aimed at a selfish object. On the
other hand, if duty demanded daring, no danger could deter, no policy
warp him;--he could seem rash; he could even seem merciless. In the what
ought to be, he understood a must be.

And it was natural to this peculiar, yet thoroughly English temperament,
to be, in action, rather steadfast and patient than quick and ready.
Placed in perils familiar to him, nothing could exceed his vigour and
address; but if taken unawares, and before his judgment could come to his
aid, he was liable to be surprised into error. Large minds are rarely
quick, unless they have been corrupted into unnatural vigilance by the
necessities of suspicion. But a nature more thoroughly unsuspecting,
more frank, trustful, and genuinely loyal than that young Earl's, it was
impossible to conceive. All these attributes considered, we have the key
to much of Harold's character and conduct in the later events of his
fated and tragic life.

But with this temperament, so manly and simple, we are not to suppose
that Harold, while rejecting the superstitions of one class, was so far
beyond his time as to reject those of another. No son of fortune, no man
placing himself and the world in antagonism, can ever escape from some
belief in the Invisible. Caesar could ridicule and profane the mystic
rites of Roman mythology, but he must still believe in his fortune, as in
a god. And Harold, in his very studies, seeing the freest and boldest
minds of antiquity subjected to influences akin to those of his Saxon
forefathers, felt less shame in yielding to them, vain as they might be,
than in monkish impostures so easily detected. Though hitherto he had
rejected all direct appeal to the magic devices of Hilda, the sound of
her dark sayings, heard in childhood, still vibrated on his soul as man.
Belief in omens, in days lucky or unlucky, in the stars, was universal in
every class of the Saxon. Harold had his own fortunate day, the day of
his nativity, the 14th of October. All enterprises undertaken on that
day had hitherto been successful. He believed in the virtue of that day,
as Cromwell believed in his 3d of September. For the rest, we have
described him as he was in that part of his career in which he is now
presented. Whether altered by fate and circumstances, time will show. As
yet, no selfish ambition leagued with the natural desire of youth and
intellect for their fair share of fame and power. His patriotism, fed by