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The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 69, July, 1863 by Various
page 43 of 311 (13%)
confusion, and then rose up in fury and brushed all the hair out of my
head.

"I declare," I said to Halicarnassus, when we were fairly beyond ear-shot
of the city next morning, "I don't approve of sumptuary laws, and I like
America to be the El Dorado of the poor man, and I go for the largest
liberty of the individual; but I do think there ought to be a clause in
the Constitution providing that servants shall not be dressed and educated
and accomplished up to the point of making people uncomfortable."

"No," said Halicarnassus, sleepily; "perhaps it wasn't a servant."

"Well," I said, having looked at it in that light silently for half an
hour, and coming to the surface in another place, "if I could dress and
carry myself like that, I would not keep tavern."

"Oh! eh?" yawning; "who does?"

"Mrs. Astor. Of course nobody less rich than Mrs. Astor could go up-stairs
and down-stairs and in my lady's chamber in Shiraz silk and gold of Ophir.
Why, Cleopatra was nothing to her. I make no doubt she uses gold-dust for
sugar in her coffee every morning; and as for the three miserable little
wherries that Isabella furnished Columbus, and historians have towed
through their tomes ever since, why, bless your soul, if you know of
anybody that has a continent he wants to discover, send him to this
housekeeper, and she can fit out a fleet of transports and Monitors for
convoy with one of her bracelets."

"I don't," said Halicarnassus, rubbing his eyes.

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