A gorgeous footman, conspicuous for his plush breeches.
To take plush. To take a subordinate place in the ministry, where one can only act as a government flunkey.
“Lord Rosebery perhaps remembers that, years ago, a young politician who had just finished his education, was warned by an old and affectionate teacher ‘not to take plush … The reply was, ‘I have been offered plush tied with red tape, and have refused it.ʹ”—Nineteenth Century, Jan., 1892, p. 137.
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