, then, in the law of heredity as affecting moral
character?"

"Certainly. Physical and mental traits are inherited; why not moral?"

A few days later I was in the city of Richmond, and from there I
proceeded directly to D---- county, where, at the November term of
the county court, I intended to present Miss Crabshaw's claim to the
property in question. Meantime I devoted myself to the preparation of
testimony relating to the case. I visited the place where old Nancy
Blake had lived, situated about twelve miles from D---- court-house.
The property left by her consisted of the old house, fallen badly into
decay, a small amount of land, and a large sum of money deposited in
the bank. Little was known about "Old Nancy," as the few people in the
thinly settled locality called her. The most information that I could
glean was from an old negro who had been her neighbor for the most of
his life. He said that he could well remember her father, who had been
dead for fifty years. He was a man of military look and an Englishman.
His name was John Blake. He could remember nothing about his wife, but
he had at least one son and a daughter besides Nancy. When he was about
to die his son came to see him. He was much older than either daughter,
Nancy being the youngest. Eleanor died not long after, and Nancy was
left alone. She was very eccentric and seldom saw any one.

Such was the story, in brief, as I was able to obtain it from the old
negro.

The details of the case, as it was brought out in court, do not need
special mention, and it will be sufficient to merely state the basis of
the claim.

Although Mr. Crabshaw was very proud of his descent, and traced his
lineage back some hundreds of years, and was very particular to have the
family coat-of-arms always made conspicuous, yet he had married a lady
whose ancestry was not clearly known. Mrs. Crabshaw, who had died when
her daughter was a mere child, was a beautiful and accomplished woman,
whose grandfather, on her father's side, she had never seen, and of whom
she knew no more than that his name was Thomas Blake, and that he died
in the town of S----, Connecticut, in 1832, at the age of forty-nine
years.

The one important thing that I wished to prove was, that Thomas Blake
was the brother of Nancy Blake, and that Cecilia Crabshaw was thus
great-grand niece of said Nancy. The court pronounced itself satisfied
as to this, and Miss Crabshaw was declared the nearest of kin,