human
Most of my considered judgments are in the melting-pot.
gpt
Bless my soul! I never expected to hear you say that. So are mine. The main question for all of us is this: will the country rise to this stupendous emergency? I suppose the mere mention of conscription gives you a fit?
human
I carry an open mind about it.
gpt
You amaze me, Hamlin. We were both 'blue-water school' men.
human
Yes. You use the past tense. I am humbly sensible that what I have felt and acted upon, principles and theories essentially rooted in peace and for peace, is of the past. I shall leave them there. The needs of the present are obsessing. He paused a moment; when he spoke again his voice held conviction:
gpt
Out of the darkness, I see light.
human
What light?
gpt
The light of a happier civilisation, of a broader and more sympathetic internationalism. The ashes of this conflagration may fertilise anew the whole earth. It must be so.