This was
the second great thunderbolt that fell,--and so did the work of
crushing our poor friend proceed.
There was a great injustice in all this; at least so Phineas
thought;--injustice, not only from the hands of Mr. Slide, who was
unjust as a matter of course, but also from those who ought to have
been his staunch friends. He had been enticed over to England almost
with a promise of office, and he was sure that he had done nothing
which deserved punishment, or even censure. He could not condescend
to complain,--nor indeed as yet could he say that there was ground
for complaint. Nothing had been done to him. Not a word had been
spoken,--except those lying words in the newspapers which he was too
proud to notice. On one matter, however, he was determined to be
firm. When Barrington Erle had absolutely insisted that he should
vote upon the Church Bill in opposition to all that he had said upon
the subject at Tankerville, he had stipulated that he should have an
opportunity in the great debate which would certainly take place of
explaining his conduct,--or, in other words, that the privilege of
making a speech should be accorded to him at a time in which very
many members would no doubt attempt to speak and would attempt in
vain.
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