he explanation is that the rich man has given
a large sum of money to the needy professional politician, Selah."

Our worthy provincial may have heard but an echo of this truth, for it
would have had, ten years ago, but few readers. He may not have seen a
syllable of it in his daily paper. But things happen. He sees first a
great soldier, then a well-advertised politician, not a rich man, but
very widely talked about, made peers. The events are normal in each
case, and he is not moved. But sooner or later there comes a case in
which he has local knowledge. He says to himself: "Why on earth is
So-and-so made a peer (or a front bench man, or what not)? Why, in the
name of goodness, is this very rich but unknown, and to my knowledge
incompetent, man suddenly put into such a position?" Then he remembers
what he was told, begins to ask questions, and finds out, of course,
that money passed; perhaps, if he is lucky, he finds out which
professional politician pouched the money--and even how much he took!

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A friend of mine in the Press Gallery used to represent "I have
yet to learn that the Government" by a little twirl, and "What did the
right honourable gentleman do, Mr. Speaker? He had the audacity" by
two spiral dots.

XVIII

The effect of the Free Press from all these causes may be compared to
the cumulative effect of one of the great offensives of the present
war. Each individual blow is neither dramatic nor extensive in effect;
there is little movement or none. The map is disappointing. But each
blow tells, and _when the end comes_ every one will see suddenly what
the cumulative effect was.

There is not a single thing which the Free Papers have earnestly said
during the last few years which has not been borne out by events--and
sometimes borne out with astonishing rapidity and identity of detail.

It would, perhaps, be superstitious to believe that strong and
courageous truth-telling calls down from Heaven, new, unexpected, and
vivid examples to support it. But, really, the events of the last few
years would almost incline one to that superstition. The Free Press
has hardly to point out some political truth which the Official Press
has refused to publish, when the stars in their courses seem to fight
for that truth. It is thrust into the public gaze by some abnormal
accident immediately after! Hardly had Mr. Chesterton and I begun to
publish articles on the state of affairs at Westminster