Very different was the conversation that
ensued in the ladies' cabin, after the welcome disappearance of the
uninvited guest. Not a remark of any sort was made on his intrusion, or on
his folly; even John Effingham, little addicted in common to forbearance,
being too proud to waste his breath on so low game, and too well taught to
open upon a man the moment his back was turned. But the subject was
continued, and in a manner better suited to the education, intelligence,
and views of the several speakers.
Eve said but little, though she ventured to ask a question now and then;
Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt being the principal supporters of the discourse,
with an occasional quiet discreet remark from the young lady's father, and
a sarcasm, now and then, from John Effingham. Mr. Blunt, though advancing
his opinions with diffidence, and with a proper deference for the greater
experience of the two elder gentlemen, soon made his superiority apparent,
the subject proving to be one on which he had evidently thought a great
deal, and that too with a discrimination and originality that are far
from common.
He pointed out the errors that are usually made on the subject of the
institutions of the American Union, by confounding the effects of the
general government with those of the separate states; and he clearly
demonstrated that the Confederation itself had, in reality, no distinctive
character of its own, even for or against liberty.
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