human
You ought to have change too, he said,
gpt
Oh, I am all right.
human
Let's sit down a moment, if you were not discussing anything very important----
gpt
Indeed, we were, my dear Fortescue, said Professor Theobald, drawing his colleague on to the seat,
human
Oh, a question of abstract philosophy, said Professor Fortescue.
gpt
Are you disagreeing?
human
Not exactly. The question that turned up, in the course of discussion, was this: If a man stands in a position which is itself the result of an aggression upon his liberty and his human rights, is he in honour bound to abide by the laws which are laid down to coerce him?
gpt
Obviously not,
human
Is he morally justified in using every means he can lay hold of to overcome the peculiar difficulties under which he has been tyrannously placed?
gpt
Not merely justified, but I should say he was a poor fool if he refrained from doing so.
human
That is exactly what _I_ say.
gpt
Surely Mrs. Temperley does not demur?
human
No; I quite agree as to the _right_. I only say that the means which the situation may make necessary are sometimes very hateful.
gpt
Ah, that is among the cruelest of the victim's wrongs, said Professor Fortescue.
human
He is reduced to employ artifices that he would despise, were he a free agent. Take a crude instance: a man is overpowered by a band of brigands. Surely he is justified in deceiving those gentlemen of the road, and in telling and acting lies without scruple.
gpt
The parallel is exact,
human
Honour departs where force comes in. No man is bound in honour to his captor, though his captor will naturally try to persuade his prisoner to regard himself as so bound. And few would be our oppressions, if that persuasion did not generally succeed!
gpt
The relations of women to society for instance----
human
Ah, exactly. The success of that device may be said to constitute the history of womanhood. Take my brigand instance and write it large, and you have the whole case in a nutshell.
gpt
Then you would recommend rank rebellion, either by force or artifice, according as circumstances might require?
human
There are perils, remember, he warned.
gpt
The woman is, by our assumption, the brigand's captive. If she offends her brigand, he has hideous punishments to inflict. He can subject her to pain and indignity at his good pleasure. Torture and mutilation, metaphorically speaking, are possible to him. How could one deliberately counsel her to risk all that?