And with these words Hatton wished him a hearty farewell and withdrew.

“He is right,” thought Morley; “he knows human nature well. The secret is safe. I will not breathe it to Gerard. I will treasure it up. It is knowledge; it is power: great knowledge, great power. And what shall I do with it? Time will teach me.”

END OF THE FIFTH BOOK [ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]

BOOK VI

[ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]

Book 6 Chapter 1

“Another week,” exclaimed a gentleman in Downing Street on the 5th of August, 1842, “and we shall be prorogued. You can surely keep the country quiet for another week.”

“I cannot answer for the public peace for another four-and-twenty hours,” replied his companion.

“This business at Manchester must be stopped at once; you have a good force there?”

“Manchester is nothing; these are movements merely to distract. The serious work is not now to be apprehended in the cotton towns. The state of Staffordshire and Warwickshire is infinitely more menacing. Cheshire and Yorkshire alarm me. The accounts from Scotland are as bad as can be. And though I think the sufferings of ‘39 will keep Birmingham and the Welch collieries in check, we cannot venture to move any of our force from those districts.”