amfordham had
made a big speech the day before of which the papers were
full--"Stamfordham is a great speaker, and a great man to boot."

"A great speaker, perhaps," Sir William said. "I don't know that that is
entirely what you want from the man at the helm."

"Well, proverbially it isn't," said Rendel, with a smile, determined to
be good-humoured.

"As to being a great man," continued Sir William, "anybody who knocks
down everything that comes in his way and stands upon it looks rather
big."

"Even admitting that," said Rendel, "it seems to me that the
determination and courage necessary to knock down what is in your way,
when it can't be got out by any other method, is part of what makes a
great statesman."

"You speak," said Sir William, "as if he were a savage potentate."

"In some respects," said Rendel, "the savage potentate and civilised
ruler are inevitably alike. The ultimate ground, the ultimate arbiter of
their empire, is force."

"Empire!" said Sir William. "That is the cry! In your greed for empire
you lose sight of everything but the aggrandisement of a dominion
already so immense as to be unwieldy."

"Still," said Rendel, "as we have this big thing in our hands, it is
better to keep it there than let it drop and break to pieces."

"I don't wish to let it drop," said Gore. "I wish to be content to
increase it by friendly intercourse with the world, by the arts of peace
and civilisation, and not by destruction and bloodshed."

"I am afraid," said Rendel, "that the savage, which, as you say too
truly, still lurks in the majority of civilised beings, will not be
content to see the world governed on those amiable lines."

"There I must beg leave to differ from you," said Sir William, "I
believe that the majority of civilised human beings will, when it has
been put before them, be on the side of peace."

"We shall see," Rendel said, with a smile which was perhaps not as
conciliatory as he intended it to be.

"Yes, you will see when the General Election comes," said Gore. "And if
it goes for us, and we have a Cabinet composed of men who are not the
mere puppets in the hands of an autocrat, the destinies of the world
will be altered."

"Father," said Rachel, "do you really think that is how the General
Election will go?"

"Quite possibly," Gore said, with decision. Rendel said nothing.

"Oh, father!" said Rachel. "I wish that you were in Parliament! Suppose
you were in the Government!"

"A