room, not only from the fear of being turned out of
the house before all the servants, but also from the dread that my
letter to the First Lord might be taken from me by force; but I shall
never forget the scowl of vengeance which crossed my uncle's brows, as I
turned round and looked at him as I shut the door. I found my way out
without the assistance of the servants, and hastened home as fast as I
could.

"O'Brien," said I, on my return, "there is no time to be lost; the
sooner you hasten to town with this letter of introduction, the better
it will be, for depend upon it my uncle will do me all the harm that he
can." I then repeated to him all that had passed, and it was agreed that
O'Brien should take the letter, which, having reference to the bearer,
would do as well for him as for me; and, if O'Brien obtained an
appointment, I was sure not only of being one of his lieutenants, but
also of sailing with a dear friend. The next morning O'Brien set off for
London, and fortunately saw the First Lord the day after his arrival,
which was a levee day. The First Lord received the letter from O'Brien,
and requested him to sit down. He then read it, inquired after his
lordship, asked whether his health was good, &c.

O'Brien replied, "that with the blessing of God, his lordship might live
many years: that he had never heard him complain of ill health." All
which was not false, if not true. I could not help observing to O'Brien,
when he returned home and told me what had passed, "that I thought,
considering what he had expressed with respect to white lies and black
lies, that he had not latterly adhered to his own creed."

"That's very true, Peter; and I've thought of it myself, but it is my
creed nevertheless. We all know what's right, but we don't always follow
it. The fact is, I begin to think that it is absolutely necessary to
fight the world with its own weapons. I spoke to Father M'Grath on the
subject, and he replied--'That if anyone, by doing wrong, necessitated
another to do wrong to circumvent him, that the first party was
answerable, not only for his own sin, but also for the sin committed in
self-defence."

"But, O'Brien, I do not fix my faith so implicitly upon Father M'Grath;
and I do not much admire many of his directions."

"No more do I, Peter, when I think upon them; but how am I to puzzle my
head upon these points? All I know is, that when you are divided between
your inclination and your duty, it's mi