Page 770 - the-idiot

‘Only that God gives that sort of dying to some, and not
to others. Perhaps you think, though, that I could not die
like Gleboff?’
‘Not at all!’ said the prince, blushing. ‘I was only going to
say that you—not that you could not be like Gleboff—but
that you would have been more like @
‘I guess what you mean—I should be an Osterman, not a
Gleboff— eh? Is that what you meant?’
‘What Osterman?’ asked the prince in some surprise.
‘Why, Osterman—the diplomatist. Peter’s Osterman,’
muttered Hippolyte, confused. There was a moment’s pause
of mutual confusion.
Oh, no, no!’ said the prince at last, ‘that was not what I
was going to say—oh no! I don’t think you would ever have
been like Osterman.’
Hippolyte frowned gloomily.
‘I’ll tell you why I draw the conclusion,’ explained the
prince, evidently desirous of clearing up the matter a little.
‘Because, though I often think over the men of those times,
I cannot for the life of me imagine them to be like ourselves.
It really appears to me that they were of another race alto-
gether than ourselves of today. At that time people seemed
to stick so to one idea; now, they are more nervous, more
sensitive, more enlightened—people of two or three ideas
at once—as it were. The man of today is a broader man, so
to speak—and I declare I believe that is what prevents him
from being so self-contained and independent a being as
his brother of those earlier days. Of course my remark was
only made under this impression, and not in the least @