There is nothing dishonourable in such an inclination.
Sycophants were an inseparable accompaniment of the democracy, and the profession, at least from a political point of view, was not regarded as in any way dishonourable.
On Lord Murray's return to England in 1914 he found it necessary to make a statement in the House of Lords with reference to the part he had played in the Marconi episode, and a select committee, appointed to inquire into his action in the matter, reported that he had acted " without sufficient thought," but acquitted him of "dishonourable conduct."
On one occasion he was stigmatized in a minute by Mr Batson with "having espoused the nawab's cause, and as a hired solicitor defended all his actions, however dishonourable and detrimental to the Company."
This is interesting as an example of what was known as memoriae damnatio or the blotting out of a name on account of some dishonourable action.