——But this, _Triptolemus_, cried Didius, proves too much—for from this authority cited it would follow, not only what indeed is granted on all sides, that the mother is not of kin to her child—but the father likewise.——It is held, said _Triptolemus_, the better opinion; because the father, the mother, and the child, though they be three persons, yet are they but (_una caro_[20]) one flesh; and consequently no degree of kindred——or any method of acquiring one _in nature._——There you push the argument again too far, cried _Didius_——for there is no prohibition _in nature_, though there is in the Levitical law——but that a man may beget a child upon his grandmother——in which case, supposing the issue a daughter, she would stand in relation both of——But who ever thought, cried _Kysarcius_, of laying with his grandmother?——The young gentleman, replied _Yorick_, whom _Selden_ speaks of——who not only thought of it, but justified his intention to his father by the argument drawn from the law of retaliation.—“You laid, Sir, with my mother,” said the lad—“why may not I lay with yours?”——’Tis the _Argumentum commune_, added _Yorick._——’Tis as good, replied _Eugenius_, taking down his hat, as they deserve. The company broke up. [17] Vide Swinburn on Testaments, Part 7. §8. [18] Vide Brook Abridg. Tit. Administr. N. 47. [19] Mater non numeratur inter consanguineos, Bald. in ult. C. de Verb. signific. [20] Vide Brook Abridg. tit. Administr. N .47. C H A P. LXV —AND pray, said my uncle _Toby_, leaning upon _Yorick_, as he and my father were helping him leisurely down the stairs——don’t be terrified, madam, this stair-case conversation is not so long as the last——And pray, _Yorick_, said my uncle _Toby_, which way is this said affair of _Tristram_ at length settled by these learned men? Very satisfactorily, replied _Yorick;_ no mortal, Sir, has any concern with it——for Mrs. _Shandy_ the mother is nothing at all a-kin to him——and as the mother’s is the surest side——Mr. _Shandy_, in course is still less than nothing——In short, he is not as much a-kin to him, Sir, as I am.—— ——That may well be, said my father, shaking his head. ——Let the learned say what they will, there must certainly, quoth my uncle _Toby_, have been some sort of consanguinity betwixt the duchess of _Suffolk_ and her son. The vulgar are of the same opinion, quoth _Yorick_, to this hour. C H A P. LXVI