f his ambitions
and remorseless ascent to power. His genius was confessed by all; but
it was a genius that in no way promoted the interests of his country.
It served only to prop, defend, and advance himself--to battle
difficulties--to defeat foes--to convert every accident, every chance,
into new stepping stones in his course. Whatever his birth, it was
evident that he had received every advantage of education; and scholars
extolled his learning and boasted of his patronage. While, more
recently, if the daring and wild excesses of the profligate prince were,
on the one hand, popularly imputed to the guidance of Calderon, and
increased the hatred generally conceived against him, so, on the other
hand, his influence over the future monarch seemed to promise a new
lease to his authority, and struck fear into the councils of his foes.
In fact, the power of the upstart marquis appeared so firmly rooted,
the career before him so splendid, that there were not wanted whisperers
who, in addition to his other crimes, ascribed to Roderigo Calderon
the assistance of the black art. But the black art in which that subtle
courtier was a proficient is one that dispenses with necromancy. It
was the art of devoting the highest intellect to the most selfish
purposes--an art that thrives tolerably well for a time in the great
world!

He had been for several weeks absent from Madrid on a secret mission;
and to this, his first public levee, on his return, thronged all the
rank and chivalry of Spain.

The crowd gave way, as, with haughty air, in the maturity of manhood,
the Marquis de Siete Iglesias moved along. He disdained all accessories
of dress to enhance the effect of his singularly striking exterior.
His mantle and vest of black cloth, made in the simplest fashion, were
unadorned with the jewels that then constituted the ordinary insignia of
rank. His hair, bright and glossy as the raven's plume, curled back from
the lofty and commanding brow, which, save by one deep wrinkle between
the eyes, was not only as white but as smooth as marble. His features
were aquiline and regular; and the deep olive of his complexion seemed
pale and clear when contrasted by the rich jet of the moustache and
pointed beard. The lightness of his tall and slender but muscular
form made him appear younger than he was; and had it not been for the
supercilious and scornful arrogance of air which so seldom characterises
gentle birth, Calderon might have mingle