And then on the other hand there was Abe Linkern standing six foot four, As thin as a rail, with a high-keyed voice, And sometimes solemn, and sometimes comic As any clown you ever saw, And runnin’ Col. Lankford’s little steamer, As it were, you know, which would bobble the skiff, Which was the law; and The Little Giant’s other foot Would slip on the bank, which was the constitution. And you could almost hear him holler “ouch.” And Linkern would say: This argument Of the Senator’s is thin as soup Made from the shadow of a starved pigeon! And then the crowd would yell, and the cornet band Would play, and men would walk away and say: Linkern floored him. And others would say: He aint no match for The Little Giant. But I’ll declare if I could decide Which whipped the other. For to let the people decide whether they wanted slavery Sounded good. And to have the constitution in force sounded good. And not to have any slavery at all sounded good. But so far as the law was concerned, And where it was, and what you could do with it It was like the shell game: Now you see the little ball and now you don’t! Who’s got a dollar to say where the little ball is? But when you try to obey the laws and support the constitution, It reminds me of a Campbellite preacher We had here years ago. And he debated with the Methodist preacher As to whether immersion or sprinkling Was the way to salvation. And the Campbellite preacher said: “The holy scripture says: ‘And Jesus when he was baptised Went up straightway out of the water.’ And how could he come up out of the water If he wasn’t in?” asked the Campbellite preacher, Pointing a long finger at the Methodist preacher. “And how could he be in without being immersed?” Well, the Campbellite preacher won the debate. But the next day Billy Bell, An infidel we had here, Met the Campbellite preacher and said: “I suppose it wouldn’t be possible for a man To stand in water up to his knees And have water sprinkled on his head, would it?” And the Campbellite preacher said: “Get thee behind me Satan,” and went on. Well Linkern was kind of an infidel, And The Little Giant got caught in his own orthodoxy, And his ability for debate led him into The complete persuading of himself. And by arguin’ for the law He made Linkern appear As bein’ against the law.