The idea that necessity drove him to fill his pockets at the expense of a dead friend's reputation is as preposterous in his case as it would have been in Lockhart's or Stanley's.
Had Froude been the cynic he is often called, he would have borne with callous indifference, as he did bear in dignified silence, the attacks made upon him for his revelations of Carlyle.

But Froude was not what he seemed.

Behind his stately presence, and lofty manner, and calmly audacious speech, there was a singularly sensitive nature.

He would do what he thought right with perfect fearlessness, and without a moment's hesitation.

When the consequences followed he was not always prepared for them, and people who were not worth thinking about could give him pain.