Mr Turveydrop, the great professor of deportment, has
done much. But there should always be the art to underlie and
protect the art;--the art that can hide the art. The really clever
archbishop,--the really potent chief justice, the man, who as a
politician, will succeed in becoming a king of men, should know
how to carry his buckram without showing it. It was in this that
Sir Timothy perhaps failed a little. There are men who look as
though they were born to wear blue ribbons. It has come, probably,
from study, but it seems to be natural. Sir Timothy did not impose
on those who looked at him as do these men. You see a little of
the paint, you could hear the crumple of the starch and the
padding; you could trace something of the uneasiness in the would-
be composed grandeur of the brow. 'Turveydrop!' the spectator
would say to himself. But after all it may be a question whether a
man be open to reproach for not doing that well which the greatest
among us,--if we could find one great enough,--would not do at all.
For I think we must hold that true personal dignity should be
achieved,--must, if it is to be quite true, have been achieved,--
without any personal effort.
Pages:
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021