t a vague impression of bustle
without kindness and exhaustion without excitement; and he was glad to
get back to his glens, to the moor and the mountain-streams.

His father, in the selection of his guardians, had not contemplated
this system of education. While he secured by the appointment of his
brother-in-law, the most competent and trustworthy steward of his son's
fortune, he had depended on another for that influence which should
mould the character, guide the opinions, and form the tastes of his
child. The other guardian was a clergyman, his father's private tutor
and heart-friend; scarcely his parent's senior, but exercising over
him irresistible influence, for he was a man of shining talents and
abounding knowledge, brilliant and profound. But unhappily, shortly
after Lothair became an orphan, this distinguished man seceded from the
Anglican communion, and entered the Church of Rome. From this moment
there was war between the guardians. The uncle endeavored to drive his
colleague from the trust: in this he failed, for the priest would not
renounce his office. The Scotch noble succeeded, however, in making it
a fruitless one: he thwarted every suggestion that emanated from the
obnoxious quarter; and, indeed, the secret reason of the almost constant
residence of Lothair in Scotland, and of his harsh education, was the
fear of his relative, that the moment he crossed the border he might, by
some mysterious process, fall under the influence that his guardian so
much dreaded and detested.

There was however, a limit to these severe precautions, even before
Lothair should reach his majority. His father had expressed in his will
that his son should be educated at the University of Oxford, and at the
same college of which he had been a member. His uncle was of opinion he
complied with the spirit of this instruction by sending Lothair to the
University of Edinburgh, which would give the last tonic to his moral
system; and then commenced a celebrated chancery-suit, instituted by the
Roman Catholic guardian, in order to enforce a literal compliance
with the educational condition of the will. The uncle looked upon
this movement as a popish plot, and had recourse to every available
allegation and argument to baffle it: but ultimately in vain. With every
precaution to secure his Protestant principles, and to guard against the
influence, or even personal interference of his Roman Catholic guardian,
the lord-chancellor decid