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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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“O Auguste, you are a sad rattle-brain!” “Am I Well, so I am, I suppose; but for once I will be serious, now; but you must hand me that basket of oranges;- you see, you’ll have to ‘stay me with flag- ons and comfort me with apples,’ if I’m going to make this effort. Now,” said Augustine, drawing the basket up, “I’ll begin: When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a fellow to hold two or three dozen of his fellow- worms in captivity, a decent regard to the opinions of society requires-” “I don’t see that you are growing more serious,” said Miss Ophelia. “Wait,- I’m coming on,- you’ll hear. The short of the matter is, cousin,” said he, his handsome face suddenly settling into an earnest and serious expression, “on this abstract question of slavery there can, as I think, be but one opinion. Planters, who have money to make by it,- clergymen, who have planters to please,- politicians, who want to rule by it,- may warp and bend language and eth- ics to a degree that shall astonish the world at their ingenuity; they can press na- ture and the Bible, and nobody knows what else, into the service; but, after all, neither they nor the world believe in it one particle the more. It comes from the devil, that’s the short of it;- and, to my mind, it’s a pretty respectable specimen of what he can do in his own line.” Miss Ophelia stopped her knitting, and looked surprised; and St. Clare, appar- ently enjoying her astonishment, went on. |
