"She has also spoken to me—of other things. See here, Molly." I lugged out the two letters. "What I have here contains the characters of all these excellent persons; the latest scandals about them, their reputation, and their practices."
"But, Jack, what scandals? What reputations?"
"You shall see, Molly. Oh, the allegations may be false, one and all! For what I know, Sam may have the wings of an archangel and Mr. Purdon may be already overripe for the New Jerusalem. But you shall read."
I offered her the letters. "No," she said; "read them yourself."
"The first, then, is from my father's first cousin, Zackary Pentecrosse, a bookseller in Little Britain, which is a part of London. He is, I believe, a respectable, God-fearing man. You will observe that he does not vouch for the truth of his information."
I then read, at length, the letter which you have already heard.
"What do you think, Molly?"
"I don't know what to think. Is the world so wicked?"
"Here is another letter concerning the Reverend Benjamin Purdon. Observe that this is another and an independent witness." So I read the second letter, which you have also heard.
"What do you think of this worthy gentleman, Molly?"