is, Mrs. Abbott, if
truth could be come at, which I always contend is very difficult in
the present state of the world--"

"You never said a juster thing, Mr. Dodge!" interrupted the lady,
feelings impetuous as hers seldom waiting for the completion of a
sentence, "I never can get hold of the truth of any thing now; you
may remember you insinuated that Mr. John Effingham himself was to be
married to Eve, and, lo and behold! it turns out to be his son!"

"The lady may have changed her mind, Mrs. Abbott: she gets the same
estate with a younger man."

"She's monstrous disagreeable, and I'm sure it will be a relief to
the whole village when she is married, let it be to the father, or to
the son. Now, do you know, Mr. Dodge, I have been in a desperate
taking about one thing, and that is to find that, bony fie-dy, the
two old Effinghams are not actually brothers! I knew that they
_called_ each other cousin Jack and cousin Ned, and that Eve
affected to call her uncle _cousin_ Jack, but then she has so
many affectations, and the people are so foreign, that I looked upon
all that as mere pretence; I said to myself a neighbourhood _ought_
to know better about a man's family than he _can_ know himself,
and the neighbourhood all declared they were brothers; and yet
it turns out, after all, that they are only cousins!"

"Yes, I do believe that, for once, the family was right in that
matter, and the public mistaken."

"Well, I should like to know who has a better right to be mistaken
than the public, Mr. Dodge. This is a free country, and if the people
can't sometimes be wrong, what is the mighty use of their freedom? We
are all sinful wretches, at the best, and it is vain to look for any
thing but vice from sinners."

"Nay, my dear Mrs. Abbott, you are too hard on yourself, for every
body allows that _you_ are as exemplary as you are devoted to
your religious duties."

"Oh! I was not speaking particularly of myself, sir; I am no egotist
in such things, and wish to leave my own imperfections to the charity
of my friends and neighbours. But, do you think, Mr. Dodge, that a
marriage between Paul Effingham, for so I suppose he must be-called,
and Eve Effingham, will be legal? Can't it be set aside, and if that
should be the case, wouldn't the fortune go to the public?"

"It _ought_ to be so, my dear ma'am, and I trust the day is not
distant when it will be so. The people are beginning to understand
their rights, and another