nt, no court could set aside the claim."

"Very clearly explained, sir," continued Bluewater; "and you will permit
me to say that there was no necessity for an apology on account of the
memory. Your brother, however, might not have exactly explained what an
act of Parliament is. King, Lords, and Commons, are all necessary to an
act of Parliament."

"Certainly--we all know that, my dear admiral; we poor fellows ashore
here, as well as you mariners at sea. The Hanoverian succession had all
three to authorize it."

"Had it a king?"

"A king! Out of dispute--or what we bachelors ought to consider as much
better, it had a _queen_. Queen Anne approved of the act, and that made
it an act of Parliament. I assure you, I learned a good deal of law in
the Baron's visits to Wychecombe; and in the pleasant hours we used to
chat together in his chambers!"

"And who signed the act of Parliament that made Anne a queen? or did she
ascend the throne by regular succession? Both Mary and Anne were
sovereigns by acts of Parliament, and we must look back until we get the
approval of a prince who took the crown by legal descent."

"Come--come, Bluewater," put in Sir Gervaise, gravely; "we may persuade
Sir Wycherly, in this manner, that he has a couple of furious Jacobites
in company. The Stuarts were dethroned by a revolution, which is a law
of nature, and enacted by God, and which of course overshadows all other
laws when it gets into the ascendant, as it clearly has done in this
case. I take it, Sir Wycherly, these are your park-gates, and that
yonder is the Hall."

This remark changed the discourse, and the whole party proceeded towards
the house, discussing the beauty of its position, its history, and its
advantages, until they reached its door.

CHAPTER V.

"Monarch and ministers, are awful names:
Whoever wear them, challenge our devoir."

YOUNG.

Our plan does not require an elaborate description of the residence of
Sir Wycherly. The house had been neither priory, abbey, nor castle; but
it was erected as a dwelling for himself and his posterity, by a Sir
Michael Wychecombe, two or three centuries before, and had been kept in
good serviceable condition ever since. It had the usual long, narrow
windows, a suitable hall, wainscoted rooms, battlemented walls, and
turreted angles. It was neither large, nor small; handsome, nor ugly;
grand, nor mean; but it was quaint, respectable in appearance, and
com