"I have," said Clayton.
"You are about to form a connection with Miss Gordon," said Judge Clayton. "Have you considered how this will affect her?"
"Yes," said Clayton. "Miss Gordon fully sustains me in the course I have taken."
"I have no more to say," said Judge Clayton. "Every man must act up to his sense of duty."
There was a pause of a few moments, and Judge Clayton added:—
"You, perhaps, have seen the implication which your course throws upon us who still continue to practise the system and uphold the institution which you repudiate."
"I meant no implications," said Clayton.
"I presume not. But they result, logically, from your course," said his father. "I assure you, I have often myself pondered the question with reference to my own duties. My course is a sufficient evidence that I have not come to the same result. Human law is, at best, but an approximation, a reflection of many of the ills of our nature. Imperfect as it is, it is, on the whole, a blessing. The worst system is better than anarchy."
"But, my father, why could you not have been a reformer of the system?"