human
Excellent--excellent! he exclaimed.
gpt
A masterstroke! You do not share my enthusiasm, he said, addressing Jacob Hartrich, who had stood silently by, listening to the conversation.
human
You have no understanding of the intense, the fierce delight of such a battle and such a victory.
gpt
The last word is not spoken here on earth, said Jacob Hartrich.
human
There is a higher tribunal.
gpt
Well said, my son,
human
Son! said Pierre Lamont to the banker, with a little scornful laugh.
gpt
Resent the familiarity, man of another faith.
human
Better any faith than none,
gpt
Good! good! good! cried Pierre Lamont.
human
I stand renounced by church and synagogue.
gpt
You are uncharitable only to yourself, said Father Capel.
human
I, for one, will not take you at your word.
gpt
You teach me humility,
human
Profit by it,
gpt
You formed the opinion that Gautran was guilty, said Pierre Lamont to the banker.
human
Upon what evidence?
gpt
Inward conviction,
human
You, at least, said Pierre Lamont, turning his wily face to Father Capel,
gpt
Undoubtedly,
human
But this man of finance, said Pierre Lamont,
gpt
That a man of honour would voluntarily come forward as a defender under any conditions than that of the firmest belief in the prisoner's innocence is incredible.
human
We agree upon this point I am happy to know, and upon another--that in the profession to which I have the honour to belong, there are men whose actions are guided by the highest and finest principles, and whose motives spring from what I conceive to be the most ennobling of all impulse, a desire for justice.
gpt
Who can doubt it?
human
How, then, stands the case as between you and my brother the Advocate? You have an inward conviction of Gautran's guilt--he an inward conviction of Gautran's innocence. Up to a certain time you and he are on an equality; your knowledge of the crime is derived from hearsay and newspaper reports. Upon that evidence you rest; you have your business to attend to--the value of money, the fluctuations of the Exchanges, the public movements which affect securities, in addition to the anxieties springing from your private transactions. The Advocate cannot afford to depend upon hearsay and the newspapers. It is his business to investigate, to unearth, to bring together the scattered bones and fit them one with another, to reason, to argue, to deduce. As all the powers of your mind are brought to bear upon your business, which is money, so all the powers of his mind are brought to bear upon his, which is Gautran, in connection with the crime of which he stands accused. His inward conviction of the man's innocence is strengthened no less by the facts which come to light than by the presumptive evidence he is enabled by his patience and application to bring forward in favour of his client. You and he are no longer on an equality. He is a man informed, you remain in ignorance. He has dissected the body, and all the arteries of the crime are exposed to his sight and judgment. You merely raise up a picture--a dark night, a river, a girl vainly struggling with her fate, a murderer (with veiled face) flying from the spot, or looking with brutal calmness upon his victim. That is the entire extent of your knowledge. You seize a brush--you throw light upon the darkness--you paint the river and the girl--you paint the portrait of the murderer, Gautran. All is clear to you. You have formed your own court of justice, imagination affords the proof, and prejudice is the judge. It is an easy and agreeable task to find the prisoner guilty. You are satisfied. You believe you have fulfilled a duty, whereas you have been but a stumbling-block in the path of justice.
gpt
Notwithstanding which, said Jacob Hartrich, who had thoroughly recovered his good humour,
human
I have as firm a conviction as ever in the guilt of Gautran the woodman.
gpt
Admonish this member of a stiff-necked race, Father Capel, said Pierre Lamont,