Page:Eliot - Felix Holt, the Radical, vol. I, 1866.djvu/266

256 When the door had closed behind him, Mr Johnson said, "What is that person's name?"

"Does anybody know it?" said Mr Chubb.

A few noes were heard.

"I've heard him speak like a downright Reformer, else I should have looked a little sharper after him. But you may see he's nothing partic'lar."

"It looks rather bad that no one knows his name," said Mr Johnson. "He's most likely a Tory in disguise—a Tory spy. You must be careful, sirs, of men who come to you and say they're Radicals, and yet do nothing for you. They'll stuff you with words—no lack of words—but words are wind. Now, a man like Transome comes forward and says to the working men of this country: 'Here I am, ready to serve you and to speak for you in Parliament, and to get the laws made all right for you; and in the meanwhile, if there's any of you who are my neighbours who want a day's holiday, or a cup to drink with friends, or a copy of the King's likeness—why, I'm your man. I'm not a paper handbill—all words and no substance—nor a man with land and nothing else; I've got bags of gold as well as land.' I think you know what I mean by the King's likeness?"

Here Mr Johnson took a half-crown out of