Ez though the greasin' on him worn't a thing to hire Choate fer;

Aint it ez easy done to drop a ballot in a box Fer one ez't is fer t'other, fer the bulldog ez the fox?"

It takes a mind like Dannel's, fact, ez big ez all ou' doors,

To find out thet it looks like rain arter it fairly

pours;

I 'gree with him, it aint so dreffle troublesome to

vote

Fer Taylor arter all, it's jest to go an' change your coat;

Wen he's once greased, you'll swaller him anʼ never know on't, scurce,

Unless he scratches, goin' down, with them 'ere Gin'ral's spurs.

I've ben a votin' Demmercrat, ez reg'lar ez a

clock,

But don't find goin' Taylor gives my narves no gret 'f a shock;

Truth is, the cutest leadin' Wigs, ever sence fust they found

Wich side the bread gut buttered on, hev kep' a edgin' round;

They kin' o' slipt the planks frum out th' ole platform one by one

An' made it gradooally noo, 'fore folks know'd wut wuz done,

Till, fur'z I know, there aint an inch thet I could lay my han' on,

But I, or any Demmercrat, feels comf'table to stan'

on,

An' ole Wig doctrines act❜lly look, their occ❜pants bein' gone,

Lonesome ez staddles on a mash without no hayricks on.

1 spose it's time now I should give my thoughts upon the plan,

Thet chipped the shell at Buffalo, o' settin' up ole Van.

I used to vote fer Martin, but, I swan, I'm clean disgusted,

He aint the man thet I can say is fittin' to be trusted;

He aint half antislav'ry 'nough, nor I aint sure, ez some be,

He'd go in fer abolishin' the Deestrick o' Columby; · An', now I come to recollect, it kin' o' makes me

sick'z

A horse, to think o' wut he wuz in eighteen thirty-six. An' then, another thing;-I guess, though mebby I

am wrong,

This Buff'lo plaster aint agoin' to dror almighty strong;

Some folks, I know, hev gut th' idee thet No'thun dough 'll rise,

Though, 'fore I see it riz an' baked, I wouldn't trust my eyes;

'Twill take more emptins, a long chalk, than this noo party's gut,

To give sech heavy cakes ez them a start, I tell ye

wut.

But even ef they caird the day, there wouldn't be no endurin'

To stan' upon a platform with sech critters ez Van Buren;

An' his son John, tu, I can't think how thet 'ere chap should dare

To speak ez he doos; wy, they say he used to cuss an' swear!

I

spose

he never read the hymn thet tells how down the stairs

A feller with long legs wuz throwed thet wouldn't say his prayers.

This brings me to another pint: the leaders o' the

party

Aint jest sech men ez I can act along with free anʼ

hearty;

They aint not quite respectable, an' wen a feller's morrils

Don't toe the straightest kin' o' mark, wy, him an' me jest quarrils.

I went to a free soil meetin' once, an' wut d'ye think I see?

A feller was aspoutin' there thet act'lly come to me, About two year ago last spring, ez nigh ez I can

jedge,

An' axed me ef I didn't want to sign the Temprunce pledge!

He's one o' them that goes about an' sez you hedn't ough' ter

Drink nothin', mornin', noon, or night, stronger 'an Taunton water.

There's one rule I've ben guided by, in settlin' how to vote, ollers,

I take the side thet isn't took by them consarned teetotallers.

Ez fer the niggers, I've ben South, an' thet hez changed my mind;

A lazier, more ongrateful set you couldn't nowers find.

You know I mentioned in my last thet I should buy a nigger,

Ef I could make a purchase at a pooty mod'rate figger;

So, ez there's nothin' in the world I'm fonder of 'an

gunnin',

I closed a bargin finally to take a feller runnin'.
I shou❜dered queen's-arm an' stumped out, an' wen
I come t' th'

swamp,

'Tworn't very long afore I gut upon the nest o'

Pomp;

I come acrost a kin' o' hut, an', playin' round the door,

Some little woolly-headed cubs, ez many'z six or

more.

At fust I thought o' firin', but think twice is safest ollers;

There aint, thinks I, not one on 'em but's wuth his twenty dollars,

Or would be, ef I hed 'em back into a Christian land,

How temptin' all on 'em would look upon an auction-stand!

(Not but wut I hate Slavery in th' abstract, stem to starn,

I leave it ware our fathers did, a privit State con

sarn.)

Soon'z they see me, they yelled an' run, but Pomp wuz out ahoein'

A leetle patch o' corn he hed, or else there aint no knowin'

He wouldn't ha' took a pop at me; but I hed gut the start,

An' wen he looked, I vow he groaned ez though he'd broke his heart;

He done it like a wite man, tu, ez nat'ral ez a

pictur,

The imp'dunt, pis'nous hypocrite! wus 'an a boy constrictur.

"You can't gum me, I tell ye now, an' so you needn't try,

I'xpect my eye-teeth every mail, so jest shet up," sez I.

"Don't go to actin' ugly now, or else I'll jest let

strip,

You'd best draw kindly, seein' 'z how I've gut ye on the hip;

Besides, you darned ole fool, it aint no gret of a disaster

To be benev❜lently druv back to a contented master, Ware you hed Christian priv❜ledges you don't seem quite aware of,

Or you'd ha' never run away from bein' well took care of;

Ez fer kin' treatment, wy, he wuz so fond on ye, he

said

He'd give a fifty spot right out, to git ye, 'live or dead;

Wite folks aint sot by half ez much; 'member I run away,

Wen I wuz bound to Cap'n Jakes, to Mattysqumscot bay;

Don' know him, likely? Spose not; wal, the mean ole codger went

An' offered-wut reward, think? Wal, it worn't no less 'n a cent."

Wal, I jest gut 'em into line, an druv 'em on afore

me,

The pis'nous brutes, I'd no idee o' the ill-will they bore me;

We walked till som'ers about noon, an' then it grew so hot

I thought it best to camp awile, so I chose out a spot Jest under a magnoly tree, an' there right down I

sot;

Then I unstrapped my wooden leg, coz it begun to chafe,

An' laid it down 'long side o' me, supposin' all wuz

safe;

I made my darkies all set down around me in a

ring,

An' sot an' kin' o' ciphered up how much the lot would bring;