“Would your mother?”
“No.”
“Would the lady you love—or any lady on the face of the earth?”
“No.”
“Would any of the old respectable inhabitants—your father’s companions and equals?”
“No.”
“Would any of those who, by common consent, form the respectable and estimable portion of the community?”
“No.”
“Would not, rather, all these to whom I have referred, applaud you for refusing deliberately to give or receive a death-wound in a quarrel; and honor you for daring to practice what every sensible man has preached since the world began?”
“Perhaps they might.”