FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159  
160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   >>   >|  
sit there," said Mr. Turnbull, in a tone of voice which was almost angry. "And what reason have you for supposing that I have omitted that duty?" said Mr. Monk. "Simply this,--that I cannot reconcile your known opinions with the practices of your colleagues." "I will not tell you what my convictions may be worth in Mr. Mildmay's Cabinet. I will not take upon myself to say that they are worth the chair on which I sit when I am there. But I will tell you what my aspirations were when I consented to fill that chair, and you shall judge of their worth. I thought that they might possibly leaven the batch of bread which we have to bake,--giving to the whole batch more of the flavour of reform than it would have possessed had I absented myself. I thought that when I was asked to join Mr. Mildmay and Mr. Gresham, the very fact of that request indicated liberal progress, and that if I refused the request I should be declining to assist in good work." "You could have supported them, if anything were proposed worthy of support," said Mr. Turnbull. "Yes; but I could not have been so effective in taking care that some measure be proposed worthy of support as I may possibly be now. I thought a good deal about it, and I believe that my decision was right." "I am sure you were right," said Mr. Kennedy. "There can be no juster object of ambition than a seat in the Cabinet," said Phineas. "Sir, I must dispute that," said Mr. Turnbull, turning round upon our hero. "I regard the position of our high Ministers as most respectable." "Thank you for so much," said Mr. Monk. But the orator went on again, regardless of the interruption:-- "The position of gentlemen in inferior offices,--of gentlemen who attend rather to the nods and winks of their superiors in Downing Street than to the interest of their constituents,--I do not regard as being highly respectable." "A man cannot begin at the top," said Phineas. "Our friend Mr. Monk has begun at what you are pleased to call the top," said Mr. Turnbull. "But I will not profess to think that even he has raised himself by going into office. To be an independent representative of a really popular commercial constituency is, in my estimation, the highest object of an Englishman's ambition." "But why commercial, Mr. Turnbull?" said Mr. Kennedy. "Because the commercial constituencies really do elect their own members in accordance with their own judgments, whereas the c
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159  
160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Turnbull
 

commercial

 

thought

 

request

 

possibly

 
proposed
 
worthy
 

regard

 
position
 

object


ambition

 

Phineas

 
Kennedy
 

support

 
gentlemen
 

respectable

 
Cabinet
 
Mildmay
 

interruption

 

offices


popular

 

inferior

 

attend

 

estimation

 

highest

 

Englishman

 

Ministers

 

orator

 

constituencies

 

constituency


Because

 
interest
 

raised

 

representative

 

profess

 
independent
 

office

 
turning
 

pleased

 
judgments

constituents
 

Street

 
Downing
 
superiors
 

members

 

highly

 
accordance
 

friend

 
leaven
 

aspirations