secretary.

'Well, as he says, he makes a calculation, does Mons.
Froessolecque, that the realised wealth of Excelsior comes to
so many millions, and a tax of ten per cent upon that would
do it. For myself, I don't quite hold with my friend there.
I say, begin with the poor. Don't raise difficulties at first.
You can easily increase the number of the recipients, and
also the pension in time. You may go on, though you
cannot go back.'

Du Tell that very evening explained to Sir Donald
Seeker's views about the Pensions and the probable attitude
of the Sweet-Brier. Though it was not the leading paper
of the Metropolitan Press, it was the organ of the pugnacious
party, of the more determined wing of the Populists. In
popular Governments, the thoroughgoing people are the real
power. They may not get everything that they want at
once, but all desire to conciliate them. All stand in awe
of the aggressive forces of the Social State, and seek to
placate them and make alliances with them, which are more
or less sincere. Under the aristocratic or middle- class
system of Government extreme people are rather suppressed ;
under full Democracy they are rather exalted. A man of

468 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

very mediocre talents, who would never make a figure so
long as things went on quietly, suddenly proposes to sponge
out the National Debt. The thing is not done, but the
daring confiscator attracts general attention and becomes a
considerable man.

Ultimately, Sir Donald and the Cabinet decided that
the grand Liberal measure of the session should be a Bill
to establish a system of Pensions to the Aged Poor. It
would not be correct to say that the measure was taken up
as the result of a matured public opinion upon the subject.
It had its immediate origin in a political exigency to do
something striking. There was behind it a general wish to
provide for the aged poor, without any very close scrutiny
as to what it was wisest to do. The method of procedure
represented the change from statesmen leading people to
people leading statesmen. The Government accepted what
they thought would please the people. Later on, when the
Government proposal was announced, most public men fell
in with it. A politician who would criticise some generous
plan as too extravagant and as calculated in time to sap
habits of self-reliance and foresight, would be denounced
as one who was indifferent to the wants of the aged
poor ; or, at least, as one who set up his own opinion
about things, and claimed to be a superior sort of person.
So the proposition that the man who gave his youth
to build up a country had the right to be pensioned by
that country in old age was repeated upon all sides. It
came about rather as an expression of popular feeling than
as a result of ttie public judgment.

Accordingly, when the Governor's speech announced at
the opening of the session ' a generous measure of provision
for the aged poor,' there was a general agreement expressed
with the proposal. The particulars of the Government plan
could not be known till Sir Donald, later on, introduced
the Government Bill. In the meantime the public talked
about the subject and the Press discussed it. The Sweet-
Brier warned the Government that the pension must be
liberal in amount, and free from all suspicion of being given
as a charity. It was to be paid as a right, just as earlier
in life the worker was paid his daily wage.

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 469

In the interval before the introduction of this leading
measure private members were able to bring forward some
of their Bills. This was the great opportunity for the
display of what are vulgarly called ' Fads ' — the Fad
Legislative. The author of an old Dictionary, after
observing that ' Faddle ' is corrupted from ' To Fiddle,'
declares that it is 'a low word.' Nevertheless, those who
maintain Fads, and who moreover are in a position to claim
a hearing for them, are not people to be lightly despised.
A Fad is often a half-truth. You have to be careful that,
while rejecting the Fad, you are not involved in the denial
of the half-truth. This caution particularly applies to Fads
in Parliament, and it is this that makes Faddists in the
political arena people not, as we have said, to be lightly
despised. They are indeed quite troublesome people — not
to say dangerous. They are so indifferent to other people's
difficulties with regard to their Fads. They seem rather
to enjoy them. The political Faddist generally sits for
some safe constituency, which does not object to his Fad ;
possibly which returns him on account of his Fad. So he sits
secure aloft, like the gods of Epicurus, either indifferent to
the perplexities of poor political mortals or amused at them.

The chief Bill, however, brought in this session by a
private Member was one that had got beyond the ' faddy ' stage
and had emerged into the higher sphere of practical politics.
This was a Bill which had been introduced by Mr. M'Grorty,
the late Minister of Education and Public Knowledge, to
enable women to be elected to Parliament and to act as
Members of the Executive Council of the Province. Mr.
M'Grorty was a warm supporter of Woman's Rights, but
there could be no doubt that his prompt advocacy of this
measure at the present time was stimulated by the fact that
Sir Donald MacLever, the Premier, when a short time before
he was waited upon by a deputation from the Executive
of the Woman's Rights League and requested to propose
this reform as a part of the Government policy, had given
a most unsatisfactory answer. He had replied, that while
he fully admitted that women were entitled to this further
grant of their rights, yet he thought it would be better to
defer claiming it till they had acquired more experience.

470 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

In reply to the inquiries of Miss Gazelle, the Hon. Secretary
of the Brassville Branch, as to how they were to get
experience so long as they were debarred by law from
even trying to do the work, and also what experience of
politics young people of twenty-one had when they began
to exercise the right of voting, he could only reply that
the cases were not on all-fours, without being able to show
where they differed. When Miss Gazelle pressed home her
point, he became a little annoyed, and he turned upon her
both a vexed and a slightly jeering countenance as he replied,
the gray eyes twinkling at her, ' My good young lady, surely
you are young enough to wait a while.'

Miss Gazelle was certainly young enough to wait, yet
this reply gave much offence, as it seemed to make light
of the business character of the deputation. The whole
affair offered the Opposition a good opening, Mr. M'Grorty
thought, to aim at the Government a quiet blow, while at
the same time advancing Woman's cause.

Since the Suffrage had been secured, the Woman's
Rights League of Excelsior had directed its efforts to
organise and use Woman's vote so as to compel the Legis-
lature to do them justice in other respects. They held a
general meeting once a year, either in the capital or at
some important centre of the Province, at which women
delegates from all parts of the land discussed public questions
that were of interest to them. This year their attention
had been chiefly directed to the consideration of the fact
that Woman's vote could do little to improve Parliament
so long as women themselves were excluded by law from
making their influence felt there. They only asked, since now
the country had decided that they should take their part in
politics, to be allowed to do so effectively. They passed two
resolutions, declaring, firstly, that the Legislature as at present
constituted was admittedly incompetent to remedy the social
ills that oppressed their country. And secondly, that the
obvious remedy was to accept the proffered aid of one-
half of the people who were now prohibited from helping
in the social regeneration of the race.

They followed up their resolutions by a manifesto
calling upon the Parliament, such as it was, to set right

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 471

meanwhile several wrongs that women suffered under, such
as unequal marriage laws, unjust health laws, the custody
of children, women's claim to equal wages with men, and
other matters in regard to which the equality of the sexes
was impaired. But in the very front they put the claim
to sit in Parliament. And the Honourable Mr. M'Grorty
not only sympathised with their object, but saw very clearly
that, if the House could be induced to pass his Bill, it would
be a triumph over the Government after the half-hearted
utterances of the Premier. Thus the merits of the question
itself became involved in the attempt, on the one hand, to em-
barrass the Government, and then the effort of the Government
to checkmate the movement simply in their own defence.

In order to support M'Grorty's motion, the Woman's
League resolved to hold a meeting to discuss the question
the week before it was to come forward in the House, and
to give the greater weight to their debate they invited the
Honourable Mr. Brereton, the leader of the Opposition, who
was known to be unsound on the question of women sitting
in Parliament, to attend and explain his reasons for object-
ing to their exercising this right. They were so confident
in the justice of their cause that they feared no discussion.
Nay, they even enjoyed some opposition, as it added im-
portance to their proceedings, and could do no harm in a vast
gathering of sympathisers with their cause. Mr. Brereton
at once, in his easy-going way, agreed to come. He rather
fancied the idea of having a talk with his sister electors,
though he had a strong objection, or rather perhaps it should
be called dislike, to their 'sitting in Parliament. Logical or
direct speaking was not his special gift, as we know. And
as to some of the considerations that did influence him, he
felt an old-fashioned disinclination to discuss them before
all the young women whom he would have to confront at the
meeting. He was by nature, too, a sympathetic man, and
when brought face to face with a number of women, who
were convinced of their right to become Members of Parlia-
ment, and were getting vexed and angry at this right being
delayed, he felt half ashamed to vigorously denounce their
aspirations as futile.

So, truth to say, he made a poor argument of it. He

472 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

began by expressing generally his admiration for woman.
He said that he loved them all ; and he laid much stress
upon this declaration of his feelings as being thoroughly and
deeply sincere, which indeed it was. But he questioned her
aptitude for the work. It was not above her, but beneath
her. He made a clumsy reference to a beautiful Arab steed
in a dust-cart ; and then asked — wanted to know, you see —
if the beautiful creature really would enjoy being in the
shafts, dust and all. And when she was drawing the cart,
perhaps over a bad bit of Jordan's hard road, so to speak,
what about her foal? Also, what about the horse, who
ought to draw the dust-cart ; where did he come in ? Or,
did he come in at all ? If so, was it a case of tandem ? and
if also so, which animal came first? He repeated Shake-
speare's saying, that if two men ride on a horse, one must
ride first, but got confused in the attempt to show its
relevancy to his argument. Finally, he recalled some of his
Biblical recollections, and having made special reference to
Sarah and Martha, he sat down, repeating the expression of
his admiration for women generally.

Miss Gazelle rose amid general cheering. She presented,
with her incisive, rather hard manner, quite a contrast to
Mr. Brereton's easy-going, good-natured rhetoric. Perhaps
by design, and to show how logical and unsentimental
women could be, she was particularly self-contained in her
manner, and her tone of voice was marked by a dignified
severity. She passed by, in silent contempt, his laudatory
references to the sex, but she thanked him for coming to ex-
plain his views, such as they were, in the face of day. She
then took up his ' topics,' as she termed them, since she could
not call them arguments, with a marked display of exactness
and method in her style of dealing with them, and exposed,
not merely their unsoundness, but their sheer futility. She
excited general merriment by the manner in which she dealt
with the dust-cart topic, and expressed her wonder that
the honourable gentleman could have missed the obvious
answer that his own illustration gave as to how the animals
were to draw the cart. They were obviously to work together
side by side in the shafts, each drawing the dusty load of
public duties, exactly equal in burden, effort, sacrifice, and, she

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 473

added, sometimes stumbling or jibbing. When Mr. Brereton
interjected, ' What about the foal ? ' she aroused great
laughter by promptly replying that she need not answer
foolish questions, which she pronounced foalish questions.
She added that she was getting rather tired of these remarks
about women's duties. They had no intention of neglecting
them. Just the same old Tory objection was raised to their
voting. But where was it now ? As they all knew, com-
mittees of ladies were formed in each neighbourhood who,
at election times, took their turn with the children, while the
mothers were away on their public duties. What did a lady
do when she followed a profession ? Why, she engaged
another lady to look after the washing-up at home. Miss
Gazelle disdained any sort of peroration as being a weakness
unworthy of a business woman, and sat down abruptly when,
as she observed, she had at any rate got the dust-cart out of
the way.

The applause was loud indeed when she concluded, and
there was a general feeling that the vigorous speeches of
several ladies who followed, while useful as enlightening
public opinion, were not required to complete the discomfiture
of old Mr. Brereton. The most scathing exposure, however,
which he suffered was from Miss Grace Hetty, a young lady
who had, though she was only eighteen, just passed her first
year as ' Freshman ' at the William Borland University.
She was cutting in her sarcasms upon Mr. Brereton's round-
about rhetoric, and carried the whole audience with her
enthusiastically as she exploded, with her compact logic, his
fallacies one after the other. As to his Biblical examples,
she could barely restrain within polite grounds her scorn for
the fancy that some elderly persons, she said, had for dis-
interring old mummies, and then rattling their bones at
living people. When she sat down the applause was even
more spirited than that which had greeted Miss Gazelle.
Several old and gray-headed men listened to her speech with
rapt attention, and appeared to specially enjoy her exposure
of their co-mate in years, while they hammered upon the floor
vigorously with their sticks and umbrellas in order to show
their admiration for the speaker, and also to add the weight
of their moral support to her arguments.

474 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

The brunt of the wordy conflict was left to the young
ladies ; but towards the close of the discussion, the Honour-
able Mr. M'Grorty, who was in a front seat on the platform,
and who appeared to follow with close attention the argu-
ments of Miss Gazelle and Miss Grace Hetty, asked to be
allowed to add, as he expressed it, just a link or two to the
already complete chain of reasoning by which the cause of
woman had been sustained. He had, in fact, nothing new
to say ; nor, whatever were his convictions upon the question,
had he the personal feeling that actuated the young women,
who resented as a slight upon their sex the refusal to admit
them to a position that many useless men were welcomed to.
M'Grorty could be good-tempered about the subject, as the
wrong done to women did not come home to him in the same
way that it did to Miss Gazelle. He spoke pleasantly and
was generally admitted to have made a most happy speech.
What was most noticeable about it, though, was his tone of
deference to Mr. Brereton, which was the more striking in
contrast to the severity of Miss Grace Hetty. Perhaps it
was his disinclination to hit a man who was down, as Mr.
Brereton evidently was that evening. But, whatever the
cause, he certainly began his little speech in a subdued,
conciliatory tone, as he looked round with a bright, almost
sweet, smile at Mr. Brereton, who had sat, resting back in his
chair, smiling too, and muttering objections to the different
points that Miss Hetty made against him. M'Grorty treated
the question as one that had been settled, so far as the
argument could settle it, and only wished to express his
regret that, in this instance, the generous impulses of his old
friend were hampered by his intellectual mistakes. But he
was mild, almost respectful, in his tone. Undoubtedly that
evening the two men who spoke appeared to be more
amiable and less willing to wound any one than were the
women. They presented to the public the outward aspect,
at least, of creatures who were less fitted to face the harsh
world than were their sisters or daughters. In comparison,
they seemed to be kind-hearted, easy-going, more accessible
to consideration for others. Several of the elderly men
noticed this, and it confirmed them in their opinion of the
absolute fitness of women for public life.

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 475

Miss Gazelle and Miss Hetty enjoyed the evening
thoroughly. It was not merely that the excitement was a
relief from the monotony of indoor life, but it is pleasant to
all of us to feel victorious, and to be acclaimed as conquerors.
Miss Grace Hetty was next day the heroine of the Girls'
Club at the University — the Sappho Club.

Resolutions that pledged all electors, men and women, to
support Mr. M'Grorty's Bill were passed with enthusiasm, that
honourable gentleman himself calling for three cheers in
honour of the cause at the conclusion of the proceedings. It
was resolved also to present a petition to the House of Repre-
sentatives, and this, it was decided, was to be entrusted to
the care of Mr. Harding Buck, Member for Moodyville.
Miss Gazelle considered that this would be a politic course,
as, from a conversation she had had with that gentleman, she
judged that he was, as she expressed it, ' rather wobbly on
the question.'

As the day that was fixed for the debate drew near,
there was much enthusiasm among the advocates of Woman's
Rights, and also a good deal of interest excited among the
public generally. On the appointed evening the House was
filled, and the gallery for the general public crowded.

Mr. M'Grorty, who was now to advocate the rights of
woman, was a more popular champion than Frankfort.
Plain family men often wondered at his chivalrous belief in
the power for good in public affairs of woman. For he was
not a family man himself. He appeared to prefer single
life, since it was hard to believe that he could not have found
some partner to accept him, as he was decidedly good-
looking, and had been successful in his career. He even
preserved a youthful appearance as years came upon him,
and was always especially careful about his dress. He and
the tasteful, tiny bouquet in his button -hole were among
the most polished and striking things, in the personal line,
that Parliament had to show. Among his fellow- members
he was generally known as the handsome man of the House.
Later on in this history his political character will claim
further inquiry at our hands, but for the present we meet
him as the bright champion of woman.

The Ladies' Gallery in the chamber was an open com-

476 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

partment divided by a light balustrade from the legislators'
benches — not a belated cage perched away out of sight, and
almost out of hearing. It was generally well filled every
evening, but upon this occasion it was crowded. The ladies
were intelligent and attentive listeners ; but at times, as
might be expected, signs of their feelings were apparent,
friendly or hostile, as the case might be, to the various
views of the speakers.

M'Grorty was naturally an ornate and diffusive debater,
but in moving the second reading of his Bill he was at
pains to be more logical than was his wont He began by
saying that he could understand, though he did not agree
with, those who held that the political sphere was not
Woman's sphere. But the House and the country with a
splendid unanimity had scouted that view. Woman, it was
declared, should undertake political duties. Did Honourable
Members — any of them — mean to say that their wives and
sisters were so inferior to them that they were only fit to dis-
charge the humble function of casting perhaps a useless
vote into the ballot-box — that they might join in the jostle
about the polling-booths, but not approach the sacred halls
of the Legislature ? The Premier had said that they had
not got experience ; but their whole political system was
based upon giving people rights and letting them learn how
to use them by using them. The right to vote had been
given to them not alone upon the ground that they were as
intelligent as men and as much affected by the laws, but
because the old idea that they could be merged in and acted
for by their male kin was thoroughly false and unjust. If
this was not so there was no reason for giving them the in-
dependent vote. If it was so, was it just to compel them to
take as representatives those whom the country had decided
they should not be asked to trust to act for them as voters ?
He could understand those who said to the women of the
country, Do trust your men to vote for you. And he
understood and believed those who said, Don't trust your
men to vote for you. But his intellectual powers were not
strong enough to follow the reasoning of those who said,
Don't trust your men to vote for you, but you must trust
them to act for you when you have voted, and to give effect

vn PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 477

to your votes as they think best. There was sense in the
old view — of a kind — that men should act for women in
politics, as they did in so many other matters. And there was
a grander sense in the new and enlightened view that women
should assert their own individuality. But the half-and-half
business of giving votes and stopping there was in truth
the weak and shifty device of those who wished to have the
credit of being advanced men, and then consoled themselves
for advocating what they did not believe in by making its
practical application a sham. His Bill did not compel any
constituency to elect a woman. Some women might not be
fitted for politics. Many constituencies might not care for
women to represent them. He only said that if the woman
was adapted for the work, and if the people wanted to have
her, that they should not be prevented from doing so by an
arbitrary law. Those who opposed it must hold that, how-
ever much the people in any district might wish to have a
woman as their representative, no matter how superior she
may be to any one else they could get, yet they should be
prevented forcibly from the free exercise of their franchise
and compelled to take a person whom they did not wish to
take. What justification could there be for thus interfering
with the free choice of the electors, which was the very rock
foundation of their whole system ? Then would Honourable
Members think only for one moment of the vast amount of
intelligence, good manners, and high morality that was lost
to that House by this forceful exclusion of one-half of the
population, and that admittedly the best half. Having argued
his case thus far, he felt free to give more vent to warm and
generous feelings on the subject. He begged the House to
rise superior to the platitudes of fossilised Toryism. They
had met them before. They knew them of old. They were
trotted out time after time to oppose everything and anything
new. He need not repeat them. They knew them by
heart. But enlightenment came along all the same. The
remedy for this injustice was bound to come. It was
coming. It was already nigh. They could hear the rum-
bling of its wheels. Not the House, not the Government,
not even Sir Donald himself, could stop the emancipation
of half the population. (Here Sir Donald looked across the

478 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

House with a harsh, crabbed smile, and gave a slight scoffing
cheer.) The Honourable the Premier might smile, if he called
it a smile, and might cheer, if he called it a cheer, but neither
his smile nor his cheer, nor, he might add, his tear, would
stop the advent of Freedom. He might as well propose to
place his veto upon the rising sun. He would not threaten
doubters with the avenging vote of half the electors at the
next general election. He would rather appeal to their
sense of justice as fathers, as husbands, as brothers, as sons
— nay, as men !

The applause that followed this peroration was perhaps
the louder as it partly served as a vent for the pent-up
feelings of uneasiness that possessed many Members about
this troublesome question that was thus obtruded upon
them. And there was no denying the force of what
M'Grorty had said. The Opposition uttered loud cries for
the Premier, who, it was a satisfaction to feel, was in a
greater difficulty about it than they were. But Sir Donald
did not care to speak if he could avoid it, and certainly not
early in the debate. So Slater Scully was put up to make
as good a case for delay as he could. The task was an un-
congenial one to the Minister of the Water Bureau, and he
had to rely upon his adaptability as an advocate to carry
him through at all.

He stated that the Government hailed this discussion as
another torch lighting the path of Progress, another mile-
stone upon the broad highway of Liberalism. Who would
dare to quench the torch ? Who to block the highway ?
Certainly not His Majesty's Government. Yet true Liberals
might differ somewhat as to the manner of the measure, the
time of this grand reform. Some of his ardent friends
might be apt to say with Macbeth, ' If it were done when
'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly.' Others,
equally devoted to Woman's cause, might be pondering upon
the profound sentiment of another poet, that raw haste was
half-sister to delay.

To Mr. M'Grorty's sarcastic inquiry as to how the
Government were going to vote upon this question, Slater
Scully replied that he honoured his friend's thirst for know-
ledge, and that it would be gratified in the legitimate

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLA TION 479

manner, when the division bells sounded their melodious
summons to Honourable Members to divide. After dis-
cussing, without directly opposing, M'Grorty's arguments,
he congratulated that gentleman upon the enthusiasm which
he displayed in the cause, which, he said, was all the more
remarkable when they contemplated the forlorn condition of
bachelor life in which his friend, no doubt unwillingly, pined.
If bringing women into Parliament, even prematurely, would
tend to give his friend any prospect of rescue from his
present fate, then he could only say that he could not wish
the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper.

Miss Gazelle, who had a front seat in the Ladies' Gallery,
could not help exclaiming in rather a loud whisper, ' What
nonsense!' And nonsense it certainly was; but yet it
enabled Slater Scully to wind up with a laugh, and to
finish his uncongenial task with some appearance of
credit.

Mr. Brandreth next addressed the House ; but as
generally nobody paid attention to what he said, his remarks
attracted little notice, till after a while it appeared that he
was speaking in support of the Bill. He said that he was
conscious that some would be surprised at his view of the
question, but that, nevertheless, as he conscientiously held
it, he would briefly say what it was. As they knew, he had
opposed the law that was passed last session giving women
new political rights and duties. But it being now the law
that they should discharge those duties, he would not be one
to say that she should be confined to the lowest sphere
of politics, and that she was unfit to aspire to the elevated
sphere in which he and Honourable Members around him
moved.

Old Mr. Brandreth said this quite simply and sincerely,
and looking round the House in his quiet way, was going on
to another point in his speech, when Mr. Brown -Hawkins
broke into a laugh and an ironical cheer at the mention of
the elevated sphere. This naturally annoyed several Mem-
bers, and Mr. David Stoker rose and, with his head posed
upon one side, in a determined manner, as if a crisis had
now arisen that called upon him to summon all his resolution
said :

480 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

' Mr. Speaker, sir, I rise to a point of order.'

' What is the Honourable Member's point of order ? '
inquired the Speaker.

' My point of order, sir, is that the Honourable Member
for Towrie has no right to describe this House as an elevated
sphere — leastways when his tone of voice conveys and makes
straight that it is not an elevated sphere.'

Hereupon a lively diversion from the main line of the
debate took place. Mr. Brandreth was quite taken aback,
and positively denied that there was anything in his tone of
voice to justify the imputation of the Honourable Member
for Dead Hatch. Several Members informed the House of
the impression that Mr. Brandreth's words had made upon
them, and this impression appeared to be a conflicting one.
Mr. Tom Creed, the Member for Snaresborough, asserted
that the responsible person was Mr. Brown- Hawkins, as it
was his ' hear, hear ' and laugh that caused the mischief.
Several Members followed up this aspect of the case, and it
was discussed rather fully. The whole House seemed to
take a deep interest in this point of order that had suddenly
arisen. Sir Donald, who wanted to get rid of the question
without a division, whispered to Slater Scully to speak upon
the point of order, and to keep going while Du Tell went
round the House to see if a count-out could be arranged for.

To readers who are not familiar with Parliamentary
practice, it may be explained that a deliberate count-out is
where a sufficient number of Members agree to withdraw
from the House, so as to leave behind less than the number
necessary to form a quorum present. One of the conspira-
tors remains to call the attention of the Speaker to the fact
that there is no quorum ; upon which that high functionary
looks up in a surprised manner, and begins to slowly and
solemnly count the House ; and finding that unfortunately
the requisite number of Members are not present, he, with
solemnity, adjourns the House to the next day of meeting,
and the business that is on hand stands postponed, and is
probably never heard of again. It is a simple and favourite
method of getting rid of business that it is not desired to deal
with directly.

Slater Scully at once rose to perform his part of the

vn PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 481

arrangement He began in a leisurely manner — for there
was no hurry — by taking a comprehensive look around the
House. He then remarked that the point of order which
had been raised was one of the most serious, and, in the
light of the further view advanced by his friend Mr. Creed,
one of the most difficult that had come before them since,
he might say, the first dawn of their political rights as free
men. It was intricate, owing to the perplexity of persons
involved — or rather the duality of persons. The point was
simply this — if one Member makes a remark that by itself
might not attract notice, and then another Member adds
interjections, exclamations, cheers, applause, possibly the
ironical bravissimo, that give the original remark an
offensive aspect — place it in a dangerous light — then how
stands it ? Two questions present themselves, indeed three,
said Slater Scully, holding up his hand and spreading out
three fingers widely apart to illustrate the problem. Is the
Member who used the ambiguous expression responsible, or
is the Member whose action imparts to it its colouring
answerable, or are both ? A perplexing question ! To put
a case that might be called analogous — if one man supplies
the gun and another the powder, or rather, if one man holds
the gun, and just as he fires, another man, by touch or
otherwise — it was immaterial to the question how — gives it
a turn, direction, or scope different, he would even assume
quite different, from that —

Here the sound of laughter from the front Opposition
Bench gave him opportunity for a much-desired pause. He
turned to face Mr. Brereton, who sat chuckling at his effort
on the point of order, and brought the full glare of his
spectacles to bear upon him. He was going to denounce
him for his frivolity upon this serious crisis concerning the
privileges of Parliament, and had just began, ' Nero fiddled
when Rome — • ' when Sir Donald whispered to him to stop
as it was all right. So, turning away from the leader of the
Opposition as if in silent indignation, he concluded with a
few general remarks ; and then the Speaker rose and briefly
stated that further discussion upon the point raised was not
necessary, as the Honourable Member for Towrie was quite
in order in describing the House as an elevated sphere.

VOL. I 2 I

482 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

Our politician, who had gone out into the library a
short time before, had not heard of the intended count-out.
He felt that it would be unjust to deny women the right
to sit in Parliament. He saw that his friend Slater Scully
had really trifled with the whole question ; and though
M'Grorty had put the case forcibly, yet there were some
important points still to be made, particularly upon the old
excuse for opposition to all reform — that it is not the proper
time. .

He began his speech by adverting to the fact that all
who had spoken admitted the right of women to sit in
Parliament. This being so, what was the reason for refusing
them justice noiv ?

Saying this, our politician looked round the House, as if
to challenge a reply, feeling at the same time that a reply
would not be very easy. He was surprised to notice the
number of vacant seats that there were, and the still, quiet
tone that seemed to be creeping over the House, in striking
contrast to the excitement that had prevailed during the
discussion of the point of order. As he proceeded with his
speech, Member after Member, first from one bench, then
from another, rose, and having gathered up their papers,
quietly and slowly disappeared, like Arabs striking their
tents and stealing away. Still he held on, and was getting
interested in his subject. He felt that he was making it
clear even to Slater Scully how unworthy of Parliament it
would be to refuse woman's just aspirations upon frivolous
grounds. That gentleman, however, kept smiling at him
in such a demonstrative manner that Frankfort felt rather
nettled at this continued levity, and was about to pointedly
appeal to his honourable friend to be serious for once, when
Du Tell, who had been left in the House to call attention to
the want of a quorum when the required number had gone
out, rose, and peering round upon our politician, slightly
inclining his head as he spoke, said that he much regretted
to have to interrupt his honourable friend, but that a sense
of duty compelled him to call the attention of the Speaker
to the fact that there was not a quorum of the House pre-
sent to hear the valuable argument of his honourable friend
upon this great question.

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 483

The Speaker looked up, then slowly rose, and with great
deliberation ' counted the House.' There were only twenty
Members present. The electric bells rang out their ap-
pointed time in vain. Murmurs of voices were heard in the
corridors, footsteps sounded near the doors, but the echoes
died away mysteriously. Walter Crane hurried from his
perch in the gallery to the Ministers' Room in case he should
be wanted to get anybody, but he saw directly that his
services were not required. The prescribed time for waiting
for a House expired without a quorum being secured, and so
the Speaker declared that the House stood adjourned to the
next appointed day of meeting. When that day came fresh
business had precedence ; no other opportunity for taking
up M'Grorty's Bill presented itself, and thus that Bill, the
rest of our politician's speech, and the decision of the House
upon the question were remitted to the future. No one ever
knew upon which side Slater Scully would have voted, it
there had been a division that night. When some one
remarked this to him, he said, smiling, that he could quite
believe it, as he did not know himself.

Our politician, as he gathered up his papers, certainly
felt that the result of the evening's work was unsatisfactory.
He did not yet, in his Parliamentary career, realise how
necessary it is for a body of men, any of whose members
can propose anything, to have some power, whether express
or derived from custom, to evade, or at least postpone, dealing
with unseasonable propositions. There could be no doubt
that M'Grorty's arguments were, as arguments, unanswer-
able. The Parliament of Excelsior had adopted Woman's
Suffrage, owing to motives of various kinds. When asked
to bring the thing to its logical issue, they were unwilling
to do so ; because they did not want to have women
displacing them, or even sitting with them, and the motives
that led to giving the vote did not, at present, act to impel
the granting of the right to sit in Parliament. Whenever
the public wish, or political exigencies, called for this further
concession, it would be granted directly. But till then the
question was simply evaded.

Our politician, in his vexation at the discomfiture of a
reform, and also at the collapse of his speech, did not stop

VOL. I 212

484 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP.

to consider all this ; and could not help, when leaving the
House to go into the corridor, exclaiming to himself, ' What
a farce ! ' A sort of involuntary stir of some one behind a
pillar that he was passing caused him to look round, and
there he saw the patient personality of Walter Crane, waiting
quietly for the new Minister's bag. Frankfort felt that
desire to talk to some one which comes to us naturally as a
vent for one's feelings.

' Well, you see, Crane, they won't have ladies as mem-
bers— not just yet.'

' Yes, your Honer. Dreadful true, your Honer,' re-
plied Crane, with his deferential bend, as of old. But he
seemed to feel more concern in the question than was usual
with him, and appeared to be about to say something further.
Frankfort stopped for the moment and turned towards him
encouragingly to hear what he had to say. He only repeated
in a mild tone of inquiry —

' Not just yet, your Honer ? '

' That's it, Crane — not just yet. Sure to come along
presently' ; and our politician walked slowly down the passage.
He thought that he heard a suppressed exclamation, such as
had attracted his notice when Crane was polishing the leg
of the table during his interview with Mr. Lavender at the
Water Bureau, when he went to inquire about the Brass-
ville Reservoir. But looking round he only saw Crane
meekly following him with composed looks, but evidently
with something still upon his mind. However, he only said
in the same tone of quiet inquiry —

' Yes, your Honer, sure to come ? To be sure, your
Honer. And will they be standing for Ministers too, your
Honer?'

' To be sure, Crane, some will — not many, perhaps.
Why not, Crane ? '

' Why not, your Honer ? To be sure, I couldn't think
of taking that much upon myself to say. It's for your
Honer and the other gentlemen to think of these abstruse
sort of things. And I wish your Honer good - night.
There's His Excellency and the bag now.' And Crane
hurried off with a suppressed groan.

The real cause of Walter Crane's perplexed air was a

vii PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION 485

fearful dread which was creeping over him lest now, since
women were about to enter Parliament, one of them should
become Minister of the Water Bureau. This appeared to
poor Wally to be an upside-down sort of business that would
fatally embitter the evening of his days. By nature he
should reverence his chief; but how could he divert his
reverential feelings into such a new channel as this ? In
his consternation he was very near breaking out and confid-
ing his fear to Frankfort ; but he checked himself, and hence
the half- suppressed exclamation that our politician had
heard. The only relief open to him now was to disburden
his soul on his next quiet Sunday afternoon at Grubb Lane.
There he consoled himself with a free expression of his pent-
up feelings. His nephew Mick sympathised with him
generally ; but Ben Mule, partly for the sake of argument,
disputed with him, falling back upon the old joke — that
there were so many old women in high places that a few
more would not matter. But Crane, who was beginning to
feel a personal interest in the question, became indignant
with him, and demanded how he would like to have his
cabs driven by a woman. Ben Mule admitted the fact that
he would not like it, but disputed the relevancy of the im-
plied argument, as he maintained that driving cabs was a
specially male function, like navigating a ship. Upon this
Crane, with a contemptuous toss of his usually compliant
head, declined further discussion with a man who didn't
know better than to rank the driving of his cabs before the
management of the Water Bureau.

As our politician walked away, M'Grorty joined him.
Frankfort, still indignant, condoled with him upon the way
his Bill had been treated. If Slater Scully were not such a
good-natured fellow that no one could get angry with him,
the way he went on that evening was enough to make any
one regard him as a mere humbug. His absurd joke about
M'Grorty being unmarried was mere vulgar personality.
He sympathised with M'Grorty upon his being exposed to
these personal attacks. That gentleman did not appear to
be at all inconsolable upon these points. As to the Bill, why,
if he had to bring it up session after session, till justice pre-
vailed, before an admiring crowd in the Ladies' Gallery, he

4§6 JACOB SHUMATE CHAP, vn

would still be found ready at the call of duty. Till the
thing was done he was the leader of an important move-
ment. Meanwhile the fair claimants had, at any rate, votes
as electors, and were free to give them to the friends of
progress and enlightenment. As to the personal side of the
matter, he quite agreed in condemning Slater Scully for his
absurd conduct. But he did not seem to be distressed upon
the subject. To the bachelor who is past forty impeach-
ments of a tender kind, however satirical, carry a balm with
them. It is so pleasing to people who are no longer young
to be the subject of notice by or on behalf of the other sex.
They can stand being painted as rather dangerous people.
They can put up with it. At least, we have to, thought
M'Grorty. As for our politician, though he was disap-
pointed that Woman's rights should have been delayed by
a subterfuge, he felt that they were only delayed. The
second step in her political advancement could not be denied
to her, unless the first step was to be a sham.

END OF VOL. I

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