"It is not right! Half an hour ago, prince, it was agreed among us that
no one should interrupt, no one should laugh, that each person was to
express his thoughts freely; and then at the end, when everyone had
spoken, objections might be made, even by the atheists. We chose the
general as president. Now without some such rule and order, anyone might
be shouted down, even in the loftiest and most profound thought...."

"Go on! Go on! Nobody is going to interrupt you!" cried several voices.

"Speak, but keep to the point!"

"What is this 'star'?" asked another.

"I have no idea," replied General Ivolgin, who presided with much
gravity.

"I love these arguments, prince," said Keller, also more than half
intoxicated, moving restlessly in his chair. "Scientific and political."
Then, turning suddenly towards Evgenie Pavlovitch, who was seated near
him: "Do you know, I simply adore reading the accounts of the debates in
the English parliament. Not that the discussions themselves interest
me; I am not a politician, you know; but it delights me to see how they
address each other 'the noble lord who agrees with me,' 'my honourable
opponent who astonished Europe with his proposal,' 'the noble viscount
sitting opposite'--all these expressions, all this parliamentarism of
a free people, has an enormous attraction for me. It fascinates me,
prince. I have always been an artist in the depths of my soul, I assure
you, Evgenie Pavlovitch."

"Do you mean to say," cried Gania, from the other corner, "do you mean
to say that railways are accursed inventions, that they are a source of
ruin to humanity, a poison poured upon the earth to corrupt the springs
of life?"

Gavrila Ardalionovitch was in high spirits that evening, and it seemed
to the prince that his gaiety was mingled with triumph. Of course he was
only joking with Lebedeff, meaning to egg him on, but he grew excited
himself at the same time.

"Not the railways, oh dear, no!" replied Lebedeff, with a mixture of
violent anger and extreme enjoyment. "Considered alone, the railways
will not pollute the springs of life, but as a whole they are accursed.
The whole tendency of our latest centuries, in its scientific and
materialistic aspect, is most probably accursed."

"Is it certainly accursed?... or do you only mean it might be? That is
an important point," said Evgenie Pavlovitch.

"It is accursed, certainly accursed!" replied the clerk, vehemently.

"Don't go so fast