And since a man combining all the qualifications was not to be found, it was at least better that the post be filled by an honest than by a dishonest man.

And Stepan Arkadyevitch was not merely an honest man--unemphatically--in the common acceptation of the words, he was an honest man--emphatically--in that special sense which the word has in Moscow, when they talk of an "honest" politician, an "honest" writer, an "honest" newspaper, an "honest" institution, an "honest" tendency, meaning not simply that the man or the institution is not dishonest, but that they are capable on occasion of taking a line of their own in opposition to the authorities.

Stepan Arkadyevitch moved in those circles in Moscow in which that expression had come into use, was regarded there as an honest man, and so had more right to this appointment than others.