sublime inspiration of an idea, but it is not so easy to disregard the feelings of a beloved friend, particularly when the apathy of others gives rise to a feeling of isolation especially desirous of their sympathy, and Walter was so accustomed to his mother's encouraging smile that it seemed almost impious to expect a blessing upon any effort which she disapproved.
Months rolled on, increasing, rather than diminishing the trials of both mother and son, and casting a shadow over the whole family. No reproachful words were ever uttered between them. They manifested the same tenderness for each other, but the barrier of prescribed opinions chilled the gushing warmth of their souls.
From the first, Walter had dreaded the dissent from his views he felt sure to encounter with Ernest. Though oftimes differing in mere matters of opinion, there had never been any radical difference of principles between them, and Walter had generally deferred to him as being older and having more experience.
Ernest was more tenacious of the established order of things, and sought to introduce the new by preserving the old, instead of destroying the old to put the new in its place. He had unbounded reverence for man in whatever position he stood, whether high or low.
Walter reverenced man, but he reverenced principle more. Whatever the position of the man, if principles were disregarded, he should be called to account, because in them were embodied the rights
