The Young Duke | Page 4

source of study in the contemplation of
himself. His early initiation in the school of Fitz-pompey had not been
thrown away. He had heard much of nobility, and beauty, and riches,
and fashion, and power; he had seen many individuals highly, though
differently, considered for the relative quantities which they possessed
of these qualities; it appeared to the Duke of St. James that among the
human race he possessed the largest quantity of them all: he cut his
private tutor. His private tutor, who had been appointed by Mr. Dacre,
remonstrated to Lord Fitz-pompey, and with such success that he
thought proper shortly after to resign his situation. Dr. Coronet begged
to recommend his son, the Rev. Augustus Granville Coronet. The Duke
of St. James now got on rapidly, and also found sufficient time for his
boat, his tandem, and his toilette.
The Duke of St. James appeared at Christ Church. His conceit kept him
alive for a few terms. It is delightful to receive the homage of two
thousand young men of the best families in the country, to breakfast
with twenty of them, and to cut the rest. In spite, however, of the
glories of the golden tuft and a delightful private establishment which
he and his followers maintained in the chaste suburbs of Alma Mater,
the Duke of St. James felt ennuied. Consequently, one clear night, they
set fire to a pyramid of caps and gowns in Peckwater. It was a silly
thing for any one: it was a sad indiscretion for a Duke; but it was done.

Some were expelled; his Grace had timely notice, and having before
cut the Oxonians, now cut Oxford.
Like all young men who get into scrapes, the Duke of St. James
determined to travel. The Dacres returned to England before he did. He
dexterously avoided coming into contact with them in Italy. Mr. Dacre
had written to him several times during the first years of his absence;
and although the Duke's answers were short, seldom, and not very
satisfactory, Mr. Dacre persisted in occasionally addressing him. When,
however, the Duke had arrived at an age when he was at least morally
responsible for his own conduct, and entirely neglected answering his
guardian's letters, Mr. Dacre became altogether silent.
The travelling career of the young Duke may be conceived by those
who have wasted their time, and are compensated for that silliness by
being called men of the world. He gamed a little at Paris; he ate a good
deal at Vienna; and he studied the fine arts in Italy. In all places his
homage to the fair sex was renowned. The Parisian duchess, the
Austrian princess, and the Italian countess spoke in the most
enthusiastic terms of the English nobility. At the end of three years the
Duke of St. James was of opinion that he had obtained a great
knowledge of mankind. He was mistaken; travel is not, as is imagined,
the best school for that sort of science. Knowledge of mankind is a
knowledge of their passions. The traveller is looked upon as a bird of
passage, whose visit is short, and which the vanity of the visited wishes
to make agreeable. All is show, all false, and all made up. Coterie
succeeds coterie, equally smiling--the explosions take place in his
absence. Even a grand passion, which teaches a man more, perhaps,
than anything else, is not very easily excited by the traveller. The
women know that, sooner or later, he must disappear; and though this is
the case with all lovers, they do not like to miss the possibility of
delusion. Thus the heroines keep in the background, and the visitor,
who is always in a hurry, falls into the net of the first flirtation that
offers.
The Duke of St. James had, however, acquired a great knowledge; if
not of mankind, at any rate of manners. He had visited all Courts, and

sparkled in the most brilliant circles of the Continent. He returned to
his own country with a taste extremely refined, a manner most polished,
and a person highly accomplished.
CHAPTER III.
The Duke Returns
A SORT of scrambling correspondence had been kept up between the
young Duke and his cousin, Lord St. Maurice, who had for a few
months been his fellow-traveller. By virtue of these epistles, notice of
the movements of their interesting relative occasionally reached the
circle at Fitz-pompey House, although St. Maurice was scanty in the
much-desired communications; because, like most young Englishmen,
he derived singular pleasure from depriving his fellow-creatures of all
that small information which every one is so desirous to obtain. The
announcement, however, of the approaching arrival of the young Duke
was duly made. Lord Fitz-pompey wrote and offered apartments at
Fitz-pompey House. They were refused. Lord Fitz-pompey wrote