That same night a new Land Bill was introduced by Sir Robert Wortley,
the Prime Minister--a bill drafted, criticized, and re-altered during
two years by the legal experts of the Sea, proposing the “purchase” of
Great Britain at a price of twice the annual value for inherited land,
and seven times for land held by purchase: this to be paid in two and
seven years respectively, without interest, lands yielding no revenue
to become crown-lands from the date of the Bill, which was called: Land
Department (Creation) Bill.
It passed first reading; but the question was: would the Jews vote for
the second reading? Reluctant enough the Jewish members, but there
were rumours that the Jewish electorate were instructing their
representatives to repent and vote for.
And now spread far the League of Resistance, so did the Adair Street
Society, its secret daughter, of which Admiral Donald (O'Hara) had now
been elected Honorary Vice-Master, and whose Roll contained the names of
an extraordinary number of Territorial officers.
The Society was busy: had building four yachts, all models of the
Admiral's yacht attached to the _Mahomet_, which was called the _Mahomet
II_; every dusk companies of 25 to 40 men drilled darkly in the back
yard at Adair Street, some of them Territorial officers: in rotation
they came, they drilled, over 1000; a top room piled with revolvers,
swords, bowie-knives...
For the land-magnates laughed at the notion of submitting to the Bill:
rather, said they, “rivers of blood”. The mention by Hogarth of Ridley
and Latimer they considered irrelevant; their fathers' heroic mood was a
detail: not an entail.
In secret they met. Anarchists of the reddest hue.
One night when the Bill was approaching second-reading Frankl introduced
Harris as a member; and wide-eyed stood Harris, though still cynical,
with elegant walking-stick, hat cocked, and “I sye”, he whispered, “are
all these real, living lords?”
“Large as life”, answered Frankl.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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