he day. By no
other than parliamentary means could such a one as he come to be the
chief man. And this use of Parliament, either on his own behalf or
on behalf of others, had been for so many years present to his mind,
that there seemed to be nothing absurd in an institution supported
for such a purpose. Parliament was a club so eligible in its nature
that all Englishmen wished to belong to it. They who succeeded were
acknowledged to be the cream of the land. They who dominated in it
were the cream of the cream. Those two who were elected to be the
chiefs of the two parties had more of cream in their composition than
any others. But he who could be the chief of the strongest party, and
who therefore, in accordance with the prevailing arrangements of the
country, should have the power of making dukes, and bestowing garters
and appointing bishops, he who by attaining the first seat should
achieve the right of snubbing all before him, whether friends or
foes, he, according to the feelings of Sir Timothy, would have gained
an Elysium of creaminess not to be found in any other position on the
earth's surface. No man was more warmly attached to parliamentary
government than Sir Timothy Beeswax; but I do not think that he ever
cared much for legislation.

Parliamentary management was his forte. There have been various rocks
on which men have shattered their barks in their attempts to sail
successfully into the harbours of parliamentary management. There is
the great Senator who declares to himself that personally he will
have neither friend nor foe. There is his country before him and its
welfare. Within his bosom is the fire of patriotism, and within his
mind the examples of all past time. He knows that he can be just, he
teaches himself to be eloquent, and he strives to be wise. But he
will not bend;--and at last, in some great solitude, though closely
surrounded by those whose love he had neglected to acquire,--he
breaks his heart.

Then there is he who seeing the misfortune of that great one, tells
himself that patriotism, judgment, industry, and eloquence will not
suffice for him unless he himself can be loved. To do great things
a man must have a great following, and to achieve that he must be
popular. So he smiles and learns the necessary wiles. He is all for
his country and his friends,--but for his friends first. He too must
be eloquent and well instructed in the ways of Parliament, must be
wise and diligent; but i