']
'I wouldn't do that: in a free country every man has a right to his
opinions.'
'Not to sech opinions as them. A man may think, but he mustn't think
onraasonable.'
'I don't know, but it seems to me reasonable, that if the negroes cost
these farmers now one hundred and fifty dollars a year, and they could
hire them, if free, for a hundred, that they would make by abolition.'
'Ab'lish'n! By G----, sir, ye ain't an ab'lishener, is ye?' exclaimed
the fellow, in an excited tone, bringing his hand down on the table in a
way that set the crockery a-dancing.
'Come, come, my friend,' I replied, in a mild tone, and as unruffled as
a basin of water that has been out of a December night; 'you'll knock
off the dinner things, and I'm not quite through.'
'Wal, sir, I've heerd yer from the North, and I'd like to know if yer an
ab'lishener.'
'My dear sir, you surprise me. You certainly can't expect a modest man
like me to speak of himself.'
'Ye can speak of what ye d---- please, but ye can't talk ab'lish'n har,
by G----,' he said, again applying his hand to the table, till the
plates and saucers jumped up, performed several jigs, then several
reels, and then rolled over in graceful somersaults to the floor.
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