eking alike health and relaxation at this famous rendezvous.

"You will find it of the first importance in public life," said the
Count of Ferroll, "to know personally those who are carrying on
the business of the world; so much depends on the character of an
individual, his habits of thought, his prejudices, his superstitions,
his social weaknesses, his health. Conducting affairs without this
advantage is, in effect, an affair of stationery; it is pens and paper
who are in communication, not human beings."

The brother-in-law of Lord Roehampton was a sort of personage. It was
very true that distinguished man was no longer minister, but he had been
minister for a long time, and had left a great name. Foreigners rarely
know more than one English minister at a time, but they compensated for
their ignorance of the aggregate body by even exaggerating the qualities
of the individual with whom they are acquainted. Lord Roehampton had
conducted the affairs of his country always in a courteous, but still in
a somewhat haughty spirit. He was easy and obliging, and conciliatory in
little matters, but where the credit, or honour, or large interests
of England were concerned, he acted with conscious authority. On the
continent of Europe, though he sometimes incurred the depreciation of
the smaller minds, whose self-love he may not have sufficiently spared,
by the higher spirits he was feared and admired, and they knew, when he
gave his whole soul to an affair, that they were dealing with a master.

Endymion was presented to emperors and kings, and he made his way with
these exalted personages. He found them different from what he had
expected. He was struck by their intimate acquaintance with affairs, and
by the serenity of their judgment. The life was a pleasant as well as
an interesting one. Where there are crowned heads, there are always some
charming women. Endymion found himself in a delightful circle. Long days
and early hours, and a beautiful country, renovate the spirit as well
as the physical frame. Excursions to romantic forests, and visits to
picturesque ruins, in the noon of summer, are enchanting, especially
with princesses for your companions, bright and accomplished. Yet,
notwithstanding some distractions, Endymion never omitted writing to
Lady Montfort every day.

CHAPTER LXXIII

The season at Paris, which commenced towards the end of the year, was
a lively one, and especially interesting to Endymion, who me