ents with an indulgent eye, you are
talked of instead of the Duke of for the vacant garter and the office of
chamberlain."

"You don't mean it!" cried Mauleverer, starting from his bed.

"A few other (but, I hear, chiefly legal) promotions are to be made.
Among the rest, my learned brother, the democrat Sarsden, is to have a
silk gown; Cromwell is to be attorney-general; and, between ourselves,
they have offered me a judgeship."

"But the garter!" said Mauleverer, scarcely hearing the rest of the
lawyer's news,--"the whole object, aim, and ambition of my life. How
truly kind in the king! After all," continued the earl, laughing, and
throwing himself back, "opinions are variable, truth is not uniform. The
times change, not we; and we must have peace instead of war!"

"Your maxims are indisputable, and the conclusion you come to is
excellent," said Brandon.

"Why, you and I, my dear fellow," said the earl, "who know men, and who
have lived all our lives in the world, must laugh behind the scenes at
the cant we wrap in tinsel, and send out to stalk across the stage.
We know that our Coriolanus of Tory integrity is a corporal kept by a
prostitute, and the Brutus of Whig liberty is a lacquey turned out of
place for stealing the spoons; but we must not tell this to the world.
So, Brandon, you must write me a speech for the next session, and be
sure it has plenty of general maxims, and concludes with 'my bleeding
country!'"

The lawyer smiled. "You consent then to the expulsion of Sternhold and
Raffden? for, after all, that is the question. Our British vessel, as
the d---d metaphor-mongers call the State, carries the public good safe
in the hold like brandy; and it is only when fear, storm, or the devil
makes the rogues quarrel among themselves and break up the casks, that
one gets above a thimbleful at a time. We should go on fighting with the
rest of the world forever, if the ministers had not taken to fight among
themselves."

"As for Sternhold," said the earl, "'t is a vulgar dog, and voted for
economical reform. Besides, I don't know him; he may go to the devil,
for aught I care; but Raffden must be dealt handsomely with, or, despite
the garter, I will fall back among the Whigs, who, after all, give
tolerable dinners."

"But why, my lord, must Raffden be treated better than his brother
recusant?"

"Because he sent me, in the handsomest manner possible, a pipe of that
wonderful Madeira, which you know I conside