“Unpaid!” exclaimed St. George, with a well-simulated horror,--“unpaid!” “No, sir; not without my salary, of course. I never heard of any man holding an office in the Revenue for the amusement it might afford him. Did you, Godfrey?” “As for me,” said the lawyer, “I spurn their patronage. I well know the price men pay for such favors.” “What object could it be to _you_,” said Heffernan, “to be made Attorney-General or placed on the bench, a man independent in every seuse? So I said to Castlereagh, when he spoke on the subject: 'Never mind Godfrey,' said I, 'he'll refuse your offers; you'll only offend him by solicitation;' and when he mentioned the 'Rolls'--” Here Heffernan paused, and filled his glass leisurely. An interruption contrived to stimulate Godfrey's curiosity, and which perfectly succeeded, as he asked in a voice of tremulous eagerness,-- “Well, what did you say?” “Just as I replied before,--'he 'll refuse you.'” “Quite right, perfectly right; you have my unbounded gratitude for the answer,” said Godfrey, swallowing two bumpers as rapidly as he could fill them. “Very different treatment from what I met,--an old and tried supporter of the party,” said Hume, turning to O'Reilly and opening upon him the whole narrative of his long-suffering neglect. “It's quite clear, then,” said St. George, “that we are agreed,--the best thing for us would be a change of Ministry.” “I don't think so at all,” interposed Heffernan. “Why, Con,” interrupted the baronet, “they should have _you_ at any price,--however these fellows have learned the trick,--the others know nothing about it You 'd be in office before twenty-four hours.” “So I might to-morrow,” said Heffernan. “There's scarcely a single post of high emolument and trust that I have not been offered and refused. The only things I ever stipulated for in all my connection with the Government were certain favors for my personal friends.” Here he looked significantly towards O'Reilly; but the glance was intercepted by the commissioner, who cried out,--“Well, could they say I had no claim? Could they deny thirty-four years of toil and slavery?” “And in the case for which I was most interested,” resumed Heffernan, not heeding the interruption, “the favor I sought would have been more justly bestowed from the rank and merits of the party than as a recompense for any sen-ices of mine.” “I won't say that, Heffernan,” said Hume, with a look of modesty, who with the most implicit good faith supposed he was the party alluded to; “I won't go that far; but I will and must say, that after four-and-thirty years as a commissioner--” “A man must have laid by a devilish pretty thing for the rest of his life,” said St. George, who felt all the bitterness of a narrow income augmented by the croaking complaints of the well-salaried official. “Well, I hope better days are coming for all of us,” said Heffernan, desirous of concluding the subject ere it should take an untoward turn.