A SCRAPE. 253 



sit no longer and hear his country and his 

 friends traduced. He insisted on my re- 

 tracting all I had said, for he considered him- 

 self grossly insulted by the remarks I had 

 chosen to make, and stated that he should 

 therefore hold me accountable for them. 



I must confess to have been a little sur- 

 prised and perhaps unnerved by the very 

 determined manner in which he delivered 

 himself, and some of my companions stared 

 at him with astonishment. However, soon 

 recovering myself, and not at all misconstru- 

 ing his meaning, I deliberately said, " I am 

 sorry, Sir, my conversation has discomposed 

 you, or that any observation I should have 

 made has in the smallest degree outraged 

 your feelings ; but as to retracting what I 

 have said, knowing it to be true, I must 

 decline, as it would be giving myself the 

 lie, and that I will not do for any one." 



" Then, Sir, you know the alternative," 

 he observed, and resumed his seat. 



That alternative I knew very well ; con- 



