Swingin Round the Cirkle. | Page 5

Ez a basis for a settlement, I shell insist on the follerin
condishens:
"The Federal debt must be repoodiated, principal and interest, or ef
paid, the Southern war debt must be paid likewise--ez a peece offerin.
The doctrine uv State Rites must be made the soopreme law uv the land,
that the South may withdraw whenever they feel theirselves dissatisfied
with Massachusetts. Uv coarse this is a olive branch.
"Jefferson Davis must be to-wunst set at liberty and Sumner hung, ez
proof that the North is really consilliatory. On this pint I am inflexible,
and on the others immovable."
An old man who hed bin listnin to our talk, murmured that there wuz a
parallel to this last proposishen.
"Where?" demanded the Genral.
"The Jews, I remember," replied he, "demanded that Barrabas be
released unto them, who wuz a thief, I believe, and the Savior be

crucified, but I forgit jist how it wuz."
The Genral withered him with a litenin glance, and resoomed:
"I shel, uv course, offer the North suthin in the way uv compensation,
for the troo theory uv a Republikin Government is compermise. On our
part we pledge ourselves to kum back, and give the North the benefit
uv our kumin back, so long ez Massachusetts condux herself akkordin
to our ijees uv what is rite. But ef this ekitable adjustment is rejected,
all I hev to say then is, I shell resign, and the Government may sink
without wun effort from me to save it."
I wuz about to give in my experience, when the old man, who wuz
sittin near us, broke in agin:
"My name," sed he, "is Maginnis, and I live in Alabama. I want to say a
word to the gentleman from Karliny, and to the wun from Noo Gersey."
"How," retorted I, "do yoo know I'm from Noo Gersey, not hevin
spoken a word in yoor hearin?"
"By a instink I hev. Whenever I see a Sutherner layin it down heavy to
a indivijouel whose phisynogamy is uv sich a cast that upon beholdin it
yoo instinktively feel to see that yoor pocket-handkercher is safe, a face
that wood be dangerous if it had courage into it, I alluz know the latter
to be a Northern copperhead. The Noo Gersey part I guessed at, becoz,
my friend, that State furnished the lowest order uv copperheads of any
uv em. Pardon me ef I flatter yoo. But what I wanted to say wus, that I
spose suthen hez happened doorin the past 4 years. I was a original
secessionist. Sum years ago I hed a hundred niggers, and wuz doin well
with em. But, unforchunitly, my brother died, and left me ez much
more land, but no niggers. I wanted niggers enuff to work that land, and
spozed ef cut off from the North, and the slave-trade wuz reopened, I
cood git em cheaper. Hentz I seceshed. Sich men ez Genral McStinger
told me the North woodent fight or I woodent hev, secesht, but I did it.
I went out for wool and cum back shorn. I seceshed with 100 niggers to
git 200, and alas! I find myself back into the old government, with nary
a nigger.

"But all this is no excoose for talkin bald noncents. Yoo old ass," sed
he, addressin Genral McStinger, "yoo talk uv wat yoo will do, and what
yoo wont. Hevent you diskivered that yoo are whipped? Hevent you
found out that yoo are subjoogated? Are yoo back into the Yoonyun uv
your own free will and akkord? Hevent yoo got a pardon in yoor pockit,
which dockyment is all that saves yoor neck from stretchin hemp? Why
do yoo talk uv wat South karliny will and wont do? Good Lord! I
recollect about a year since South karliny would never permit her soil 2
be pollutid by Yankee hirelins, yit Sherman marched all over it with a
few uv em, and skarcly a gun was fired at em. So too I recollect that
that sed State, wich wuz agoin to whip the entire North, and wich wood,
ef overpowered, submit gracefully and with dignity to annihilation, and
sich, wuz the first to, git down on her marrow bones, and beg for peace
like a dorg. Ef yoo intend this talk for the purpose uv skarin the North,
beleeve me when I say that the North aint so easy skared ez it wuz. Ef
its intendid for home consumption, consider me the people. Ive heard it
before, and I'll take no more uv it until my stumick settles. It makes me
puke. The fact is we are whipped, and hev got to do the best we kin.
We are a goin to pay the Federal debt, and aint goin to pay the
confederet debt. Davis will