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"Then you would have me deliver the usual insincere platitudes?" said Lewis disht you understood my point of view A man like Stocks speaks his platitudes with vehemence because he believes in theh with, not because you would stake your soul on your belief in them, but because they are as near as possible the inaccurate popular statement of your viehich is all that your constituents would understand, and you pander to the popular craving because it is honest enough in itself and is for you the stepping-stone to worthier work"
Lewis shook his head dismally
"I haven't the knack of it I seem to stand besidecomplete sincerity with a very shady substitute That man Stocks is at least an honest fool Isome atrocious nonsense I asked hi, and he told me quite honestly that he believed every word; so, of course, I apologized He was attacking you people on your foreign policy, and he pulled out a New Testament and said, 'What do I read here?' It went doithtook away my breath"
His companion looked perplexedly at the speaker "You have had the wrong kind of education, Lewie You have always been the spoiled child, and easily and half-unconsciously you have le towards with a painful conscious effort The result is that you are a highly cultured man without any crudeness or hysteria, while the other people see things in the wrong perspective and run their heads against walls and ain a lot, but youof the heart of the crowd Oh, I don't mean the people about Etterick They are your own folk, and the whole air of the place is semi-feudal But the weavers and artisans of the towns and the ordinary farm workers--what do you know of them? Your precious theories are so much wind in their ears They want the practical, the blatantly obvious, spiced with a little e thearbled quotation from the Scriptures or an appeal to their do required Moreover, the man understands an audience He can bully it, you know; put on airs of sham independence to cover his real obeisance; while you are polite and deferent to hide your very obvious scorn"