Endymion liked his new official life very much. Whitehall was a great
improvement on Somerset House, and he had sufficient experience of the
civil service to duly appreciate the advantage of being permanently
quartered in one of the chief departments of the state, instead of
obscurely labouring in a subordinate office, with a limited future, and
detached from all the keenly interesting details of public life. But it
was not this permanent and substantial advantage which occasioned him
such lively and such novel pleasure, as the fact of his being a private
secretary, and a private secretary to a cabinet minister.
The relations between a minister and his secretary are, or at least
should be, among the finest that can subsist between two individuals.
Except the married state, there is none in which so great a degree of
confidence is involved, in which more forbearance ought to be exercised,
or more sympathy ought to exist. There is usually in the relation an
identity of interest, and that of the highest kind; and the perpetual
difficulties, the alternations of triumph and defeat, develop devotion.
A youthful secretary will naturally feel some degree of enthusiasm for
his chief, and a wise minister will never stint his regard for one in
whose intelligence and honour he finds he can place confidence.
There never was a happier prospect of these relations being established
on the most satisfactory basis than in the instance of Endymion and
his new master. Mr. Sidney Wilton was a man of noble disposition, fine
manners, considerable culture, and was generally gracious. But he was
disposed to be more than gracious to Endymion, and when he found that
our young friend had a capacity for work--that his perception was quick
and clear--that he wrote with facility--never made difficulties--was
calm, sedulous, and patient, the interest which Mr. Wilton took in him
as the son of William Ferrars, and, we must add, as the brother of Lady
Roehampton, became absorbed in the personal regard which the minister
soon entertained for his secretary. Mr. Wilton found a pleasure in
forming the mind of Endymion to the consideration and comprehension of
public affairs; he spoke to him both of men and things without reserve;
revealed to him the characters of leading personages on both sides,
illustrated their antecedents, and threw light upon their future; taught
him the real condition of parties in parliament, rarely to be found in
newspapers; and finally, when he was sufficiently initiated, obtained
for his secretary a key for his cabinet boxes, which left little of the
business of government unknown to Endymion.
Such great confidence, and that exhibited by one who possessed so many
winning qualities, excited in the breast of Endymion the most lively
feelings of gratitude and respect. He tried to prove them by the
vigilant and unwearying labour with which he served his master, and he
served him every day more effectually, because every day he became more
intimate with the mind and method of Mr. Wilton. Every one to a certain
degree is a mannerist; every one has his ways; and a secretary will be
assisted in the transaction of business if a vigilant observation has
made him acquainted with the idiosyncrasy of his chief.
The regulations of the office which authorise a clerk, appointed to
a private secretaryship, to deviate from the routine duties of the
department, and devote his time entirely to the special requirements of
his master, of course much assisted Endymion, and proved also a pleasant
relief, for he had had enough at Somerset House of copying documents and
drawing up formal reports. But it was not only at Whitehall that he saw
Mr. Wilton, and experienced his kindness. Endymion was a frequent guest
under Mr. Wilton’s roof, and Mr. Wilton’s establishment was one of the
most distinguished in London. They met also much in the evenings, and
always at Lady Roehampton’s, where Mr. Wilton was never absent. Whenever
and wherever they met, even if they had been working together the
whole morning, Mr. Wilton always greeted Endymion with the utmost
consideration--because he knew such a recognition would raise Endymion
in the eyes of the social herd, who always observe little things, and
generally form from them their opinions of great affairs.