Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 8).djvu/99

 will come to the conclusion that the affair is not nearly so serious or pressing as you had at first imagined.

Dr. Stockmann.

Aha! So you expect that?

Burgomaster.

Furthermore, we expect you to express your confidence that the Board of Directors will thoroughly and conscientiously carry out all measures for the remedying of any possible defects.

Dr. Stockmann.

Yes, but that you'll never be able to do, so long as you go on tinkering and patching. I tell you that, Peter; and it's my deepest, sincerest conviction

Burgomaster.

As an official, you have no right to hold any individual conviction.

Dr. Stockmann.

[Starting.] No right to?

Burgomaster.

As an official, I say. In your private capacity, of course, it is another matter. But as a subordinate official of the Baths, you have no right to express any conviction at issue with that of your superiors.

Dr. Stockmann.

This is too much! I, a doctor, a man of science, have no right to!

Burgomaster.

The matter in question is not a purely scientific