Thomas Paget

“ Paget was fond of talking, in private and in public, of his dreadful spiritual condition and he would drop his voice while he spoke of having committed the Unpardonable Sin, with a sort of shuddering exultation, such as people sometimes feel in the possession of a very unusual disease.
It might be thought that the position held in any community by persons so afflicted and eccentric as the Pagets would be very precarious. ”

“ Sir William Paget, by far the ablest man upon the council, and a true friend to Somerset, implored him to be cautious; but he was so violent, that others durst not speak to him at all; and though Paget persevered, it was only to be 'whipped with sharp words.' May.'How it cometh to pass I cannot tell,' Paget wrote at last, 'but of late your Grace is grown into great cholerick fashions, whensoever you are contraried in that which you have conceived in your head. A King which shall give men occasion of discourage to say their opinions frankly, receiveth thereby great hurt and peril to his realm. ”

“ Nothing could be more courteously acquiescent than the manner of the landlady; for Captain Paget had offered her references, and the people to whom he referred were among the magnates of the land. The Captain knew enough of human nature to know that if references are only sufficiently imposing, they are very unlikely to be verified. The swindler who refers his dupe to the Duke of Sutherland and Baring Brothers has a very good chance of getting his respectability accepted without inquiry, on the mere strength of those sacred names. ”

“ He became secretary to Queen Anne of Cleves in 1539, and in 1543 he was sworn of the privy council and appointed secretary of state, in which position Henry VIII. in his later years relied much on his advice, appointing him one of the council to act during the minority of Edward VI. Paget at first vigorously supported the protector Somerset, while counselling a moderation which Somerset did not always observe. In 1547 he was made comptroller of the king’s household, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and a knight of the Garter ”

“ People who had appeared active enough before sat listless about the decks. Books, if open, were unread. The seamen even exhibited the same listlessness as the rest of those on board. Emily and May did their best to keep up their spirits, but their efforts were unavailing. Captain Westerway and Bill Windy were among the few who appeared unaffected. Mr Paget, also exerting himself to the utmost, went about his usual occupations, and endeavoured to revive the spirits of his companions. It was evident, however, that unless a breeze should spring up some evil consequences would too probably ensue. ”

“ It can scarcely be pleaded in excuse for the Captain that he might have admitted a worse man than Valentine Hawkehurst to his family circle, for the Captain had never taken the trouble to sound the depths of his coadjutor's nature. There is nothing so short-sighted as selfishness; and beyond the narrow circle immediately surrounding himself, there was no man more blind than Horatio Paget. ”

“ Secretary, we must not think that heaven is here, but that we live in a world’) explaining his failure.
Paget, as a friend of Somerset, suffered a good deal for his sake. He remained with him during the revolution of October 1549, but none the less he was in communication with the lords of the opposite party, and showed them how Somerset might be captured (ib. iii. 153) . ”

“ Paget should talk of the matter, and he wandered restlessly about the rooms, longing for an opportunity of speaking a kind word for Ferrers, wishing vainly that what he had said could be undone. He felt more than ever the necessity of keeping a watch over his heart and tongue, and almost inclined to despair of ever overcoming the many stumbling-blocks in the way of attaining to holiness. Thus, little by little, is the evil of our hearts disclosed to us, and the longer the true Christian lives, the less he finds to be satisfied with in himself ”

“ But when you set up a separate interest, when you try to throw dust in my eyes, to hoodwink me—me, Horatio Paget, a man of the world, possessed of some little genius for social diplomacy—you attempt to do that which no man ever yet succeeded in doing, and you immediately release me from those obligations which an honourable man holds sacred. It was my glove which you saw in Mr. Goodge's parlour. I had a very satisfactory interview with that reverend person while you were absent from Ullerton on some short excursion, as to the purpose of which I am still in the dark. ”

“ Without meaning it, Pagett can occasionally be extremely offensive.
“And order a table for six in the saloon,” I said. “We’ll have the Captain, the girl with the nice legs, Mrs. Blair——”
“You won’t get Mrs. Blair without Colonel Race,” Pagett interposed. “He’s asked her to dine with him, I know.”
Pagett always knows everything. I was justifiably annoyed.
“Who is Race?” I demanded, exasperated.
As I said before, Pagett always knows everything—or thinks he does. He looked mysterious again.
“They say he’s a Secret Service chap, Sir Eustace. Rather a great gun too. ”

“ Let who will come to court, I am to be excluded. There is always greater difficulty in getting into your house than anybody’s else.”
King Katzekopf stammered forth an apology, assured his kinswoman that he was delighted to see her, that he had just been speaking of sending her an invitation, and that he had given general orders that she should be admitted at all times.
“No such thing!” cried the little lady angrily. “You use me abominably. You know I always make it a rule to come through the keyhole, and there it is that you always try to stop me. ”

“ Paget had incurred the hatred of Warwick, who feared him, and the party opposed to Somerset hoped to ruin Paget and the Protector together. He was arrested and committed to the Fleet on 21 Oct. 1551 on a charge of conspiring against Warwick's life, but was removed to the Tower on 8 Nov. The charge was absurd. The murder was to have been carried out at Paget's house. But Paget had taken the part of the council against Somerset in many things; he had rebuked him for courting popularity, and he knew his weakness far too well to join in any such adventure with him. ”

“ It is therefore next to an impossibility that Horatio Paget can have any idea of the business I am engaged in. He is the very man of all others to try and supersede me if he had an inkling of my plans; but I am convinced he can have no such inkling.
And yet the advertisement of the Haygarth property in the Times was as open to the notice of all the world as it was open to the notice of George Sheldon. What if my patron should have been struck by the same advertisement, and should have come to Ullerton on the same business? ”

“ I won’t give it up, I say!”
“Then take the consequences!” said the Lady Abracadabra. As she said these words, she darted up into the air, still keeping hold of the wand, and lessening in size, as she rose, made her way towards the keyhole. By the time she had reached it, dragging the Prince after her, she had shrunk to the size which 117enabled her to go through it. ”

“ Horatio Paget was the exact type of man most likely to be useful to such a speculator as Philip Sheldon. He was the very ideal of the "Promoter," the well-dressed, well-mannered gentleman, beneath whose magic wand new companies arise as if by magic; the man who, without a sixpence in his own pocket, can set a small Pactolus flowing from the pockets of other people; the man who, content himself to live in a humble second floor at Chelsea, can point to gigantic hotels which are as the palaces of a new Brobdignag, and say, "Lo, these arose at my bidding!" ”

“ I dare say he is right. He usually is. But all this is getting unpleasant. The sooner I get off to Rhodesia the better. I have explained to Pagett that he is not to accompany me.
“You see, my dear fellow,” I said, “you must remain here on the spot. You might be required to identify Rayburn any minute. And, besides, I have my dignity as an English Member of Parliament to think of. I can’t go about with a secretary who has apparently recently been indulging in a vulgar street-brawl.”
Pagett winced. He is such a respectable fellow that his appearance is pain and tribulation to him. ”

“ By his wife (who survived him, and married, secondly, Sir Thomas Kitson, of Hargrave) , Sir Thomas had, with other issue, a son—Sir John, by whom he was succeeded—and three daughters.
Sir John Pakington, the “Lusty Pakington” of Queen Elizabeth’s Court, was an especial favourite of the “Virgin Queen,” and a man of rank in his day and generation. ”

“ Upon Cranmer, if upon any one, Somerset, who had done more than any other person to establish religion upon its new basis, should have been able to count, if not for support, for a loyal opposition. But fear is strong and—again it must be repeated—fidelity to the unfortunate was no feature of the times; and by both Archbishop and Paget the cause of the falling man was abandoned. Not only did they secretly embrace the cause of the party headed by Warwick, but private directions were furnished by Paget as to the means to be employed in seizing the person of the Duke. ”

“ I should think it highly improbable that your Miss Paget and my Miss Paget could be the same, if you hadn't mentioned her bulldog, Beau. There can't be a quantity of Miss Pagets going about the world with bulldogs named Beau. Only my Miss Paget never does go about the world. She hates travelling. ”

“ Circumstances are circumstances, Mr Paget, and I am sure my young friend, Mr Dicey (I think, sir, that is your name?) will agree with me,” he added, turning to Charles.
“We make our own circumstances, sir, however,” answered Mr Paget, “by wise and prudent, or by foolish conduct, or by honest or dishonest dealings with our fellow-men. The upright man is not degraded by loss of fortune, and I have no doubt many persons of education go out in second-class cabins on board emigrant ships.”
“Of course they do, sir, of course,” exclaimed Mr Mawson ”

“ I know Pagett's "little holes"—he usually has the best cabin on the ship.
"I'm sorry the Captain didn't turn out for you this time," I said sarcastically. "Perhaps you'd like to dump some of your extra luggage in my cabin?"
Sarcasm is dangerous with a man like Pagett. He brightened up at once.
"Well, if I could get rid of the typewriter and the stationery trunk——"
The stationery trunk weighs several solid tons. It causes endless unpleasantness with the porters, and it is the aim of Pagett's life to foist it on me. It is a perpetual struggle between us. ”

“ Lady Paget, taking her opportunity, made a whispered inquiry to the Queen as to her opinion of Seymour’s appearance. To which the Queen answered that she liked it very much—“oh, how changeable,” sighs the chronicler, “are women in that country!” Encouraged by Katherine’s reply, Lady Paget ventured to go further, and to hint at a marriage; answering, when the Queen replied by demurring on the score of her superior rank as Queen-Dowager, that to win so pretty a man you might well stoop. ”

“ But I had forgotten Pagett's powers of being in the right.
"I've already unpacked all the cases, Sir Eustace. The typewriter is in perfect condition."
"What do you mean—all the cases?"
"The two small cases as well."
"I wish you wouldn't be so officious, Pagett. Those small cases were no business of yours. They belong to Mrs. Blair."
Pagett looked crestfallen. He hates to make a mistake.
"So you can just pack them up again neatly," I continued. "After that you can go out and look around you. Jo'burg will probably be a heap of smoking ruins by tomorrow, so it may be your last chance." ”

“ He also drew occasionally for the 'Graphic,' 'Illustrated London News,' and the 'Pall Mall Magazine.' Paget's spirited illustrations for Sir A. Conan Doyle's 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'Rodney Stone' in the 'Strand Magazine' greatly assisted to popularise those stories. The assertion that the artist's brother Walter, or any other person, served as model for the portrait of 'Sherlock Holmes' is incorrect. ”

“ Pagett spoke as one who mourned the death of a near relative.
“Not a bit, Sir, but I should be if I took up with a parcel of baboos, pleaders, and schoolboys, as never did a day’s work in their lives, and couldn’t if they tried. And if you was to poll us English railway men, mechanics, tradespeople, and the like of that all up and down the country from Peshawur to Calcutta, you would find us mostly in a tale together. And yet you know we’re the same English you pay some respect to at home at ‘lection time, and we have the pull o’ knowing something about it.” ”

“ The movement of masses of infantry, and still more of cavalry and guns, along the rugged crest and slopes of the Peñasquedo heights, was attended with so much difficulty, that noon was long passed before the whole army was in position. It was indeed so late in the day, that Sir John Moore had come to the conclusion that Soult did not intend to attack, and had ordered Paget’s division, who were to be the first troops to embark, to march down to the harbour [720] . The other corps were to retire at dusk, and go on shipboard under cover of the night. ”

“ Oh, see! see! there is a man making the attempt with two children. It is Mr Paget.” That gentleman, finding others hesitated, had taken two infants from their mothers’ arms, and had seated himself in the cradle, to set an example to the rest of the people on board. Holding on with one hand, and steadying the cradle with the other, though the surf as it rose washed over him more than once, he reached the boat with his charges.
“Thank Heaven!” exclaimed Emily. “He is safe! he is safe! And there is Charles; he is following the brave example.” ”