Such, it seems, is the
result expected in the ministry from Mr. Harold Smith's young blood!"
This was cruel enough, but even this was hardly so cruel as the words
with which the article ended. By that time irony had been dropped,
and the writer spoke out earnestly his opinion upon the matter. "We
beg to assure Lord Brock," said the article, "that such alliances as
these will not save him from the speedy fall with which his arrogance
and want of judgement threaten to overwhelm it. As regards himself
we shall be sorry to hear of his resignation. He is in many respects
the best statesman that we possess for the emergencies of the present
period. But if he be so ill-judged as to rest on such men as Mr.
Harold Smith and Lord Brittleback for his assistants in the work
which is before him, he must not expect that the country will
support him. Mr. Harold Smith is not made of the stuff from which
Cabinet ministers should be formed." Mr. Harold Smith, as he read
this, seated at his breakfast-table, recognized, or said that he
recognized, the hand of Mr. Supplehouse in every touch. That phrase
about the effete limbs was Supplehouse all over, as was also the
realization of Utopia. "When he wants to be witty, he always talks
about Utopia," said Mr.
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