Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/263

BETWHHf THE GZAK AND THE SULTAN. 221 to expect him to be loyal to France without giving ch AP. Tip his pretensions altogether, would be as incon- XIY - sistent as to say that the heir of the first Perkin might undertake to revive the fleeting glories of the house of Warbeck, and yet refrain from imposture. For years, the Prince pursued his strange call- ing, and by the time his studies were over, he had become highly skilled. Long before the moment had come for bringing his crooked science into use, he had learnt how to frame a Constitu- tion which should seem to enact one thing and really enact another. He knew how to put the word 'jury' in laws which robbed men of their freedom ; he could set the snare which he called ' universal suffrage ; ' he knew how to strangle a nation in the night-time with a thing he called a 'Plebiscite.' The lawyer-like ingenuity which had thus been evoked for purposes of jurisprudence could, of course, be applied to the composition of State Papers and to political writings of all kinds; and the older Prince Louis grew, the more this odd accomplishment of his was used to subserve his infirmities. It was his nature to remain long in suspense, not merely between similar, but even between opposite plans of action. Tins weakness grew upon him with his years; and, his conscience being used to stand neuter in these mental con- flicts, he never could end his doubt by seeing that one course was honest and the other not ; so, in order to bo able to linger safely in his suspense, he had to be always making resting-places upon