“And would you have races of different sizes communicate with one another?” I enquired. “Would they make war on one another, for instance, or enter into treaties?”
“War we must exclude, I think. When you could crush a whole nation with one blow of your fist, you couldn't conduct war on equal terms. But anything, involving a collision of minds only, would be possible in our ideal world—for of course we must allow mental powers to all, irrespective of size. Perhaps the fairest rule would be that, the smaller the race, the greater should be its intellectual development!”
“Do you mean to say,” said Lady Muriel, “that these manikins of an inch high are to argue with me?”
“Surely, surely!” said the Earl. “An argument doesn't depend for its logical force on the size of the creature that utters it!”
She tossed her head indignantly. “I would not argue with any man less than six inches high!” she cried. “I'd make him work!”
“What at?” said Arthur, listening to all this nonsense with an amused smile.
“Embroidery!” she readily replied. “What lovely embroidery they would do!”
“Yet, if they did it wrong,” I said, “you couldn't argue the question. I don't know why: but I agree that it couldn't be done.”
“The reason is,” said Lady Muriel, “one couldn't sacrifice one's dignity so far.”
“Of course one couldn't!” echoed Arthur. “Any more than one could argue with a potato. It would be altogether—excuse the ancient pun—infra dig.!”