hould really get into our Assembly, Frank," said Brandon, "to
give the natives here the benefit of your experience. How great you
would be on a point of order or a question of privilege!"

"I wish Francis had time to give to parliamentary duties," said Jane.
"I live in hopes that when Mr. ---- returns, he may try his fortune in
the political world here. If representative assemblies would limit
themselves to what really concerns such bodies, it would not be so
heavy a tax upon people in business to give their time to the public;
but they will meddle with things that ought to be let alone, and
endless floods of talk on such matters take up much valuable time."

"Then Mr. Hogarth's public spirit has not been gently smothered by a
happy marriage and a fine family of children? That is the modern view
of the case," said Mr. Dempster. "Nothing great is done by married men,
unless they are unhappily mated."

"A most ignoble view of a wife's duties," said Jane.

"My wife would never smother any public spirit I may have," said
Francis. "She had too much to do with the birth of it, not to cherish
it as fondly as any of her other babies; but I fear that, till my
friend Mr. Hare's scheme is carried, I could not get a majority in
Victoria. We want the reform very much here, and in all the colonies;
and as yet, it has been failure, failure, failure."

"And if such men as you do not get in, Frank, it will never be carried.
Grant is stupid--thoroughly stupid. I talked to him for four mortal
hours on the subject, and made it plain to the meanest capacity, that
though we wanted a representation of minorities, the minority in the
House would faithfully represent the minority out of doors, and not be
able to defeat the majorities, as he was convinced it would do. I put
it down in black and white--proved it with figures. Elsie and I made
fancy voting-papers, and I acted as returning officer, and showed the
thing as clear as day; but though he drank a bottle and a half of
sherry during the process, he was just as wise at the end as at the
beginning. Now I don't call myself at all clever, but when Frank
explained the method of voting to me, I saw it all in a minute--and
you, Tom--did not you, too? but then you are rather a genius."

"It is as plain as a pikestaff," said Tom Lowrie.

"Walter thinks, because he has not read very much, that we must think
him stupid," said Elsie, "when he really has the quickest apprehension
of all sorts of