human
gpt
You think him honest;--don't you? asked Lady Carbury. Mr. Booker smiled and hesitated.
human
Of course, I mean honest as men can be in such very large transactions.
gpt
Perhaps that is the best way of putting it,
human
If a thing can be made great and beneficent, a boon to humanity, simply by creating a belief in it, does not a man become a benefactor to his race by creating that belief?
gpt
At the expense of veracity?
human
At the expense of anything? rejoined Lady Carbury with energy.
gpt
One cannot measure such men by the ordinary rule.
human
You would do evil to produce good?
gpt
I do not call it doing evil. You have to destroy a thousand living creatures every time you drink a glass of water, but you do not think of that when you are athirst. You cannot send a ship to sea without endangering lives. You do send ships to sea though men perish yearly. You tell me this man may perhaps ruin hundreds, but then again he may create a new world in which millions will be rich and happy.
human
You are an excellent casuist, Lady Carbury.
gpt
I am an enthusiastic lover of beneficent audacity, said Lady Carbury, picking her words slowly, and showing herself to be quite satisfied with herself as she picked them.
human
Did I hold your place, Mr. Booker, in the literature of my country,--
gpt
I hold no place, Lady Carbury.
human
Yes;--and a very distinguished place. Were I circumstanced as you are I should have no hesitation in lending the whole weight of my periodical, let it be what it might, to the assistance of so great a man and so great an object as this.
gpt
I should be dismissed to-morrow,