à propos of nothing

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Aug 12, 2005

My copy of Trollope's Barchester Towers just happened to fall open to this passage:

But Mr. Slope has never been an immoral man. Indeed, he had resisted temptations to immorality with a strength of purpose that was creditable to him. He had early in life devoted himself to works which were not compatible with the ordinary pleasures of youth, and he had abandoned such pleasures not without a struggle. It must therefore be conceived that he did not admit to himself that he warmly admired the beauty of a married woman without heartfelt stings of conscience; and to pacify that conscience he had to teach himself that the nature of his admiration was innocent.