Volume Ii Part 16 (1/2)
”H. C.”
Another of the same hand:--
”H------ desires me to inclose you these two letters: one I know is an introduction to Guizot; the other, I suppose, to be 'Ein empfehlungs Brief' to the 'Grafin.' Take care to say as little as possible to the one, and to have, in Irish parlance, as little as possible 'to say' to the other. At Paris you want no guidance; and at Vienna, the Abbe Discot is your man. Coloredo is out of favour for the moment; but he can afford to wait, and, waiting, to win. Be a.s.siduous in your visits at B------y's; and when the Countess affects ignorance, let us always hear from you.
”Yours ever,
”H. C.”
This is a very rose-coloured and rose-odoured doc.u.ment:--
”Dear Mr. Templeton,
”I have to make two thousand excuses; one each for two indiscretions, I believed I had your box at the Opera for last evening; and I also fancied--think of my absurdity!-- that the bouquet of camelias left there was meant for me.
Pray forgive me; or, rather, ask the fair lady who came in at the ballet to forgive me. I never can think of the incident without shame and self-reproach; _du reste_, it has given me the opportunity of knowing that your taste in beauty equals your judgment in flowers.
”Very much yours,
”Helen Collyton.
”Sir H------ bids me say, that he expects you on Wednesday.
We dine earlier, as the Admiral goes on board in the evening.”
This was an absurd incident; and, trivially as it is touched on here, made of that same Lady Collyton a very dangerous enemy to me.
This is not a specimen of calligraphy, certainly:--
”If you promise neither to talk of the Catholic Question, the Kildare Place Society, nor the 'Glorious Revolution of 1688.' P------ will have no objection to meet you at dinner.
Hammond, you've heard, I suppose, has lost his election; he polled more voters than there were freeholders registered on the books: this was proving too much, and he must pay the penalty. Y------ is in, and will remain if he can; but there is a hitch in it--'as the man who lent him his qualification is in gaol at Bruges.' Write and say if you accept the conditions.
”Yours,
”Frederick Hamilton.”
There are some memorials of a very different kind--they are bound up together; and well may they, they form an episode quite apart from all the events before or after them! I dare not open them; for, although years have pa.s.sed away, the wounds would bleed afresh if only breathed on! This was the last I ever received from her. I have no need to open it--I know every line by heart!--almost prophetic, too!
”I have no fear of offending you now, since we shall never meet again. The very thought that the whole world divides us, as completely as death itself, will make you accept my words less as reproof than warning. Once more, then, abandon the career for which you have not health, nor energy, nor enduring strength. Brilliant displays, discursive efforts, however effective, will no more const.i.tute statesmans.h.i.+p than fireworks suffice to light up the streets of a city.
Like all men of quick intelligence, you undervalue those who advance more slowly, forgetting that their gleaning is more cleanly made, and that, while you come sooner, they come more heavily laden. Again, this waiting for conviction--this habit of listening to the arguments on each side, however excellent in general life, is inapplicable in politics. You must have opinions previously formed--you must have your mind made up, on principles very different and much wider than those a debate embraces. If I find the person who guides me through the streets of a strange city stop to inquire here, to ask this, to investigate that, and so on, I at once conceive--and very reasonably--a doubt of his skill and intelligence; but if he advance with a certain air of a.s.sured knowledge, I yield myself to his guidance with implicit trust: nor does it matter so much, when we have reached the desired goal, that we made a slight divergence from the shortest road.
”Now, if a const.i.tuency concede much to your judgment, remember that you owe a similar debt to the leader of your party, who certainly--all consideration of ability apart-- sees further, because from a higher eminence, than other men.
”Again, you take no pleasure in any pursuit wherein no obstacle presents itself; and yet, if the difficulty be one involving a really strong effort, you abandon it. You require as many conditions to your liking as did the commander at Walcheren--the wind must not only blow from a particular quarter, but with a certain degree of violence.
This will never do! The favouring gale that leads to fortune is as often a hurricane as a zephyr; some are blown into the haven half s.h.i.+pwrecked, but still safe.
”Lastly, you have a failing, for which neither ability, nor address, nor labour, nor even good luck, can compensate. You trust every one--not from any implicit reliance on the goodness of human nature--not that you think well of this man, or highly of that, but simply from indolence.
'Believing,' is so very easy--such a rare self-indulgence!