y to talk of him to his
patients; not because he was a prize-man, and had gotten medals
and scholarships, but on account of the excellence of his general
conduct. He lived with the best set--he incurred no debts--he was
fond of society, but able to avoid low society--liked his glass of
wine, but was never known to be drunk; and above all things, was one
of the most popular men in the University. Then came the question of
a profession for this young Hyperion, and on this subject Dr. Robarts
was invited himself to go over to Framley Court to discuss the matter
with Lady Lufton. Dr. Robarts returned with a very strong conception
that the Church was the profession best suited to his son.

Lady Lufton had not sent for Dr. Robarts all the way from Exeter for
nothing. The living of Framley was in the gift of the Lufton family,
and the next presentation would be in Lady Lufton's hands, if it
should fall vacant before the young lord was twenty-five years of
ago, and in the young lord's hands if it should fall afterwards. But
the mother and the heir consented to give a joint promise to Dr.
Robarts. Now, as the present incumbent was over seventy, and as the
living was worth L900 a year, there could be no doubt as to the
eligibility of the clerical profession. And I must further say, that
the dowager and the doctor were justified in their choice by the
life and principles of the young man--as far as any father can be
justified in choosing such a profession for his son, and as far as
any lay impropriator can be justified in making such a promise. Had
Lady Lufton had a second son, that second son would probably have had
the living, and no one would have thought it wrong;--certainly not if
that second son had been such a one as Mark Robarts.

Lady Lufton herself was a woman who thought much on religious
matters, and would by no means have been disposed to place any one in
a living, merely because such a one had been her son's friend. Her
tendencies were High Church, and she was enabled to perceive that
those of young Mark Robarts ran in the same direction. She was very
desirous that her son should make an associate of his clergyman, and
by this step she would ensure, at any rate, that. She was anxious
that the parish vicar should be one with whom she could herself fully
co-operate, and was perhaps unconsciously wishful that he might in
some measure be subject to her influence. Should she appoint an elder
man, this might probably not