Shortly thereafter at Equality, Lincoln delivered a speech that sent the Whig faithful into ecstasies. He likened Democrat Josiah Lamborn’s switch from Whig to Democrat to the adventures of a slave in Kentucky who had been sent by his master to deliver two puppies to a neighbor. En route, the slave stopped at a dramshop for refreshment, leaving outside the covered basket containing the dogs. While he was imbibing, two jokers replaced the pups with piglets. Upon arrival at his destination, the slave was astounded to see that the canines had become porcine. Returning to his master, the slave once again paused at the dramshop, where the pranksters removed the pigs and restored the pups to the basket. When explaining to his master how the dogs had been transformed into pigs, the slave was startled to observe that the pigs were once again pups. The nonplussed slave expostulated: “I isn’t drunk, but dem dar puppies can be pigs or puppies just when dey please!” Just so, Lincoln said, Lamborn could be a Whig or a Democrat “just when he pleased.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
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