Had there been any great light among
them, had there been a Pitt or a Peel, Sir Timothy would probably
have become Attorney-General and have made his way to the bench;--
but there had been no Pitt or a Peel, and he had seen his opening.
He had studied the ways of Members. Parliamentary practice had
become familiar to him. He had shown himself to be ready at all
hours to fight the battle of the party he had joined. And no man
knew so well as did Sir Timothy how to elevate a simple
legislative attempt into a good faction fight. He had so mastered
his tricks of conjuring that no one could get to the bottom of
them, and had assumed a look of preternatural gravity which made
many young Members think that Sir Timothy was born to be a king of
men.
There was no doubt some among his older supporters who felt their
thraldom previously. There were some lords in the Upper House and
some of the sons of lords in the Lower,--with pedigrees going back
far enough for pride,--who found it irksome to recognise Sir
Timothy as a master. No doubt he had worked very hard, and had
worked for them.
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