bowed to the officers, and by keen eyes
might have been observed to bow through the windows also to the
vessel, which lay a mile off in the harbour. "There will not, at
any rate for the present, be any Fixed Period for human life in
Britannula. That dream has been dreamed,--at any rate for the
present. Whether in future ages such a philosophy may prevail, who
shall say? At present we must all await our death from the hands of
the Almighty. 'Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.'

"And now, gentlemen, I have to request your attention for a few
moments to another matter, and one which is very different from this
which we have discussed. I am to say a few words of the past and
the present,--of your past constitution, and of that which it is my
purpose to inaugurate." Here there arose a murmur through the room
very audible, and threatening by its sounds to disturb the orator. "I
will ask your favour for a few minutes; and when you shall have heard
me to-day, I will in my turn hear you to-morrow. Great Britain at
your request surrendered to you the power of self-government. To
so small an English-speaking community has this never before been
granted. And I am bound to say that you have in many respects shown
yourselves fit for the responsibility imposed upon you. You have been
intelligent, industrious, and prudent. Ignorance has been expelled
from your shores, and poverty has been forced to hide her diminished
head." Here the orator paused to receive that applause which he
conceived to be richly his due; but the occupants of the benches
before him sat sternly silent. There were many there who had been
glad to see a ship of war come in to stop the Fixed Period, but
hardly one who was pleased to lose his own independence. "But though
that is so," said Sir Ferdinando, a little nettled at the want of
admiration with which his words had been received, "H.M. Government
is under the necessity of putting an end to the constitution under
which the Fixed Period can be allowed to prevail. While you have made
laws for yourselves, any laws so made must have all the force of
law." "That's not so certain," said a voice from a distance, which I
shrewdly suspect to have been that of my hopeful son, Jack Neverbend.
"As Great Britain cannot and will not permit the Fixed Period to be
carried out among any English-speaking race of people--"

"How about the United States?" said a voice.

"The United States have made no such attempt; but