Pelham — Volume 04Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
History
Pelham — Volume 04
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
Adventure stories; English fiction -- 19th century; Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction
It was singular that, in his parliamentary display, as in his ordinary
conversation, there were none of the wild and speculative opinions, or
the burning enthusiasm of romance, in which the natural inclination of
his mind seemed so essentially to delight. His arguments were always
remarkable for the soundness of the principles on which they were based,
and the logical clearness with which they were expressed. The feverish
fervour of his temperament was, it is true, occasionally shown in a
remarkable energy of delivery, or a sudden and unexpected burst of the
more impetuous powers of oratory; but these were so evidently natural and
spontaneous, and so happily adapted to be impressive of the subject,
rather than irrelevant from its bearings, that they never displeased even
the oldest and coldest cynics and calculators of the House.
It is no uncommon contradiction in human nature (and in Glanville it
seemed peculiarly prominent) to find men of imagination and genius gifted
with the strongest common sense, for the admonition or benefit of others,
even while constantly neglecting to exert it for themselves. He was soon
marked out as the most promising and important of all the junior members
of the House; and the coldness with which he kept aloof from social
intercourse with the party he adopted, only served to increase their
respect, though it prevented their affection.
Lady Roseville's attachment to him was scarcely a secret; the celebrity
of her name in the world of ton made her least look or action the
constant subject of present remark and after conversation; and there were
too many moments, even in the watchful publicity of society, when that
charming but imprudent person forgot every thing but the romance of her
attachment. Glanville seemed not only perfectly untouched by it, but even
wholly unconscious of its existence, and preserved invariably, whenever
he was forced into the crowd, the same stern, cold, unsympathizing
reserve, which made him, at once, an object of universal conversation and
dislike.
Three weeks after Glanville's first speech in the House, I called upon
him, with a proposal from Lord Dawton. After we had discussed it, we
spoke on more familiar topics, and, at last, he mentioned Thornton. It
will be observed that we had never conversed respecting that person; nor
had Glanville once alluded to our former meetings, or to his disguised
appearance and false appellation at Paris. Whatever might be the mystery,
it was evidently of a painful nature, and it was not, therefore, for me
to allude to it. This day he spoke of Thornton with a tone of
indifference.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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