Edward Richards says this to Mary after reading Howard Stephenson’s final letter, which praises him for not falling prey to his revenge plan. Edward, Stephenson writes, is better than anyone in Hadleyburg, since he was able to resist temptation. What Stephenson doesn’t know, of course, is that Edward did succumb to temptation, just like all of the other Nineteeners. The only difference is that Reverend Burgess decided to save Edward as a way of thanking him for aiding him in a time of need, so no one knows that Edward deserves just as much scorn as all the other disgraced…