obably know but little of the circumstances;--and, in
speaking of a failure here and a failure there, make no reference
to the numerous successes, which are so customary as to partake
of the nature of routine. It is the same in regard to all public
matters,--army matters, navy matters, poor-law matters, and
post-office matters. Day after day, and almost every day, one meets
censure which is felt to be unjust;--but the general result of all
this injustice is increased efficiency. The coach does go the faster
because of the whip in the coachman's hand, though the horses driven
may never have deserved the thong. In this matter of the Eustace
diamonds the police had been very active; but they had been
unsuccessful, and had consequently been abused. The robbery was now
more than three weeks old. Property to the amount of ten thousand
pounds had been abstracted, and as yet the police had not even formed
an assured opinion on the subject! Had the same thing occurred in
New York or Paris every diamond would by this time have been traced.
Such were the assertions made, and the police were instigated to new
exertions. Bunfit would have jeopardised his right hand, and Gager
his life, to get at the secret. Even Major Mackintosh was anxious.

The facts of the claim made by Mr. Camperdown, and of the bill which
had been filed in Chancery for the recovery of the diamonds, were
of course widely known, and added much to the general interest and
complexity. It was averred that Mr. Camperdown's determination
to get the diamonds had been very energetic, and Lady Eustace's
determination to keep them equally so. Wonderful stories were told of
Lizzie's courage, energy, and resolution. There was hardly a lawyer
of repute but took up the question, and had an opinion as to Lizzie's
right to the necklace. The Attorney and Solicitor-General were dead
against her, asserting that the diamonds certainly did not pass to
her under the will, and could not have become hers by gift. But they
were members of a Liberal government, and of course anti-Lizzieite.
Gentlemen who were equal to them in learning, who had held offices
equally high, were distinctly of a different opinion. Lady
Eustace might probably claim the jewels as paraphernalia properly
appertaining to her rank;--in which claim the bestowal of them by her
husband would no doubt assist her. And to these gentlemen,--who were
Lizzieites and of course Conservatives in politics,--it was by no
means