"Now, Sam," says I, "be a man and show your spirit!" So I spoke up at once, and said, "Why, ladies, as the right honourable gent is so _very_ pressing, I'll give up my engagement, and shall have sincere pleasure in cutting mutton with him.

What's your hour, sir ?" He didn't condescend to answer, and for me I did not care; for, you see, I did not intend to dine with the man, but only to give him a lesson of manners.

For though I am but a poor fellow, and hear people cry out how vulgar it is to eat peas with a knife, or ask three times for cheese, and such like points of ceremony, there's something, I think, much more vulgar than all this, and that is, insolence to one's inferiors.

I hate the chap that uses it, as I scorn him of humble rank that affects to be of the fashion; and so I determined to let Mr.Preston know a piece of my mind.
When the carriage drove up to his house, I handed out the ladies as politely as possible, and walked into the hall, and then, taking hold of Mr.Preston's button at the door, I said, before the ladies and the two big servants--upon my word I did--"Sir," says I, "this kind old lady asked me into her carriage, and I rode in it to please her, not myself.
When you came up and asked who the devil I was, I thought you might have put the question in a more polite manner; but it wasn't my business to speak.

When, by way of a joke, you invited me to dinner, I thought I would answer in a joke too, and here I am.