Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-14

0thefWase iBnofang Wnet mao passed. 70
secure your safety. sir, as well - to .rrest
the guilty? No time should be lost. War
rants should Be issued Immediately, and
these persons taken up
Before Ferguson can warn them" the
king said, Ia his ordinary tone Yes. see
to IT. my lord, and let the councA be re-
called The guards. too. should be doubled.
and the regiment Prendersast mentioned
displaced. Cuts must look to that and do
you. my lord" he continued rapidly. adj.
dressing the gentleman beside him, whom
1 now con5ectured to be Lord PortiaRdS
fetch him hither. and lose no time. Take
one of my coaches 1t Is a plot. II all be
true, which should do US good in the coun-
try. And that. 1 think, is your grace's-
opinionT'
ut should, sir Doubtless sir, we Eng
fish have our faults, but We are not fond
of aSsassins."
And are you confident that this is no
bubble?' the king said, thoughtfully.
Yes, sir. I am"
By this time Lord Portland had with
drawn through door at the further end
Of the gallery. The king had taken turn
this way and that, with his hands clasped
behind him, and his head bent low, so that
his great wig almost hid his features.
seemed to be lost in thought. After wait
ing a moment the duke coughed, and this
failing to attract the kings attention. he
other matter have to mention to you,
sir" he said, with touch Of constraint in
his tone.
ne hlHS pauSSQ III Ills Walk anu iOOkeO
sharply at him. "Ah, of course" he said.
nodding. did you see Lord Middleton
The duke could not hide start Lord
Middleton. sir?'' he faltered.
The king smiled coldly. 1.-The letter." he
said. yves from him. suppose?"
My lord rallied himself mo. sir. 1t was
not he answered. with flash of spirit.
1T purported to be from him.
Yet you went-wherever you went
thinking to see him. his majesty contin-
ued, smiling rather disagreeably.
Il did" my lord answered, his tone be
traying his agitation. But to do nothing
what l could to further your interests
short Of giving him up. He is my rela-
tive"
The king shrugged his shoulders.
"And for years." my lord cried warmly,
was my intimate friend"
The king shrugged his shoulders again.
I'VE have fought that out before" he said.
with sigh of WEAKNESS. and more than
once. For the rest, in that connection and
whatever others may say, Lord Shrewsbury
has no ground to complain of me-"
I have Cause, sir, to do far otherwiset
tn duke answered in tone suddenly
changed and so full of emotion that 1t was
not difficult to discern that he had forgot
ten my presence, which was not wonder
the doorway. whittier out of modesty had
retreated. God knows I remember it, he
continued. Were 1T not for that-if I
were not bound to your majesty by more
not be today In a service which-for which
l am unfit. The daily duties Of which. per-
formed by other men with Indifference or
appetite. fill me with pity and distaste! The
risks attending which, speak without
ceremony, sir-make me play the coward
with myself a hundred times day."
Caesar" the king said quietly. "lets
none but Caesar call him coward!'
Kindly as the words were uttered and in
tone differing much fl ON that which the
king had hitherto used. the duke took no
heed of them. Others wish for my place;
God knows I wish they had it, he cried
his agitation growing rather than decreas-
ing. Every hour, sir. l pray to be quit of
the faction and perjury in which l live!
have to do and the people with whom
have to do it. never go to my office but
my gorge rises; nor leave 1t but I see the
end; 4; And d, yet IL must stay in it, I must
impetuously. ION the day that you burned
those letters you but feed me from one
slavery to fling me into another!'
peculiar tone
My lord threw up his hands "You have
right to say that. sir. But If any one
else-or, no II forgot myself"
Something has disturbed you," said the
king. intervening with much kindness.
Take time! And in the meanwhile listen
to me. AS to the general distaste you ex-
not. do you the injustice to attribute it
whatever you say yourself-to your fears
of what may happen in a possible event; I
mean rancien regime restitue. If such
fears weighed so heavily with you you
would neither have signed the Invitation to
me nor come to me eight years ago. But
take it, with perhaps some apprehensions
of this kind, you have-and this is the real
gist of the matter-a natural distaste for
affairs and natural proneness to be on
&c cd terms with all. rogues as well as good
men. 1t inks you to sign a death warrant
to send one to Newgate and another to-
bah. forget the names of your prisons; to
know that your friends abroad are not as
well placed at st. Germans as they were at
st; James! You have no care to push an
advantage. no anxiety to ruin a rival you
would rather trust a man than bind him.
In word, my lord. you have no taste for
public life in dangerous and troubled times
such as these; although, perforce, you have
played a high part in it,
"Sir"' the duke cried, with an anxiety
and eagerness that touched me, you
know me better than know myself. You
see my failings. my unfitness. and surely
seeing them SO clearly, you will not refuse
Release you" the king said, smiling.
THAT does not follow. For consider, my
who pursues perforce path for which he
has little taste. To be King of England has
higher sound than to the stakeholder Of
Holland. But to be king and no king
to see your way clearly, and be thwarted
by those who see no foot in the field; to
have France by the throat and be baffied
! for the lack Of 10000 men or 100000 guild
ers; above all. to be served by men who
have made use of you-who have one foot
on either shore. and having betrayed their
old master to gain their ends. would now
betray you to save their necks-this, too
| forms no bed of roses! Blu. l lie on it, I
| lie on it," he concluded. phlegmatically
and as he spoke he took pinch of snufr
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