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said, "only half assured that you will assist me in my project, but
resolved to go through with it, whether you concur with me or not. Promise
me secrecy however; for if you will not contribute to my success, at least
you must not baffle me."
"
"
Well, I promise. And now---"
And now, my dear fellow, for what are we come to London? To be present at
the election of a Protector, and to give our yea or nay for his shuffling
Grace of----? or for that noisy Ryland? Do you believe, Verney, that I
brought you to town for that? No, we will have a Protector of our own. We
will set up a candidate, and ensure his success. We will nominate Adrian,
and do our best to bestow on him the power to which he is entitled by his
birth, and which he merits through his virtues.
"Do not answer; I know all your objections, and will reply to them in
order. First, Whether he will or will not consent to become a great man?
Leave the task of persuasion on that point to me; I do not ask you to
assist me there. Secondly, Whether he ought to exchange his employment of
plucking blackberries, and nursing wounded partridges in the forest, for
the command of a nation? My dear Lionel, we are married men, and find
employment sufficient in amusing our wives, and dancing our children. But
Adrian is alone, wifeless, childless, unoccupied. I have long observed him.
He pines for want of some interest in life. His heart, exhausted by his
early sufferings, reposes like a new-healed limb, and shrinks from all
excitement. But his understanding, his charity, his virtues, want a field
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