CHAPTER VI 72 dared they kill him!"
Helen was talking to herself now: she had forgotten I could not very well understand her-- that I was ignorant, or nearly so, of the subject she discussed. I recalled her to my level.
" And when Miss Temple teaches you, do your thoughts wander then?"
" No, certainly, not often; because Miss Temple has generally something to say which is newer than my own reflections; her language is singularly agreeable to me, and the information she communicates is often just what I wished to gain."
" Well, then, with Miss Temple you are good?"
" Yes, in a passive way: I make no effort; I follow as inclination guides me. There is no merit in such goodness."
" A great deal: you are good to those who are good to you. It is all I ever desire to be. If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should-- so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again."
" You will change your mind, I hope, when you grow older: as yet you are but a little untaught girl."
" But I feel this, Helen; I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them, persist in disliking me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved."
" Heathens and savage tribes hold that doctrine, but Christians and civilised nations disown it."