a great statesman. This is a political economy
parliament, both sides alike thinking of the price of corn and all that.
Finance and commerce are everybody's subjects, and are most convenient
to make speeches about for men who cannot speak French and who have
had no education. Real politics are the possession and distribution of
power. I want to see you give your mind to foreign affairs. There
you will have no rivals. There are a great many subjects which Lord
Roehampton cannot take up, but which you could very properly, and you
will have always the benefit of his counsel, and, when necessary, his
parliamentary assistance; but foreign affairs are not to be mastered
by mere reading. Bookworms do not make chancellors of state. You must
become acquainted with the great actors in the great scene. There is
nothing like personal knowledge of the individuals who control the high
affairs. That has made the fortune of Lord Roehampton. What I think you
ought to do, without doubt ought to do, is to take advantage of this
long interval before the meeting of parliament, and go to Paris. Paris
is now the Capital of Diplomacy. It is not the best time of the year to
go there, but you will meet a great many people of the diplomatic world,
and if the opportunity offers, you can vary the scene, and go to some
baths which princes and ministers frequent. The Count of Ferroll is now
at Paris, and minister for his court. You know him; that is well. But
he is my greatest friend, and, as you know, we habitually correspond. He
will do everything for you, I am sure, for my sake. It is not pleasant
to be separated; I do not wish to conceal that; I should have enjoyed
your society at Princedown, but I am doing right, and you will some day
thank me for it. We must soften the pang of separation by writing to
each other every day, so when we meet again it will only be as if we had
parted yesterday. Besides--who knows?--I may run over myself to Paris in
the winter. My lord always liked Paris; the only place he ever did, but
I am not very sanguine he will go; he is so afraid of being asked to
dinner by our ambassador."

CHAPTER LXXII

In all lives, the highest and the humblest, there is a crisis in the
formation of character, and in the bent of the disposition. It comes
from many causes, and from some which on the surface are apparently even
trivial. It may be a book, a speech, a sermon; a man or a woman; a
great misfortune or a burst of prosperity.