CHAPTER XIII.
"I HAVE GOT THE SEAT."
When Phineas returned to London, the autumn Session, though it hadbeen carried on so near to Christmas as to make many members veryunhappy, had already been over for a fortnight. Mr. Daubeny hadplayed his game with consummate skill to the last. He had broughtin no bill, but had stated his intention of doing so early in thefollowing Session. He had, he said, of course been aware from thefirst that it would have been quite impossible to carry such ameasure as that proposed during the few weeks in which it had beenpossible for them to sit between the convening of Parliament and theChristmas holidays; but he thought that it was expedient that theproposition should be named to the House and ventilated as it hadbeen, so that members on both sides might be induced to give theirmost studious attention to the subject before a measure, whichmust be so momentous, should be proposed to them. As had happened,the unforeseen division to which the House had been pressed on theAddress had proved that the majority of the House was in favour ofthe great reform which it was the object of his ambition to complete.They were aware that they had been assembled at a somewhat unusualand inconvenient period of the year, because the service of thecountry had demanded that certain money bills should be passed. He,however, rejoiced greatly that this earliest opportunity had beenafforded to him of explaining the intentions of the Government withwhich he had the honour of being connected. In answer to this therearose a perfect torrent of almost vituperative antagonism from theopposite side of the House. Did the Right Honourable gentleman dareto say that the question had been ventilated in the country, when ithad never been broached by him or any of his followers till afterthe general election had been completed? Was it not notorious tothe country that the first hint of it had been given when the RightHonourable gentleman was elected for East Barsetshire, and was it notequally notorious that that election had been so arranged that themarvellous proposition of the Right Honourable gentleman should notbe known even to his own party till there remained no possibilityof the expression of any condemnation from the hustings? It mightbe that the Right Honourable could so rule his own followers inthat House as to carry them with him even in a matter so absolutelyopposite to their own most cherished convictions. It certainly seemedthat he had succeeded in doing so for the present. But would any onebelieve that he would have carried the country, had he dared to facethe country with such a measure in his hands? Ventilation, indeed! Hehad not dared to ventilate his proposition. He had used this shortSession in order that he might keep his clutch fastened on power, andin doing so was indifferent alike to the Constitution, to his party,and to the country. Harder words had never been spoken in the Housethan were uttered on this occasion. But the Minister was successful.He had been supported on the Address; and he went home to EastBarsetshire at Christmas, perhaps with some little fear of theparsons around him; but with a full conviction that he would at leastcarry the second reading of his bill.
London was more than usually full and busy this year immediatelyafter Christmas. It seemed as though it were admitted by all theLiberal party generally that the sadness of the occasion ought torob the season of its usual festivities. Who could eat mince piesor think of Twelfth Night while so terribly wicked a scheme was inprogress for keeping the real majority out in the cold? It was theinjustice of the thing that rankled so deeply,--that, and a senseof inferiority to the cleverness displayed by Mr. Daubeny! It wasas when a player is checkmated by some audacious combination oftwo pawns and a knight, such being all the remaining forces of thevictorious adversary, when the beaten man has two castles and a queenupon the board. It was, indeed, worse than this,--for the adversaryhad appropriated to his own use the castles and the queen of theunhappy vanquished one. This Church Reform was the legitimateproperty of the Liberals, and had not been as yet used by them onlybecause they had felt it right to keep in the background for somefuture great occasion so great and so valuable a piece of ordnance.It was theirs so safely that they could afford to bide their time.And then,--so they all said, and so some of them believed,--thecountry was not ready for so great a measure. It must come; but theremust be tenderness in the mode of producing it. The parsons must berespected, and the great Church-of-England feeling of the people mustbe considered with affectionate regard. Even the most rabid Dissenterwould hardly wish to see a structure so nearly divine attacked anddestroyed by rude hands. With grave and slow and sober earnestness,with loving touches and soft caressing manipulation let the beautifulold Church be laid to its rest, as something too exquisite, toolovely, too refined for the present rough manners of the world! Suchwere the ideas as to Church Reform of the leading Liberals of theday; and now this man, without even a majority to back him, thisaudacious Cagliostro among statesmen, this destructive leader of alldeclared Conservatives, had come forward without a moment's warning,and pretended that he would do the thing out of hand! Men knew thatit had to be done. The country had begun to perceive that the oldEstablishment must fall; and, knowing this, would not the Liberalbackbone of Great Britain perceive the enormity of this Cagliostro'swickedness,--and rise against him and bury him beneath its scornas it ought to do? This was the feeling that made a real Christmasimpossible to Messrs. Ratler and Bonteen.
"The one thing incredible to me," said Mr. Ratler, "is thatEnglishmen should be so mean." He was alluding to the Conservativeswho had shown their intention of supporting Mr. Daubeny, and whomhe accused of doing so, simply with a view to power and patronage,without any regard to their own consistency or to the welfare ofthe country. Mr. Ratler probably did not correctly read the mindsof the men whom he was accusing, and did not perceive, as he shouldhave done with his experience, how little there was among them ofconcerted action. To defend the Church was a duty to each of them;but then, so also was it a duty to support his party. And each onecould see his way to the one duty, whereas the other was vague, andtoo probably ultimately impossible. If it were proper to throw offthe incubus of this conjuror's authority, surely some wise, andgreat, and bold man would get up and so declare. Some junto of wisemen of the party would settle that he should be deposed. But wherewere they to look for the wise and bold men? where even for thejunto? Of whom did the party consist?--Of honest, chivalrous, andenthusiastic men, but mainly of men who were idle, and unable totake upon their own shoulders the responsibility of real work. Theirleaders had been selected from the outside,--clever, eager, pushingmen, but of late had been hardly selected from among themselves. Asused to be the case with Italian Powers, they entrusted their causeto mercenary foreign generals, soldiers of fortune, who carried theirgood swords whither they were wanted; and, as of old, the leaderswere ever ready to fight, but would themselves declare what shouldbe and what should not be the _casus belli_. There was not so muchmeanness as Mr. Ratler supposed in the Conservative ranks, but verymuch more unhappiness. Would it not be better to go home and liveat the family park all the year round, and hunt, and attend QuarterSessions, and be able to declare morning and evening with a clearconscience that the country was going to the dogs? Such was themental working of many a Conservative who supported Mr. Daubeny onthis occasion.
At the instance of Lady Laura, Phineas called upon the Duke of St.Bungay soon after his return, and was very kindly received by hisGrace. In former days, when there were Whigs instead of Liberals, itwas almost a rule of political life that all leading Whigs should beuncles, brothers-in-law, or cousins to each other. This was pleasantand gave great consistency to the party; but the system has now goneout of vogue. There remain of it, however, some traces, so that amongthe nobler born Liberals of the day there is still a good deal ofagreeable family connection. In this way the St. Bungay Fitz-Howardswere related to the Mildmays and Standishes, and such a man asBarrington Erle was sure to be cousin to all of them. Lady Laurahad thus only sent her friend to a relation of her own, and as theDuke and Phineas had been in the same Government, his Grace wasglad enough to receive the returning aspirant. Of course there wassomething said at first as to the life of the Earl at
Dresden. TheDuke recollected the occasion of such banishment, and shook his head;and attempted to look unhappy when the wretched condition of Mr.Kennedy was reported to him. But he was essentially a happy man, andshook off the gloom at once when Phineas spoke of politics. "So youare coming back to us, Mr. Finn?"
"They tell me I may perhaps get the seat."
"I am heartily glad, for you were very useful. I remember how Cantripalmost cried when he told me you were going to leave him. He had beenrather put upon, I fancy, before."
"There was perhaps something in that, your Grace."
"There will be nothing to return to now beyond barren honours."
"Not for a while."
"Not for a long while," said the Duke;--"for a long while, that is,as candidates for office regard time. Mr. Daubeny will be safe forthis Session at least. I doubt whether he will really attempt tocarry his measure this year. He will bring it forward, and after thelate division he must get his second reading. He will then breakdown gracefully in Committee, and declare that the importance of theinterests concerned demands further inquiry. It wasn't a thing to bedone in one year."
"Why should he do it at all?" asked Phineas.
"That's what everybody asks, but the answer seems to be so plain!Because he can do it, and we can't. He will get from our side muchsupport, and we should get none from his."
"There is something to me sickening in their dishonesty," saidPhineas energetically.
"The country has the advantage; and I don't know that they aredishonest. Ought we to come to a deadlock in legislation in orderthat parties might fight out their battle till one had killed theother?"
"I don't think a man should support a measure which he believes to bedestructive."
"He doesn't believe it to be destructive. The belief istheoretic,--or not even quite that. It is hardly more than romantic.As long as acres are dear, and he can retain those belonging to him,the country gentleman will never really believe his country to be indanger. It is the same with commerce. As long as the Three per Cents.do not really mean Four per Cent.,--I may say as long as they don'tmean Five per Cent.,--the country will be rich, though every oneshould swear that it be ruined."
"I'm very glad, at the same time, that I don't call myself aConservative," said Phineas.
"That shows how disinterested you are, as you certainly would bein office. Good-bye. Come and see the Duchess when she comes totown. And if you've nothing better to do, give us a day or two atLongroyston at Easter." Now Longroyston was the Duke's well-knowncountry seat, at which Whig hospitality had been dispensed with alavish hand for two centuries.
On the 20th January Phineas travelled down to Tankerville again inobedience to a summons served upon him at the instance of the judgewho was to try his petition against Browborough. It was the specialand somewhat unusual nature of this petition that the complainantsnot only sought to oust the sitting member, but also to give theseat to the late unsuccessful candidate. There was to be a scrutiny,by which, if it should be successful, so great a number of voteswould be deducted from those polled on behalf of the unfortunateMr. Browborough as to leave a majority for his opponent, with theadditional disagreeable obligation upon him of paying the cost of thetransaction by which he would thus lose his seat. Mr. Browborough,no doubt, looked upon the whole thing with the greatest disgust. Hethought that a battle when once won should be regarded as over tillthe occasion should come for another battle. He had spent his moneylike a gentleman, and hated these mean ways. No one could ever saythat he had ever petitioned. That was his way of looking at it. ThatShibboleth of his as to the prospects of England and the Church ofher people had, no doubt, made the House less agreeable to him duringthe last Short session than usual; but he had stuck to his party, andvoted with Mr. Daubeny on the Address,--the obligation for such votehaving inconveniently pressed itself upon him before the presentationof the petition had been formally completed. He had always stuck tohis party. It was the pride of his life that he had been true andconsistent. He also was summoned to Tankerville, and he was forcedto go, although he knew that the Shibboleth would be thrown in histeeth.
Mr. Browborough spent two or three very uncomfortable days atTankerville, whereas Phineas was triumphant. There were worse thingsin store for poor Mr. Browborough than his repudiated Shibboleth, oreven than his lost seat. Mr. Ruddles, acting with wondrous energy,succeeded in knocking off the necessary votes, and succeeded also inproving that these votes were void by reason of gross bribery. Heastonished Phineas by the cool effrontery with which he took creditto himself for not having purchased votes in the Fallgate on theLiberal side, but Phineas was too wise to remind him that he himselfhad hinted at one time that it would be well to lay out a littlemoney in that way. No one at the present moment was more clear thanwas Ruddles as to the necessity of purity at elections. Not a pennyhad been misspent by the Finnites. A vote or two from their scorewas knocked off on grounds which did not touch the candidate or hisagents. One man had personated a vote, but this appeared to have beendone at the instigation of some very cunning Browborough partisan.Another man had been wrongly described. This, however, amounted tonothing. Phineas Finn was seated for the borough, and the judgedeclared his purpose of recommending the House of Commons to issuea commission with reference to the expediency of instituting aprosecution. Mr. Browborough left the town in great disgust, notwithout various publicly expressed intimations from his opponentsthat the prosperity of England depended on the Church of her people.Phineas was gloriously entertained by the Liberals of the borough,and then informed that as so much had been done for him it was hopedthat he would now open his pockets on behalf of the charities ofthe town. "Gentlemen," said Phineas, to one or two of the leadingLiberals, "it is as well that you should know at once that I am avery poor man." The leading Liberals made wry faces, but Phineas wasmember for the borough.
The moment that the decision was announced, Phineas, shaking off forthe time his congratulatory friends, hurried to the post-office andsent his message to Lady Laura Standish at Dresden: "I have got theseat." He was almost ashamed of himself as the telegraph boy lookedup at him when he gave in the words, but this was a task which hecould not have entrusted to any one else. He almost thought that thiswas in truth the proudest and happiest moment of his life. She wouldso thoroughly enjoy his triumph, would receive from it such greatand unselfish joy, that he almost wished that he could have takenthe message himself. Surely had he done so there would have been fitoccasion for another embrace.
He was again a member of the British House of Commons,--was again inpossession of that privilege for which he had never ceased to sighsince the moment in which he lost it. A drunkard or a gambler may beweaned from his ways, but not a politician. To have been in the Houseand not to be there was, to such a one as Phineas Finn, necessarilya state of discontent. But now he had worked his way up again, andhe was determined that no fears for the future should harass him. Hewould give his heart and soul to the work while his money lasted. Itwould surely last him for the Session. He was all alone in the world,and would trust to the chapter of accidents for the future.
"I never knew a fellow with such luck as yours," said Barrington Erleto him, on his return to London. "A seat always drops into your mouthwhen the circumstances seem to be most forlorn."
"I have been lucky, certainly."
"My cousin, Laura Kennedy, has been writing to me about you."
"I went over to see them, you know."
"So I heard. She talks some nonsense about the Earl being willing todo anything for you. What could the Earl do? He has no more influencein the Loughton borough than I have. All that kind of thing is cleandone for,--with one or two exceptions. We got much better men whileit lasted than we do now."
"I should doubt that."
"We did;--much truer men,--men who went straighter. By the bye,Phineas, we must have no tricks on this Church matter. We mean to doall we can to throw out the second reading."
"You know what I said at the hustings."
<
br /> "D---- the hustings. I know what Browborough said, and Browboroughvoted like a man with his party. You were against the Church at thehustings, and he was for it. You will vote just the other way. Therewill be a little confusion, but the people of Tankerville will neverremember the particulars."
"I don't know that I can do that."
"By heavens, if you don't, you shall never more be officer ofours,--though Laura Kennedy should cry her eyes out."