m feel that the weight
of it was almost more than he could bear. His enemy had got the
better of him at every turn. He had now rushed into a correspondence
as to which he would have to own by his silence that he had been
confuted. And yet he was sure that Mr. Bonteen had at the club
insulted him most unjustifiably, and that if the actual truth were
known, no man, certainly not Mr. Monk, would hesitate to say that
reparation was due to him. And yet what could he do? He thought that
he would consult Lord Cantrip, and endeavour to get from his late
Chief some advice more palatable than that which had been tendered to
him by Mr. Monk.

In the meantime animosities in the House were waxing very furious;
and, as it happened, the debate took a turn that was peculiarly
injurious to Phineas Finn in his present state of mind. The rumour as
to the future promotion of Mr. Bonteen, which had been conveyed by
Laurence Fitzgibbon to Phineas at the Universe, had, as was natural,
spread far and wide, and had reached the ears of those who still
sat on the Ministerial benches. Now it is quite understood among
politicians in this country that no man should presume that he will
have imposed upon him the task of forming a Ministry until he has
been called upon by the Crown to undertake that great duty. Let the
Gresham or the Daubeny of the day be ever so sure that the reins of
the State chariot must come into his hands, he should not visibly
prepare himself for the seat on the box till he has actually been
summoned to place himself there. At this moment it was alleged that
Mr. Gresham had departed from the reticence and modesty usual in
such a position as his, by taking steps towards the formation of a
Cabinet, while it was as yet quite possible that he might never be
called upon to form any Cabinet. Late on this Monday night, when the
House was quite full, one of Mr. Daubeny's leading lieutenants, a
Secretary of State, Sir Orlando Drought by name,--a gentleman who if
he had any heart in the matter must have hated this Church Bill from
the very bottom of his heart, and who on that account was the more
bitter against opponents who had not ceased to throw in his teeth his
own political tergiversation,--fell foul of Mr. Gresham as to this
rumoured appointment to the Chancellorship of the Exchequer. The
reader will easily imagine the things that were said. Sir Orlando
had heard, and had been much surprised at hearing, that a certain
honourable