“I hope I’m blind in neither eye.”
“You don’t give us credit—”
“For what?”
“For what we’ve accomplished since Jacob.”
“Printing, steam, and electricity, for instance? They spread the Bible and the yellow journal with equal velocity.”
“I don’t mean science. Take our institutions.”
“Well, we’ve accomplished hospitals and the stock market—a pretty even set-off between God and the devil.”
He laughed. “You don’t take a high view of us!”
“Nor a low one. I don’t play ostrich with any of the staring permanences of human nature. We’re just as noble to-day as David was sometimes, and just as bestial to-day as David was sometimes, and we’ve every possibility inside us all the time, whether we paint our naked skins, or wear steel armor or starched shirts.”
“Well, I believe good is the guiding power in the world.”