Rush takes Julia to task for permitting their son John to have a gun against his expressed wishes. Rush believes John's character is not the correct one for gun ownership, because he lacks gentleness and compassion. Rush requests that Julia not override his dissent, and strengthen their parenting as a result. He announces that he has taken their son Richard to see patients. He is reading John Newton's Cardiphonia. He also is planning to develop a cure for the consumptive cough.