"Ah, Wilhelmina," answered the captain, more mildly, "you have a true
colonist's admiration of _home_. But I was old enough, when I left
England, to appreciate what I saw and knew, and cannot feel all this
provincial admiration."

"But surely, my dear captain, England is a very great country,"
interrupted the chaplain--"a prodigious country; one that can claim all
our respect and love. Look at the church, now, the purified
continuation of the ancient visible authority of Christ on earth! It is
the consideration of this church that has subdued my natural love of
birth-place, and altered my sentiments."

"All very true, and all very well, in _your_ mouth, chaplain; yet
even the visible church may err. This doctrine of divine right would
have kept the Stuarts on the throne, and it is not even English
doctrine; much less, then, need it be American. I am no Cromwellian, no
republican, that wishes to oppose the throne, in order to destroy it. A
good king is a good thing, and a prodigious blessing to a country;
still, a people needs look to its political privileges if it wish to
preserve them. You and I will discuss this matter another time, parson.
There will be plenty of opportunities," he added, rising, and smiling
good-humouredly; "I must, now, call my people together, and let them
know this news. It is not fair to conceal a civil war."

"My dear sir!" exclaimed the major, in concern--"are you not wrong?--
precipitate, I mean--Is it not better to preserve the secret, to give
yourself time for reflection--to await events?--I can discover no
necessity for this haste. Should you see things differently, hereafter,
an incautious word uttered at this moment might bring much motive for
regret."