I have often heard my father
say that he went to school with him in Warwickshire, and that he was
thought anything but very clever, too, while he lived in England."
"You perceive, then, that we made something of him when we got him over on
this side; for he turned out in the end to be a very decent and
respectable sort of person. Judging from the language of some of your
prints, sir, I should suppose that King William enjoyed the reputation of
being a respectable man in your country?"
Although startled to hear his sovereign spoken of in this irreverent
manner, Mr. Green answered promptly,----
"He is a king, sir, and comports himself as a king."
"And all the better, I dare say, for the thrashing he got when a
youngster, from the Vermont tailor."
Now Captain Truck quite as religiously believed in this vulgar tale
concerning the prince in question, as Mr. Green believed that Washington
had commenced his career as one no better than he should be, or as
implicitly as Mr. Steadfast Dodge gave credit to the ridiculous history of
the schoolmaster of Haddonfield; all three of the legends belonging to the
same high class of historical truths.
Sir George Templemore looked with surprise at John Effingham, who gravely
remarked,----
"Elegant extracts, sir, from the vulgar rumours of two great nations.
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