human
It grieves me to be obliged to speak to you thus, my dear Martens, but I do so with the best intentions; and, then, we are alone.
gpt
But don't you think, sir, that he was far too bold?
human
Yes, clearly, clearly so, assented the dean, in a friendly tone.
gpt
He was unguarded, like all beginners; perhaps the most unguarded I have heard. But then we know quite well that the same thing often occurred in our own time. It would be quite unreasonable to expect the Spirit's full maturity in the young.
human
But he maintained that we ministers, above all others, are living a life of falsehood, shut in by meaningless forms.
gpt
Exaggeration! a wild and dangerous exaggeration! In that I quite agree with you, my dear Martens. But, on the other hand, which of us can deny that a ceremonial, be it ever so beautiful and full of meaning, still in the course of time, when it is frequently repeated, loses something of its influence over us? But who will dare cast the first stone? Is it not youth, as we see, who has not yet experienced the wear of that continuous labour which strives to be true to the end? And then naturally we get exaggeration--dangerous exaggeration. But, continued the dean,