Page:Passages from the Life of a Philosopher.djvu/496

480 flattery. Indeed, to the great scandal of public life, success has in some instances been attained by a man condescending for a time to oppose his own party, and, as some observer has wittily remarked, "of attempting to break into the shop for the purpose of serving behind the counter."

It cannot be doubted that patronage entrusted to the disposition of a Minister often proves an onerous and ungrateful trust, demanding powers of discrimination and forbearance not always found in public men; whilst a careful observation of the manner in which patronage is usually dispensed does not lead to the conclusion that its exercise is always free from the influence of corrupt motives. Even in the cases in which such impure motives seem absent, it too frequently happens that other influences beside a just and honest discrimination appear to have taken a part in regulating the distribution of public, favour. It would be invidious to speculate on the motives or discuss the merits of the appointments to which I have had occasion to refer: with their propriety or otherwise I have individually no concern: of the positive motives which induced them I have no knowledge, at least not sufficient to justify me in condemning them on that score. But I cannot help thinking that such appointments have not always been made without some degree of pain or misgiving, and perhaps a conscientious scruple on the part of the Minister; indeed I have sometimes indulged a suspicion that a little firmness to resist external pressure would occasionally secure more fairness to candidates for public employment, and tend to retain the services of more efficient agents of the public weal.

Although mankind may differ among one another individually ad infinitum, they possess certain moral elements which are common to the race. Such belong to the animal,