Phineas Redux Page 3

  VOLUME I.

  CHAPTER I.

  TEMPTATION.

  The circumstances of the general election of 18-- will be wellremembered by all those who take an interest in the politicalmatters of the country. There had been a coming in and a going outof Ministers previous to that,--somewhat rapid, very exciting, and,upon the whole, useful as showing the real feeling of the countryupon sundry questions of public interest. Mr. Gresham had been PrimeMinister of England, as representative of the Liberal party inpolitics. There had come to be a split among those who should havebeen his followers on the terribly vexed question of the Ballot. ThenMr. Daubeny for twelve months had sat upon the throne distributingthe good things of the Crown amidst Conservative birdlings, withbeaks wide open and craving maws, who certainly for some yearsprevious had not received their share of State honours or Stateemoluments. And Mr. Daubeny was still so sitting, to the infinitedismay of the Liberals, every man of whom felt that his partywas entitled by numerical strength to keep the management of theGovernment within its own hands.

  Let a man be of what side he may in politics,--unless he bemuch more of a partisan than a patriot,--he will think it wellthat there should be some equity of division in the bestowalof crumbs of comfort. Can even any old Whig wish that every LordLieutenant of a county should be an old Whig? Can it be good for theadministration of the law that none but Liberal lawyers should becomeAttorney-Generals, and from thence Chief Justices or Lords of Appeal?Should no Conservative Peer ever represent the majesty of Englandin India, in Canada, or at St. Petersburgh? So arguing, moderateLiberals had been glad to give Mr. Daubeny and his merry men achance. Mr. Daubeny and his merry men had not neglected the chancegiven them. Fortune favoured them, and they made their hay while thesun shone with an energy that had never been surpassed, improvingupon Fortune, till their natural enemies waxed impatient. There hadbeen as yet but one year of it, and the natural enemies, who had atfirst expressed themselves as glad that the turn had come, mighthave endured the period of spoliation with more equanimity. For tothem, the Liberals, this cutting up of the Whitehall cake by theConservatives was spoliation when the privilege of cutting was foundto have so much exceeded what had been expected. Were not they, theLiberals, the real representatives of the people, and, therefore, didnot the cake in truth appertain to them? Had not they given up thecake for a while, partly, indeed, through idleness and mismanagement,and quarrelling among themselves; but mainly with a feeling thata moderate slicing on the other side would, upon the whole, beadvantageous? But when the cake came to be mauled like that--oh,heavens! So the men who had quarrelled agreed to quarrel no more,and it was decided that there should be an end of mismanagement andidleness, and that this horrid sight of the weak pretending to bestrong, or the weak receiving the reward of strength, should bebrought to an end. Then came a great fight, in the last agonies ofwhich the cake was sliced manfully. All the world knew how the fightwould go; but in the meantime lord-lieutenancies were arranged; veryancient judges retired upon pensions; vice-royal Governors were sentout in the last gasp of the failing battle; great places were filledby tens, and little places by twenties; private secretaries wereestablished here and there; and the hay was still made even after thesun had gone down.

  In consequence of all this the circumstances of the election of 18--were peculiar. Mr. Daubeny had dissolved the House, not probablywith any idea that he could thus retrieve his fortunes, but feelingthat in doing so he was occupying the last normal position of aproperly-fought Constitutional battle. His enemies were resolved,more firmly than they were resolved before, to knock him altogetheron the head at the general election which he had himself calledinto existence. He had been disgracefully out-voted in the House ofCommons on various subjects. On the last occasion he had gone intohis lobby with a minority of 37, upon a motion brought forward by Mr.Palliser, the late Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, respectingdecimal coinage. No politician, not even Mr. Palliser himself, hadexpected that he would carry his Bill in the present session. Itwas brought forward as a trial of strength; and for such a purposedecimal coinage was as good a subject as any other. It was Mr.Palliser's hobby, and he was gratified at having this furtheropportunity of ventilating it. When in power, he had not succeededin carrying his measure, awed, and at last absolutely beaten, by theinfinite difficulty encountered in arranging its details. But hismind was still set upon it, and it was allowed by the whole partyto be as good as anything else for the purpose then required. TheConservative Government was beaten for the third or fourth time, andMr. Daubeny dissolved the House.

  The whole world said that he might as well have resigned at once. Itwas already the end of July, and there must be an autumn Session withthe new members. It was known to be impossible that he should findhimself supported by a majority after a fresh election. He had beentreated with manifest forbearance; the cake had been left in hishands for twelve months; the House was barely two years old; hehad no "cry" with which to meet the country; the dissolution wasfactious, dishonest, and unconstitutional. So said all the Liberals,and it was deduced also that the Conservatives were in their heartsas angry as were their opponents. What was to be gained but the poorinterval of three months? There were clever men who suggested thatMr. Daubeny had a scheme in his head--some sharp trick of politicalconjuring, some "hocus-pocus presto" sleight of hand, by which hemight be able to retain power, let the elections go as they would.But, if so, he certainly did not make his scheme known to his ownparty.

  He had no cry with which to meet the country, nor, indeed, hadthe leaders of the Opposition. Retrenchment, army reform, navyexcellence, Mr. Palliser's decimal coinage, and general goodgovernment gave to all the old-Whig moderate Liberals plenty ofmatter for speeches to their future constituents. Those who were moreadvanced could promise the Ballot, and suggest the disestablishmentof the Church. But the Government of the day was to be turned outon the score of general incompetence. They were to be made to go,because they could not command majorities. But there ought to havebeen no dissolution, and Mr. Daubeny was regarded by his opponents,and indeed by very many of his followers also, with an enmity thatwas almost ferocious. A seat in Parliament, if it be for five or sixyears, is a blessing; but the blessing becomes very questionable ifit have to be sought afresh every other Session.

  One thing was manifest to thoughtful, working, eager politicalLiberals. They must have not only a majority in the next Parliament,but a majority of good men--of men good and true. There must be nomore mismanagement; no more quarrelling; no more idleness. Was it tobe borne that an unprincipled so-called Conservative Prime Ministershould go on slicing the cake after such a fashion as that latelyadopted? Old bishops had even talked of resigning, and Knights of theGarter had seemed to die on purpose. So there was a great stir at theLiberal political clubs, and every good and true man was summoned tothe battle.

  Now no Liberal soldier, as a young soldier, had been known to be moregood and true than Mr. Finn, the Irishman, who had held office twoyears ago to the satisfaction of all his friends, and who had retiredfrom office because he had found himself compelled to support ameasure which had since been carried by those very men from whom hehad been obliged on this account to divide himself. It had alwaysbeen felt by his old friends that he had been, if not ill-used, atleast very unfortunate. He had been twelve months in advance of hisparty, and had consequently been driven out into the cold. So whenthe names of good men and true were mustered, and weighed, anddiscussed, and scrutinised by some active members of the Liberalparty in a certain very private room not far removed from ourgreat seat of parliamentary warfare; and when the capabilities,and expediencies, and possibilities were tossed to and fro amongthese active members, it came to pass that the name of Mr. Finnwas mentioned more than once. Mr. Phineas Finn was the gentleman'sname--which statement may be necessary to explain the term ofendearment which was occasionally used in speaking of him.

  "He has got some permanent place," said Mr. Ratler, who was livingon the well-founded hope of being
a Treasury Secretary under the newdispensation; "and of course he won't leave it."

  It must be acknowledged that Mr. Ratler, than whom no judge in suchmatters possessed more experience, had always been afraid of PhineasFinn.

  "He'll lave it fast enough, if you'll make it worth his while," saidthe Honourable Laurence Fitzgibbon, who also had his expectations.

  "But he married when he went away, and he can't afford it," said Mr.Bonteen, another keen expectant.

  "Devil a bit," said the Honourable Laurence; "or, anyways, the poorthing died of her first baby before it was born. Phinny hasn't animpidiment, no more than I have."

  "He's the best Irishman we ever got hold of," said BarringtonErle--"present company always excepted, Laurence."

  "Bedad, you needn't except me, Barrington. I know what a man's madeof, and what a man can do. And I know what he can't do. I'm not badat the outside skirmishing. I'm worth me salt. I say that with a justreliance on me own powers. But Phinny is a different sort of man.Phinny can stick to a desk from twelve to seven, and wish to comeback again after dinner. He's had money left him, too, and 'd like tospend some of it on an English borough."

  "You never can quite trust him," said Bonteen. Now Mr. Bonteen hadnever loved Mr. Finn.

  "At any rate we'll try him again," said Barrington Erle, making alittle note to that effect. And they did try him again.

  Phineas Finn, when last seen by the public, was departing fromparliamentary life in London to the enjoyment of a modest placeunder Government in his own country, with something of a shatteredambition. After various turmoils he had achieved a competency, andhad married the girl of his heart. But now his wife was dead, and hewas again alone in the world. One of his friends had declared thatmoney had been left to him. That was true, but the money had not beenmuch. Phineas Finn had lost his father as well as his wife, and hadinherited about four thousand pounds. He was not at this time muchover thirty; and it must be acknowledged in regard to him that, sincethe day on which he had accepted place and retired from London, hisvery soul had sighed for the lost glories of Westminster and DowningStreet.

  There are certain modes of life which, if once adopted, makecontentment in any other circumstances almost an impossibility. Inold age a man may retire without repining, though it is often beyondthe power even of the old man to do so; but in youth, with all thefaculties still perfect, with the body still strong, with the hopesstill buoyant, such a change as that which had been made by PhineasFinn was more than he, or than most men, could bear with equanimity.He had revelled in the gas-light, and could not lie quiet on a sunnybank. To the palate accustomed to high cookery, bread and milk isalmost painfully insipid. When Phineas Finn found himself dischargingin Dublin the routine duties of his office,--as to which there wasno public comment, no feeling that such duties were done in the faceof the country,--he became sick at heart and discontented. Likethe warhorse out at grass he remembered the sound of the battleand the noise of trumpets. After five years spent in the heat andfull excitement of London society, life in Ireland was tame tohim, and cold, and dull. He did not analyse the difference betweenmetropolitan and quasi-metropolitan manners; but he found that menand women in Dublin were different from those to whom he had beenaccustomed in London. He had lived among lords, and the sons anddaughters of lords; and though the official secretaries and assistantcommissioners among whom his lot now threw him were for the most partclever fellows, fond of society, and perhaps more than his equals inthe kind of conversation which he found to be prevalent, still theywere not the same as the men he had left behind him,--men alive withthe excitement of parliamentary life in London. When in London he hadoften told himself that he was sick of it, and that he would betterlove some country quiet life. Now Dublin was his Tibur, and thefickle one found that he could not be happy unless he were back againat Rome. When, therefore, he received the following letter fromhis friend, Barrington Erle, he neighed like the old warhorse, andalready found himself shouting "Ha, ha," among the trumpets.

  ---- Street, 9th July, 18--.

  MY DEAR FINN,

  Although you are not now immediately concerned in such trifling matters you have no doubt heard that we are all to be sent back at once to our constituents, and that there will be a general election about the end of September. We are sure that we shall have such a majority as we never had before; but we are determined to make it as strong as possible, and to get in all the good men that are to be had. Have you a mind to try again? After all, there is nothing like it.

  Perhaps you may have some Irish seat in your eye for which you would be safe. To tell the truth we know very little of the Irish seats--not so much as, I think, we ought to do. But if you are not so lucky I would suggest Tankerville in Durham. Of course there would be a contest, and a little money will be wanted; but the money would not be much. Browborough has sat for the place now for three Parliaments, and seems to think it all his own. I am told that nothing could be easier than to turn him out. You will remember the man--a great, hulking, heavy, speechless fellow, who always used to sit just over Lord Macaw's shoulder. I have made inquiry, and I am told that he must walk if anybody would go down who could talk to the colliers every night for a week or so. It would just be the work for you. Of course, you should have all the assistance we could give you, and Molescroft would put you into the hands of an agent who wouldn't spend money for you. L500 would do it all.

  I am very sorry to hear of your great loss, as also was Lady Laura, who, as you are aware, is still abroad with her father. We have all thought that the loneliness of your present life might perhaps make you willing to come back among us. I write instead of Ratler, because I am helping him in the Northern Counties. But you will understand all about that.

  Yours, ever faithfully,

  BARRINGTON ERLE.

  Of course Tankerville has been dirty. Browborough has spent a fortune there. But I do not think that that need dishearten you. You will go there with clean hands. It must be understood that there shall not be as much as a glass of beer. I am told that the fellows won't vote for Browborough unless he spends money, and I fancy he will be afraid to do it heavily after all that has come and gone. If he does you'll have him out on a petition. Let us have an answer as soon as possible.

  He at once resolved that he would go over and see; but, before hereplied to Erle's letter, he walked half-a-dozen times the lengthof the pier at Kingston meditating on his answer. He had no onebelonging to him. He had been deprived of his young bride, and leftdesolate. He could ruin no one but himself. Where could there be aman in all the world who had a more perfect right to play a trickwith his own prospects? If he threw up his place and spent all hismoney, who could blame him? Nevertheless, he did tell himself that,when he should have thrown up his place and spent all his money,there would remain to him his own self to be disposed of in a mannerthat might be very awkward to him. A man owes it to his country, tohis friends, even to his acquaintance, that he shall not be known tobe going about wanting a dinner, with never a coin in his pocket. Itis very well for a man to boast that he is lord of himself, and thathaving no ties he may do as he pleases with that possession. But itis a possession of which, unfortunately, he cannot rid himself whenhe finds that there is nothing advantageous to be done with it.Doubtless there is a way of riddance. There is the bare bodkin. Or aman may fall overboard between Holyhead and Kingston in the dark, andmay do it in such a cunning fashion that his friends shall think thatit was an accident. But against these modes of riddance there is acanon set, which some men still fear to disobey.

  The thing that he was asked to do was perilous. Standing in hispresent niche of vantage he was at least safe. And added to hissafety there were material comforts. He had more than enough for hiswants. His work was light; he lived among men and women with whom hewas popular. The very fact of his past parliamentary life had causedhim to be regarded as a man of some note among the notab
les of theIrish capital. Lord Lieutenants were gracious to him, and the wivesof judges smiled upon him at their tables. He was encouraged to talkof those wars of the gods at which he had been present, and was sotreated as to make him feel that he was somebody in the world ofDublin. Now he was invited to give all this up; and for what?

  He answered that question to himself with enthusiastic eloquence.The reward offered to him was the thing which in all the world heliked best. It was suggested to him that he should again have withinhis reach that parliamentary renown which had once been the verybreath of his nostrils. We all know those arguments and quotations,antagonistic to prudence, with which a man fortifies himself inrashness. "None but the brave deserve the fair." "Where there's awill there's a way." "Nothing venture nothing have." "The sword isto him who can use it." "Fortune favours the bold." But on the otherside there is just as much to be said. "A bird in the hand is worthtwo in the bush." "Look before you leap." "Thrust not out your handfurther than you can draw it back again." All which maxims of lifePhineas Finn revolved within his own heart, if not carefully, atleast frequently, as he walked up and down the long pier of KingstonHarbour.

  But what matter such revolvings? A man placed as was our Phineasalways does that which most pleases him at the moment, being but poorat argument if he cannot carry the weight to that side which bestsatisfies his own feelings. Had not his success been very great whenhe before made the attempt? Was he not well aware at every momentof his life that, after having so thoroughly learned his lesson inLondon, he was throwing away his hours amidst his present pursuitsin Dublin? Did he not owe himself to his country? And then, again,what might not London do for him? Men who had begun as he begun hadlived to rule over Cabinets, and to sway the Empire. He had beenhappy for a short twelvemonth with his young bride,--for a shorttwelvemonth,--and then she had been taken from him. Had she beenspared to him he would never have longed for more than Fate had givenhim. He would never have sighed again for the glories of Westminsterhad his Mary not gone from him. Now he was alone in the world; and,though he could look forward to possible and not improbable eventswhich would make that future disposition of himself a most difficultquestion for him, still he would dare to try.

  As the first result of Erle's letter Phineas was over in London earlyin August. If he went on with this matter, he must, of course, resignthe office for holding which he was now paid a thousand a year. Hecould retain that as long as he chose to earn the money, but theearning of it would not be compatible with a seat in Parliament. Hehad a few thousand pounds with which he could pay for the contest atTankerville, for the consequent petition which had been so generouslysuggested to him, and maintain himself in London for a session or twoshould he be so fortunate as to carry his election. Then he would bepenniless, with the world before him as a closed oyster to be againopened, and he knew,--no one better,--that this oyster becomes harderand harder in the opening as the man who has to open it becomesolder. It is an oyster that will close to again with a snap, afteryou have got your knife well into it, if you withdraw your point butfor a moment. He had had a rough tussle with the oyster already, andhad reached the fish within the shell. Nevertheless, the oyster whichhe had got was not the oyster which he wanted. So he told himselfnow, and here had come to him the chance of trying again.

  Early in August he went over to England, saw Mr. Molescroft, andmade his first visit to Tankerville. He did not like the look ofTankerville; but nevertheless he resigned his place before themonth was over. That was the one great step, or rather the leap inthe dark,--and that he took. Things had been so arranged that theelection at Tankerville was to take place on the 20th of October.When the dissolution had been notified to all the world by Mr.Daubeny an earlier day was suggested; but Mr. Daubeny saw reasons forpostponing it for a fortnight. Mr. Daubeny's enemies were again veryferocious. It was all a trick. Mr. Daubeny had no right to continuePrime Minister a day after the decided expression of opinion as tounfitness which had been pronounced by the House of Commons. Menwere waxing very wrath. Nevertheless, so much power remained in Mr.Daubeny's hand, and the election was delayed. That for Tankervillewould not be held till the 20th of October. The whole House could notbe chosen till the end of the month,--hardly by that time--and yetthere was to be an autumn Session. The Ratlers and Bonteens were atany rate clear about the autumn Session. It was absolutely impossiblethat Mr. Daubeny should be allowed to remain in power over Christmas,and up to February.

  Mr. Molescroft, whom Phineas saw in London, was not a comfortablecounsellor. "So you are going down to Tankerville?" he said.

  "They seem to think I might as well try."

  "Quite right;--quite right. Somebody ought to try it, no doubt. Itwould be a disgrace to the whole party if Browborough were allowedto walk over. There isn't a borough in England more sure to return aLiberal than Tankerville if left to itself. And yet that lump of alegislator has sat there as a Tory for the last dozen years by dintof money and brass."

  "You think we can unseat him?"

  "I don't say that. He hasn't come to the end of his money, and as tohis brass that is positively without end."

  "But surely he'll have some fear of consequences after what has beendone?"

  "None in the least. What has been done? Can you name a singleParliamentary aspirant who has been made to suffer?"

  "They have suffered in character," said Phineas. "I should not liketo have the things said of me that have been said of them."

  "I don't know a man of them who stands in a worse position among hisown friends than he occupied before. And men of that sort don't wanta good position among their enemies. They know they're safe. When theseat is in dispute everybody is savage enough; but when it is merelya question of punishing a man, what is the use of being savage? Whoknows whose turn it may be next?"

  "He'll play the old game, then?"

  "Of course he'll play the old game," said Mr. Molescroft. "He doesn'tknow any other game. All the purists in England wouldn't teach him tothink that a poor man ought not to sell his vote, and that a rich manoughtn't to buy it. You mean to go in for purity?"

  "Certainly I do."

  "Browborough will think just as badly of you as you will of him.He'll hate you because he'll think you are trying to rob him of whathe has honestly bought; but he'll hate you quite as much becauseyou try to rob the borough. He'd tell you if you asked him that hedoesn't want his seat for nothing, any more than he wants his houseor his carriage-horses for nothing. To him you'll be a mean, lowinterloper. But you won't care about that."

  "Not in the least, if I can get the seat."

  "But I'm afraid you won't. He will be elected. You'll petition. He'lllose his seat. There will be a commission. And then the borough willbe disfranchised. It's a fine career, but expensive; and then thereis no reward beyond the self-satisfaction arising from a good action.However, Ruddles will do the best he can for you, and it certainlyis possible that you may creep through." This was very disheartening,but Barrington Erle assured our hero that such was Mr. Molescroft'susual way with candidates, and that it really meant little ornothing. At any rate, Phineas Finn was pledged to stand.