"
He wrapt his cloak around him, fell asleep, and dreamed of Lucy Ashton
till daylight gleamed through the lattices.
CHAPTER XV.
We worldly men, when we see friends and kinsmen
Past hope sunk in their fortunes, lend no hand
To lift them up, but rather set our feet
Upon their heads to press them to the bottom,
As I must yield with you I practised it;
But now I see you in a way to rise,
I can and will assist you.
New Way to Pay Old Debts.
THE Lord Keeper carried with him, to a couch harder than he was
accustomed to stretch himself upon, the same ambitious thoughts and
political perplexities which drive sleep from the softest down that ever
spread a bed of state. He had sailed long enough amid the contending
tides and currents of the time to be sensible of their peril, and of
the necessity of trimming his vessel to the prevailing wind, if he would
have her escape shipwreck in the storm. The nature of his talents, and
the timorousness of disposition connected with them, had made him assume
the pliability of the versatile old Earl of Northampton, who explained
the art by which he kept his ground during all the changes of state,
from the reign of Henry VIII.
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