his own sage maxims. Free from whiskers and safe in wig, there was no
sign of gray, no suspicion of dye. Superiority to passion, abnegation of
sorrow, indulgence of amusement, avoidance of excess, had kept away the
crow's-feet, preserved the elasticity of his frame and the unflushed
clearness of his gentlemanlike complexion. The door opened, and a
well-dressed valet, who had lived long enough with Mivers to grow very
much like him, announced Mr. Chillingly Gordon.

"Good morning," said Mivers; "I was much pleased to see you talking so
long and so familiarly with Danvers: others, of course, observed it, and
it added a step to your career. It does you great good to be seen in a
drawing-room talking apart with a Somebody. But may I ask if the talk
itself was satisfactory?"

"Not at all: Danvers throws cold water on the notion of Saxboro', and
does not even hint that his party will help me to any other opening.
Party has few openings at its disposal nowadays for any young man. The
schoolmaster being abroad has swept away the school for statesmen as
he has swept away the school for actors,--an evil, and an evil of a far
greater consequence to the destinies of the nation than any good likely
to be got from the system that succeeded it."

"But it is of no use railing against things that can't be helped. If I
were you, I would postpone all ambition of Parliament and read for the
bar."

"The advice is sound, but too unpalatable to be taken. I am resolved to
find a seat in the House, and where there is a will there is a way."

"I am not so sure of that."

"But I am."

"Judging by what your contemporaries at the University tell me of your
speeches at the Debating Society, you were not then an ultra-Radical.
But it is only an ultra-Radical who has a chance of success at
Saxboro'."

"I am no fanatic in politics. There is much to be said on all sides:
_coeteris paribus_, I prefer the winning side to the losing; nothing
succeeds like success."

"Ay, but in politics there is always reaction. The winning side one day
may be the losing side another. The losing side represents a minority,
and a minority is sure to comprise more intellect than a majority: in
the long run intellect will force its way, get a majority and then lose
it, because with a majority it will become stupid."

"Cousin Mivers, does not the history of the world show you that a single
individual can upset all theories as to the comparative wisdom of the
few