human
But wouldn't you have rich men do good with their money?
gpt
Yes, dear, but I would not have them think they can blot out by their liberality the condemnation of the means by which many of them make money. That is what they are doing, and the public is getting used to it.
human
Well, said Margaret, with some warmth,
gpt
I don't know that they are any worse than the stingy saints who have made their money by saving, and act as if they expected to carry it with them.
human
Saints or sinners, it does not make much difference to me, now put in Mrs. Fletcher, who was evidently considering the question from a practical point of view,
gpt
Don't you think, Mrs. Fletcher, that it is a good sign of the times, that so many people who make money rapidly are disposed to use it philanthropically?
human
It may be for them, but it does not console me much just now.
gpt
But you don't make allowance enough for the rich. Perhaps they are under a necessity of doing something. I was reading this morning in the diary of old John Ward of Stratford-on-Avon this sentence: 'It was a saying of Navisson, a lawyer, that no man could be valiant unless he hazarded his body, nor rich unless he hazarded his soul.'
human
Was Navisson a modern lawyer?
gpt
No; the diary is dated 1648-1679.
human
I thought so.