Such as he was he had made himself, for
he was the son of a poor and inferior country dentist, and had begun
life with a good education, it is true, which he chiefly owed to his
own exertions, but with nothing else. Had his nature been a temperate
nature with a balance of good to its credit to draw upon instead of a
balance of evil, he was a man who might have gone very far indeed, for
in addition to his natural ability he had a great power of work. But
unfortunately this was not the case; his instincts on the whole were
evil instincts, and his passions--whether of hate, or love, or greed,
when they seized him did so with extraordinary violence, rendering him
for the time being utterly callous to the rights or feelings of
others, provided that he attained his end. In short, had he been born
to a good position and a large fortune, it is quite possible,
providing always that his strong passions had not at some period of
his life led him irremediably astray, that he would have lived
virtuous and respected, and died in good odour, leaving behind him a
happy memory. But fate had placed him in antagonism with the world,
and yet had endowed him with a gnawing desire to be of the world, as
it appeared most desirable to him; and then, to complete his ruin
circumstances had thrown him into temptations from which inexperience
and the headlong strength of his passions gave him no opportunity to
escape.
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