Sweet Cicely — or Josiah Allen as a PoliticianHolley, Marietta
Religion
Sweet Cicely — or Josiah Allen as a Politician
Holley, Marietta
Methodist Church (U.S.) -- Fiction; Temperance and religion -- Fiction; Women -- Suffrage -- Fiction
Till way along towards night, a senator he had been sent to, bein'
a little in liquor at the time, and bein' talkative; he owned up the
reasons why the senators wouldn't do the errents.
He said they all knew in their own hearts, both of the errents was right
and just, to their own souls and their own country. He said--for the
liquor had made him _very_ open-hearted and talkative--that they knew
the course they was pursuin' in regard to intemperance was a crime
against God and their own consciences. But they didn't dare to tackle
unpopular subjects.
He said they knew they was elected by liquor, a good many of them,
and they knew, if they voted against whisky, it would deprive 'em of
thousands and thousands of voters, dillegent voters, who would vote for
'em from morn in' till night, and so they dassent tackle the ring. And
if wimmen was allowed to vote, they knew it was jest the same thing as
breaking the ring right in two, and destroying intemperance. So, though
they knew that both the errents was jest as right as right could be,
they dassent tackle 'em, for fear they wouldn't run no chance at all of
bein' President of the United States.
“Good land!” says I. “What a idee! to think that doin' right would
make a man unpopular. But,” says I, “I am glad to know they have got a
reason, if it is a poor one. I didn't know but they sent you round jest
to be mean.”
Wall, the next mornin' I told Bub to carry the errents right into the
Senate. Says I, “You have took 'em one by one, alone, now you jest carry
'em before the hull batch on 'em together.” I told him to tackle the
hull crew on 'em. So he jest walked right into the Senate, a carryin'
Dorlesky's errents.
And he come back skairt. He said, jest as he was a carryin' Dorlesky's
errents in, a long petition come from thousands and thousands of wimmen
on this very subject. A plea for justice and mercy, sent in respectful,
to the lawmakers of the land.
And he said the men jeered at it, and throwed it round the room, and
called it all to nort, and made the meanest speeches about it you ever
heard, talked nasty, and finally threw it under the table, and acted
so haughty and overbearin' towards it, that Bub said he was afraid to
tackle 'em. He said “he knew they would throw Dorlesky's errents under
the table, and he was afraid they would throw him under too.” He was
afraid--(he owned it up to me)--he was afraid they would knock him down.
So he backed out with Dorlesky's errents, and never give it to 'em at
all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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