_Mr. F._ (_With great asperity._) Do you, too, Rebecca, advocate theatres? _Mrs. G._ It is not of theatres, but of books, that I am speaking. Does thee recollect any work, the whole plot and design of which is made to turn upon the triumph of the wicked over the good? _Mr. F._ (_Musing._) Why--I--don't remember now-- _Frank._ (_In great surprise._) Why, mother, are there no books written in favor of Slavery? _Mrs. G._ I cannot think of any book which can be said to be written for Slavery, in the sense that Uncle Tom's Cabin is written against it. Such a work is, I think, impossible. No poet would attempt to portray its moral aspects, and delineate its beauties, with the idea of exciting our admiration and approval. _Mr. F._ Spoken just like a woman! Your sex always seize upon some thought gained through the sensibilities, and then bring in a decision without farther investigation. _Frank._ And is not the instinct of a woman a more perfect guide in morals, than the reason of man? _Mr. F._ (_Sarcastically._) Certainly--if it direct her son to the theatre. _Mr. D._ Or teach him the supremacy of the "Higher Law." _Frank._ (_With warmth_.) My mother did not direct me to the theatre, sir; she has taught me to love better things;--to her I owe all the lofty sentiments of virtue and truth. _Mrs. G._ Softly, softly Frank, theatres and Slavery will be quite sufficient for this discussion, without introducing Woman's Rights. (_To Mr. Freeman_.) Would it not be more consistent, brother, for thee to disprove my argument, than to object to my method of obtaining it? _Mr. F._ Nothing can be easier--you have asserted in round terms that no work was ever written in favor of Slavery. What an absurdity! If you have any information you must know that the southern press groans with publications upon this topic. _Mrs. G._ Still if thee examine the matter, thee will find that every one of these books treats Slavery as a curse, and describes it not as a _good_ but an _evil_, of which each man loads the guilt upon his forefathers or his neighbors. _Mr. F._ Granted they call it a curse, but assuredly they bring forward a defence. _Mrs. G._ Yes, they defend the Constitution; they defend the rights of the south; they advocate Colonization, or point out the errors of Abolitionists, but what one in word or in effect advocates the principles of human Slavery? The truth is, brother, the system has the literature of the world against it; and the south ought to see in this reading age an infallible sign that the days of its cherished institutions are numbered. Does thee not perceive that every novel and every poem carries to the parlor, or, if it please thee, to the theatre, an influence which will eventually re-act on the ballot-box. _Frank._ Do you mean, mother, to include in your remarks the discourses of Reverend Divines upon the Patriarchal Institution?