The Exclusives (vol. 3 of 3)Bury, Charlotte Campbell, Lady
General
The Exclusives (vol. 3 of 3)
Bury, Charlotte Campbell, Lady
Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
Of course there were different opinions as to the eligibility of the
measures resorted to, as there always are in similar cases; but which
were, for the most part, formed according to the interests and wishes
of opposing parties, without any real feeling or care for the public
welfare: but, fortunately for the well-being of that public, there
are higher powers over-ruling the petty engines of mortal government,
and even the evil passions of mankind are sometimes made subservient
to the ways of Providence. Henry the Eighth, when he threw off the
papal yoke, and became an instrument of mighty and effective operation
in the religious and moral destinies of Britain, thought little of
any other end than that of securing his own illicit and ambitious
projects; but in his day and generation he was the appointed means to
bring about that invaluable constitution, which, resting on a firmer
basis than mere worldly wisdom could devise, we may be confident will
always have able defenders raised up for its support--whether they be
those who pursue worldly ends alone, and entertain no other dream in
their philosophy, or whether some hand of conscientious and religious
principle guide the helm: not that the choice of persons can therefore
be indifferent, for human means are still to be employed for human
measures; only that in this circumstance, as in all others, there
remains a point of confiding refuge to flee to, even when the political
horizon appears to good men overcast.
At the present season, when difficulties of an almost insurmountable
nature seemed to gather round the minister, and to impede the easy
course of government, the accession of such a man as Lord Glenmore,
whose character stood too high for any suspicion to attach to his
integrity, and whose situation was too independent to admit the surmise
of his being influenced by motives of personal interest, was a matter
of the last importance: the same might in a degree be said of Lord
Albert D'Esterre, with the exception that he was younger, and that this
was his first step in the career of his public life.
To Lady Tilney and her political friends, the recent changes were
certainly any thing but agreeable; for, so long as Lord Glenmore
remained unconnected with party, she considered that he was yet to
be gained over to that whose interests she espoused: and Lord Albert
D'Esterre having likewise taken the same course, was an additional
cause of regret to her; for she had looked upon him as a much
easier prize than the other, and one of nearly equivalent value. It
was therefore with unqualified disappointment that she heard the
confirmation of those fears which the current whisper of the preceding
days had not prepared her to receive with calmness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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