'Although,' said Madge, 'I have never seen him before, I have heard
much about him and he makes me sad.'
'Why?'
'Because he has done something worth doing and will do more.'
'But why should that make you sad?'
'I do not think there is anything sadder than to know you are able to
do a little good and would like to do it, and yet you are not
permitted to do it. Mazzini has a world open to him large enough for
the exercise of all his powers.'
'It is worse to have a desire which is intense but not definite, to
be continually anxious to do something, you know not what, and always
to feel, if any distinct task is offered, your incapability of
attempting it.'
'A man, if he has a real desire to be of any service, can generally
gratify it to some extent; a woman as a rule cannot, although a
woman's enthusiasm is deeper than a man's. You can join Mazzini to-
morrow, I suppose, if you like.'
'It is a supposition not quite justifiable, and if I were free to go
I could not.'
'Why?'
'I am not fitted for such work; I have not sufficient faith. When I
see a flag waving, a doubt always intrudes. Long ago I was forced to
the conclusion that I should have to be content with a life which did
not extend outside itself.'
'I am sure that many women blunder into the wrong path, not because
they are bad, but simply because--if I may say so--they are too
good.
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