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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy: Warren's malt-house when Oak entered from Caster-
bridge with tidings of the kiln glow shone upon
it, told the tale sufficiently well. Boldwood, as every
one supposed he would do, had pleaded guilty, and
had been sentenced to death.
The conviction that Boldwood had not been morally
responsible for his later acts now became general. Facts
elicited previous to the trial had pointed strongly in the
same direction, but they had not been of sufficient weight
to lead to an order for an examination into the state
of Boldwood's mind. It was astonishing, now that a
 Far From the Madding Crowd |