It was, in fact, that hour of dawn when a shiver goes through the world.
But there are many things we public men would never do if we could see
them being done. Fortunately, as a rule we cannot.
I don't want to sacrifice nobody to satisfy my aspirations. Why?
Because I've got none. That's priceless. Take the Press, take
Parlyment, take Mayors--all mad on aspirations. Now it's Free Trade, now
it's Imperialism; now it's Liberty in Europe; now it's Slavery in
Ireland; now it's sacrifice of the last man an' the last dollar. You
never can tell what aspiration'll get 'em next. And the 'ole point of an
aspiration is the sacrifice of someone else.
"All these fellers 'ave got two weaknesses--one's ideas, and the other's
their own importance. They've got to be conspicuous, and without ideas
they can't, so it's a vicious circle. When I see a man bein'
conspicuous, I says to meself: 'Gawd 'elp us, we shall want it!' And
sooner or later we always do. I'll tell you what's the curse of the
world, sir; it's the gift of expressin' what ain't your real feeling.
And--Lord! what a lot of us 'ave got it!"