Page:Eliot - Adam Bede, vol. I, 1859.djvu/317

ing them. He had no theories about setting the world to rights, but he saw there was a great deal of damage done by building with ill-seasoned timber,—by ignorant men in fine clothes making plans for outhouses and workshops and the like, without knowing the bearings of things,—by slovenly joiners' work, and by hasty contracts that could never be fulfilled without ruining somebody; and he resolved, for his part, to set his face against such doings. On these points he would have maintained his opinion against the largest landed proprietor in Loamshire or Stonyshire either; but he felt that beyond these it would be better for him to defer to people who were more knowing than himself. He saw as plainly as possible how ill the woods on the estate were managed, and the shameful state of the farm-buildings; and if old Squire Donnithorne had asked him the effect of this mismanagement, he would have spoken his opinion without flinching, but the impulse to a respectful demeanour towards a "gentleman" would have been strong within him all the while. The word "gentleman" had a spell for Adam, and as he often said, he "couldn't abide a fellow who thought he made himself fine by being coxy to 's betters." I must remind you again, that