"
"But why do you talk of the death of manliness? Men have as much
courage now as they ever had."
"Oh, of course--mere animal courage; there is plenty of that, but that
is nothing. A cat will fight for her kittens. It is moral courage that
makes a man, and where do you find it now? Are men self-denying? Are
they scrupulous to a shadow of the truth? Are they disinterested? How
many _gentlemen_ have you met in the course of your life? I know about
half a dozen."
"What do you call a gentleman, then?" I asked in surprise. "What makes
a man one?"
"Why, truth and affection, of course," she answered; "the one is the
most ennobling, and the other the most refining quality. As a child I
used to think ladies and gentlemen never told stories; it was only the
common people who were dis-honourable, and that was what made them
common. _H?las_! one lives and learns!"
"I don't think the world is worse than it ever was," I said, drily.
"Not worse, when we know so much better!" she answered with scorn.
"Not worse when we have learnt to see so clearly, and most of us
acknowledge that
It is our will
Which thus enchains us to permitted ill!
It is nearly two thousand years since Christianity began its work, and
it is still unaccomplished.
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