Phineas Redux

by Anthony Trollope

  CHAPTER XXXV.

  POLITICAL VENOM.

  On the Monday Mr. Turnbull opened the ball by declaring his reasonsfor going into the same lobby with Mr. Daubeny. This he did at greatlength. To him all the mighty pomp and all the little squabbles ofoffice were, he said, as nothing. He would never allow himself toregard the person of the Prime Minister. The measure before the Houseever had been and ever should be all in all to him. If the publicweal were more regarded in that House, and the quarrels of men lessconsidered, he thought that the service of the country would bebetter done. He was answered by Mr. Monk, who was sitting near him,and who intended to support Mr. Gresham. Mr. Monk was rather happyin pulling his old friend, Mr. Turnbull, to pieces, expressing hisopinion that a difference in men meant a difference in measures. Thecharacters of men whose principles were known were guarantees for themeasures they would advocate. To him,--Mr. Monk,--it was matter ofvery great moment who was Prime Minister of England. He was alwaysselfish enough to wish for a Minister with whom he himself couldagree on the main questions of the day. As he certainly could not saythat he had political confidence in the present Ministry, he shouldcertainly vote against them on this occasion.

  In the course of the evening Phineas found a letter addressed tohimself from Mr. Bonteen. It was as follows:--

  House of Commons, April 5th, 18--.

  DEAR MR. FINN,

  I never accused you of dishonesty. You must have misheard or misunderstood me if you thought so. I did say that you had scuttled the ship;--and as you most undoubtedly did scuttle it,--you and Mr. Monk between you,--I cannot retract my words.

  I do not want to go to any one for testimony as to your merits on the occasion. I accused you of having done nothing dishonourable or disgraceful. I think I said that there was danger in the practice of scuttling. I think so still, though I know that many fancy that those who scuttle do a fine thing. I don't deny that it's fine, and therefore you can have no cause of complaint against me.

  Yours truly,

  J. BONTEEN.

  He had brought a copy of his own letter in his pocket to the House,and he showed the correspondence to Mr. Monk. "I would not havenoticed it, had I been you," said he.

  "You can have no idea of the offensive nature of the remark when itwas made."

  "It's as offensive to me as to you, but I should not think of movingin such a matter. When a man annoys you, keep out of his way. It isgenerally the best thing you can do."

  "If a man were to call you a liar?"

  "But men don't call each other liars. Bonteen understands the worldmuch too well to commit himself by using any word which commonopinion would force him to retract. He says we scuttled the ship.Well;--we did. Of all the political acts of my life it is the oneof which I am most proud. The manner in which you helped me hasentitled you to my affectionate esteem. But we did scuttle the ship.Before you can quarrel with Bonteen you must be able to show that ametaphorical scuttling of a ship must necessarily be a disgracefulact. You see how he at once retreats behind the fact that it need notbe so."

  "You wouldn't answer his letter."

  "I think not. You can do yourself no good by a correspondence inwhich you cannot get a hold of him. And if you did get a hold of himyou would injure yourself much more than him. Just drop it." Thisadded much to our friend's misery, and made him feel that the weightof it was almost more than he could bear. His enemy had got thebetter of him at every turn. He had now rushed into a correspondenceas to which he would have to own by his silence that he had beenconfuted. And yet he was sure that Mr. Bonteen had at the clubinsulted him most unjustifiably, and that if the actual truth wereknown, no man, certainly not Mr. Monk, would hesitate to say thatreparation was due to him. And yet what could he do? He thought thathe would consult Lord Cantrip, and endeavour to get from his lateChief some advice more palatable than that which had been tendered tohim by Mr. Monk.

  In the meantime animosities in the House were waxing very furious;and, as it happened, the debate took a turn that was peculiarlyinjurious to Phineas Finn in his present state of mind. The rumour asto the future promotion of Mr. Bonteen, which had been conveyed byLaurence Fitzgibbon to Phineas at the Universe, had, as was natural,spread far and wide, and had reached the ears of those who stillsat on the Ministerial benches. Now it is quite understood amongpoliticians in this country that no man should presume that he willhave imposed upon him the task of forming a Ministry until he hasbeen called upon by the Crown to undertake that great duty. Let theGresham or the Daubeny of the day be ever so sure that the reins ofthe State chariot must come into his hands, he should not visiblyprepare himself for the seat on the box till he has actually beensummoned to place himself there. At this moment it was alleged thatMr. Gresham had departed from the reticence and modesty usual insuch a position as his, by taking steps towards the formation of aCabinet, while it was as yet quite possible that he might never becalled upon to form any Cabinet. Late on this Monday night, when theHouse was quite full, one of Mr. Daubeny's leading lieutenants, aSecretary of State, Sir Orlando Drought by name,--a gentleman who ifhe had any heart in the matter must have hated this Church Bill fromthe very bottom of his heart, and who on that account was the morebitter against opponents who had not ceased to throw in his teeth hisown political tergiversation,--fell foul of Mr. Gresham as to thisrumoured appointment to the Chancellorship of the Exchequer. Thereader will easily imagine the things that were said. Sir Orlandohad heard, and had been much surprised at hearing, that a certainhonourable member of that House, who had long been known to them asa tenant of the Ministerial bench, had already been appointed to ahigh office. He, Sir Orlando, had not been aware that the office hadbeen vacant, or that if vacant it would have been at the disposal ofthe right honourable gentleman; but he believed that there was nodoubt that the place in question, with a seat in the Cabinet, hadbeen tendered to, and accepted by, the honourable member to whom healluded. Such was the rabid haste with which the right honourablegentleman opposite, and his colleagues, were attempting, he would notsay to climb, but to rush into office, by opposing a great measure ofReform, the wisdom of which, as was notorious to all the world, theythemselves did not dare to deny. Much more of the same kind was said,during which Mr. Gresham pulled about his hat, shuffled his feet,showed his annoyance to all the House, and at last jumped upon hislegs.

  "If," said Sir Orlando Drought,--"if the right honourable gentlemanwishes to deny the accuracy of any statements that I have made, Iwill give way to him for the moment, that he may do so."

  "I deny utterly, not only the accuracy, but every detail of thestatement made by the right honourable gentleman opposite," saidMr. Gresham, still standing and holding his hat in his hand as hecompleted his denial.

  "Does the right honourable gentleman mean to assure me that he hasnot selected his future Chancellor of the Exchequer?"

  "The right honourable gentleman is too acute not to be aware that weon this side of the House may have made such selection, and that yetevery detail of the statement which he has been rash enough to maketo the House may be--unfounded. The word, sir, is weak; but I wouldfain avoid the use of any words which, justifiable though they mightbe, would offend the feelings of the House. I will explain to theHouse exactly what has been done."

  Then there was a great hubbub--cries of "Order," "Gresham," "Spoke,""Hear, hear," and the like,--during which Sir Orlando Drought and Mr.Gresham both stood on their legs. So powerful was Mr. Gresham's voicethat, through it all, every word that he said was audible to thereporters. His opponent hardly attempted to speak, but stood relyingupon his right. Mr. Gresham said he understood that it was the desireof the House that he should explain the circumstances in referenceto the charge that had been made against him, and it would certainlybe for the convenience of the House that this should be done atthe moment. The Speaker of course ruled that Sir Orlando was inpossession of the floor, but suggested that it might be convenientthat he should yield to the right honourable ge
ntleman on theother side for a few minutes. Mr. Gresham, as a matter of course,succeeded. Rights and rules, which are bonds of iron to a little man,are packthread to a giant. No one in all that assembly knew the Housebetter than did Mr. Gresham, was better able to take it by storm, ormore obdurate in perseverance. He did make his speech, though clearlyhe had no right to do so. The House, he said, was aware, that by themost unfortunate demise of the late Duke of Omnium, a gentleman hadbeen removed from this House to another place, whose absence fromtheir counsels would long be felt as a very grievous loss. Then hepronounced a eulogy on Plantagenet Palliser, so graceful and wellarranged, that even the bitterness of the existing opposition wasunable to demur to it. The House was well aware of the nature of thelabours which now for some years past had occupied the mind of thenoble duke; and the paramount importance which the country attachedto their conclusion. The noble duke no doubt was not absolutelydebarred from a continuance of his work by the change which hadfallen upon him; but it was essential that some gentleman, belongingto the same party with the noble duke, versed in office, and having aseat in that House, should endeavour to devote himself to the greatmeasure which had occupied so much of the attention of the lateChancellor of the Exchequer. No doubt it must be fitting that thegentleman so selected should be at the Exchequer, in the event oftheir party coming into office. The honourable gentleman to whomallusion had been made had acted throughout with the present nobleduke in arranging the details of the measure in question; and theprobability of his being able to fill the shoes left vacant bythe accession to the peerage of the noble duke had, indeed, beendiscussed;--but the discussion had been made in reference to themeasure, and only incidentally in regard to the office. He, Mr.Gresham, held that he had done nothing that was indiscreet,--nothingthat his duty did not demand. If right honourable gentlemen oppositewere of a different opinion, he thought that that difference camefrom the fact that they were less intimately acquainted than heunfortunately had been with the burdens and responsibilities oflegislation.

  There was very little in the dispute which seemed to be worthy ofthe place in which it occurred, or of the vigour with which it wasconducted; but it served to show the temper of the parties, and toexpress the bitterness of the political feelings of the day. It wassaid at the time, that never within the memory of living politicianshad so violent an animosity displayed itself in the House as hadbeen witnessed on this night. While Mr. Gresham was giving hisexplanation, Mr. Daubeny had arisen, and with a mock solemnity thatwas peculiar to him on occasions such as these, had appealed to theSpeaker whether the right honourable gentleman opposite should not becalled upon to resume his seat. Mr. Gresham had put him down with awave of his hand. An affected stateliness cannot support itself butfor a moment; and Mr. Daubeny had been forced to sit down when theSpeaker did not at once support his appeal. But he did not forgetthat wave of the hand, nor did he forgive it. He was a man who inpublic life rarely forgot, and never forgave. They used to sayof him that "at home" he was kindly and forbearing, simple andunostentatious. It may be so. Who does not remember that horribleTurk, Jacob Asdrubal, the Old Bailey barrister, the terror ofwitnesses, the bane of judges,--who was gall and wormwood to allopponents. It was said of him that "at home" his docile amiabilitywas the marvel of his friends, and delight of his wife and daughters."At home," perhaps, Mr. Daubeny might have been waved at, and haveforgiven it; but men who saw the scene in the House of Commons knewthat he would never forgive Mr. Gresham. As for Mr. Gresham himself,he triumphed at the moment, and exulted in his triumph.

  Phineas Finn heard it all, and was disgusted to find that his enemythus became the hero of the hour. It was, indeed, the opiniongenerally of the Liberal party that Mr. Gresham had not said much toflatter his new Chancellor of the Exchequer. In praise of PlantagenetPalliser he had been very loud, and he had no doubt said that whichimplied the capability of Mr. Bonteen, who, as it happened, wassitting next to him at the time; but he had implied also that themantle which was to be transferred from Mr. Palliser to Mr. Bonteenwould be carried by its new wearer with grace very inferior to thatwhich had marked all the steps of his predecessor. Ratler, andErle, and Fitzgibbon, and others had laughed in their sleeves atthe expression, understood by them, of Mr. Gresham's doubt as tothe qualifications of his new assistant, and Sir Orlando Drought,in continuing his speech, remarked that the warmth of the righthonourable gentleman had been so completely expended in abusing hisenemies that he had had none left for the defence of his friend.But to Phineas it seemed that this Bonteen, who had so grievouslyinjured him, and whom he so thoroughly despised, was carrying offall the glories of the fight. A certain amount of consolation was,however, afforded to him. Between one and two o'clock he was toldby Mr. Ratler that he might enjoy the privilege of adjourning thedebate,--by which would accrue to him the right of commencing on themorrow,--and this he did at a few minutes before three.