In The Man of Property Soames Forsyte is a repulsive character; he is hated by his wife, by the reader, and by the author. But in these later books Soames becomes almost an admirable person, and we may say of him at the end in reviewing his life, that nothing became him like the leaving of it—for he died nobly. Long before this catastrophe, however, we have learned to admire, respect, and almost to love Soames. Is it possible that Mr. Galsworthy had any notion of this spiritual progress when he wrote The Man of Property, or is it that in living so long with Soames he began to see his good points?
Dickens was a master in this kind of development. When we first meet Mr. Pickwick, he seems like the president of a service club as conceived by Sinclair Lewis; he is the butt of the whole company. Later Mr. Pickwick develops into a noble and magnanimous gentleman, whom every right-minded person loves. Look at Dick Swiveller—when we first see him, he is no more than a guttersnipe. He develops into a true knight.
XXIV
PROFESSION AND PRACTICE
Beautiful lines which show that the man who wrote them had a clear conception of true religion are these:
Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And even his failings leaned to virtue’s side;
But in his duty prompt at every call,
He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all;
And, as a bird each fond endearment tries
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies,