Sowerby because
they were willing enough to emancipate their county from the
duke's thraldom; but Mr. Sowerby was felt to be a black sheep,
as Lady Lufton had called him, and at the close of the election
he found himself banished from the representation of West
Barsetshire;--banished for ever, after having held the county for
five-and-twenty years. Unfortunate Mr. Sowerby! I cannot take leave
of him here without some feeling of regret, knowing that there was
that within him which might, under better guidance, have produced
better things. There are men, even of high birth, who seem as though
they were born to be rogues; but Mr. Sowerby was, to my thinking,
born to be a gentleman. That he had not been a gentleman--that he had
bolted from his appointed course, going terribly on the wrong side
of the posts--let us all acknowledge. It is not a gentleman-like
deed, but a very blackguard action, to obtain a friend's acceptance
to a bill in an unguarded hour of social intercourse. That and
other similar doings have stamped his character too plainly. But,
nevertheless, I claim a tear for Mr. Sowerby, and lament that he has
failed to run his race discreetly, in accordance with the rules of
the Jockey Club, He attempted that plan of living as a tenant in his
old house at Chaldicotes, and of making a living out of the land
which he farmed; but he soon abandoned it.
Pages:
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848