at he rather had him there.

The Honest Abe peeled his apple, and says he:

"Neighbor, the sane men of all parties think differently from you in
that matter."

"That proves, I suppose," says the Democratic chap, wrathfully, "that
I'm a lunatic."

The Honest Abe ate a piece of apple, and says he:

"Not at all, neighbor; not all; nothing so serious as that. But talking
about what a difference of opinion 'proves,'" says the Honest Abe,
balancing one boot upon the toe of the other, and smiling peacefully at
his jack-knife; "talking about what it 'proves,' reminds me of a small
tale:

"When I was a law-student out in Illinois, and wore spectacles to
appear middle-aged and respectable, we had in our district-court the
case of a venerable Sucker, who was prosecuting another man for
spreading a report that he was insane, and greatly damaging his
business thereby. The defendant made reply, that he had honestly
supposed the plaintiff to be insane on one point, at least, and that
was the motion of the world around the sun. This motion was denied _in
toto_ by the plaintiff, who had frequently, of late, greatly astonished
everybody and shocked the schoolmaster, by persisting in the assertion
that the world did not spin round at all, inasmuch as _he_ had never
seen it spin round.

"Various witnesses were called for both sides," says the Honest Abe,
pleasantly scratching his chin; "various ones were called, to testify
as to whether such difference of opinion from all the rest of mankind
would seem to prove the insanity of the venerable Sucker; but nothing
decisive was arrived at until old Doctor Dobbles was examined. Old
Dobbles," says the Honest Abe, winking softly to himself, "was not
quite such a teetotaler as may be told about in the 'Lives of the
Saints,' and when he took the stand we expected something.

"Says the Court to old Dobbles:

"'In your opinion, doctor, does a man's denial that the world turns
round, inasmuch as he has never seen it go round, prove his insanity?'

"'No,' says Dobbles.

"'Ah!' says the Court, 'what then?'

"'Why,' says old Dobbles, deliberately, 'if a man denies that the world
goes round, and has never _seen_ it go round, it simply proves that
he--_never was drunk_.'

"As it happened," says the Honest Abe, balancing his jack-knife on the
tips of all his fingers; "as it happened that the Court himself had
frequently seen the world go round, the justice of the idea flashed
upon him at on