litically, held up his head. He was an old man when this
occurred, and luckily for him he did not live to see the worse things
which came afterwards.

The Member for Wednesbury became Marquis and owner of the large
family property, but still he kept his politics. He was a Radical
Marquis, wedded to all popular measures, not ashamed of his Charter
days, and still clamorous for further Parliamentary reform, although
it was regularly noted in Dod that the Marquis of Kingsbury was
supposed to have strong influence in the Borough of Edgeware. It
was so strong that both he and his uncle had put in whom they
pleased. His uncle had declined to put him in because of his
renegade theories, but he revenged himself by giving the seat to a
glib-mouthed tailor, who, to tell the truth, had not done much credit
to his choice.

But it came to pass that the shade of his uncle was avenged, if it
can be supposed that such feelings will affect the eternal rest of a
dead Marquis. There grew up a young Lord Hampstead, the son and heir
of the Radical Marquis, promising in intelligence and satisfactory
in externals, but very difficult to deal with as to the use of his
thoughts. They could not keep him at Harrow or at Oxford, because
he not only rejected, but would talk openly against, Christian
doctrines; a religious boy, but determined not to believe in
revealed mysteries. And at twenty-one he declared himself a
Republican,--explaining thereby that he disapproved altogether of
hereditary honours. He was quite as bad to this Marquis as had been
this Marquis to the other. The tailor kept his seat because Lord
Hampstead would not even condescend to sit for the family borough.
He explained to his father that he had doubts about a Parliament of
which one section was hereditary, but was sure that at present he was
too young for it. There must surely have been gratification in this
to the shade of the departed Marquis.

But there was worse than this,--infinitely worse. Lord Hampstead
formed a close friendship with a young man, five years older than
himself, who was but a clerk in the Post Office. In George Roden, as
a man and a companion, there was no special fault to be found. There
may be those who think that a Marquis's heir should look for his most
intimate friend in a somewhat higher scale of social rank, and that
he would more probably serve the purposes of his future life by
associating with his equals;--that like to like in friendship is