Commodore Marlin: My friend, I ask you a plain civil question; will you give me a plain, civil answer?

Notes from Wikiquote

Sam Slick's wise saws and modern instances: or, What he said, did, or invented, Volumen 1 (1853), p. 185, Hurst and Blackett.

The Clockmaker (1838)

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Chandler Haliburton (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.