If you care, however, for the opinion of an
outsider--"
As for the Major, he had other leanings which were a source of unending
interest to them all. "I am a Whig, not from principle, but from prejudice,
sir," he declared. "The Whig is the gentleman's party. I never saw a Whig
that didn't wear broadcloth."
"And some Democrats," politely protested the doctor, with a glance at his
coat.
The Major bowed.
"And many Democrats, sir; but the Whig party, if I may say so, is the
broadcloth party--the cloth stamps it; and besides this, sir, I think its
'parts are solid and will wear well.'"
Now when the Major began to quote Mr. Addison, even the rector was silent,
save for an occasional prompting, as, "I was reading the _Spectator_ until
eleven last night, sir," or "I have been trying to recall the lines in _The
Campaign_ before. 'Twas then great Marlborough's mighty soul was proved."
This was the best of the day to Dan, and, as he turned on his footstool, he
did not even glare at Champe, who, from the window seat, was regarding him
with the triumphant eye with which the young behold the downfall of a
brother. For a moment he had forgotten the whipping, but Champe had not; he
was thinking of it in the window seat.
But the Major was standing on the hearth-rug, and the boy's gaze went to
him. Tossing back his long white hair, and fixing his eagle glance on his
friends, the old gentleman, with a free sweep of his arm, thundered his
favourite lines:--
"So, when an angel by divine command
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land
(Such as of late o'er pale Britannia passed),
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast;
And, pleased the Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.
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