f as the father
of Maule of Maule Abbey would have been fatal to him. To be the
father of a married son at all was disagreeable, and therefore
when the communication was made to him he had managed to be very
unpleasant. As for giving up Maule Abbey,--! He fretted and fumed
as he thought of the proposition through the hour which should have
been to him an hour of enjoyment; and his anger grew hot against
his son as he remembered all that he was losing. At last, however,
he composed himself sufficiently to put on with becoming care his
luxurious furred great coat, and then he sallied forth in quest of
the lady.

CHAPTER XXII

"Purity of morals, Finn"

Mr. Quintus Slide was now, as formerly, the editor of the _People's
Banner_, but a change had come over the spirit of his dream. His
newspaper was still the _People's Banner_, and Mr. Slide still
professed to protect the existing rights of the people, and to demand
new rights for the people. But he did so as a Conservative. He had
watched the progress of things, and had perceived that duty called
upon him to be the organ of Mr. Daubeny. This duty he performed with
great zeal, and with an assumption of consistency and infallibility
which was charming. No doubt the somewhat difficult task of veering
round without inconsistency, and without flaw to his infallibility,
was eased by Mr. Daubeny's newly-declared views on Church matters.
_The People's Banner_ could still be a genuine _People's Banner_ in
reference to ecclesiastical policy. And as that was now the subject
mainly discussed by the newspapers, the change made was almost
entirely confined to the lauding of Mr. Daubeny instead of Mr.
Turnbull. Some other slight touches were no doubt necessary. Mr.
Daubeny was the head of the Conservative party in the kingdom, and
though Mr. Slide himself might be of all men in the kingdom the most
democratic, or even the most destructive, still it was essential that
Mr. Daubeny's organ should support the Conservative party all round.
It became Mr. Slide's duty to speak of men as heaven-born patriots
whom he had designated a month or two since as bloated aristocrats
and leeches fattened on the blood of the people. Of course remarks
were made by his brethren of the press,--remarks which were intended
to be very unpleasant. One evening newspaper took the trouble to
divide a column of its own into double columns, printing on one
side of the inserted line remarks made by the _Peop