How was it that all the clever people of Cambridge had
never put him up to this simple rejoinder? The answer is easy: they
did not develop it for the same reason that a hen had never
developed webbed feet- that is to say, because they did not want to do
so; but this was before the days of Evolution, and Ernest could not as
yet know anything of the great principle that underlies it.
"You see," continued Mr. Shaw, "these writers all get their living
by writing in a certain way, and the more they write in that way,
the more they are likely to get on. You should not call them dishonest
for this any more than a judge should call a barrister dishonest for
earning his living by defending one in whose innocence he does not
seriously believe; but you should hear the barrister on the other side
before you decide upon the case."
This was another facer. Ernest could only stammer that he had
endeavoured to examine these questions as carefully as he could.
"You think you have," said Mr. Shaw; "you Oxford and Cambridge
gentlemen think you have examined everything. I have examined very
little myself except the bottoms of old kettles and saucepans, but
if you will answer me a few questions, I will tell you whether or no
you have examined much more than I have.
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