Better than a week had now elapsed; M’Clutchy had been interred with great pomp—­all the Orangemen of the neighboring districts having attended “his honored and lamented remains” to the grave, each dressed in his appropriate Orange costume.  The provincial chaplain, remarkable for singing his own songs, had been engaged to preach his funeral sermon, which he did with a force of eloquence and pathos that literally brought the tears of those who were acquainted with Val’s virtues down their cheeks—­but of none else.  He dwelt with particular severity upon those who had kindled bonfires, and hung his respectable son, “our esteemed brother, Captain Phil, in effigy; whilst the sacred remains of that father whom he loved so well, and who so well deserved his love, and the love of all who had the pleasure and happiness of his acquaintance, &c, &c, were not yet cold.”

All this, we say, had taken place, and our friend Hartley was seated quietly at his breakfast one morning, when a gentleman named Fenton waited upon him, on the part of Lord Cumber.  After the usual salutations, Mr. Fenton opened the business on which he had come.

“I regret, Mr. Hartley, that there should be any misunderstanding between you and Lord Cumber.”

“Not more so than I do, Mr. Fenton, I assure you; Lord Cumber, I presume, has arrived then?  But pardon me, have you breakfasted?”

“Thank you, sir, I have breakfasted.  He has arrived, sir, and, requested me, to wait upon you for an apology.  It appears, according to my instructions, as the lawyers say, that you have charged him with holding and exercising tyrannical principles as a landlord; now this, you know, is really a thing that a man like him could not overlook.”

“Of course, Mr. Fenton, he placed our correspondence in your hands.”

“Unquestionably he submitted it to me, previous to my consenting to act.”

“And may I ask your own opinion, Mr Fenton?”

“As an extensive landed proprietor, Mr. Hartley, I must say that I agree with him; I think a landlord has a right to demand every kind of support from his tenant, and that if the tenant claims the privilege of running counter to his landlord’s interest, then the landlord is justified in removing the tenant off his property as soon as he can.”

“In that case, then,” replied Hartley, “I have no concession to make, and no apology to offer.  I regret this business very much; but Lord Cumber places me in a position which I cannot leave without dishonor.”

“He also wishes to have an explanation with respect to the circumstances which induced so many of his corps of yeomanry to enroll their names in your new troop.”

“I have explained that already, by stating that I never solicited any of his men to join my troop; they came of their own free will, and I received them, and certainly will receive as many as come to us under similar circumstances.”

“Then I suppose you will not cause them to withdraw from your troop, as Lord Cumber insists on.”