‘Fore you git ahold o’ me!”
The parson adds a note, sprinkled with Latin and Greek sentences, as is his wont. The letters from the first page to the last, in the collected papers, are amazingly clever. The reverend gentleman who edits the series is a type himself, full of pedantic and pedagogic learning, anxious always to show off his knowledge of the classics, and solemn and serious ever as a veritable owl. His notes and introductions, and scrappy Latin and Greek, are among the most admirable things in the book. Their humor is delicious, and the mock criticisms and opinions of the press, offered by Wilbur on the work of his young friend, and his magnificent seriousness, which constantly shows itself, give a zest to the performance, which lingers long on the mind. The third letter contains the often-quoted poem, “What Mr. Robinson Thinks.”
“Gineral C. is a dreffle smart man:
He’s ben on all sides that give place or pelf;
But consistency still wuz a part of his plan,—
He’s ben true to one party,—an’ thet is himself:—
So John P.
Robinson, he
Sez he shall vote for Gineral C.