Meanwhile he made headway in the constituency.

He was in earnest, with a big theme to descant upon--the responsibility of the constituency to the empire.

His fervour brought it home to his audiences as a fact; he set the recognition of that responsibility forwards as the prime duty of the citizen, sneering at the parochial notion of politics.
Mr.Burl shook his head over Drake's method of fighting the battle, and hinted more than once at the necessity of that lecture upon morals.

Drake not only refused to reconsider it, but flatly forbade Mr.Burl to allude to the subject in any speech which he might make.

Burl shrugged his shoulders and confided his doubts to Captain Le Mesurier.