It was after dinner, and the talk had fallen into the hands, or the mouth, of an eminent administrator, who seemed to be a pillar, a model of talent and virtue.

His language was copious, his subject "schoolmaster Bishops," and the services they had rendered to the Church of England.

Bishop Blomfield, for example, had procured the appointment of the Ecclesiastical Commission.

There might, for aught we knew, be endless examples, and the prospect was appalling.

The host was a Roman Catholic, and the guests were not ecclesiastical.