ed himself of the books, papers, and receipts necessary to
ascertain the state of his affairs, and the rents which had not yet been
paid up. In the meantime the constables arrived. The servants were all
summoned; Mr Hanson showed them the power of attorney empowering Jack
to act for his father, and in less than half an hour afterwards all the
men-servants, but two grooms, were dismissed: the presence of the
constables and Mesty prevented any resistance, but not without various
threats on the part of the butler, whose name was O'Rourke. Thus, in
twenty-four hours, Jack had made a reformation in the household.

Mr Easy took no notice of anything; he returned to his study and his
wonderful invention. Mesty had received the keys of the cellar, and had
now complete control over those who remained. Dr Middleton, Mr
Hanson, Mr Easy, and Jack, sat down to dinner, and everything wore the
appearance of order and comfort. Mr Easy ate very heartily, but said
nothing till after dinner, when, as was his usual custom, he commenced
arguing upon the truth and soundness of his philosophy.

"By-the-bye, my dear son, if I recollect right, you told me last night
that you were no longer of my opinion. Now, if you please, we will
argue this point."

"I'll argue the point with all my heart, sir," replied Jack; "will you
begin?"

"Let's fill our glasses," cried Mr Easy triumphantly; "let's fill our
glasses, and then I will bring Jack back to the proper way of thinking.
Now then, my son, I trust you will not deny that we were all born
equal."

"I do deny it, sir," replied Jack; "I deny it _in toto_--I deny it from
the evidence of our own senses, and from the authority of Scripture. To
suppose all men were born equal is to suppose that they are equally
endowed with the same strength and with the same capacity of mind, which
we know is not the case. I deny it from Scripture, from which I could
quote many passages; but I will restrict myself to one--the parable of
the Talents: `To one he gave five talents, to another but one,' holding
them responsible for the trust reposed in them. We are all intended to
fill various situations in society, and are provided by Heaven
accordingly."

"That may be," replied Mr Easy; "but that does not prove that the earth
was not intended to be equally distributed among all alike."

"I beg your pardon; the proof that that was not the intention of
Providence is that that equality, allowing it to be put