'You cannot do it, that ever I heard. It is not in the nature of things.'
'Then what is the good of pleasure when it is over, and you have given your life for it?'
'Well, if pleasure won't do, take greatness, then.'
'What sort of greatness?' Pitt asked in the same tone. It was the tone of one who had gone over the ground.
'Any sort will do, I suppose,' said Miss Frere, with half a laugh. 'The thing is, I believe, to be great, no matter how. I never had that ambition myself; but that is the idea, isn't it?'
'What is it worth, supposing it gained?'
'People seem to think it is worth a good deal, by the efforts they make and the things they undergo for it.'
'Yes,' said Pitt thoughtfully; 'they pay a great price, and they have their reward. And, I say, what is it worth?'
'Why, Mr. Dallas,' said the young lady, throwing up her head, 'it is worth a great deal—all it costs. To be noble, to be distinguished, to be great and remembered in the world,—what is a worthy ambition, if that is not?'
'That is the general opinion; but what is it worth, when all is done?
Name any great man you think of as specially great'—