he falsehood to
Europe; for the writer of the charge, when brought up for it, publicly
admitted that he had no ground for suspecting the literary man of any
such practices. _He_ called it a '_joke_.' Every line of the context,
however, showed it was a malicious charge. The decision is very much as
if a man who is sued for accusing another of 'stealing' should set up a
defense that he meant 'stealing' hearts, for the word is sometimes used
in _that_ sense. When men use epithets that convey discredit in their
general meaning, it is their business to give them a special
signification in their own contexts, if such be their real intention.
But I much question if there be a respectable money-dealer, even in Wall
street, who would not swear, if called on in a court of justice so to
do, that _he_ thought the general charge of 'shaving' discreditable to
any man."

"And you think the landlords whose rents were taxed, sir, would have a
moral right to resist?"

"Beyond all question; as it would be an income tax on them only, of all
in the country. What is more, I am fully persuaded that two thousand men
embodied to resist such tyranny would look down the whole available
authority of the State; inasmuch as I do not believe citizens could be
found to take up arms to enforce a law so flagrantly unjust. Men will
look on passively and see wrongs inflicted, that would never come out to
support them by their own acts. But we are approaching the farm, and
there is Tom Miller and his hired men waiting our arrival."

It is unnecessary to repeat, in detail, all that passed in this our
second visit to the farm-house. Miller received us in a friendly manner,
and offered us _a_ bed, if we would pass the night with him. This
business of _a_ bed had given us more difficulty than anything else, in
the course of our peregrinations. New York has long got over the
"two-man" and "three-man bed" system, as regards its best inns. At no
respectable New York inn is a gentleman now asked to share even his
room, without an apology and a special necessity, with another, much
less his bed; but the rule does not hold good as respects pedlars and
music-grinders. We had ascertained that we were not only expected to
share the same bed, but to occupy that bed in a room filled with other
beds. There are certain things that get to be second nature, and that no
masquerading will cause to go down; and, among others, one gets to
dislike sharing his room and his toot