"It is my idea of a man."
"But don't you know better? A judge has no business to spare anybody, except the innocent; his duty is to see justice done—he has nothing to do with mercy."
"Nothing to do with mercy! O Meredith!"
"Not as a judge. He is put in his place to see the laws executed."
"Then you think that dreadful old heathen you are reading about did right to have his friends' heads struck off?"
"I think he did just his duty."
"Oh, do you, Ditto?" cried Maggie.
"He did not make the law, Maggie; he had only to see it obeyed. The law was terribly severe; but I think the judge was very tender."
"O Ditto!"
"He was what you call a true man. He was no heathen, Flora. But nothing would make him budge from the right. I think he was magnificent. I wonder how many men could be found nowadays who would be faithful to duty at such a cost."