I say only what I
sincerely think, and what thousands secretly know to be the case,
even while advocating views quite opposite. There is no candour in
the world!"
"Softly, my good friend," said the grandfather, mildly smiling. "I
also hold it to be impossible that we can lose either our
individuality or our interest in ourselves, but I believe it
possible that we may love others just as well, if not better than
ourselves. I do not refer to one or two particular persons whom we
may admire, but I speak of the mass of our fellow-creatures."
"I cannot even conceive of such a love!" returned the young man,
shaking his head. "I cannot see how I could love a person who
possesses no attractive qualities whatever;--I always feel
indifference, if not dislike. I think I could sacrifice my life to
one I loved, if thrown into sudden and imminent danger; still, I
think I might give pain to that same person many times, by
gratifying myself. For instance, grandfather,--suppose you were to
be led to the stake, to be burned to-morrow,--I would take your
place to save you; yet I do not now do all I possible can, to add to
your happiness. I gratify whims of my own; I idle away hours in the
woods, or by some stream, when I fully know that it would be more
pleasing to you, to see me bending patiently over my Greek and
Latin.
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