studies he added an instinctive penetration into men; and when from time
to time he rejoined the world, he sought out those most distinguished in
the sciences he had cultivated, and by their lights corrected his own. In
him there was nothing desultory or undetermined; his conduct was perpetual
calculation. He did nothing but with an eye to a final object; and when,
to the superficial, he seemed most to wander from the road their prudence
would have suggested, he was only seeking the surest and shortest paths.
Yet his ambition was not the mere vulgar thirst for getting on in the
world; he cared little for the paltry place, the petty power which may
reward what are called aspiring young men. His clear sight penetrated to
objects that seemed wrapped in shade to all others; and to those
only--distant, but vast and towering,--he deigned to attach his desires.
He cared not for small and momentary rewards; and while always (for he
knew its necessity) uppermost on the tide of the hour, he had neither joy
nor thought for the petty honours for which he was envied, and by which he
was supposed to be elated. Always occupied and always thoughtful, he
went, as I have just said, very little into the gay world, and was not
very well formed to shine in it when there; for trifles require the whole
man as much as matters of importance. He did not want either wit or
polish, but he tasked his powers too severely on great subjects not to be
sometimes dull upon small ones: yet, when he was either excited or at
home, he was not without--what man of genius is?--his peculiar powers of
conversation. There was in this young dark, brooding, stern man, that
which had charmed Constance at first sight; she thought to recognise a
nature like her own, and Radclyffe's venturous spirit exulted in a commune
with hers. Their politics were the same; their ultimate ends not very
unlike; and their common ambition furnished them with an eternity of
topics and schemes. Radclyffe was Constance's guest;--but Godolphin soon
grew attached to the young politician, though he shrugged his shoulders at
his opinions. In youth, Godolphin had been a Tory--now, if anything, he