The Attache; Or, Sam Slick In England(Fiscle Part-3), Thomas Chandler Haliburton [best ereader for pdf TXT] 📗
- Author: Thomas Chandler Haliburton
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"I Am A Man, Sam; _Homo Sum, Humani Nihil A Me Alienum
Puto_."
"Well, What's All That When It's Fried?"
"Why, That When Away From Home, I Am A Citizen Of The
World. I Belong To No Party, But Take An Interest In The
Whole Human Family."
" Well, Minister, If You Choose To Sing Dumb, You Can,
But I Should Like To Have You Answer Me One Question Now,
And If You Won't, Why You Must Jist Do T'other Thing,
That's All. Are You A Consarvative?"
"No."
"Are You A Whig?"
"No."
"A Radical?"
"God Forbid!"
"What In Natur' Are You Then?"
"A Tory."
"A Tory! Well, I Thought That A Tory And A Consarvative,
Were As The Indgians Say, "All Same One Brudder." Where
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (Changing A Name) Pg 49Is The Difference?"
"You Will Soon Find That Out, Sam; Go And Talk To A
Consarvative As A Tory, And You Will Find He Is A Whig:
Go And Talk To Him Again As A Whig, And You Will Find He
Is A Tory. They Are, For All The World, Like A Sturgeon.
There Is Very Good Beef Steaks In A Sturgeon, And Very
Good Fish Too, And Yet It Tante Either Fish Or Flesh. I
Don't Like Taking A New Name, It Looks Amazing Like Taking
New Principles, Or, At All Events, Like Loosenin' Old
Ones, And I Hante Seen The Creed Of This New Sect Yet--I
Don't Know What Its Tenets Are, Nor Where To Go And Look
For 'Em. It Strikes Me They Don't Accord With The Tories,
And Yet Arn't In Tune With The Whigs, But Are Half A Note
Lower Than The One, And Half A Note Higher Than T'other.
Now, Changes In The Body Politic Are Always Necessary
More Or Less, In Order To Meet The Changes Of Time, And
The Changes In The Condition Of Man. When They Are
Necessary, Make 'Em, And Ha' Done With 'Em. Make 'Em Like
Men, Not When You Are Forced To Do So, And Nobody Thanks
You, But When You See They Are Wanted, And Are Proper;
But Don't Alter Your Name.
"My Wardens Wanted Me To Do That; They Came To Me, And
Said 'Minister,' Says They, 'We Don't Want _You_ To
Change, We Don't Ask It; Jist Let Us Call You A Unitarian,
And You Can Remain Episcopalian Still. We Are Tired Of
That Old Fashioned Name, It's Generally Thought Unsuited
To The Times, And Behind The Enlightment Of The Age; It's
Only Fit For Benighted Europeans. Change The Name, You
Needn't Change Any Thing Else. What Is A Name?'
"'Every Thing,' Says I, 'Every Thing, My Brethren; One
Name Belongs To A Christian, And The Other Don't; That's
The Difference. I'd Die Before I Surrendered My Name;
For In Surrenderin' That, I Surrender My Principles.'"
"Exactly," Said Mr. Slick, "That's What Brother Eldad
Used To Say. 'Sam,' Said He, 'A Man With An _Alias_ Is
The Worst Character In The World; For Takin' A New Name,
Shows He Is Ashamed Of His Old One; And Havin' An Old
One, Shows His New One Is A Cheat.'"
"No," Said Mr. Hopewell, "I Don't Like That Word
Consarvative. Them Folks May Be Good Kind Of People, And
I Guess They Be, Seein' That The Tories Support 'Em,
Which Is The Best Thing I See About Them; But I Don't
Like Changin' A Name."
"Well, I Don't Know," Said Mr. Slick, "P'raps Their Old
Name Was So Infarnal Dry Rotted, They Wanted To Change
It For A Sound New One. You Recollect When That
Super-Superior Villain, Expected Thorne, Brought An Action
Of Defamation Agin' Me, To Slickville, For Takin' Away
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (Changing A Name) Pg 50His Character, About Stealing The Watch To Nova Scotia;
Well, I Jist Pleaded My Own Case, And I Ups And Sais,
'Gentlemen Of The Jury,' Sais I, "Expected's Character,
Every Soul Knows, Is About The Wust In All Slickville.
If I Have Taken It Away, I Have Done Him A Great Sarvice,
For He Has A Smart Chance Of Gettin' A Better One; And
If He Don't Find A Swap To His Mind, Why No Character Is
Better Nor A Bad One.'
"Well, The Old Judge And The Whole Court Larfed Right
Out Like Any Thin'; And The Jury, Without Stirrin' From
The Box, Returned A Vardict For The Defendant. P'raps
Now, That Mought Be The Case With The Tories."
"The Difference," Said Mr. Hopewell, Is Jist This:--Your
Friend, Mr. Expected Thorne, Had A Name He Had Ought To
Have Been Ashamed Of, And The Tories One That The Whole
Nation Had Very Great Reason To Be Proud Of. There Is
Some Little Difference, You Must Admit. My English
Politics, (Mind You, I Say English, For They Hare No
Reference To America,) Are Tory, And I Don't Want To Go
To Sir Robert Peel, Or Lord John Russell Either."
"As For Johnny Russell," Said Mr. Slick, "He Is A Clever
Little Chap That; He--"
"Don't Call Him Johnny Russell," Said Mr. Hopewell, "Or
A Little Chap, Or Such Flippant Names, I Don't Like To
Hear You Talk That Way. It Neither Becomes You As A
Christian Nor A Gentleman. St. Luke And St. Paul, When
Addressing People Of Rank, Use The Word '[Greek Text]'
Which, As Nearly As Possible, Answers To The Title Of
'Your Excellency.' Honour, We Are Told, Should Be Given
To Those To Whom Honour Is Due; And If We Had No Such
Authority On The Subject, The Omission Of Titles, Where
They Are Usual And Legal, Is, To Say The Least Of It, A
Vulgar Familiarity, Ill Becoming An Attache Of Our Embassy.
But As I Was Saying, I Do Not Require To Go To Either Of
Those Statesmen To Be Instructed In My Politics. I Take
Mine Where I Take My Religion, From The Bible. 'Fear
God, Honour The King, And Meddle Not With Those That Are
Given To Change.'"
"Oh, Minister," Said Mr. Slick, "You Mis't A Figur At
Our Glorious Revolution, You Had Ought To Have Held On
To The British; They Would Have Made A Bishop Of You,
And Shoved You Into The House Of Lords, Black Apron, Lawn
Sleeves, Shovel Hat And All, As Sure As Rates. 'The Right
Reverend, The Lord Bishop Of Slickville:' Wouldn't It
Look Well On The Back Of A Letter, Eh? Or Your Signature
To One Sent To Me, Signed 'Joshua Slickville.' It Sounds
Better, That, Than 'Old Minister,' Don't It?"
"Oh, If You Go For To Talk That Way, Sam, I Am Done; But
I Will Shew You That The Tories Are The Men To Govern
This Great Nation. A Tory I May Say '_Noscitur A Sociis_.'"
"What In Natur Is That, When It's Biled And The Skin Took
Off?" Asked Mr. Slick.
"Why Is It Possible You Don't Know That? Have You Forgotten
That Common Schoolboy Phrase?"
"Guess I Do Know; But It Don't Tally Jist Altogether
Nohow, As It Were. Known As A Socialist, Isn't It?"
"If, Sir," Said Mr. Hopewell, With Much Earnestness, "If
Instead Of Ornamenting Your Conversation With Cant Terms,
And Miserable Slang, Picked Up From The Lowest Refuse Of
Our Population, Both East And West, You Had Cultivated
Your Mind, And Enriched It With Quotations From Classical
Writers, You Would Have Been More Like An Attache, And
Less Like A Peddling Clockmaker Than You Are."
"Minister," Said Mr. Slick, "I Was Only In Jeest, But
You Are In Airnest. What You Have Said Is Too True For
A Joke, And I Feel It. I Was Only A Sparrin'; But You
Took Off The Gloves, And Felt My Short Ribs In A Way That
Has Given Me A Stitch In The Side. It Tante Fair To Kick
That Way Afore You Are Spurred. You've Hurt Me
Considerable."
"Sam, I Am Old, Narvous, And Irritable. I Was Wrong To
Speak Unkindly To You, Very Wrong Indeed, And I Am Sorry
For It; But Don't Teaze Me No More, That's A Good Lad;
For I Feel Worse Than You Do About It. I Beg Your Pardon,
I--"
"Well," Said Mr. Slick, "To Get Back To What We Was A
Sayin', For You Do Talk Like A Book, That's A Fact;
'_Noscitur A Sociis_,' Says You."
"Ay, 'Birds Of A Feather Flock Together,' As The Old
Maxim Goes. Now, Sam, Who Supported The Whigs?"
"Why, Let Me See; A Few Of The Lords, A Few Of The Gentry,
The Repealers, The Manufacturin' Folks, The Independents,
The Baptists, The Dissentin' Scotch, The Socialists, The
Radicals, The Discontented, And Most Of The Lower Orders,
And So On."
"Well, Who Supported The Tories?"
"Why, The Majority Of The Lords, The Great Body Of Landed
Gentry, The Univarsities, The Whole Of The Church Of
England, The Whole Of The Methodists, Amost The Principal
Part Of The Kirk, The Great Marchants, Capitalists,
Bankers, Lawyers, Army And Navy Officers, And Soon."
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (Changing A Name) Pg 51
"Now Don't Take Your Politics From Me, Sam, For I Am No
Politician; But As An American Citizen, Judge For Yourself,
Which Of Those Two Parties Is Most Likely To Be Right,
Or Which Would You Like To Belong To."
"Well, I Must Say," Replied He, "I _Do_ Think That The
Larnin', Piety, Property, And Respectability, Is On The
Tory Side; And Where All Them Things Is United, Right
Most Commonly Is Found A-Joggin' Along In Company."
"Well Now, Sam, You Know We Are A Calculatin' People, A
Commercial People, A Practical People. Europe Laughs At
Us For It. Perhaps If They Attended Better To Their Own
Financial Affairs, They Would Be In A Better Situation
To Laugh. But Still We Must Look To Facts And Results.
How Did The Tories, When They Went Out Of Office, Leave
The Kingdom?--At Peace?"
"Yes, With All The World."
"How Did The Whigs Leave It?"
"With Three Wars On Hand, And One In The Vat A-Brewin'
With America. Every Great Interest Injured, Some Ruined,
And All Alarmed At The Impendin' Danger--Of National
Bankruptcy."
"Well, Now For Dollars And Cents. How Did The Tories
Leave The Treasury?"
"With A Surplus Revenue Of Millions."
"How Did The Whigs?"
"With A Deficiency That Made The Nation Scratch Their
Head, And Stare Agin."
"I Could Go Through The Details With You, As Far As My
Imperfect Information Extends, Or More Imperfect Memory
Would Let Me; But It Is All The Same, And Always Will
Be, Here, In France, With Us, In The Colonies, And
Everywhere Else. Whenever Property, Talent, And Virtue
Are All On One Side, And Only Ignorant Numbers, With A
Mere Sprinkling Of Property And Talent To Agitate 'Em
And Make Use Of 'Em, Or Misinformed Or Mistaken Virtue
To Sanction 'Em On The Other Side, No Honest Man Can Take
Long To Deliberate Which Side
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