CHAPTER XXXVII 555 had done , that name was immediately taken up .
" This St . John , then , is your cousin ?" " Yes ." " You have spoken of him often : do you like him ?" " He was a very good man , sir ; I could not help liking him ."
" A good man . Does that mean a respectable well-conducted man of fifty ? Or what does it mean ?"
" St John was only twenty-nine , sir ."
"' Jeune encore ,' as the French say . Is he a person of low stature , phlegmatic , and plain . A person whose goodness consists rather in his guiltlessness of vice , than in his prowess in virtue ."
" He is untiringly active . Great and exalted deeds are what he lives to perform ."
" But his brain ? That is probably rather soft ? He means well : but you shrug your shoulders to hear him talk ?"
" He talks little , sir : what he does say is ever to the point . His brain is first-rate , I should think not impressible , but vigorous ."
" Is he an able man , then ?" " Truly able ." " A thoroughly educated man ?" " St . John is an accomplished and profound scholar ."