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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"As To Those Conservatives, I Don't Know What To Say,
Sam; I Should Like To Put You Right If I Could. But I'll
Tell You What Puzzles Me. I Ask Myself What Is A Tory?
I Find He Is A Man Who Goes The Whole Figur' For The
Support Of The Monarchy, In Its Three Orders, Of King,
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (Changing A Name) Pg 52Lords, And Commons, As By Law Established; That He Is
For The Connexion Of Church And State And So On; And That
As The Wealthiest Man In England, He Offers To Prove His
Sincerity, By Paying The Greatest Part Of The Taxes To
Uphold These Things. Well, Then I Ask What Is Consarvitism?
I Am Told That It Means, What It Imports, A Conservation
Of Things As They Are. Where, Then, Is The Difference?
_If There Is No Difference, It Is A Mere Juggle To Change
The Name: If There Is A Difference, The Word Is Worse
Than A Juggle, For It Don't Import Any_."
"Tell You What," Said Mr. Slick, "I Heerd An Old Critter
To Halifax Once Describe 'Em Beautiful. He Said He Could
Tell A Man's Politicks By His Shirt. 'A Tory, Sir,' Said
He, For He Was A Pompious Old Boy Was Old Blue-Nose; 'A
Tory, Sir,' Said He, 'Is A Gentleman Every Inch Of Him,
Stock, Lock, And Barrel; And He Puts A Clean Frill Shirt
On Every Day. A Whig, Sir,' Says He, 'Is A Gentleman
Every Other Inch Of Him, And He Puts An Onfrilled One On
Every Other Day. A Radical, Sir, Ain't No Gentleman At
All, And He Only Puts One On Of A Sunday. But A Chartist,
Sir, Is A Loafer; He Never Puts One On Till The Old One
Won't Hold Together No Longer, And Drops Off In, Pieces.'"
"Pooh!" Said Mr. Hopewell, "Now Don't Talk Nonsense; But
As I Was A-Goin' To Say, I Am A Plain Man, And A
Straightforward Man, Sam; What I Say, I Mean; And What
I Mean, I Say. Private And Public Life Are Subject To
The Same Rules; And Truth And Manliness Are Two Qualities
That Will Carry You Through This World Much Better Than
Policy, Or Tact, Or Expediency, Or Any Other Word That
Ever Was Devised To Conceal, Or Mystify A Deviation From
The Straight Line. They Have A Sartificate Of Character,
These Consarvitives, In Having The Support Of The Tories;
But That Don't Quite Satisfy Me. It May, Perhaps, Mean
No More Than This, Arter All--They Are The Best Sarvants
We Have; But Not As Good As We Want. However, I Shall
Know More About It Soon; And When I Do, I Will Give You
My Opinion Candidly. One Thing, However, Is Certain, A
Change In The Institutions Of A Country I Could Accede
To, Approve, And Support, If Necessary And Good; But I
Never Can Approve Of Either An Individual Or A
Party--'_Changing A Name_.'
Volume 1 Chapter 10 (The Nelson Monument) Pg 53
The Following Day Being Dry, We Walked Out To View The
Wonders Of This Great Commercial City Of England, Liverpool.
The Side-Paths Were Filled With An Active And Busy
Population, And The Main Streets Thronged With Heavily-Laden
Waggons, Conveying To The Docks The Manufactures Of The
Country, Or Carrying Inward The Productions Of Foreign
Nations. It Was An Animating And Busy Scene.
"This," Said Mr. Hopewell, "Is Solitude. It Is In A Place
Like This, That You Feel Yourself To Be An Isolated Being,
When You Are Surrounded By Multitudes Who Have No Sympathy
With You, To Whom You Are Not Only Wholly Unknown, But
Not One Of Whom You Have Ever Seen Before.
"The Solitude Of The Vast American Forest Is Not Equal
To This. Encompassed By The Great Objects Of Nature, You
Recognise Nature's God Every Where; You Feel His Presence,
And Rely On His Protection. Every Thing In A City Is
Artificial, The Predominant Idea Is Man; And Man, Under
Circumstances Like The Present, Is Neither Your Friend
Nor Protector. You Form No Part Of The Social System
Here. Gregarious By Nature, You Cannot Associate; Dependent,
You Cannot Attach Yourself; A Rational Being, You Cannot
Interchange Ideas. In Seeking The Wilderness You Enter
The Abode Of Solitude, And Are Naturally And Voluntarily
Alone. On Visiting A City, On The Contrary, You Enter
The Residence Of Man, And If You Are Forced Into Isolation
There, To You It Is Worse Than A Desert.
"I Know Of Nothing So Depressing As This Feeling Of
Unconnected Individuality, Amidst A Dense Population Like
This. But, My Friend, There Is One Who Never Forsakes Us
Either In The Throng Or The Wilderness, Whose Ear Is
Always Open To Our Petitions, And Who Has Invited Us To
Rely On His Goodness And Mercy."
"You Hadn't Ought To Feel Lonely Here, Minister," Said
Mr. Slick. "It's A Place We Have A Right To Boast Of Is
Liverpool; We Built It, And I'll Tell You What It Is, To
Build Two Such Cities As New York And Liverpool In The
Short Time We Did, Is Sunthin' To Brag Of. If There Had
Been No New York, There Would Have Been No Liverpool;
But If There Had Been No Liverpool, There Would Have Been
A New York Though. They Couldn't Do Nothin' Without Us.
We Had To Build Them Elegant Line-Packets For 'Em; They
Couldn't Build One That Could Sail, And If She Sail'd
She Couldn't Steer, And If She Sail'd And Steer'd, She
Upsot; There Was Always A Screw Loose Somewhere.
"It Cost Us A Great Deal Too To Build Them Ere Great
Docks. They Cover About Seventy Acres, I Reckon. We Have
To Pay Heavy Port Dues To Keep 'Em Up, And Pay Interest
On Capital. The Worst Of It Is, Too, While We Pay For
All This, We Hante Got The Direction Of The Works."
Volume 1 Chapter 10 (The Nelson Monument) Pg 54
"If You Have Paid For All These Things," Said I, "You
Had Better Lay Claim To Liverpool. Like The Disputed
Territory (To Which It Now Appears, You Knew You Had No
Legal Or Equitable Claim), It Is Probable You Will Have
Half Of It Ceded To You, For The Purpose Of Conciliation.
I Admire This Boast Of Yours Uncommonly. It Reminds Me
Of The Conversation We Had Some Years Ago, About The
Device On Your "Naval Button," Of The Eagle Holding An
Anchor In Its Claws--That National Emblem Of Ill-Directed
Ambition And Vulgar Pretension."
"I Thank You For That Hint," Said Mr. Slick, "I Was In
Jeest Like; But There Is More In It, For All That, Than
You'd Think. It Ain't Literal Fact, But It Is Figurative
Truth. But Now I'll Shew You Sunthin' In This Town, That's
As False As Parjury, Sunthin That's A Disgrace To This
Country And An Insult To Our Great Nation, And There Is
No Jeest In It Nother, But A Downright Lie; And, Since
You Go For To Throw Up To Me Our Naval Button With Its
'Eagle And Anchor,' I'll Point Out To You Sunthin' A
Hundred Thousand Million Times Wus. What Was The Name O'
That English Admiral Folks Made Such A Touss About; That
Cripple-Gaited, One-Eyed, One-Armed Little Naval Critter?"
"Do You Mean Lord Nelson?"
"I Do," Said He, And Pointing To His Monument, He Continued,
" There He Is As Big As Life, Five Feet Nothin', With
His Shoes On. Now Examine That Monument, And Tell Me If
The English Don't Know How To Brag, As Well As Some Other
Folks, And Whether They Don't Brag Too Sumtimes, When
They Hante Got No Right To. There Is Four Figures There
A Representing The Four Quarters Of The Globe In Chains,
And Among Them America, A Crouchin' Down, And A-Beggin'
For Life, Like A Mean Heathen Ingin. Well, Jist Do The
Civil Now, And Tell Me When That Little Braggin' Feller
Ever Whipped Us, Will You? Just Tell Me The Day Of The
Year He Was Ever Able To Do It, Since His Mammy Cut The
Apron String And Let Him Run To Seek His Fortin'. Heavens
And Airth, We'd A Chawed Him Right Up!
"No, There Never Was An Officer Among You, That Had Any
Thing To Brag Of About Us But One, And He Wasn't A
Britisher--He Was A Despisable Blue-Nose Colonist Boy Of
Halifax. When His Captain Was Took Below Wounded, He Was
Leftenant, So He Jist Ups And Takes Command O' The Shannon,
And Fit Like A Tiger And Took Our Splendid Frigate The
Chesapeake, And That Was Sumthing To Brag On. And What
Did He Get For It? Why Colony Sarce, Half-Pay, And Leave
To Make Room For Englishers To Go Over His Head; And Here
Is A Lyin' False Monument, Erected To This Man That Never
Even See'd One Of Our National Ships, Much Less Smelt
Thunder And Lightning Out Of One, That English Like, Has
Volume 1 Chapter 10 (The Nelson Monument) Pg 55Got This For What He Didn't Do.
"I Am Sorry Mr. Lett [Footnote: This Was The Man That
Blew Up The Brock Monument In Canada. _He Was A Patriot_.]
Is Dead To Canada, Or I'd Give Him A Hint About This.
I'd Say, 'I Hope None Of Our Free And Enlightened Citizens
Will Blow This Lyin', Swaggerin', Bullyin' Monument Up?
I Should Be Sorry For 'Em To Take Notice Of Such Vulgar
Insolence As This; For Bullies Will Brag.' He'd Wink And
Say, 'I Won't Non-Concur With You, Mr. Slick. I Hope It
Won't Be Blowed Up; But Wishes Like Dreams Come Con_Trary_
Ways Sometimes, And I Shouldn't Much Wonder If It Bragged
Till It Bust Some Night.' It Would Go For It, That's A
Fact. For Mr. Lett Has A Kind Of Nateral Genius For
Blowin' Up Of Monuments.
"Now You Talk Of Our Eagle Takin' An Anchor In Its Claws
As Bad Taste. I
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