The wonder is that there should ever be in a reforming party enough of consentaneous action to carry any reform. The reforming or Liberal party in British politics had thus stumbled,—and stumbled till it fell. And now there had been a great Conservative reaction! Many of the most Liberal constituencies in the country had been untrue to their old political convictions. And, as the result, Lord Drummond was Prime Minister in the House of Lords,—with Sir Timothy Beeswax acting1 as first man in the House of Commons.
It cannot be denied that Sir Timothy had his good points as a politician. He was industrious2, patient, clear-sighted, intelligent, courageous3, and determined4. Long before he had had a seat in the House, when he was simply making his way up to the probability of a seat by making a reputation as an advocate, he had resolved that he would be more than an Attorney-General, more than a judge,—more, as he thought it, than a Chief Justice; but at any rate something different. This plan he had all but gained,—and it must be acknowledged that he had been moved by a grand and manly5 ambition. But there were drawbacks to the utility and beauty of Sir Timothy's character as a statesman. He had no idea as to the necessity or non-necessity of any measure whatever in reference to the well-being6 of the country. It may, indeed, be said that all such ideas were to him absurd, and the fact that they should be held by his friends and supporters was an inconvenience. He was not in accord with those who declare that a Parliament is a collection of windbags7 which puff8, and blow, and crack to the annoyance9 of honest men. But to him Parliament was a debating place, by having a majority in which, and by no other means, he,—or another,—might become the great man of the day. By no other than parliamentary means could such a one as he come to be the chief man. And this use of Parliament, either on his own behalf or on behalf of others, had been for so many years present to his mind, that there seemed to be nothing absurd in an institution supported for such a purpose. Parliament was a club so eligible10 in its nature that all Englishmen wished to belong to it. They who succeeded were acknowledged to be the cream of the land. They who dominated in it were the cream of the cream. Those two who were elected to be the chiefs of the two parties had more of cream in their composition than any others. But he who could be the chief of the strongest party, and who therefore, in accordance with the prevailing11 arrangements of the country, should have the power of making dukes, and bestowing12 garters and appointing bishops13, he who by attaining14 the first seat should achieve the right of snubbing all before him, whether friends or foes16, he, according to the feelings of Sir Timothy, would have gained an Elysium of creaminess not to be found in any other position on the earth's surface. No man was more warmly attached to parliamentary government than Sir Timothy Beeswax; but I do not think that he ever cared much for legislation.
Parliamentary management was his forte17. There have been various rocks on which men have shattered their barks in their attempts to sail successfully into the harbours of parliamentary management. There is the great Senator who declares to himself that personally he will have neither friend nor foe15. There is his country before him and its welfare. Within his bosom19 is the fire of patriotism20, and within his mind the examples of all past time. He knows that he can be just, he teaches himself to be eloquent21, and he strives to be wise. But he will not bend;—and at last, in some great solitude22, though closely surrounded by those whose love he had neglected to acquire,—he breaks his heart.
Then there is he who seeing the misfortune of that great one, tells himself that patriotism, judgment23, industry, and eloquence24 will not suffice for him unless he himself can be loved. To do great things a man must have a great following, and to achieve that he must be popular. So he smiles and learns the necessary wiles25. He is all for his country and his friends,—but for his friends first. He too must be eloquent and well instructed in the ways of Parliament, must be wise and diligent26; but in all that he does and all that he says he must first study his party. It is well with him for a time;—but he has closed the door of his Elysium too rigidly27. Those without gradually become stronger than his friends within, and so he falls.
But may not the door be occasionally opened to an outsider, so that the exterior28 force be diminished? We know how great is the pressure of water; and how the peril29 of an overwhelming weight of it may be removed by opening the way for a small current. There comes therefore the Statesman who acknowledges to himself that he will be pregnable. That, as a Statesman, he should have enemies is a matter of course. Against moderate enemies he will hold his own. But when there comes one immoderately forcible, violently inimical, then to that man he will open his bosom. He will tempt18 into his camp with an offer of high command any foe that may be worth his purchase. This too has answered well; but there is a Nemesis30. The loyalty31 of officers so procured32 must be open to suspicion. The man who has said bitter things against you will never sit at your feet in contented33 submission34, nor will your friend of old standing35 long endure to be superseded36 by such converts.
All these dangers Sir Timothy had seen and studied, and for each of them he had hoped to be able to provide an antidote37. Love cannot do all. Fear may do more. Fear acknowledges a superior. Love desires an equal. Love is to be created by benefits done, and means gratitude38, which we all know to be weak. But hope, which refers itself to benefits to come, is of all our feelings the strongest. And Sir Timothy had parliamentary doctrines39 concealed40 in the depths of his own bosom more important even than these. The Statesman who falls is he who does much, and thus injures many. The Statesman who stands the longest is he who does nothing and injures no one. He soon knew that the work which he had taken in hand required all the art of a great conjuror41. He must be possessed42 of tricks so marvellous that not even they who sat nearest to him might know how they were performed.
For the executive or legislative43 business of the country he cared little. The one should be left in the hands of men who liked work;—of the other there should be little, or, if possible, none. But Parliament must be managed,—and his party. Of patriotism he did not know the meaning;—few, perhaps, do, beyond a feeling that they would like to lick the Russians, or to get the better of the Americans in a matter of fisheries or frontiers. But he invented a pseudo-patriotic conjuring44 phraseology which no one understood but which many admired. He was ambitious that it should be said of him that he was far-and-away the cleverest of his party. He knew himself to be clever. But he could only be far-and-away the cleverest by saying and doing that which no one could understand. If he could become master of some great hocus-pocus system which could be made to be graceful45 to the ears and eyes of many, which might for awhile seem to have within it some semi-divine attribute, which should have all but divine power of mastering the loaves and fishes, then would they who followed him believe in him more firmly than other followers46 who had believed in their leaders. When you see a young woman read a closed book placed on her dorsal47 vertebr?,—if you do believe that she so reads it, you think that she is endowed with a wonderful faculty48! And should you also be made to believe that the same young woman had direct communication with Abraham, by means of some invisible wire, you would be apt to do a great many things as that young woman might tell you. Conjuring, when not known to be conjuring, is very effective.
Much, no doubt, of Sir Timothy's power had come from his praiseworthy industry. Though he cared nothing for the making of laws, though he knew nothing of finance, though he had abandoned his legal studies, still he worked hard. And because he had worked harder in a special direction than others around him, therefore he was enabled to lead them. The management of a party is a very great work in itself; and when to that is added the management of the House of Commons, a man has enough upon his hands even though he neglects altogether the ordinary pursuits of a Statesman. Those around Sir Timothy were fond of their party; but they were for the most part men who had not condescended49 to put their shoulders to the wheel as he had done. Had there been any very great light among them, had there been a Pitt or a Peel, Sir Timothy would have probably become Attorney-General and have made his way to the bench;—but there had been no Pitt and no Peel, and he had seen his opening. He had studied the ways of Members. Parliamentary practice had become familiar to him. He had shown himself to be ready at all hours to fight the battle of the party he had joined. And no man knew so well as did Sir Timothy how to elevate a simple legislative attempt into a good faction50 fight. He had so mastered his tricks of conjuring that no one could get to the bottom of them, and had assumed a look of preternatural gravity which made many young Members think that Sir Timothy was born to be a king of men.
There were no doubt some among his older supporters who felt their thraldom51 grievously. There were some lords in the Upper House and some sons of the lords in the Lower,—with pedigrees going back far enough for pride,—who found it irksome to recognise Sir Timothy as a master. No doubt he had worked very hard, and had worked for them. No doubt he knew how to do the work, and they did not. There was no other man among them to whom the lead could be conveniently transferred. But yet they were uncomfortable,—and perhaps a little ashamed.
It had arisen partly from this cause, that there had been something of a counter-reaction at the last general election. When the Houses met, the Ministers had indeed a majority, but a much lessened52 majority. The old Liberal constituencies had returned to an expression of their real feeling. This reassertion of the progress of the tide, this recovery from the partial ebb53 which checks the violence of every flow, is common enough in politics; but at the present moment there were many who said that all this had been accelerated by a feeling in the country that Sir Timothy was hardly all that the country required as the leader of the country party.
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1
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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3
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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6
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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7
windbags
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| n.风囊，饶舌之人( windbag的名词复数 ) | |
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8
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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11
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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13
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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14
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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forte
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| n.长处，擅长；adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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23
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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25
wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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nemesis
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| n.给以报应者，复仇者，难以对付的敌手 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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32
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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36
superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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37
antidote
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| n.解毒药，解毒剂 | |
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38
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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39
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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40
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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41
conjuror
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| n.魔术师，变戏法者 | |
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42
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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43
legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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44
conjuring
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| n.魔术 | |
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45
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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46
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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47
dorsal
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| adj.背部的，背脊的 | |
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48
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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49
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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50
faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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51
thraldom
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| n.奴隶的身份，奴役，束缚 | |
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52
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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53
ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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