On this page
-
Text (1)
-
178 SUCCESS AjSHD FAILURE.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Mm P Part Ii. Chapter Iii. To Doraarthur...
did not seeni meant as offensive . Arthur continued , " As you may have observedthere was a most peculiar friendship between , us . "
, He might well call it peculiar , as in that Ibond of friendship he had received all and given nothing .
" Were you in England when her mother died ? " asked Wyndham . " No , hut how was it you left ? Did you _Quarrel ?"
" Arthur ! " said Wyndham sternly . Arthur never quarrelled unnecessarily with men , and instantly
changed his tone . " Mon cher" he said" your nerves seem in a most irritable
, state . Do give me some account of yourself ; how is it I find you returning to England after a long absence—if I may judge by your
Oriental beard and tanned complexion . You seem the incarnation of the Eastern mystery , —speak , reveal . "
" I have been travelling in Egypt , " said Wyndham ; " but you , Arthurwhat about yourself ?"
, " Oh ! as usual , bound to a profession I dislike . I have got on however , I am now first paid attache at Vienna . "
" " Do I congratulate not I beg — you never . " was there a man so thrown away . For
very young men who like balls , for middle-aged men who like to make a show of importance by dabbling in political intrigues and
inventing red tape-isms , or for worn out , used-up men , who like to drape themselves in some official toga before dying , diplomacy may
be a good profession , but I may say without conceit , that I do not belong to any of these categories . This continual appearance of
occupation without its reality ; of certain bondage without the interest of a solid pursuit ; this pomp about the veriest trifles , " se
renfermer pour tattler des plumes , " which , since the days of Beaumarchais , have made the profession a bye word , is not to my taste ,
and is not the proper field for my energies , such as they are . " " Why do you remain in it then ? "
" Qice voulez votes ? I must live , I am recognised as useful , I have my neck in the collar and cannot get it out . "
" Men can always lead the lives they will . " " A mistake—I am always doing what I hate . My ideal of life
is a life spent in a lovely country home in England , dear friends , literary lifescholarly seclusionlove ; and instead of thathere I am
, , , tossing about from court to court , in what is erroneously called the best societydoing all the work , whatever that work may be , getting
, the least pay , and at the orders of a minister who has obtained his place because he is the third son of an earl , or the brother of a
duke , or because his father has so many votes . " All very truebut I am sure if you had a motive really strong
, enough to leave your career you would do so . You remain , becausethough you rail against it , it is adapted to you , and you to it . "
, " 'J _' ai tire le vin et il faut le _boirej that is my motive . "
Wyndham was calm enough now to look at Arthur . He found
178 Success Ajshd Failure.
178 SUCCESS _AjSHD FAILURE .
-
-
Citation
-
English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1859, page 178, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051859/page/34/
-