Coningsby or the New Generation

Amid the contentions of party, the fierce struggles of ambition, and the / intricacies of political intrigue, let us not forget our Eton friends. / During the period which elapsed from the failure of the Duke of / Wellington to form a government in 1832, to the failure of Sir Robert / Peel to carry on a government in 1835, the boys had entered, and / advanced in youth. The ties of friendship which then united several of / them had only been confirmed by continued companionship. Coningsby / and Henry Sydney, and Buckhurst and Vere, were still bound together by / entire sympathy, and by the affection of which sympathy is the only / sure spring. But their intimacies had been increased by another familiar / friend. There had risen up between Coningsby and Millbank mutual / sentiments of deep, and even ardent, regard. Acquaintance had developed / the superior qualities of Millbank. His thoughtful and inquiring mind, / his inflexible integrity, his stern independence, and yet the engaging / union of extreme tenderness of heart with all this strength of / character, had won the goodwill, and often excited the admiration, of / Coningsby. Our hero, too, was gratified by the affectionate deference / that was often shown to him by one who condescended to no other / individual; he was proud of having saved the life of a member of their / community whom masters and boys alike considered; and he ended by loving / the being on whom he had conferred a great obligation.

The friends of Coningsby, the sweet-tempered and intelligent Henry / Sydney, the fiery and generous Buckhurst, and the calm and sagacious / Vere, had ever been favourably inclined to Millbank, and had they not / been, the example of Coningsby would soon have influenced them. He had / obtained over his intimates the ascendant power, which is the destiny / of genius. Nor was this submission of such spirits to be held cheap. / Although they were willing to take the colour of their minds from him, / they were in intellect and attainments, in personal accomplishments and / general character, the leaders of the school; an authority not to be / won from five hundred high-spirited boys without the possession of great / virtues and great talents.