16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
scribed him as a good benevolent man who
had been misled first by 'that mumping villain
Rousseau' and later by his passionate belief in
his own system, based it was true on a hatred
of poverty, war and injustice, but also on the
assumption that men were naturally and
equally good, needing only a firm, friendly
hand to set them on the right path, the path to
the realization of their full potentialities. This of
course entailed the abolition of the present
order, which had so perverted them, and of
the established churches. It was old, old stuff,
familiar in all its variations, but Stephen had
never heard it expressed with such freshness,
fire and conviction. Neither fire nor conviction
survived to reach Jack in Stephen's summary,
however, but the doctrine that levelled Nelson
with one of his own bargemen was clear
enough, and he watched the approaching
boat with a cold look in his eye.