Page:Artabanzanus (Ferrar, 1896).djvu/142

 'Like the Demon's lightning balloon,' said the Doctor with a laugh.

'Surely that has not gone to pieces!' I cried in great alarm.

'Not yet, but it may go some day.'

'The members of our Parliament, who are all men of undoubted honour, and whom I would treat with every possible respect, sit or recline on their luxurious couches' 'The couches of Astoragus!' broke in the Doctor with another roar.

'I did not say so, sir. If they kindly, and for my own good and for that of my family, robbed me of every farthing I possess, may they be spared from the couches of Astoragus! They bask in the glory of their electric lights, and feel conscious of being heroes, with the attention, the eyes of beauty, and the criticism of the press, riveted upon them. It is no wonder that they should nearly explode with the pride of place and power, and be determined to show the world that the charming island which they govern is now, whatever it may have been once, no insignificant dusthole. The newspapers are teeming, day by day, with articles and letters full of remonstrances, warnings, and entreaties against their headlong course to financial destruction, but in vain. If any member is hardy enough to talk to them about prudence and economy, he is immediately snubbed, and treated to floods of cold water. It is heartrending to think that we are altogether at the mercy of men like these, who are indifferent to our future freedom from a crushing debt, and to the future happiness of our children's children.'

'And what remedy would you suggest for this alarming state of things?'

'There is no remedy that I know of but the power, the will, and the firmness to say, when large sums of money