on, Sir Marmaduke,--the Lord Chancellor or the
Editor of the 'Jupiter?'"

"The Lord Chancellor a great deal," said Sir Marmaduke, quite
dismayed by the audacity of the question.

"By no means, Sir Marmaduke," said Stanbury, throwing out his hand
before him so as to give the energy of action to his words. "He has
the higher rank. I will admit that."

"I should think so," said Sir Marmaduke.

"And the larger income."

"Very much larger, I should say," said Sir Marmaduke, with a smile.

"And he wears a wig."

"Yes;--he wears a wig," said Sir Marmaduke, hardly knowing in what
spirit to accept this assertion.

"And nobody cares one brass button for him or his opinions," said
Stanbury, bringing down his hand heavily on the little table for the
sake of emphasis.

"What, sir?"

"If you'll think of it, it is so."

"Nobody cares for the Lord Chancellor!" It certainly is the fact that
gentlemen living in the Mandarin Islands do think more of the Lord
Chancellor, and the Lord Mayor, and the Lord-Lieutenant, and the Lord
Chamberlain, than they whose spheres of life bring them into closer
contact with those august functionaries. "I presume, Mr. Stanbury,
that a connection with a penny newspaper makes such opinions as these
almost a necessity."

"Quite a necessity, Sir Marmaduke. No man can hold his own in print,
now-a-days, unless he can see the difference between tinsel and
gold."

"And the Lord Chancellor, of course, is tinsel."

"I do not say so. He may be a great lawyer,--and very useful. But his
lordship, and his wig, and his woolsack, are tinsel in comparison
with the real power possessed by the editor of a leading newspaper.
If the Lord Chancellor were to go to bed for a month, would he be
much missed?"

"I don't know, sir. I'm not in the secrets of the Cabinet. I should
think he would."

"About as much as my grandmother;--but if the Editor of the 'Jupiter'
were to be taken ill, it would work quite a commotion. For myself I
should be glad,--on public grounds,--because I don't like his mode of
business. But it would have an effect,--because he is a leading man."

"I don't see what all this leads to, Mr. Stanbury."

"Only to this,--that we who write for the press think that our
calling is recognised, and must be recognised as a profession. Talk
of permanence, Sir Marmaduke, are not the newspapers permanent? Do
not they come out regularly every day,--and more of them, and still
more of them, are always c