things go to my say,
Shan't hang on no new-fangled hinges, but swing in the old-fashioned way."
And the other four good district fathers gave quick the consent that was
due,
And nodded obliquely, and muttered: "Them 'ere is my sentiments tew."
"Then as to your spellin': I've heern tell, by the mas has looked into
this,
That you turn the _u_ out o' your _labour_, an' make the word shorter
than 'tis;
An' clip the _k_ off yer _musick_, which makes my son Ephraim perplexed,
An' when he spells out as he ought'r, you pass the word on to the next.
They say there's some new-grafted books here that don't take them letters
along;
But if it is so, just depend on 't, them new-grafted books is made wrong.
You might just as well say that Jackson didn't know all there was about
war,
As to say that old Spellin'-book Webster didn't know what them letters was
for."
And the other four good district fathers gave quick the consent that was
due,
And scratched their heads slyly and softly, and said: "Them's my sentiments
tew."
"Then, also, your 'rithmetic doin's, as they are reported to me,
Is that you have left Tare an' Tret out, an' also the old Rule o' Three;
An' likewise brought in a new study, some high-steppin' scholars to please,
With saw-bucks an' crosses and pothooks, an' _w's, x's, y's_ an' _z's_.
We ain't got no time for such foolin'; there ain't no great good to be
reached
By tiptoein' childr'n up higher than ever their fathers was teached."
And the other four good district fathers gave quick the consent that was
due,
And cocked one eye up to the ceiling, and said: "Them's my sentiments tew."
"Another thing, I must here mention, comes into the question to-day,
Concernin' some things in the grammar you're teachin' our gals for to say.
My gals is as steady as clockwork, and never give cause for much fear,
But they come home from school t'other evenin' a-talking such stuff as this
here:
'I love,' an' 'Thou lovest,' an' 'He loves,' an' 'We love,' an' 'You love,'
an' 'They--'
An' they answered my questions: 'It's grammar'--'twas all I could get 'em
to say.
Now if, 'stead of doin' your duty, you're carryin' matters on so
As to make the gals say that they love you, it's just all that I want to
know."

IV

Now Jim, the young heaven-built mechanic, in the dusk of the evening
before,
Had well-nigh unjointed the stovepipe, to make it come