like to learn his lesson," he would say. "At any rate, you
do not wait till he cries for his book." When, therefore, men said to
him that there was no earnestness in the cry for Reform, that the cry
was a false cry, got up for factious purposes by interested persons,
he would reply that the thing to be done should not be done in
obedience to any cry, but because it was demanded by justice, and was
a debt due to the people.

Our hero in the autumn had written to Mr. Monk on the politics of the
moment, and the following had been Mr. Monk's reply:--

Longroyston, October 12, 186--.

MY DEAR FINN,

I am staying here with the Duke and Duchess of St.
Bungay. The house is very full, and Mr. Mildmay was
here last week; but as I don't shoot, and can't play
billiards, and have no taste for charades, I am becoming
tired of the gaieties, and shall leave them to-morrow.
Of course you know that we are not to have the autumn
session. I think that Mr. Mildmay is right. Could we have
been sure of passing our measure, it would have been very
well; but we could not have been sure, and failure with
our bill in a session convened for the express purpose of
passing it would have injured the cause greatly. We could
hardly have gone on with it again in the spring. Indeed,
we must have resigned. And though I may truly say that I
would as lief have a good measure from Lord de Terrier
as from Mr. Mildmay, and that I am indifferent to my own
present personal position, still I think that we should
endeavour to keep our seats as long as we honestly
believe ourselves to be more capable of passing a good
measure than are our opponents.

I am astonished by the difference of opinion which
exists about Reform,--not only as to the difference in
the extent and exact tendency of the measure that is
needed,--but that there should be such a divergence of
ideas as to the grand thing to be done and the grand
reason for doing it. We are all agreed that we want
Reform in order that the House of Commons may be returned
by a larger proportion of the people than is at present
employed upon that work, and that each member when
returned should represent a somewhat more equal section
of the whole constituencies of the country than our
members generally do at present. All men confess that a
L50 county franchise must be too high, and that a borough
with l