What unexpectedly took place in the southern part of England, and especially in the maritime1 counties, during the autumn of 1830, seemed rather to confirm the intimations of Baron2 Sergius. The people in the rural districts had become disaffected3. Their discontent was generally attributed to the abuses of the Poor Law, and to the lowness of their wages. But the abuses of the Poor Law, though intolerable, were generally in favour of the labourer, and though wages in some parts were unquestionably low, it was observed that the tumultuous assemblies, ending frequently in riot, were held in districts where this cause did not prevail. The most fearful feature of the approaching anarchy5 was the frequent acts of incendiaries. The blazing homesteads baffled the feeble police and the helpless magistrates6; and the government had reason to believe that foreign agents were actively7 promoting these mysterious crimes.
Amid partial discontent and general dejection came the crash of the Wellington ministry8, and it required all the inspiration of Zenobia to sustain William Ferrars under the trial. But she was undaunted and sanguine9 as a morning in spring. Nothing could persuade her that the Whigs could ever form a government, and she was quite sure that the clerks in the public offices alone could turn them out. When the Whig government was formed, and its terrible programme announced, she laughed it to scorn, and derided10 with inexhaustible merriment the idea of the House of Commons passing a Reform Bill. She held a great assembly the night that General Gascoyne defeated the first measure, and passed an evening of ecstasy11 in giving and receiving congratulations. The morrow brought a graver brow, but still an indomitable spirit, and through all these tempestuous12 times Zenobia never quailed13, though mobs burnt the castles of dukes and the palaces of bishops14.
Serious as was the state of affairs to William Ferrars, his condition was not so desperate as that of some of his friends. His seat at least was safe in the new parliament that was to pass a Reform Bill. As for the Tories generally, they were swept off the board. Scarcely a constituency, in which was a popular element, was faithful to them. The counties in those days were the great expounders of popular principles, and whenever England was excited, which was rare, she spoke15 through her freeholders. In this instance almost every Tory knight16 of the shire lost his seat except Lord Chandos, the member for Buckinghamshire, who owed his success entirely17 to his personal popularity. “Never mind,” said Zenobia, “what does it signify? The Lords will throw it out.”
And bravely and unceasingly she worked for this end. To assist this purpose it was necessary that a lengthened18 and powerful resistance to the measure should be made in the Commons; that the public mind should be impressed with its dangerous principles, and its promoters cheapened by the exposure of their corrupt19 arrangements and their inaccurate20 details. It must be confessed that these objects were resolutely21 kept in view, and that the Tory opposition22 evinced energy and abilities not unworthy of a great parliamentary occasion. Ferrars particularly distinguished23 himself. He rose immensely in the estimation of the House, and soon the public began to talk of him. His statistics about the condemned24 boroughs25 were astounding26 and unanswerable: he was the only man who seemed to know anything of the elements of the new ones. He was as eloquent27 too as exact,—sometimes as fervent28 as Burke, and always as accurate as Cocker.
“I never thought it was in William Ferrars,” said a member, musingly29, to a companion as they walked home one night; “I always thought him a good man of business, and all that sort of thing—but, somehow or other, I did not think this was in him.”
“Well, he has a good deal at stake, and that brings it out of a fellow,” said his friend.
It was, however, pouring water upon sand. Any substantial resistance to the measure was from the first out of the question. Lord Chandos accomplished30 the only important feat4, and that was the enfranchisement31 of the farmers. This perpetual struggle, however, occasioned a vast deal of excitement, and the actors in it often indulged in the wild credulity of impossible expectations. The saloon of Zenobia was ever thronged32, and she was never more confident than when the bill passed the Commons. She knew that the King would never give his assent33 to the bill. His Majesty34 had had quite enough of going down in hackney coaches to carry revolutions. After all, he was the son of good King George, and the court would save the country, as it had often done before. “But it will not come to that,” she added. “The Lords will do their duty.”
“But Lord Waverley tells me,” said Ferrars, “that there are forty of them who were against the bill last year who will vote for the second reading.”
“Never mind Lord Waverley and such addlebrains,” said Zenobia, with a smile of triumphant35 mystery. “So long as we have the court, the Duke, and Lord Lyndhurst on our side, we can afford to laugh at such conceited36 poltroons. His mother was my dearest friend, and I know he used to have fits. Look bright,” she continued; “things never were better. Before a week has passed these people will be nowhere.”
“But how it is possible?”
“Trust me.”
“I always do—and yet”——
“You never were nearer being a cabinet minister,” she said, with a radiant glance.
And Zenobia was right. Though the government, with the aid of the waverers, carried the second reading of the bill, a week afterwards, on May 7, Lord Lyndhurst rallied the waverers again to his standard and carried his famous resolution, that the enfranchising37 clauses should precede the disenfranchisement in the great measure. Lord Grey and his colleagues resigned, and the King sent for Lord Lyndhurst. The bold chief baron advised His Majesty to consult the Duke of Wellington, and was himself the bearer of the King’s message to Apsley House. The Duke found the King “in great distress,” and he therefore did not hesitate in promising38 to endeavour to form a ministry.
“Who was right?” said Zenobia to Mr. Ferrars. “He is so busy he could not write to you, but he told me to tell you to call at Apsley House at twelve tomorrow. You will be in the cabinet.”
“I have got it at last!” said Ferrars to himself. “It is worth living for and at any peril39. All the cares of life sink into insignificance40 under such circumstances. The difficulties are great, but their very greatness will furnish the means of their solution. The Crown cannot be dragged in the mud, and the Duke was born for conquest.”
A day passed, and another day, and Ferrars was not again summoned. The affair seemed to hang fire. Zenobia was still brave, but Ferrars, who knew her thoroughly41, could detect her lurking42 anxiety. Then she told him in confidence that Sir Robert made difficulties, “but there is nothing in it,” she added. “The Duke has provided for everything, and he means Sir Robert to be Premier43. He could not refuse that; it would be almost an act of treason.” Two days after she sent for Mr. Ferrars, early in the morning, and received him in her boudoir. Her countenance44 was excited, but serious. “Don’t be alarmed,” she said; “nothing will prevent a government being formed, but Sir Robert has thrown us over; I never had confidence in him. It is most provoking, as Mr. Baring had joined us, and it was such a good name for the City. But the failure of one man is the opportunity of another. We want a leader in the House of Commons. He must be a man who can speak; of experience, who knows the House, its forms, and all that. There is only one man indicated. You cannot doubt about him. I told you honours would be tumbling on your head. You are the man; you are to have one of the highest offices in the cabinet, and lead the House of Commons.”
“Peel declines,” said Ferrars, speaking slowly and shaking his head. “That is very serious.”
“For himself,” said Zenobia, “not for you. It makes your fortune.”
“The difficulties seem too great to contend with.”
“What difficulties are there? You have got the court, and you have got the House of Lords. Mr. Pitt was not nearly so well off, for he had never been in office, and had at the same time to fight Lord North and that wicked Mr. Fox, the orator45 of the day, while you have only got Lord Althorp, who can’t order his own dinner.”
“I am in amazement,” said Ferrars, and he seemed plunged46 in thought.
“But you do not hesitate?”
“No,” he said, looking up dreamily, for he had been lost in abstraction; and speaking in a measured and hollow voice, “I do not hesitate.” Then resuming a brisk tone he said, “This is not an age for hesitation47; if asked, I will do the deed.”
At this moment there was a tap at the door, and the groom48 of the chambers49 brought in a note for Mr. Ferrars, which had been forwarded from his own residence, and which requested his presence at Apsley House. Having read it, he gave it to Zenobia, who exclaimed with delight, “Do not lose a moment. I am so glad to have got rid of Sir Robert with his doubts and his difficulties. We want new blood.”
That was a wonderful walk for William Ferrars, from St. James’ Square to Apsley House. As he moved along, he was testing his courage and capacity for the sharp trials that awaited him. He felt himself not unequal to conjectures50 in which he had never previously51 indulged even in imagination. His had been an ambitious, rather than a soaring spirit. He had never contemplated52 the possession of power except under the aegis53 of some commanding chief. Now it was for him to control senates and guide councils. He screwed himself up to the sticking-point. Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.
The great man was alone,—calm, easy, and courteous54. He had sent for Mr. Ferrars, because having had one interview with him, in which his cooperation had been requested in the conduct of affairs, the Duke thought it was due to him to give him the earliest intimation of the change of circumstances. The vote of the house of Commons on the motion of Lord Ebrington had placed an insurmountable barrier to the formation of a government, and his Grace had accordingly relinquished55 the commission with which he had been entrusted56 by the King.
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1
maritime
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| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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disaffected
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| adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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derided
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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quailed
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| 害怕，发抖，畏缩( quail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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boroughs
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| （尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇 | |
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astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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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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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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enfranchisement
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| 选举权 | |
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32
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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enfranchising
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| v.给予选举权( enfranchise的现在分词 )；（从奴隶制中）解放 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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40
insignificance
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| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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42
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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premier
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| adj.首要的；n.总理，首相 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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45
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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46
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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48
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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50
conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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51
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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52
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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53
aegis
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| n.盾；保护，庇护 | |
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54
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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55
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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