“Good gracious! do you ask me that question? Is it not a matter of fact? Can there be the least doubt about a thing which is known to all? Why, it seems you live somewhat out of the world. Do you ever read the newspapers?”
“Indeed I do. There are two of them published in our town,—an administration and an opposition paper.”
“Which of the two do you subscribe to?”
“To the administration paper of course. I have always been a democrat.”
“Oh! you are a dem-o-crat, are you?”
“My friends call me one at least.”
“Ah, then you are a democrat for a particular purpose. That I can understand. A man may have a particular object in calling himself a democrat, especially in this country; but no well-informed gentleman, I am sure, would be so mad as to seriously advocate a doctrine which administers to the passions of the mob, at the expense of the rights and privileges of the better classes. You would not intrust the government to paupers, would you?”
“I believe we have very few paupers in this country, except those who are unwilling to work,” replied the representative.
“But if you saw the number of Irish and Germans that are landing here every day—”
“The country is large enough to furnish work for all.”