same errand as himself, whom he presently found to be Monson. Though they had met but for a minute in the rencontre that has been mentioned in Auvergne, their interest about each other had been so great, that upon this second meeting they could not help giving signs of mutual recognition. At first they were formal; but this wearing off, they passed the evening together at the inn, en vrais compatriotes; during which, Mrs. Belson and her daughter being naturally made the subject of conversation, Tremaine was astonished to learn that Monson, who had come to France for the express purpose of seeking his early love, had himself broken off with her, upon discovering what had passed between her and Tremaine. "My heart," said Monson, "was shocked at the sudden transfer of her affections, not merely from me to you, but from you to me; and though I attributed much to her mother, and believed that her inconstancies to us both proceeded more from a temporary ebullition of romance than a want of principle, or sordid design, yet, feeling this was not a character that could make me happy, I gave up my pursuit, and left her, in sorrow for her weakness, but with my affection quite cured." Tremaine could not help admiring his new acquaintance for the delicacy as well as firmness of his character; and when they separated, set it to his own heart as an example which it needed, in recovering itself from the wound it had received. For though forced to withdraw all regard from Eugenia, the affection he had given her had been so pure, so founded in what he thought her unsophisticated nature, that it was long, and not till after all esteem for her had ceased, that his heart finally parted with her image. CHAP. VIII. TRAVELLING. "I rather would entreat thy company, To view the wonders of the world abroad, SHAKSPEARE. THE immediate effect of this adventure was to throw Tremaine back upon high and polished life, with an increased favour towards it, produced by the disappointment his hopes had just received amidst the simplicities of a humbler station. Hence, when some one had praised the flowers of the valley, he was heard to say, "Give me the diamonds of the court; they are quite as pure, and a thousand times more brilliant! The flowers, too, will fade, and are then even offensive; the purity of the diamond lasts for ever." Is it not strange, that, with all his powers, attainments, and habits of philosophizing, he had not till now perceived that simplicity is the growth of no particular soil, and attached to no particular rank; that it depends upon character alone; and that, although the chances are against it in a court, the obscurity of the remotest village will not exempt its inhabitants either from disingenuousness, weakness, or falsehood? Cured of love, and particularly of village love, he now commenced what he had long meditated, and partly had begun,-the tour of Europe; and he betook himself with vigour to the study of the men, manners and institutions, the arts, policy and resources of foreign countries. Still, however, whatever his pursuit-whether in morals, politics, or arts-his dear romance never abandoned him; and of all the hours that he passed away from his native land, those which were occupied in floating in airy visions on the Rhine, or Lake Leman, were those which he most seemed to enjoy. In the end, however, the courts of Europe, and all its princes, its eminent men and celebrated women, became known to him; though, with regard to the latter, while he bowed to the supereminent genius, and revelled in the brilliant eloquence of a Staël, he personally preferred the unpretending sense, the genuine humour, the amiable and beneficent practical virtues of an Edgeworth. Indeed every thing masculine, even though it were her sense, he held to be a derogation from the female character. "We would forgive you," he has been known to say to the daughter of Necker, "being so much wiser than ourselves; but with such wisdom, we cannot forgive your petticoats." As it was, however, the study of men, not women, which now engaged Tremaine's attention, it signified little under what appearance the feminine character was clothed. It is true, his politeness in female society never abandoned him; but his heart no longer expanded to female worth; and by degrees the avidity with which politics and war were followed all over the Continent, communicated itself to him, and his correspondence with his political friends at home was pursued with an energy not inconsiderable. This threw him, on his return to England, into party, and, as he was in parliament, into opposition; for, besides that his connexions were most of them on that side, the minister, whether it was that he knew not Tremaine's value, or despaired of fixing him, or that he trusted too much to his own popularity, did not take sufficient pains to acquire his support. Tremaine, indeed, forbade all possibility of even making the attempt; for he was at pains to have it believed that he stood by himself, owned fealty to no one, and would take it as an affront to be solicited into party. It so happened, however, that he thought this independence could only be shewn by invariably voting, and frequently speaking with his vote, against every measure, good, bad, or indifferent, which the government brought forward. The minister, a man of spirit and talents,* attacked him for this with a ridicule he could not forgive; and this drove him into the arms of opposition, as many a man had been driven before him, contrary to his original intention. In short, he fancied himself a patriot, and that he was associated with patriots; and with a profession, in' which he believed himself sincere, that he would never be found in the ranks of an undiscriminating opposition, and that measures, not men, were always the object to which he looked, he yet ran breast-high into every measure, not only of opposition, but of faction itself. 7 * From the dates I presume Mr. Percival is the minister alluded to.-ED. |