y to maintain a great principle."

"As for myself," said Mr. Dapper, "I rather like the spirit of the
Puritan mothers and daughters here in the Colonies; they are worthy
descendants of the men who had it out with Charles I. It is all
nonsense, this plea of Lord North, that the people in the Colonies
ought to pay a portion of the debt incurred by England in the late war
with France; it is the extravagance and corruption of Parliament and
of those in power that grinds us,--the giving of grants, pensions, and
gratuities to favorites, parasites, and hangers-on. During Bute's and
Grenville's administrations the public money was sown broadcast. If
votes were wanted, they were purchased. It was not unusual for a
member of the Commons to find four hundred pounds in his napkin at
dinner, or in a billet-doux left by the postman. Of course he
understood the meaning of it. The ministers helped themselves to
sugar-plums worth five thousand pounds. When the Duke of Grafton was
at the head of the ministry, that parasite, Tom Bradshaw, who had done
some nasty work for the Premier, received an annuity of fifteen
hundred pounds and a suite of thirty rooms in Hampton Palace. He is
there now, and has had the suite increased to seventy apartments. Not
long ago the ministry put out one hundred thousand pounds to carry a
measure through the Commons."

"You astonish me! Do you mean to intimate that our king has corrupt
men around him?" Mrs. Newville inquired.

"My dear madam, the king is hardly responsible for this state of
things. It is part of the political system. Politics is a game. Men
can cheat in government as well as in anything else, and there are
quite as many cheats in and around St. James's as at Almack's or any
of the other gambling resorts. Other things are done in and around
Westminster, by those whom you are accustomed to revere, which would
astonish you could I but speak of them," said Mr. Dapper.

The evening being beautiful, the air genial, the company strolled in
the garden, and ate the ripening plums and pears. Lord Upperton,
finding pleasure in the society of Miss Newville, asked what
recreation the young people in the Colonies enjoyed. She told of the
launching of the ship Berinthia Brandon, the pung-ride and dance at
the Greyhound Tavern, the quiltings, huskings, and tea-parties.

"I hope, Miss Newville, this will not be the last time I shall have
the pleasure of seeing you. I shall not soon forget the succotash an