And when the Duke
replied with dignity, "And suppose I treat him with all proper respect?"
the fool answered, "Then I will give it to you." That is the kind of
thing that somebody ought to be free to say now. But if you say it now
you will be fined a hundred pounds at the least.
Carson's Dilemma
For the things that have been happening lately are not merely things that
one could joke about. They are themselves, truly and intrinsically, jokes.
I mean that there is a sort of epigram of unreason in the situation
itself, as there was in the situation where there was jam yesterday and
jam to-morrow but never jam to-day. Take, for instance, the extraordinary
case of Sir Edward Carson. The point is not whether we regard his
attitude in Belfast as the defiance of a sincere and dogmatic rebel, or as
the bluff of a party hack and mountebank. The point is not whether we
regard his defence of the Government at the Old Bailey as a chivalrous and
reluctant duty done as an advocate or a friend, or as a mere case of a
lawyer selling his soul for a fat brief. The point is that whichever of
the two actions we approve, and whichever of the four explanations we
adopt, Sir Edward's position is still raving nonsense. On any argument,
he cannot escape from his dilemma. It may be argued that laws and customs
should be obeyed whatever our private feelings; and that it is an
established custom to accept a brief in such a case.
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