human
Well?
gpt
Well?
human
Now, don't tease, Mabel! she exclaimed,
gpt
Not this 'one,' though,
human
Well, then, tell me the result of your cogitations--you are to be Prime Minister, you know.
gpt
Then you must be Queen!
human
O, no, I am going to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, thank you, quite a high enough post for me.
gpt
My Right Honourable Friend is easily satisfied, truly, but I don't think if I had the power of appointment I should entrust such an office to you,
human
You are pleased to be complimentary, returned Minnie, with a ludicrous attempt at genteel sarcasm--and then, suddenly dropping her assumed stiffness, she continued.
gpt
But you don't know what a genius I am going to turn out in the region of finances, and I can assure you, you will be astonished when I bring forward my first Budget.
human
I am certain I shall, one way or other; you are continually astonishing one with your ingenuity in various ways.
gpt
Well, to my usual task then--for I have framed several astonishing resolutions, which only await your sanction to become law--you see this is quite a different form of government from any presently existing, so you must not be astonished at the manner of its conduct.
human
So I perceive,
gpt
In the first place, then, you must tell me whether your further consideration has confirmed your decision of Wednesday night?
human
Well, I must confess, that the more I thought of the thing, the more difficult it seemed, and yet I am convinced more than ever of the necessity of our taking it in hand as nobody else seems inclined to do so. But how are we to begin?
gpt
That is just what we intend to consider.
human
Of course, education does not seem to have wrought any great result yet, for the children are compelled to go to school, yet they don't seem to be influenced in any great degree morally by it. I suppose the reason of that is that they don't know how to take advantage of it.
gpt
I'll tell you what it is, said Minnie energetically,
human
Education is just what they require, and the sort they get just now would probably influence them in time. But we can't wait for that, and so we must do our best to help it on, and try to get them to see the good of it, and take advantage of it while they may; and the first step towards all this is to win their hearts--we must begin with the children, and through them we may reach the parents. It won't do to try any of the old methods of reform, they're hardened in them all. Mrs. Merton and the missionary, not to speak of the Episcopal Church curate, have all assailed them in turn, with tracts, hymn books and Sunday-schools--not that I would for a moment seem to despise these methods--only I think that in cases like this they should be introduced judiciously, and when the people are in a fit temper to receive them, and treat them with the respect they deserve; instead of being, as it were, thrown at them just at a time, when they will most probably not feel inclined to do anything but throw them back, and if they can't exactly do that they do the thing next best calculated to relieve their feelings--throw them in the fire. Now, I don't see that this does any good, and I should not like our efforts to be useless as theirs have been. We will take lessons from them and try to avoid what seems to have been their great mistake--injudiciousness; and perhaps showing a little too plainly that they considered them heathen, and were determined to convert them at any cost.