CHAPTER III.

FURTHER VIEWS INTO THE HEART OF MAN, AND THE CONDITIONS OF POWER.

But woe to any man who is called to power with exaggerated
expectations of his ability to do good! Woe to the man whom the
populace have esteemed a popular champion, and who is suddenly made
the guardian of law! The Commons of England had not bewailed the
exile of the good earl simply for love of his groaning table and
admiration of his huge battle-axe,--it was not merely either in pity,
or from fame, that his "name had sounded in every song," and that, to
use the strong expression of the chronicler, the people "judged that
the sun was clearly taken from the world when he was absent."

They knew him as one who had ever sought to correct the abuses of
power, to repair the wrongs of the poor; who even in war had forbidden
his knights to slay the common men. He was regarded, therefore, as a
reformer; and wonderful indeed were the things, proportioned to his
fame and his popularity, which he was expected to accomplish; and his
thorough knowledge of the English character, and experience of every
class,--especially the lowest as the highest,--conjoined with the
vigour of his robust understanding, unquestionably enabled him from
the very first to put a stop to the lawless violences which had
disgraced the rule of Edward. The infamous spoliations of the royal
purveyors ceased; the robber-like excesses of the ruder barons and
gentry were severely punished; the country felt that a strong hand
held the reins of power. But what is justice when men ask miracles?
The peasant and mechanic were astonished that wages were not doubled,