Passages: "A Humbler and A Prouder Mind"

Here's a resonant passage from a historical novel, which I share for itself and as a model of the way I cherry-pick my way through what I read, finding the scenes, the moments, the words that I can appreciate or use in some way, in any way.

The context of the passage involves a formal occasion in the offing, a crisis about appropriate attire, and friendship. I pick the specific words here for the insight into character.

For his part, Tobias would have been content to go in a sack, or even (the weather being what it was) nothing at all; for he had both a humbler and a prouder mind than Jack--humbler in that he did not suppose that anyone would notice him at any time, and prouder in that he did not suppose that he could be improved in any way by gold lace and taffety. But he was very much concerned at Jack's distress . . . .

--Patrick O'Brian, The Western Shore

I believe--though I'd have to check after all these years--that The Western Shore was a precursor to the famed Aubrey and Maturin novels. We certainly get a pair of friends at the heart of this novel and of that series.