146 WHISPERS FROM FAIRYLAND. (ut.

furnish him with some kind of occupation, though why
and wherefore it should be more desirable than his
present employment was hard to discover.

Martha Pattison, however, had more accurate
notions upon the subject. Being a staunch church-
woman and fond of her prayer-book, she had very
frequently studied the Prayer for the High Court of
Parliament therein contained, and from its expressions
had been led to the belief that members of Parlia-
ment were a grave, reverend, conscientious body of
men, whose only wish and object was to deliberate
and take counsel together to promote everything
which was right, to support religion, discourage vice,
pass good laws for everybody’s benefit, and generally
advance the safety, honour, and welfare of our sove-
reign and her dominions, and establish truth, justice,
religion, and piety amongst us for all generations.
That Simon should ever belong to such a body ap-
peared to Mrs. Pattison something almost unattain-
able, but the glory of attaining thereto would be great
indeed, and of asurety Joe Muggins would never have
proposed it had it not been possible. So it came
about that, after the two men had gazed earnestly at
each other for a certain time, as if the extraordinary
wisdom of the one and the marvellous increase in the
worldly importance of the other had inspired a mutual
reverence and awe which could scarcely find expression
in words, the female portion of the company were the
first to break the silence.

“Oh deary me, Simon!’ exclaimed Martha in an
earnest tone of voice, as if fully conscious of the
solemnity of the occasion: ‘Oh deary me! To