Read the sentence. The failing company was not going to succeed because it was bankrupt and did not have any money left. What is the best way to revise this sentence to eliminate wordiness?

The answer is "he was bad enough in all conscience, but the devil himself could not temp him to turn slave-trader. satirical is a synonym for sarcastic. so when the author says that tom walker could not be tempted by the devil he does not literally mean "the devil" but he means that he is too morally upright to become a slave-trader.