Here's another:
"We have said that Mr. Weller was engaged in preparing for his
journey to London--he was taking sustenance, in fact. On the
table before him, stood a pot of ale, a cold round of beef, and a
very respectable-looking loaf, to each of which he distributed his
favours in turn, with the most rigid impartiality. He had just cut
a mighty slice from the latter, when the footsteps of somebody
entering the room, caused him to raise his head; and he beheld
his son.

Not quite as bad. But how can you be rigid and impartial at the same time?

He's not rigid, his impartiality is.

The "rigid" modifies "impartiality". Impartiality implies flexibility.

It's rigid in that he does not allow it to be compromised by any favouritism. And I'm not sure what you mean by flexibility in impartiality. Impartiality must be strict. The same rules apply to everyone. The umpire isn't flexible about his strike zone. The judge doesn't interpret the law differently for the banker and the homeless man.

>Impartial implies flexibility.


So, we could never accuse you of impartiality, eh, Dr. Bill?

Faldage has already raised my concerns with the above statement, but, just to add to it, here are some synonyms offered by M-W's thesaurus:
candid, dispassionate, equal, equitable, impartial, impersonal, indifferent, just, nondiscriminatory, nonpartisan, objective, square, unbiased, uncolored, undistinctive, unprejudiced, unprepossessed

Nothing in there that necessitates flexibility. In fact, I would say, as I read Faldage to be saying, that flexibility is not necessarily conducive to impartiality. A bribable judge is obviously very flexible, but is certainly not impartial.

At least we had a bit of discussion, of which the board could use a lot more. Dear sjm: I'm open to conviction, but I have yet to meet a guy who can convince me.