Another serious objection
Mrs. Pimpkins would merely suggest as a preventive;--such people
were ill suited to mix with titled and other distinguished society!
But, Grabguy, to make up for the vexatious rejection, has got to be
an alderman, which is a step upward in the scale of his father's
attained distinction. There is nothing more natural, then, than that
Grabguy should seek his way up in the world, with the best means at
his hands; it is a worthy trait of human nature, and is as natural
to the slave. In this instance-when master and slave are both
incited to a noble purpose-Grabguy is a wealthy alderman, and
Nicholas-the whiter of the two-his abject slave. The master, a man
of meagre mind, and exceedingly avaricious, would make himself
distinguished in society; the slave, a mercurial being of
impassioned temper, whose mind is quickened by a sense of the
injustice that robs him of his rights, seeks only freedom and what
may follow in its order.
Let us again introduce the reader to Nicholas, as his manly figure,
marked with impressive features, stands before us, in Grabguy's
workshop. Tall, and finely formed, he has grown to manhood,
retaining all the quick fiery impulses of his race. Those black eyes
wandering irresistibly, that curl of contempt that sits upon his
lip, that stare of revenge that scowls beneath those heavy eyebrows,
and that hate of wrong that ever and anon pervades the whole, tell
how burns in his heart the elements of a will that would brave death
for its rights-that would bear unmoved the oppressor's lash-that
would embrace death rather than yield to perfidy.
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