Manders.

Then I must tell you, Mrs. Alving—we are taking no small responsibility upon ourselves.

Mrs. Alving.

Do you think we can do otherwise?

Manders.

No, that is just the point; we really cannot do otherwise. We ought not to expose ourselves to misinterpretation; and we have no right whatever to give offence to the weaker brethren.

Mrs. Alving.

You, as a clergyman, certainly should not.

Manders.

I really think, too, we may trust that such an institution has fortune on its side; in fact, that it stands under a special providence.