The Redskins; or, Indian and Injin, Volume 1.

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER VII.

  "I will tell you; If you'll bestow a small (of what you have little), Patience, a while, you'll hear the belly's answer."

  MENENIUS AGRIPPA.

  At the springs we parted, Mr. Warren and his friends finding aconveyance, with their own horses, in readiness to carry them theremainder of the distance. As for my uncle and myself, it was understoodthat we were to get on in the best manner we could, it being expectedthat we should reach Ravensnest in the course of a day or two. Accordingto the theory of our new business, we ought to travel on foot, but wehad a reservation _in petto_ that promised us also the relief of acomfortable wagon of some sort or other.

  "Well," said my uncle, the moment we had got far enough from our newacquaintances to be out of ear-shot, "I must say one thing in behalf ofMr. Seneky, as he calls himself, or Sen, as his elegant sister callshim, and that is, that I believe him to be one of the biggest scoundrelsthe state holds."

  "This is not drawing his character _en beau_," I answered, laughing."But why do you come out so decidedly upon him at this particularmoment?"

  "Because this particular moment happens to be the first in which I havehad an opportunity to say anything since I have known the rascal. Youmust have remarked that the fellow held me in discourse from the time weleft Troy until we stopped here."

  "Certainly; I could see that his tongue was in motion unceasingly: whathe said, I have to conjecture."

  "He said enough to lay bare his whole character. Our subject wasanti-rent, which he commenced with a view to explain it to a foreigner;but I managed to lead him on, step by step, until he let me into all hisnotions and expectations on the subject. Why, Hugh, the villain actuallyproposed that you and I should enlist, and turn ourselves into two ofthe rascally mock redskins."

  "Enlist! Do they still persevere so far as to keep up that organization,in the very teeth of the late law?"

  "The law! What do two or three thousand voters care for any penal law,in a country like this? Who is to enforce the law against them? Did theycommit murder, and were they even convicted, as _might_ happen under theexcitement of such a crime, they very well know nobody would be hanged.Honesty is always too passive in matters that do not immediately presson its direct interests. It is for the interest of every honest man inthe State to set his face against this anti-rent movement, and to do allhe can, by his vote and influence, to put it down into the dirt, out ofwhich it sprang, and into which it should be crushed; but not one in ahundred, even of those who condemn it _toto caelo_, will go a foot out oftheir way even to impede its progress. All depends on those who have thepower; and they will exert that power so as to conciliate the activerogue, rather than protect the honest man. You are to remember that thelaws are executed here on the principle that 'what is everybody'sbusiness is nobody's business.'"

  "You surely do not believe that the authorities will wink at an openviolation of the laws!"

  "That will depend on the characters of individuals; most will, but somewill not. You and I would be punished soon enough, were there a chance,but the mass would escape. Oh! we have had some precious disclosures inour corner of the car! The two or three men who joined Newcome are fromanti-rent districts, and seeing me with their friend, little reserve hasbeen practised. One of those men is an anti-rent lecturer; and, beingsomewhat didactic, he favoured me with some of his arguments,_seriatim_."

  "How! Have they got to lectures? I should have supposed the newspaperswould have been the means of circulating their ideas."

  "Oh, the newspapers, like hogs swimming too freely, have cut their ownthroats; and it seems to be fashionable, just at this moment, not tobelieve them. Lecturing is the great moral lever of the nation atpresent."

  "But a man can lie in a lecture, as well as in a newspaper."

  "Out of all question; and if many of the lecturers are of the school ofthis Mr. Holmes--'Lecturer Holmes,' as Seneca called him--but, if manyare of _his_ school, a pretty set of liberty-takers with the truth mustthey be."

  "You detected him, then, in some of these liberties?"

  "In a hundred: nothing was easier than for a man in my situation to dothat; knowing, as I did, so much of the history of the land-titles ofthe State. One of his arguments partakes so largely of the weak side ofour system, that I must give it to you. He spoke of the gravity of thedisturbances--of the importance to the peace and character of the Stateof putting an end to them; and then, by way of corollary to hisproposition, produced a scheme for changing the titles, IN ORDER TOSATISFY THE PEOPLE!"

  "The people, of course, meaning the tenants; the landlords and _their_rights passing for nothing."

  "That is one beautiful feature of the morality--an eye, or a cheek, ifyou will--but here is the _nose_, and highly Roman it is. A certainportion of the community wish to get rid of the obligations of theircontracts; and finding it cannot be done by law, they resort to meansthat are opposed to all law, in order to effect their purposes. Publiclaw-breakers, violators of the public peace, they make use of their ownwrong as an argument for perpetuating another that can be perpetuated inno other way. I have been looking over some of the papers containingproclamations, &c., and find that both law-makers and law-breakers areof one mind as to this charming policy. Without a single manly effort toput down the atrocious wrong that is meditated, the existence of thewrong itself is made an argument for meeting it with concessions, andthus sustaining it. Instead of using the means the institutions haveprovided for putting down all such unjust and illegal combinations, thecombinations are a sufficient reason of themselves why the laws shouldbe altered, and wrong be done to a few, in order that many may bepropitiated, and their votes secured."

  "This is reasoning that can be used only where real grievances exist.But there are no real grievances in the case of the tenants. They maymystify weak heads in the instance of the Manor leases, with theirquarter sales, fat hens, loads of wood and days' works; but my leasesare all on three lives, with rent payable in money, and with none of theconditions that are called feudal, though no more feudal than any otherbargain to pay articles in kind. One might just as well call a bargainmade by a butcher to deliver pork for a series of years feudal. However,feudal or not, my leases, and those of most other landlords, are runningon lives; and yet, by what I can learn, the discontent is general; andthe men who have solemnly bargained to give up their farms at theexpiration of the lives are just as warm for the 'down-rent' and titlesin fee, as the Manor tenants themselves! They say that the obligationsgiven for actual purchases are beginning to be discredited."

  "You are quite right; and there is one of the frauds practised on theworld at large. In the public documents, only the Manor leases, withtheir pretended feudal covenants and their perpetuity, are kept in view,while the combination goes to _all_ leases, or nearly all, and certainlyto all _sorts_ of leases, where the estates are of sufficient extent toallow of the tenants to make head against the landlords. I dare saythere are hundreds of tenants, even on the property of the Renssalaers,who are honest enough to be willing to comply with their contracts ifthe conspirators would let them; but the rapacious spirit is abroadamong the occupants of other lands, as well as among the occupants oftheirs, and the government considers its existence a proof thatconcessions should be made. The discontented must be appeased, right ornot!"

  "Did Seneca say anything on the subject of his own interests?"

  "He did; not so much in conversation with me, as in the discourse heheld with 'Lecturer Holmes.' I listened attentively, happening to befamiliar, through tradition and through personal knowledge, with all theleading facts of the case. As you will soon be called on to act in thatmatter for yourself, I may as well relate them to you. They will serve,also, as guides to the moral merits of the occupation of half the farmson your estate. These are things, moreover, you would never know bypublic statements, since all the good bargains are smothered in silence,while those that may possibly have been a little unfavourable to thetenant are proclaim
ed far and near. It is quite possible that, among themany thousands of leased farms that are to be found in the State, somebad bargains may have been made by the tenants; but what sort of agovernment is that which should undertake to redress evils of thisnature? If either of the Renssalaers, or you yourself, were to ventureto send a memorial to the Legislature setting forth the grievances _you_labour under in connection with this very 'mill-lot'--and serious lossesdo they bring to you, let me tell you, though grievances, in the propersense of the term, they are not--you and your memorial would be met witha general and merited shout of ridicule and derision. One man has norights, as opposed to a dozen."

  "So much difference is there between _'de la Rochefocauld et de laRochefoucauld_.'"

  "All the difference in the world: but let me give you the facts, forthey will serve as a rule by which to judge of many others. In the firstplace, my great-grandfather Mordaunt, the 'patentee,' as he was called,first let the mill-lot to the grandfather of this Seneca, the tenantthen being quite a young man. In order to obtain settlers, in that earlyday, it was necessary to give them great advantages, for there wasvastly more land than there were people to work it. The first lease,therefore, was granted on highly advantageous terms to that JasonNewcome, whom I can just remember. He had two characters; the one, andthe true, which set him down as a covetous, envious, narrow-mindedprovincial, who was full of cant and roguery. Some traditions existamong us of his having been detected in stealing timber, and in variousother frauds. In public he is one of those virtuous and hard-workingpioneers who have transmitted to their descendants all their claims,those that are supposed to be moral, as well as those that are known tobe legal. This flummery may do for elderly ladies, who affect snuff andbohea, and for some men who have minds of the same calibre, but they arenot circumstances to influence such legislators and executives as arefit to be legislators and executives. Not a great while before myfather's marriage, the said Jason still living and in possession, thelease expired, and a new one was granted for three lives, or twenty-oneyears certain, of which one of the lives is still running. That leasewas granted, on terms highly favourable to the tenant, sixty yearssince, old Newcome, luckily for himself and his posterity, having namedthis long-lived son as one of his three lives. Now Seneky, God blesshim! is known to lease a few of the lots that have fallen to his shareof the property for more money than is required to meet all your rent onthe whole. Such, in effect, has been the fact with that mill-lot for thelast thirty years, or even longer; and the circumstance of the greatlength of time so excellent a bargain has existed, is used as anargument why the Newcomes ought to have a deed of the property for anominal price; or, indeed, for no price at all, if the tenants couldhave their wishes."

  "I am afraid there is nothing unnatural in thus perverting principles;half mankind appear to me really to get a great many of their notions_dessus dessous_."

  "Half is a small proportion; as you will find, my boy, when you growolder. But was it not an impudent proposal of Seneca, when he wished youand me to join the corps of 'Injins?'"

  "What answer did you make? Though I suppose it would hardly do for us togo disguised and armed, now that the law makes it a felony, even whileour motive, at the bottom, might be to aid the law."

  "Catch me at that act of folly! Why, Hugh, could they prove such a crimeon either of _us_, or any one connected with an old landed family, weshould be the certain victims. No governor would dare pardon _us_. No,no; clemency is a word reserved for the obvious and confirmed rogues."

  "We might get a little favour on the score of belonging to a verypowerful body of offenders."

  "True; I forgot that circumstance. The more numerous the crimes and thecriminals, the greater the probability of impunity; and this, too, noton the general principle that power cannot be resisted, but on theparticular principle that a thousand or two votes are of vastimportance, where three thousand can turn an election. God only knowswhere this thing is to end!"

  We now approached one of the humbler taverns of the place, where it wasnecessary for those of our apparent pretensions to seek lodgings, andthe discourse was dropped. It was several weeks too early in the seasonfor the Springs to be frequented, and we found only a few of those inthe place who drank the waters because they really required them. Myuncle had been an old stager at Saratoga--a beau of the "purest water,"as he laughingly described himself--and he was enabled to explain allthat it was necessary for me to know. An American watering-place,however, is so very much inferior to most of those in Europe, as tofurnish very little, in their best moments, beyond the human beings theycontain, to attract the attention of the traveller.

  In the course of the afternoon we availed ourselves of the opportunityof a return vehicle to go as far as Sandy Hill, where we passed thenight. The next morning, bright and early, we got into a hired wagon anddrove across the country until near night, when we paid for our passage,sent the vehicle back, and sought a tavern. At this house, where wepassed the night, we heard a good deal of the "Injins" having made theirappearance on the Littlepage lands, and many conjectures as to theprobable result. We were in a township, or rather on a property that wascalled Mooseridge, and which had once belonged to us, but which, havingbeen sold, and in a great measure paid for by the occupants, no onethought of impairing the force of the covenants under which the partiesheld. The most trivial observer will soon discover that it is only whensomething is to be gained that the aggrieved citizen wishes to disturb acovenant. Now, I never heard any one say a syllable against either ofthe covenants of his lease under which he held his farm, let him be everso loud against those which would shortly compel him to give it up! HadI complained of the fact--and such facts abounded--that my predecessorshad incautiously let farms at such low prices that the lessees had beenenabled to pay the rents for half a century by subletting small portionsof them, as my uncle Ro had intimated, I should be pointed at as afool. "Stick to your bond" would have been the cry, and "Shylock" wouldhave been forgotten. I do not say that there is not a vast differencebetween the means of acquiring intelligence, the cultivation, themanners, the social conditions, and, in some senses, the socialobligations of an affluent landlord and a really hard-working, honest,well-intentioned husbandman, his tenant--differences that should disposethe liberal and cultivated gentleman to bear in mind the advantages hehas perhaps inherited, and not acquired by his own means, in such a wayas to render him, in a certain degree, the repository of the interestsof those who hold under him; but, while I admit all this, and say thatthe community which does not possess such a class of men is to bepitied, as it loses one of the most certain means of liberalizing andenlarging its notions, and of improving its civilization, I am far fromthinking that the men of this class are to have their real superiorityof position, with its consequences, thrown into their faces only whenthey are expected to give, while they are grudgingly denied it on allother occasions! There is nothing so likely to advance the habits,opinions, and true interests of a rural population, as to have them alldirected by the intelligence and combined interests that ought to markthe connection between landlord and tenant. It may do for one class ofpolitical economists to prate about a state of things which supposesevery husbandman a freeholder, and rich enough to maintain his levelamong the other freeholders of the State. But we all know that as manyminute gradations in means must and do exist in a community, as thereexists gradations in characters. A majority soon will, in the nature ofthings, be below the level of the freeholder, and by destroying thesystem of having landlords and tenants, two great evils are created--theone preventing men of large fortunes from investing in lands, as no manwill place his money where it will be insecure or profitless, therebycutting off real estate generally from the benefits that might be andwould be conferred by their capital, as well as cutting it off from thebenefits of the increased price which arise from having such buyers inthe market; and the other is, to prevent any man from being a husbandmanwho has not the money necessary to purchase a farm. But they who wantfarms _now_,
and they who will want votes next November, do not lookquite so far ahead as that, while shouting "equal rights," they are, infact, for preventing the poor husbandman from being anything but aday-labourer.

  We obtained tolerably decent lodgings at our inn, though the profoundestpatriot America possesses, if he know anything of other countries, or ofthe best materials of his own, cannot say much in favour of the sleepingarrangements of an ordinary country inn. The same money and the sametrouble would render that which is now the very _beau ideal_ ofdiscomfort, at least tolerable, and in many instances good. But who isto produce this reform? According to the opinions circulated among us,the humblest hamlet we have has already attained the highest point ofcivilization; and as for the people, without distinction of classes, itis universally admitted that they are the best educated, the acutest,and the most intelligent in Christendom;--no, I must correct myself;they are all this, except when they are in the act of leasing lands, andthen the innocent and illiterate husbandmen are the victims of the artsof designing landlords, the wretches![1]

  We passed an hour on the piazza, after eating our supper, and therebeing a collection of men assembled there, inhabitants of the hamlet, wehad an opportunity to get into communication with them. My uncle sold awatch, and I played on the hurdy-gurdy, by way of making myself popular.After this beginning, the discourse turned on the engrossing subject ofthe day, anti-rentism. The principal speaker was a young man of aboutsix-and-twenty, of a sort of shabby genteel air and appearance, whom Isoon discovered to be the attorney of the neighbourhood. His name wasHubbard, while that of the other principal speaker was Hall. The lastwas a mechanic, as I ascertained, and was a plain-looking working-man ofmiddle age. Each of these persons seated himself on a common "kitchenchair," leaning back against the side of the house, and, of course,resting on the two hind legs of the rickety support, while he placed hisown feet on the rounds in front. The attitudes were neither graceful norpicturesque, but they were so entirely common as to excite no surprise.As for Hall, he appeared perfectly contented with his situation, afterfidgeting a little to get the two supporting legs of his chair justwhere he wanted them; but Hubbard's eye was restless, uneasy, and evenmenacing, for more than a minute. He drew a knife from his pocket--asmall, neat pen-knife only, it is true--gazed a little wildly about him,and just as I thought he intended to abandon his nicely poised chair,and to make an assault on one of the pillars that upheld the roof of thepiazza, the innkeeper advanced, holding in his hand several narrow slipsof pine board, one of which he offered at once to 'Squire Hubbard. Thisrelieved the attorney, who took the wood, and was soon deeply plungedin, to me, the unknown delights of whittling. I cannot explain themysterious pleasure that so many find in whittling, though theprevalence of the custom is so well known. But I cannot explain thepleasure so many find in chewing tobacco, or in smoking. The precautionof the landlord was far from being unnecessary, and appeared to be takenin good part by all to whom he offered "whittling-pieces," some six oreight in the whole. The state of the piazza, indeed, proved that theprecaution was absolutely indispensable, if he did not wish to see thehouse come tumbling down about his head. In order that those who havenever seen such thing may understand their use, I will go a little outof the way to explain.

  The inn was of wood, a hemlock frame with a "siding" of clap-boards. Inthis there was nothing remarkable, many countries of Europe, even, stillbuilding principally of wood. Houses of lath and plaster were quitecommon, until within a few years, even in large towns. I remember tohave seen some of these constructions, while in London, in closeconnection with the justly celebrated Westminster Hall; and of suchmaterials is the much-talked-of miniature castle of Horace Walpole, atStrawberry Hill. But the inn of Mooseridge had some pretensions toarchitecture, besides being three or four times larger than any otherhouse in the place. A piazza it enjoyed, of course; it must be a pitifulvillage inn that does not: and building, accessaries and all, rejoicedin several coats of a spurious white lead. The columns of this piazza,as well as the clap-boards of the house itself however, exhibited theproofs of the danger of abandoning your true whittler to his owninstincts. Spread-eagles, five points, American flags, huzzahs for Polk!the initials of names, and names at full length, with various othersimilar conceits, records, and ebullitions of patriotic or party-oticfeelings, were scattered up and down with an affluence the said volumesin favour of the mint in which they had been coined. But the mostremarkable memorial of the industry of the guests was to be found on oneof the columns; and it was one at a corner, too, and consequently ofdouble importance to the superstructure--unless, indeed, the house werebuilt on that well-known principle of American architecture of the lastcentury, which made the architrave uphold the pillar, instead of thepillar the architrave. The column in question was of white pine, asusual--though latterly, in brick edifices, bricks and stucco are muchresorted to--and, at a convenient height for the whittlers, it wasliterally cut two-thirds in two. The gash was very neatly made--thatmuch must be said for it--indicating skill and attention; and thesurfaces of the wound were smoothed in a manner to prove thatappearances were not neglected.

  "Vat do das?" I asked of the landlord, pointing to this gaping wound inthe main column of his piazza.

  "That! Oh! That's only the whittlers," answered the host, with agood-natural smile.

  Assuredly the Americans _are_ the best-natured people on earth! Here wasa man whose house was nearly tumbling down about his ears--always batingthe principle in architecture just named--and he could smile as Nero maybe supposed to have done when fiddling over the conflagration of Rome.

  "But vhy might de vhittler vhittle down your house?"

  "Oh! this is a free country, you know, and folks do pretty much as theylike in it," returned the still smiling host. "I let 'em cut away aslong as I dared, but it was high time to get out 'whittling-pieces' Ibelieve you must own. It's best always to keep a ruff (roof) over aman's head, to be ready for bad weather. A week longer would have hadthe column in two."

  "Vell, I dinks I might not bear dat! Vhat ist mein house ist mein house,ant dey shall not so moch vittles."

  "By letting 'em so much vittles there, they so much vittles in thekitchen; so you see there is policy in having your under-pinnin' knockedaway sometimes, if it's done by the right sort of folks."

  "You're a stranger in these parts, friend?" observed Hubbard,complacently, for by this time his "whittling-piece" was reduced to ashape, and he could go on reducing it, according to some law of the artof whittling, with which I am not acquainted. "We are not so particularin such matters as in some of your countries in the old world."

  "Ja--das I can see. But does not woot ant column cost money in America,someding?"

  "To be sure it does. There is not a man in the country who wouldundertake to replace that pillar with a new one, paint and all, for lessthan ten dollars."

  This was an opening for a discussion on the probable cost of putting anew pillar into the place of the one that was injured. Opinionsdiffered, and quite a dozen spoke on the subject; some placing theexpense as high as fifteen dollars, and others bringing it down as lowas five. I was struck with the quiet and self-possession with which eachman delivered his opinion, as well as with the language used. Theaccent was uniformly provincial, that of Hubbard included, having astrong and unpleasant taint of the dialect of New England in it; andsome of the expressions savoured a little of the stilts of thenewspapers; but, on the whole, the language was sufficiently accurateand surprisingly good, considering the class in life of the speakers.The conjectures, too, manifested great shrewdness and familiarity withpractical things, as well as, in a few instances, some reading. Hall,however, actually surprised me. He spoke with a precision and knowledgeof mechanics that would have done credit to a scholar, and with asimplicity that added to the influence of what he said. Some casualremark induced me to put in--"Vell, I might s'pose an Injin voult cut sodas column, but I might not s'pose a vhite man could." This opinion gavethe discourse a direction towards anti-renti
sm, and in a few minutes itcaught all the attention of my uncle Ro and myself.

  "This business is going ahead after all!" observed Hubbard, evasively,after others had had their say.

  "More's the pity," put in Hall. "It might have been put an end to in amonth, at any time, and ought to be put an end to in a civilized land."

  "You will own, neighbour Hall, notwithstanding, it would be a greatimprovement in the condition of the tenants all over the State, couldthey change their tenures into freeholds."

  "No doubt 't would; and so it would be a great improvement in thecondition of any journeyman in my shop if he could get to be the boss.But that is not the question here, the question is, what right has theState to say any man shall sell his property unless he wishes to sellit? A pretty sort of liberty we should have if we all held our housesand gardens under such laws as that supposes!"

  "But do we not all hold our houses and gardens, and farms, too, by somesuch law?" rejoined the attorney, who evidently respected hisantagonist, and advanced his own opinions cautiously. "If the publicwants land to use, it can take it by paying for it."

  "Yes, to _use_; but use is everything. I've read that old report of thecommittee of the House, and don't subscribe to its doctrines at all.Public 'policy,' in that sense, doesn't at all mean public 'use.' Ifland is wanted for a road, or a fort, or a canal, it must be taken,under a law, by appraisement, or the thing could not be had at all; butto pretend, because one side to a contract wishes to alter it, that theState has a right to interfere, on the ground that the discontented canbe bought off in this way easier and cheaper than they can be made toobey the laws, is but a poor way of supporting the right. The sameprinciple, carried out, might prove it would be easier to buy offpickpockets by compromising than to punish them. Or it would be easy toget round all sorts of contracts in this way."

  "But all governments use this power when it becomes necessary, neighbourHall."

  "That word _necessary_ covers a great deal of ground, 'Squire Hubbard.The most that can be made of the necessity here is to say it is cheaper,and may help along parties to their objects better. No man doubts thatthe State of New York can put down these anti-renters; and, I trust,_will_ put them down, so far as force is concerned. There is, then, noother necessity in the case, to begin with, than the necessity whichdemagogues always feel, of getting as many votes as they can."

  "After all, neighbour Hall, these votes are pretty powerful weapons in apopular government."

  "I'll not deny that; and now they talk of a convention to alter theconstitution, it is a favourable moment to teach such managers theyshall not abuse the right of suffrage in this way."

  "How is it to be prevented? You are an universal suffrage man, I know?"

  "Yes, I'm for universal suffrage among honest folks; but do not wish tohave my rulers chosen by them that are never satisfied without havingtheir hands in their neighbours' pockets. Let 'em put a clause into theconstitution providing that no town, or village, or county shall hold apoll within a given time after the execution of process has been openlyresisted in it. That would take the conceit out of all suchlaw-breakers, in very short order."

  It was plain that this idea struck the listeners, and several evenavowed their approbation of the scheme aloud. Hubbard received it as anew thought, but was more reluctant to admit its practicability. Asmight be expected from a lawyer accustomed to practise in a small way,his objections savoured more of narrow views than of the notions of astatesman.

  "How would you determine the extent of the district to bedisfranchised?" he asked.

  "Take the legal limits as they stand. If process be resisted openly by acombination strong enough to look down the agents of the law in a town,disfranchise that town for a given period; if in more than one town,disfranchise the offending towns; if a county, disfranchise the wholecounty."

  "But, in that way you would punish the innocent with the guilty."

  "It would be for the good of all; besides, you punish the innocent forthe guilty, or _with_ the guilty rather, in a thousand ways. You and Iare taxed to keep drunkards from starving, because it is better to dothat than to offend humanity by seeing men die of hunger, or temptingthem to steal. When you declare martial law you punish the innocent withthe guilty, in one sense; and so you do in a hundred cases. All we haveto ask is, if it be not wiser and better to disarm demagogues, and thosedisturbers of the public peace who wish to pervert their right ofsuffrage to so wicked an end, by so simple a process, than to sufferthem to effect their purposes by the most flagrant abuse of theirpolitical privileges?"

  "How would you determine _when_ a town should lose the right of voting?"

  "By evidence given in open court. The judges would be the properauthority to decide in such a case; and they would decide, beyond allquestion, nineteen times in twenty, right. It is the interest of everyman who is desirous of exercising the suffrage on right principles, togive him some such protection against them that wish to exercise thesuffrage on wrong. A peace-officer can call on the _posse comitatus_ oron the people to aid him; if enough appear to put down the rebels, welland good; but if enough do not appear, let it be taken as proof that thedistrict is not worthy of giving the votes of freemen. They who abusesuch a liberty as man enjoys in this country are the least entitled toour sympathies. As for the mode, that could easily be determined, assoon as you settled the principle."

  The discourse went on for an hour, neighbour Hall giving his opinionsstill more at large. I listened equally with pleasure and surprise."These, then, after all," I said to myself, "are the real bone and sinewof the country. There are tens of thousands of this sort of men in theState, and why should they be domineered over, and made to submit to alegislation and to practices that are so often without principle, by theagents of the worst part of the community? Will the honest for ever beso passive, while the corrupt and dishonest continue so active?" On mymentioning these notions to my uncle, he answered:

  "Yes; it ever has been so, and, I fear, ever will be so. _There_ is thecurse of this country," pointing to a table covered with newspapers, theinvariable companion of an American inn of any size. "So long as menbelieve what they find _there_, they can be nothing but dupes orknaves."

  "But there is good in newspapers."

  "That adds to the curse. If they were nothing but lies, the world wouldsoon reject them; but how few are able to separate the true from thefalse! Now, how few of these papers speak the truth about this veryanti-rentism! Occasionally an honest man in the corps does come out; butwhere one does this, ten affect to think what they do not believe, inorder to secure votes;--votes, votes, votes. In that simple word liesall the mystery of the matter."

  "Jefferson said, if he were to choose between a government withoutnewspapers, or newspapers without a government, he would take the last."

  "Ay, Jefferson did not mean newspapers as they are now. I am old enoughto see the change that has taken place. In his day, three or four fairlyconvicted lies would damn any editor; now, there are men that stand upunder a thousand. I'll tell you what, Hugh, this country is jogging onunder two of the most antagonist systems possible--Christianity and thenewspapers. The first is daily hammering into every man that he is amiserable, frail, good-for-nothing being, while the last is eternallyproclaiming the perfection of the people and the virtues ofself-government."

  "Perhaps too much stress ought not to be laid on either."

  "The first is certainly true, under limitations that we all understand;but as to the last, I will own I want more evidence than a newspapereulogy to believe it."

  After all, my uncle Ro is sometimes mistaken; though candour compels meto acknowledge that he is very often right.