Millbank was the son of one of the wealthiest manufacturers in Lancashire.
His father, whose opinions were of a very democratic bent, sent his son to
Eton, though he disapproved of the system of education pursued there, to
show that he had as much right to do so as any duke in the land. He had,
however, brought up his only boy with a due prejudice against every
sentiment or institution of an aristocratic character, and had especially
impressed upon him in his school career, to avoid the slightest semblance
of courting the affections or society of any member of the falsely-held
superior class.

The character of the son as much as the influence of the father, tended to
the fulfilment of these injunctions. Oswald Millbank was of a proud and
independent nature; reserved, a little stern. The early and constantly-
reiterated dogma of his father, that he belonged to a class debarred from
its just position in the social system, had aggravated the grave and
somewhat discontented humour of his blood. His talents were considerable,
though invested with no dazzling quality. He had not that quick and
brilliant apprehension, which, combined with a memory of rare
retentiveness, had already advanced Coningsby far beyond his age, and made
him already looked to as the future hero of the school. But Millbank
possessed one of those strong, industrious volitions whose perseverance
amounts almost to genius, and nearly attains its results. Though Coningsby
was by a year his junior, they were rivals. This circumstance had no
tendency to remove the prejudice which Coningsby entertained against him,
but its bias on the part of Millbank had a contrary effect.

The influence of the individual is nowhere so sensible as at school. There
the personal qualities strike without any intervening and counteracting
causes. A gracious presence, noble sentiments, or a happy talent, make
their way there at once, without preliminary inquiries as to what set they