he thus stemmed the adverse current of circumstances; for gifted with talents of a superior order, he possessed also in an eminent degree that guiding principle of action which enabled him to apply his talent skilfully towards the advancement of his worldly fortunes.

His education, which had been most judicious, combined the practical knowledge of the present era with the most recondite refinements of classic lore; so that a short period devoted to the careful study of political and historical research, soon prepared him for the diplomatic functions to which he aspired in the first instance.

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He was named attaché to thebassy, and being shortly afterwards entrusted with a negociation of some intricacy, in which he displayed unusual discretion, he was nominated forthwith secretary of legation, and was removed to a more extended sphere of action. Thus, gradually the soaring intellect, and unflinching integrity of Baron Lindenberg were

brought into notice; step by step he rose to the higher honours of the state; ascending the scale of ministerial dignity, with a steady and fearless tread.

In the course of a few years, Lindenberg

was

nominated ambassador to the court of, and was charged with a mission of vital importance from the Austrian cabinet. With his credentials, he also received the more solid advantages of extensive patronage, increased emolument, and all the flattering prerogatives of office.

It is not our intention to dwell on this early period of the Baron's life, or to follow him through all the phases of his brilliant career, which was marked throughout by a firmness of purpose and an incorruptibility of principle, which are not always the concomitants of genius or the causes of success. Suffice it to 'say, that fortune smiled on him; he possessed the confidence of his country, the admiration of his rivals, and the personal friendship of

his sovereign; his ambition was attained, he was at the zenith of power, and public

favour.

Of all the ordeals to which the human heart is subjected, those trials and temptations which assail it, in the midst of prosperity, are most formidable, yet that ordeal von Lindenberg was enabled to pass through unscathed.

To enjoy the gifts of fortune, with gratitude and meekness, to share the luxuries of affluence without ostentation, to bear the dazzling distinctions of celebrity with humility; to sympathize with the sufferings of his fellow men from the bright centre of surrounding magnificence, these are the triumphs of the mind, the triumphs of spirit over matter, triumphs which we owe to the divinity within us alone; and such were the triumphs of von Lindenberg, who withstood the allurements of riches, and the corruption of a court, preserving in the midst of his ministerial elevation, the single heartedness of virtue.

The bloom of youth had passed away before

the Baron contemplated matrimony. Its expediency, and the manifold advantages to be derived from it, in a worldly point of view, had not for a moment occupied his thoughts. Merged in the business of the state, and the all absorbing cares of government, he had never hitherto indulged those softer emotions of which he was eminently susceptible. Love was still a stranger to him; his energies were solely directed towards the stupendous machine of legislative power, and had never expanded under the warm influence of passion; for although he was cited in every circle as a model of polished ease and refined politeness, his heart remained untouched amid the trifling agitation of casual and passing preferences. However, the Baron might occasionally have yielded to the lighter impressions of the senses, and to a quick perception of the beautiful, he had never experienced a fixed, or absorbing predilection of the affections which centre but on one object, and losing that, lose all.

The potent spell of personal loveliness was

not in itself sufficient to captivate such a man as von Lindenberg; even genius failed to dazzle, accomplishments could not charm, nor superiority of intellectual acquirements subjugate his calmer judgment. He had withstood all their fascinations, under every combination, and blended too with birth, station and affluence; but he yielded not to their magic sway, their radiance fell upon his heart like a moonbeam, bright, but cold.

With the generality of the world, love elevates the soul, and raises the moral temperature to a degree of burning intensity; it is the insurrection of the passions; every latent feeling, every slumbering energy is roused to activity, and those dormant faculties, which, but for its Promethean touch, might have remained hidden and unsuspected in the torpid bosom, are awakened to a consciousness of their own existence the statue of Pygmalion starts into life.

With the Baron, love was a spiritual essence