I am assured that the great capacity which he has thus
shown for official work and official life will cover a multitude of
sins."
"You would hardly have taken Mr. Fitzgibbon as your model statesman."
"Certainly not;--and if the story affected him only it would hardly
be worth telling. But the point of it lies in this;--that he
disgusted no one by what he did. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
thinks him a very convenient man to have about him, and Mr. Gresham
feels the comfort of possessing tools so pliable."
"Do you think that public life then is altogether a mistake, Mr.
Finn?"
"For a poor man I think that it is, in this country. A man of fortune
may be independent; and because he has the power of independence
those who are higher than he will not expect him to be subservient.
A man who takes to parliamentary office for a living may live by it,
but he will have but a dog's life of it."
"If I were you, Mr. Finn, I certainly would not choose a dog's life."
He said not a word to her on that occasion about herself, having made
up his mind that a certain period of the following day should be
chosen for the purpose, and he had hardly yet arranged in his mind
what words he would use on that occasion.
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