belonged to the more pleasing class of Royalty, and in consequence of certain political intrigues, he wished, at that time especially, to make himself as popular as possible. Having gone the round of the old ladies and assured them, as the Court Journal assures the old ladies at this day, that they were "morning stars," and "swan-like wonders," the Individual espied Brandon, and immediately beckoned to him with a familiar gesture. The smooth but saturnine lawyer approached the Royal presence with the manner that peculiarly distinguished him, and which blended, in no ungraceful mixture, a species of stiffness, that passed with the crowd for native independence, with a supple insinuation, that was usually deemed the token of latent benevolence of heart. There was something, indeed, in Brandon's address, that always pleased the Great; and they liked him the better, because, though he stood on no idle political points, mere differences in the view taken of a hairbreadth,—such as a corn law, or a Catholic bill; alteration in the church, or a reform
