added to your'n of soft sawder,' sais
I,) 'will raise our great nation, I guess, in the scale o' European
estimation.'

"He is as sensitive as a skinned eel, is Layman, and he winced at that
poke at his soft sawder like any thing, and puckered a little about
the mouth, but he didn't say nothin', he only bowed. He was a Unitarian
preacher once, was Abednego, but he swapt preachin' for politics, and a
good trade he made of it too; that's a fact.

"'A great change,' sais I, 'Abednego, since you was a preachin' to
Connecticut and I was a vendin' of clocks to Nova Scotia, ain't it?
Who'd a thought then, you'd a been "a Socdolager," and me your "pilot
fish," eh!'

"It was a raw spot, that, and I always touched him on it for fun.

"'Sam,' said he, and his face fell like an empty puss, when it gets a
few cents put into each eend on it, the weight makes it grow twice as
long in a minute. 'Sam,' said he, 'don't call me that are, except when
we are alone here, that's a good soul; not that I am proud, for I am
a true Republican;' and he put his hand on his heart, bowed and smiled
hansum, 'but these people will make a nickname of it, and we shall never
hear the last of it; that's a fact. We must respect ourselves, afore
others will respect us. You onderstand, don't you?'

"'Oh, don't I,' sais I, 'that's all? It's only here I talks this way,
because we are at home now; but I can't help a thinkin' how strange
things do turn up sometimes. Do you recollect, when I heard you
a-preachin' about Hope a-pitchin' of her tent on a hill? By gosh,
it struck me then, you'd pitch, your tent high some day; you did it
beautiful.'

"He know'd I didn't like this change, that Mr. Hopewell had kinder
inoculated me with other guess views on these matters, so he began to
throw up bankments and to picket in the ground, all round for defence
like.

"'Hope,' sais he, 'is the attribute of a Christian, Slick, for he hopes
beyond this world; but I changed on principle.'

"'Well,' sais I, 'I changed on interest; now if our great nation is
backed by principal and interest here, I guess its credit is kinder well
built. And atween you and me, Abednego, that's more than the soft-horned
British will ever see from all our States. Some on 'em are intarmined to
pay neither debt nor interest, and give nothin' but lip in retarn.'

"'Now,' sais he, a pretendin' to take no notice of this,' you know we
have the Voluntary with us, Mr. Slick.' He said "_Mister_" tha