g the Torification of mankind; not as the
trembling venturesome idea which we cast on doubtful winds, but as
a ship is launched to ride the waters, with huzzas for a thing
accomplished. Mr. Austin raised his shoulders imperceptibly, saying to
Miss Halkett: 'The turn will come to us as to others--and go. Nothing
earthly can escape that revolution. We have to meet it with a policy,
and let it pass with measures carried and our hands washed of some of
our party sins. I am, I hope, true to my party, but the enthusiasm of
party I do not share. He is right, however, when he accuses the nation
of cowardice for the last ten years. One third of the Liberals have
been with us at heart, and dared not speak, and we dared not say what
we wished. We accepted a compact that satisfied us both--satisfied us
better than when we were opposed by Whigs--that is, the Liberal reigned,
and we governed: and I should add, a very clever juggler was our common
chief. Now we have the consequences of hollow peacemaking, in a
suffrage that bids fair to extend to the wearing of hats and boots for a
qualification. The moral of it seems to be that cowardice is even worse
for nations than for individual men, though the consequences come on us
more slowly.'

'You spoke of party sins,' Miss Halkett said incredulously.

'I shall think we are the redoubtable party when we admit the charge.'

'Are you alluding to the landowners?'

'Like the land itself, they have rich veins in heavy matter. For
instance, the increasing wealth of the country is largely recruiting
our ranks; and we shall be tempted to mistake numbers for strength, and
perhaps again be reading Conservatism for a special thing of our own--a
fortification. That would be a party sin. Conservatism is a principle
of government; the best because the safest for an old country; and
the guarantee that we do not lose the wisdom of past experience in our
struggle with what is doubtful. Liberalism stakes too much on the chance
of gain. It is uncomfortably seated on half-a-dozen horses; and it has
to feed them too, and on varieties of corn.'

'Yes,' Miss Halkett said, pausing, 'and I know you would not talk down
to me, but the use of imagery makes me feel that I am addressed as a
primitive intelligence.'

'That's the fault of my trying at condensation, as the hieroglyphists
put an animal for a paragraph. I am incorrigible, you see; but the
lecture in prose must be for by-and-by, if you care to have it.