Felix Holt the Radical

on of the go

entleman, ye

hrase to Hodg

ristened, and h

in doctrine

od was captiou

n might drin

true relig

ne by - which

preach three se

, whenever his mother asked for any detail. He was evidently ill-satisfied as to his palate, trying red pepper to everything, then asking if there were any relishing sauces in the house, and when Hickes brought various home-filled bottles, trying several, finding them failures, and finally falling back from his plate in despair. Yet he remained good-humoured, saying something to his father now and then for the sake of

onage to see my uncle Lingon.' 'Very wel

statement of the fact. 'I want to hear all about the game and the North Loamshire Hu

ld recommend as a new cover, and the comparative flatness of all existing sport compared with cock-fighting, under which Old England had been prosperous and glorious, while, so far as he could see, it had gained little by the abolition of a practice which sharpened the faculties of men, gratified the instincts of the fowl, and carried out the designs of heaven in its admirable device of spu

ed fellows; a foundling who got his Latin for nothing at Christ's Hospital; one of your middle-class

might be well to let Jermyn drop gently and raise no scandal. He himself had no quarrel with the fellow: a clergyman should have no quarrels, and he made it a point to be able to take wine with any man he met at table. And as to the estate, and his sister's going to

Emancipation Bill; that Whiggery, with its rights of man stopping short at ten-pound householders, and its policy of pacifying a wild beast with a bite, was a ridiculous monstrosity; that therefore, since an honest man could not call himself a Tory, which it was, in fact, as impossible to be now as to fight for the old Pretender, and could still less become that execrable monstrosity a Whig, there remained but one course open to him. 'Why, lad, if the world was turned into a swamp, I suppose we shou

my pointers and a glass of good wine are the only decencies becoming my station that I can allow myself. But I'll give you my countenance - I'll stick to you as my nephew. There's no need for me to change sides exactly. I was born a Tory, and I shall never be a bishop. But if anybody says you're in the wrong, I shall say, "My nephew is in the right; he has turn

astery, and good-natured enough to wish that every one about him should like his mastery; not caring greatly to know other people's thoughts, and ready to despise them as blockheads if their thoughts differed from his, and yet solicitous that they should have no colourable reason for slight thoughts about him. The blockheads must be forced to respect him. Hence, in proportion as he foresaw that his equals in the neighbourhood would be indignant with him for his political choice, he cared keenly about making a good fi

loose quietly: his uncle was probably right on both those points. But Harold's expectation that he should want

garded him with that total indifference with which youngsters are apt to view those who neither deny them pleasures nor give them any. Jermyn used to smile at him, and speak to him affably; but Harold, half proud, half shy, got away from such patronage as soon as possible: he knew Jermyn was a man of business; his f

five-and-twenty instead of nearly sixty. He chose always to dress in black, and was especially addicted to black satin waistcoats, which carried out the general sleekness of his appearance; and this, together with his white, fat, but beautifully-shaped hands, which he was in the habit of rubbing gently on hi

the more,' he added, turning towards Harold, 'now I have the pleasure of actually seeing

r the English climate will agree with me. It's deuced shifting and damp: and as for the food, it would be the finest thing in the worl

enough to pay for them, I suppose,' said Mrs Transome, '

t think so,'

s are sure to qu

t up with my man Dominic, who will show them how to cook and

easily taught to change

Harold, thinking only at that moment of old Mrs Hickes a

who understood Mrs Transome better than her son did,

Spaniard. He speaks five or six languages, one as well as another. He's cook, valet, major-domo, and secretary all in one; and what's more, he's an affectionate fellow -

hat there was an expression of acuteness and determination about him which would make him formidable. He would certainly have preferred at that moment that there had been no second heir of the Transome name to come back upon him from the East. Mrs Transome was not observing the two men; rather, her hands were cold, and her whole person shaken by their presence; she seemed to hear and see what they said and did with preternat

breakfast was advancing. 'There are two Whigs and one Conservative li

s. No one could have found out that he was not at his ease. 'My opinion,' he replied, 'is in a state of balance at present. This division of the county, you are aware, contains one manufacturing town of the first magnitude, and several smaller ones. The manufacturing interest is widely dispersed. So far - a - there is a presumpt

ted for the third tim

e as a Radical; and I fancy, in any county that would return Whigs there would be ple

done before, with his eyes fixed abstractedly on the frill of a ham before him, and his hand trifli

u have kept yourself so thoroughly

imately. I suppose I know the state of Europe as well as if I'd been stationary at Little Treby for the last fifteen years. If

you seem not to imagine how your putting up as a Radical will affect your position here, and the position of your family. No one will visit you. And then - the sort of people who will support you! You really

class. That was what everyone said of Lord Grey, and my family at least is as good as Lord Grey's. You have wealth now, and might distinguish yourself in the county; and if you had been true to your colours as a gentleman, you would have had all the

ons in which they have been brought up. It doesn't signify what they think - they are not called upon to judge or to act. You must really leave me to take my own course in these matters, which properly belong to men. Beyond that, I will gratify any wish you choose to mention. You

Harold. I don't know who would be a mother if she could forese

n Mrs Transome angry; but now, for the first time, he thought the outburst of her temper would be useful for him. She, poor woman, knew quite well that she had been unwise, and that she had been making herself disagreeable to Harold to

smo

s Jermyn is peculiarly sensitive on s

intense personal pride, thought, 'Confound the fellow - with his Mrs Jermyn

d aloud; 'so, if you like, we'll go into the libr

he bookshelves. 'The first question, Mr Jermyn, now you know my intentions, is, whether you will undertake to be my agent in this election, and help me through? There's no time to be lost, and I don't want to lose my cha

feeling, indeed, was quite asleep here before the agitation about the Catholic Relief Bill. It is true that I concurred with our incumbent in getting up a petition against the Reform Bill, but I did not state my reasons. The weak points in that Bill are - a

ct for me - that's s

rdly irritated by Harold's rap

ates, as they call themselve

e presents himself. There are two senses in which a politician can be liberal' - here Mr Jermyn smiled - 'Sir James Clement is

me. We shall see,' he said aloud, 'what can be done in the way of combinat

fect

r the tenants, and we can invite whom we like besides the tenants. Just now, I'm going over one of the farms on hand

dy how strongly Mrs Transome takes certain things to heart. You can imagine that she has

s,

s who milk their own cows, and send their younger daughters out to service: all this makes it difficult to do the best with the estate. I am aware things are not as they ought to be, for, in point of fact, an improved agricultural management is a matter in which I take considerable interest, and

o, sir, never fear,' sa

y age, who has been so long in a close connection with the family affairs - a -

ound Jermyn's manners annoying, he felt the necessity of controlling himself. He despis

We shall set everything right by degrees. But now as to the canvassing. I've made arrangements with a first-rate man in London, who understands t

ride an hour or two afterwards, encountered his uncle shouldering a gun, and followed by one black and one liver-spotted pointer

have you got o

But I must make use of him. I expect whatever I get out of him will only be

arold, I was going to tell you, now I come to think of it, this is rather a nasty business, your calling yourself a Radical. I've been turning it over in after-dinner speeches, but it looks awkward - it's no

ier you always were: you'll never be at a loss. Y

tutions of the country - you'll not be going to those

incomes of the bishops, perhaps, to make th

to dine with his own father. You may pepper the bishops a little. But you'll respect the constitution hand

I am a Radical only i

knee. 'That's a spool to wind a speech on. Abuses is the very word; an

id Harold, inwardly amused, 'and

tle Latin left. This young Debarry is a tremendous fellow at the classics, and walks on stilts

aid Harold. 'He'll get knocked off

quotations - "Quod turpe bonis decebat Crispinum" - and that sort of thing - just to show Debarry wha

ust go and see how Arabella takes his being a Radical. It's a little awkward; but a clergyman must keep peace in a family. Confound it! I'm not bound to love Toryism better than my own fles