The boy took back the message correctly, and when the old Dutchman heard it, his countenance brightened up—" A goot physician, a clever man-I only have drink twelve drams a day, and he tells me to take sixteen. I have taken one oath when I was drunk, and I keep it; now dat I am sober I take anoder, which is, I will be very sick for de remainder of my days, and never throw my physic out of the window."

There was a cold-water celebration at Boston, on which occasion the hilarity of the evening was increased by the singing of the following ode. Nobody will venture to assert that there is any spirit in the composition, and judging from what I have seen of American manners and customs, I am afraid that the sentiments of the four last lines will not be responded to throughout the Union.

"ODE.

In Eden's green retreats

A water-brook that played
Between soft, mossy seats
Beneath a plane-tree's shade,
Whose rustling leaves
Danced o'er its brink,
Was Adam's drink,
And also Eve's.

Beside the parent spring

Of that young brook, the pair
Their morning chaunt would sing;
And Eve, to dress her hair,

Kneel on the grass
That fringed its side,
And made its tide

Her looking-glass.

And when the man of God
From Egypt led his flock,
They thirsted, and his rod
Smote the Arabian rock,
And forth a rill
Of water gushed,
And on they rushed,

And drank their fill.

Would Eden thus have smiled

Had wine to Eden come?

Would Horeb's parching wild
Have been refreshed with rum?

And had Eve's hair
Been dressed in gin,
Would she have been
Reflected fair?

Had Moses built a still

And dealt out to that host,
To every man his gill,

And pledged him in a toast,
How large a band

Of Israel's sons

Had laid their bones

In Canaan's land?

'Sweet fields, beyond Death's flood,
Stand dressed in living green,'
For, from the throne of God,
To freshen all the scene,
A river rolls,
Where all who will

May come and fill

Their crystal bowls.

If Eden's strength and bloom
Cold water thus hath given-

If, e'en beyond the tomb,
It is the drink of heaven-
Are not good wells,

And crystal springs,
The very things

For our hotels?"

As I shall return to the subject of intemperance in my examination of society, I shall conclude this chapter with an extract from Miss Martineau, whose work is a strange compound of the false and the true :-" My own convictions are, that associations, excellent as they are for mechanical objects, are not fit instruments for the achievement of moral aims; that there has been no proof that the principle of self-restraint has been exalted and strengthened in the United States by the Temperance movement, while the already too great regard to opinion, and subservience to spiritual encroachment, have been much increased; and, therefore, great as may be the visible benefit of the institution, it may at length appear that they have been dearly purchased."

174

LAW.

THE lawyers are the real aristocracy of America; they comprehend nearly the whole of the gentility, talent, and liberal information of the Union. Any one who has had the pleasure of being at one of their meetings, such as the Kent Club at New York, would be satisfied that there is no want of gentlemen with enlightened, liberal ideas in the United States; but it is to the law, the navy, and the army, that you must chiefly look for this class of people. Such must ever be the case in a democracy, where the mass are to be led; the knowledge of the laws of the country, and the habit of public speaking, being essential to those who would preside at the helm or assist in the evolutions the consequence has been, that in every era of the Union, the lawyers have always been the most prominent actors; and it may be added that they ever will play the most distinguished parts. Clay and Webster of the present day are, and all the leading men of the former generation were, lawyers. Their presidents have all been lawyers, and any deviation from this custom has been attended with evil results; witness the elevation of General Jackson to the presidency, and the heavy price which the Americans have paid for their phantom glory. The names of Judge Marshall and of Chancellor Kent are well known in this country, and most deservedly so: indeed, I am informed it has latterly been the custom in our own law courts, to cite as cases the decisions of many of the superior American judges-a just tribute to their discrimination and their worth.

The general arrangement of that part of the American constitution relating to the judicature is extremely good, perhaps the best of all their legislative arrangements, yet it contains some great errors; one of which is, that of district and inferior judges being elected, as

it leaves the judge at the mercy of an excitable and overbearing people, who will attempt to dictate to him as they do to their spiritual teacher. Occasionally he must choose whether he will decide as they wish, or lose his situation on the ensuing election. Justice as well as religion will be interfered with by the despotism of the democracy.

The Americans are fond of law in one respect, that is, they are fond of going to law. It is excitement to them, and not so expensive as in this country. It is a pleasure which they can afford, and for which they cheerfully pay.

But, on the other hand, the very first object of the Americans, after a law has been passed, is to find out how they can evade it: this exercises their ingenuity, and it, is very amusing to observe how cleverly they sometimes manage it. Every state enactment to uphold the morals, or for the better regulation of society, is immediately opposed by the sovereign people.

An act was passed to prohibit the playing at nine pins, (a very foolish act, as the Americans have so few amusements): as soon as the law was put in force, it was notified every where," Ten pins played here," and they have been played every where, ever since.

Another act was passed to put down billiard tables, and in this instance every precaution was taken by an accurate description of the billiard table, that the law might be enforced. Whereupon an extra pocket was added to the billiard table, and thus the law was evaded.

1

When I was at Louisville, a bill which had been brought in by Congress, to prevent the numerous accidents which occurred in steam navigation, came into force. Inspectors were appointed to see that the steamboats complied with the regulations; and those boats which were not provided according to law, did not receive the certificate from the inspectors, and were liable to a fine of five hundred dollars if they navigated without it. A steam-boat was ready to start; the passengers clubbed together and subscribed half the sum, (two

hundred and fifty dollars), and as the informer was to have half the penalty, the captain of the boat went and informed against himself and received the other half; and thus was the fine paid.

At Baltimore, in consequence of the prevalence of hydrophobia, the civic authorities passed a law, that all dogs should be muzzled, or, rather, the terms were, "that all dogs should wear a muzzle," or the owner of a dog not wearing a muzzle, should be brought up and fined; and the regulation further stated that any body convicted of having “removed the muzzle from off a dog should also be severely fined." A man, therefore, tied a muzzle to his dog's tail (the act not stating where the muzzle was to be placed). One of the city officers, perceiving this dog with his muzzle at the wrong end, took possession of the dog and brought it to the Town-hall; its master, being well known, was summoned, and appeared. He proved that he had complied with the act, in having fixed a muzzle on the dog; and, further, the city officer having taken the muzzle off the dog's tail, he insisted that he should be fined five dollars for so doing.

The striped pig, I have already mentioned; but were I to relate all I have been told upon this head, it would occupy too much of the reader's time and patience.

The mass of the citizens of the United States have certainly a very great dislike to all law except their own, i. e. the decision of the majority; and it must be acknowledged that it is not only the principle of equality, but the parties who are elected as district judges, that, by their own conduct, contribute much to that want of respect with which they are treated in their courts. When a judge on his bench sits half asleep, with his hat on, and his coat and shoes off; his heels kicking upon the railing or table which is as high or higher than his head; his toes peeping through a pair of old worsted stockings, and with a huge quid of tobacco in, his cheek, you cannot expect that much respect will be paid to him. Yet such is even now the practice in the interior of the Western States. I was much amused