IN THE TRUE INTEREST OF THE NATION




II


IN THE TRUE INTEREST OF THE NATION

Sir Matthew Bale, baronet and Member of Parliament, appears to be,
at first sight, a distinguished person. When you know him better, you
ask yourself what misled you, and you reconsider his personality. Careful
scrutiny reveals that he is a skilful imitation. On the other hand,
he is not just a facade, for there is will behind the mask. His imitation
is, in fact, the result of an endeavour to be, not merely to appear,
distinguished, and he fails because, while the manner is there, the
moral qualities which should support it are not. Though he does not
know it, this failure to realize his own ideal of himself is the fly
in the amber. Sir Matthew was an ambitious man, and believed that all
that was necessary in order to "arrive" was to will it sufficiently.
Up to a point his career supports his theory, but not altogether; for
while, considering where he began, he has climbed to a considerable
height, Sir Matthew is very far from satisfied with his position.

Sir Matthew is wily, but he is not able, and he is exceedingly ignorant;
this ignorance even extends to matters in which he is directly and
personally interested. In most men this defect would have proved an
insuperable obstacle to success, but it has not been so with Sir Matthew
because he is aware of his own shortcomings, and when he can't do a