"the most passionate lover of sport" and "whose semons might be read much more than they are" ? Hello, How do you understand these: ""the most passionate lover of sport" and "whose semons might be read much more than they are" in this sentence: " But as, in the words of good Robert South (whose sermons might be read much more than they are), the most passionate lover of sport, if tied to follow his hawks and hounds every day of his life, would find the pursuit the greatest torment and calamity, and would fly to the mines and galleys for his recreation, so did this lofty and beautiful lady after a while become satiated with the constant iteration of what she had in its novelty enjoyed; and by an almost natural revulsion turned her regards absolutely netherward, socially speaking." It's from Thomas Hardy's The Marchioness of Stonehenge. The text is about a lady who has many suitors.