"But I'm of his opinion. If the folks here want their country to go
ahead, they must honour the plough; and General Campbell ought to
hammer that 'ere into their noddles, full chisel, as hard as he can
drive. I could larn him somethin', I guess, about hammerin' he ain't
up to. It ain't every one that knows how to beat a thing into a man's
head. How could I have sold so many thousand clocks, if I hadn't had
that knack? Why, I wouldn't have sold half a dozen, you may depend.
"Agriculture is not only neglected but degraded here. What a number
of young folks there seem to be in these parts, a-ridin' about,
titivated out real jam, in their go-to-meetin' clothes, a-doin'
nothin'. It's melancholy to think on it. That's the effect of the
last war. The idleness and extravagance of those times took root,
and bore fruit abundantly, and now the young people are above their
business. They are too high in the instep, that's a fact.
"Old Drivvle, down here to Maccan, said to me one day, 'For gracious
sake,' says he, 'Mr. Slick, do tell me what I shall do with Johnny.
His mother sets great store by him, and thinks he's the makin's of a
considerable smart man; he's growin up fast now, and I am pretty well
to do in the world, and reasonable forehanded, but I don't know what
the dogs to put him to. The lawyers are like spiders--they've eat up
all the flies, and I guess they'll have to eat each other soon, for
there's more on 'em than causes now every court.
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