"that has been seen already," continued lebedeff, not deigning to notice the interruption. "malthus was a friend of humanity, but, with ill-founded moral principles, the friend of humanity is the devourer of humanity, without mentioning his pride; for, touch the vanity of one of these numberless philanthropists, and to avenge his self-esteem, he will be ready at once to set fire to the whole globe; and to tell the truth, we are all more or less like that. i, perhaps, might be the first to set a light to the fuel, and then run away. but, again, i must repeat, that is not the question."