And where Michael's eye was fixed there his foot followed.

He was not of those who rend themselves by violent conflict.

If he had ever been asked to give his reason for any action of his life, from the greatest to the smallest, he would have looked at the questioner in mild surprise, and would have said: "It was the only thing to do." To him vacillation and doubt were unknown.

A certain wisdom could never be his, for he saw no alternatives.

He never balanced two courses of action against each other.
"There were no two ways about it," he said to his godfather, the Bishop of Lostford, respecting a decision where there were several alternatives, which he had endeavoured to set before Michael with impartiality.