When whole empires had striven in vain to strike, how could a mere
association of obscure men hope to record its blow? The Tugendbund
had begun humbly enough; and Napoleon, with that unerring foresight
which raised him above all other men, had struck at its base. For
an association in which kings and cobblers stand side by side on an
equal footing must necessarily be dangerous to its foes.
Sebastian was not carried off his feet by the great events of the
last six months. They only rendered him steadier. For he had
waited a lifetime. It is only a sudden success that dazzles. Long
waiting nearly always ensures a wise possession.
Sebastian, like all men absorbed in a great thought, was neglectful
of his social and domestic obligations. Has it not been shown that
he allowed Mathilde and Desiree to support him by giving dancing
lessons? But he was not the ordinary domestic tyrant who is
familiar to all--the dignified father of a family who must have the
best of everything, whose teaching to his offspring takes the form
of an unconscious and solemn warning. He did not ask the best; he
hardly noticed what was offered to him; and it was not owing to his
demand, but to that feminine spirit of self-sacrifice which has
ruined so many men, that he fared better than his daughters.
If he thought about it at all, he probably concluded that Mathilde
and Desiree were quite content to give their time and thought to the
support of himself--not as their father, but as the motive power of
the Tugendbund in Prussia.
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