counsel,
was pleased when they succeeded, and encouraged them when they
failed,--always provided that they had stuff enough in them to redeem
the failure; if not, he gently dropped them from his intimacy, but
maintained sufficiently familiar terms with them to be pretty sure that
he could influence their votes whenever he so desired.

The gentleman with whom he was now conversing was young, about
five-and-twenty; not yet in Parliament, but with an intense desire to
obtain a seat in it, and with one of those reputations which a youth
carries away from school and college, justified, not by honours purely
academical, but by an impression of ability and power created on the
minds of his contemporaries and endorsed by his elders. He had done
little at the University beyond taking a fair degree, except acquiring
at the debating society the fame of an exceedingly ready and adroit
speaker. On quitting college he had written one or two political
articles in a quarterly review, which created a sensation; and though
belonging to no profession, and having but a small yet independent
income, society was very civil to him, as to a man who would some day or
other attain a position in which he could damage his enemies and serve
his friends. Something in this young man's countenance and bearing
tended to favour the credit given to his ability and his promise. In his
countenance there was no beauty; in his bearing no elegance. But in that
countenance there was vigour, there was energy, there was audacity. A
forehead wide but low, protuberant in those organs over the brow which
indicate the qualities fitted for perception and judgment,--qualities
for every-day life; eyes of the clear English blue, small, somewhat
sunken, vigilant, sagacious, penetrating; a long straight upper
lip, significant of resolute purpose; a mouth in which a student
of physiognomy would have detected a dangerous charm. The smile
was captivating, but it was artificial, surrounded by dimples, and
displaying teeth white, small, strong, but divided from each other. The
expression of that smile would have been frank and candid to all who
failed to notice that it was not in harmony with the brooding forehead
and the steely eye; that it seemed to stand distinct from the rest
of the face, like a feature that had learned its part. There was that
physical power in the back of the head which belongs to men who make
their way in life,--combative and destructive. All gladiators