CHAPTER XVI.
"And yet it is said--Labor in thy vocation; which is as much as to say--let the magistrates be laboring men; and therefore should we be magistrates."--_King Henry VI._
In a minute or two the tumult ceased, and a singular scene presenteditself. The church had four separate groups or parties left in it,beside the Injins, who crowded the main aisle. The chairman, secretary,two ministers, and lecturer, remained perfectly tranquil in their seats,probably understanding quite well _they_ had nothing to fear from theintruders. Mr. Warren and Mary were in another corner, under thegallery, he having disdained flight, and prudently kept his daughter athis side. My uncle and myself were the _pendants_ of the two last named,occupying the opposite corner, also under the gallery. Mr. Hall, and twoor three friends who stuck by him, were in a pew near the wall, butabout half-way down the church, the former erect on a seat, where he hadplaced himself to speak.
"Proceed with your remarks, sir," coolly observed the chairman, who wasone of those paradoxical anti-renters who had nothing to do with theInjins, though he knew all about them, and, as I have been told, wasactually foremost in collecting and disbursing their pay. At thisinstant, Seneca Newcome sneaked in at the side door, keeping as far aspossible from the "disguised and armed," but curious to ascertain whatwould come next.
As for Hall, he behaved with admirable self-possession. He probably knewthat his former auditors were collecting under the windows, and byraising his voice he would be easily heard. At all events, he didelevate his voice, and went on as if nothing had happened.
"I was about to say a word, Mr. Chairman, on the natur' of the twoqualities that have, to me at least, seemed uppermost in the lecturer'sargooment"--yes, this sensible, well-principled man, actually used thatdetestable sound, just as I have written it, calling "argument""argooment"--what a pity it is that so little attention is paid to thevery first principles of speaking the language well in this country, thecommon schools probably doing more harm than they do good in thisrespect--"that have, to me at least, seemed uppermost in the lecturer'sargooment, and they are both those that God himself has viewed as of sogreat importance to our nature as to give his express commandments aboutthem. He has commanded us not to steal, and he has commanded us not tocovet our neighbor's goods; proof sufficient that the possession ofproperty is sanctioned by divine authority, and that it is endowed witha certain sanctity of privilege. Now for the application.
"You can do nothing as to leases in existence, because the State can'timpair a contract. A great deal is said about this government's beingone of the people, and that the people ought to do as they please. Now,I'm a plain man, and am talking to plain men, and mean to talk plainly.That this is a government of the people, being a democracy, or becausethe sovereign power, in the last resort, resides in the body of thepeople, is true; but that this is a government of the people, in thecommon signification, or as too many of the people themselves understandit, is not true. This very interest about which there is so muchcommotion, or the right to interfere with contracts, is put beyond thepeople of the State by a clause in the Constitution of the UnitedStates. Now, the Constitution of the United States might be altered,making another provision, saying that 'no State shall ever pass any lawto do away with the existence of durable leases,' and every man, woman,and child in New York be opposed to such a change, but they would haveto swallow it. Come, let us see what figures will do. There aretwenty-seven States in actual existence, and soon will be thirty. Idon't care on which number you calculate; say thirty, if you please, asthat is likely to be the number before the Constitution could bealtered. Well, twenty-three of these States can put a clause into theConstitution, saying you shan't meddle with leases. This might leave theseven most populous States, with every voter, opposed to the change.I've made a calculation, and find what the seven most populous Stateshad in 1840, and I find that more than half of all the population of thecountry is contained in them seven States, which can be made to submitto a minority. Nor is this all; the alteration may be carried by onlyone vote in each of the twenty-three States, and, deducting these fromthe electors in the seven dissenting States, you might have aConstitutional change made in the country against a majority of say twomillions! It follows that the people, in the common meaning, are not asomnipotent as some suppose. There's something stronger than the people,after all, and that's principles, and if we go to work to tear to piecesour own----"
It was impossible to hear another word that the speaker said. The ideathat the people are not omnipotent was one little likely to find favoramong any portion of the population that fancy themselves to bepeculiarly the people. So much accustomed to consider themselvesinvested with the exercise of a power which, in any case, can berightfully exercised by only the whole people, have local assemblagesgot to be, that they often run into illegal excesses, fancying eventheir little fragment of the body politic infallible, as well asomnipotent, in such matters at least. To have it openly denied,therefore, that the popular fabric of American institutions is so puttogether as to leave it in the power of a decided minority to change theorganic law, as is unquestionably the fact in theory, however littlelikely to occur in practice, sounded in the ears of Mr. Hall's auditorslike political blasphemy. Those under the windows groaned, while thegang in the aisle whooped and yelled, and that in a fashion that had allthe exaggeration of a caricature. It was very apparent that there was anend of all the deliberative part of the proceedings of the day.
Hall seemed neither surprised nor uneasy. He wiped his face very coolly,and then took his seat, leaving the Injins to dance about the church,flourishing their rifles and knives, in a way that might have frightenedone less steady. As for Mr. Warren, he led Mary out, though there was amovement that threatened to stop him. My uncle and myself followed, thewhooping and screaming being really unpleasant to the ear. As to thechairman, the secretary, and the two ministers of the gospel, they kepttheir stations on the stage, entirely self-possessed and unmolested. Noone went near them, a forbearance that must have been owing to the oftenalleged fact that the real anti-renters, the oppressed tenantry of NewYork, and these vile masqueraders, had nothing to do with each other!
One of the astounding circumstances of the times, is the generalprevalence of falsehood among us, and the almost total suppression oftruth. No matter what amount of evidence there may be to contradict astatement, or how often it has been disproved, it is reaffirmed, withjust as much assurance, as if the matter had never been investigated;ay, and believed, as if its substance were uncontradicted. I ampersuaded there is no part of the world, in which it is more difficultto get a truth into the public mind, when there is a motive to suppressit, than among ourselves. This may seem singular, when it is rememberedhow many journals there are, which are uttered with the avowed purposeto circulate information. Alas! the machinery which can be used to givecurrency to truth, is equally efficient in giving currency to falsehood.There are so many modes, too, of diluting truth, in addition to thedownright lies which are told, that I greatly question, if one allegedfact out of twenty, that goes the rounds of the public prints, those ofthe commoner sort excepted, is true in all its essentials. It requiresso much integrity of purpose, so much discrimination, such asensitiveness of conscience, and often so large a degree ofself-sacrifice, in men, to speak nothing but truth, that one is not toexpect that their more vulgar and irresponsible agents are to possess aquality that is so very rare among the very best of the principals.
If I was glad to get out of the church myself, the reader may depend onit, I was rejoiced when I saw Mr. Warren leading Mary toward the placewhere I had left his wagon, as if about to quit a scene that nowpromised nothing but clamor and wrangling, if not something moreserious. Uncle Ro desired me to bring out the wagon in which we had leftthe farm; and, in the midst of a species of general panic, in which thewomen, in particular, went flying about in all directions, I proceededto comply. It was at this moment that a general pause to all movementswas produced by the gang
of Injins pouring out of the church, bringingin their centre the late speaker, Mr. Hall. As the chairman, secretary,lecturer, and the two "ministers of the gospel" followed, it wasconclusive as to the termination of anything like further discussion.
My uncle called me back, and I thought was disposed to assist Hall, who,manfully supported by the two or three friends that had stood by him thewhole day, was now moving toward us, surrounded by a cluster ofwrangling and menacing Injins; the whole party bearing no littleresemblance to a pack of village curs that set upon the strange dog thathas ventured in among them.
Oaths and threats filled the air; and poor Hall's ears were offended byan imputation that, I dare say, they then heard for the first time. Hewas called a "d----d aristocrat," and a hireling is the pay of "d----daristocrats." To all this, however, the sturdy and right-thinkingblacksmith was very indifferent; well knowing there was not a factconnected with his existence, or a sentiment of his moral being, thatwould justify any such charge. It was in answer to this deadlyimputation, that I first heard him speak again, after he had beeninterrupted in the church.
"Call me what you please," he cried, in his clear full voice; "I don'tmind hard names. There isn't a man among you who thinks I'm anaristocrat, or the hireling of any one; but I hope I am not yet so greata knave as to wish to rob a neighbor because he happens to be richerthan I am myself."
"Who gave Hugh Littlepage his land?" demanded one in the midst of thegang, speaking without the affectation of mimicry, though the coveringto his head sufficiently changed his voice. "You know yourself it camefrom the king."
"He never worked for an acre of it!" bawled another. "If he was ahard-working, honest man, like yourself, Tim Hall, we might bear it; butyou know he is not. He's a spendthrift and an aristocrat."
"I know that hard hands don't make a man honest, any more than softhands make him a rogue," answered Tim Hall, with spirit. "As for theLittlepages, they are gentlemen in every sense of the word, and alwayshave been. Their word will pass even now, when the bond of many a manwho sets himself up ag'in them wouldn't be looked at."
I was grateful and touched with this proof that a character, which Ifully believed to be merited, was not lost on one of the mostintelligent men of his class, in that part of the country. Envy, andcovetousness, and malignancy, may lie as they will, but the uprightrecognize the upright; the truly poor know who most assuage theirsorrows and relieve their wants; and the real lover of libertyunderstands that its privileges are not to be interpreted altogether inhis own favor. I did not like the idea of such a man's being ill-treatedby a gang of disguised blackguards--fellows who added to the crime ofviolating a positive law, the high moral offence of prostituting thesacred principles of liberty, by professing to drag them into theservice of a cause, which wanted very little, in its range, to includeall the pickpockets and thieves in the land.
"They will do that noble fellow some injury, I fear," I whispered to myuncle.
"If it were not for the mortification of admitting our disguise, I wouldgo forward at once, and attempt to bring him out of the crowd," was theanswer. "But that will not do, under the circumstances. Let us bepatient, and observe what is to follow."
"Tar and feathers!" shouted some one among the Injins; "Tar and featherhim!" "Crop him, and send him home!" answered others. "Tim Hall has goneover to the enemy," added the Injin who asked whence I had my lands.
I fancied I knew that voice, and when its tones had been repeated two orthree times, it struck me it was that of Seneca Newcome. That Seneca wasan anti-renter, was no secret; but that he, a lawyer, would be guilty ofthe great indiscretion of committing felony, was a matter about whichone might well entertain a doubt. To urge others to be guilty was adifferent matter, but to commit himself seemed unlikely. With a view tokeep an eye on the figure I distrusted, I looked out for some mode bywhich he might be known. A patch, or rather gore in the calico, answeredadmirably, for on looking at others, I saw that this gore wasaccidental, and peculiar to that particular dress, most probably owingto a deficiency in the material originally supplied.
All this time, which indeed was but a minute or two, the tumultcontinued. The Injins seemed undetermined what to do; equally afraid tocarry out their menaces against Hall, and unwilling to let him go. Atthe very instant when we were looking for something serious, the stormabated, and an unexpected calm settled on the scene. How this waseffected, I never knew; though it is reasonable to suppose an order hadbeen communicated to the Injins, by some signal that was known only tothemselves. Of the result there was no doubt; the crowd around Hallopened, and that sturdy and uncompromising freeman came out of it,wiping his face, looking heated and a little angry. He did not yield,however, remaining near the spot, still supported by the two or threefriends who had accompanied him from Mooseridge.
My uncle Ro, on reflection, conceived it wisest not to seem in a hurryto quit the village, and as soon as I had ascertained that Mr. Warrenhad come to a similar decision, and had actually taken refuge in thehouse of a parishioner, I "was agreeable," as the English say. While thepedler, therefore, made a new display of his watches, I strolled roundamong the crowd, Injins and others intermixed, to see what could beseen, and to glean intelligence. In the course of my wanderings, chancebrought me close to the side of the masker in the dress with the gore.Tickling him gently on the elbow, I induced him to step a little asidewith me, where our conversation would not be overheard.
"Why might you be Injin--gentleman as you be?" I asked, with as much ofan air of simplicity as I could assume.
The start with which this question was met convinced me I was right; andI scarce needed farther confirmation of the justice of my suspicion. IfI had, however, it was afforded.
"Why ask Injin dat?" returned the man with the gore.
"Vell, dat might do, and it might not do, 'Squire Newcome; but it mightnot do wid one as knows you as vell as I know you. So dell me; vy mightyou be Injin?"
"Harkee," said Seneca, in his natural speech, and evidently muchdisturbed by my discovery: "you must, on no account, let it be known whoI am. You see, this Injin business is ticklish work, and the lawmight--that is--_you_ could get nothing by mentioning what you know, butas you have said, as I'm a gentleman, and an attorney at law, itwouldn't sound well to have it said that I was caught dressed up in thismanner, playing Injin."
"Ja--ja--I oonderstants--gentlemans might not do sich dings, und not belaughed at--dat's all."
"Ye-e-e-s--that's all, as you say, so be careful what you say or hintabout it. Well, since you have found me out, it's my treat. What shall'tbe?"
This was not very elegant for a "gentleman," and "an attorney at law,"certainly, but, as it belonged to the school of Mr. Newcome, it struckme it might not be prudent for me to betray that I belonged to one of adifferent sort. Affecting contentment, therefore, I told him, what hepleased, and he led me to a store of all business, that was kept by hisbrother, and in which, as I afterward found, he himself was a partner.Here he generously treated me to a glass of fiery whiskey, which Imanaged to spill in a way that prevented my being choked. This wasadroitly enough effected, as a refusal to drink would have been taken asa most suspicious circumstance in a German. As respects Americans of myassumed class, I am happy to say it is now more possible for one torefuse a glass than to accept it. It says a good deal in favor of thepopulation of a country, when even the coachman declines his whet.Nevertheless, a nation may become perfectly sober, and fall away withfearful rapidity on other great essentials. On the subject of sobriety,I agree altogether with my uncle, in thinking that the Americans drinkmuch less than most, if not less than any European nation; the commonnotion that long prevailed to the contrary in the country, being no morethan the fruits of the general disposition, in other people, to decrydemocracy, aided somewhat, perhaps, by the exaggerations that are socommon in all the published statistics of morals.
I remarked that very few even of the Injins drank, though they now beganto circulate freely among the crowd, and in the stores. S
eneca left meas soon as he fancied he had clinched my discretion with a treat, and Istood looking round at the manner in which the "armed and disguised"conducted themselves. One fellow, in particular, attracted my attention;and his deportment may be taken as a specimen of that of many of hiscomrades.
I was soon struck by the fact that Orson Newcome, Seneca's brother andpartner, was obviously desirous of having as little to do with any ofthe Injins as possible. As soon as one entered his store, he appeareduneasy, and whenever one left it, he seemed glad. At first, I wasinclined to think that Orson--what names will not the greatEastern family adopt, before they have got through with theircatalogue?--really, they seem to select their appellations as they do somany other things, or to prove that they'll do as they please; butOrson, I fancied at first, was influenced by principle, and did not careto conceal the disgust he felt at such audacious and illegalproceedings. But I soon discovered my mistake, by ascertaining the truecause of his distaste for the presence of an Injin.
"Injin want calico, for shirt"--said one of these worthies,significantly, to Orson, who at first affected not to hear him.
The demand was repeated, however, with additional significance, when thecloth was reluctantly thrown on the counter.
"Good," said the Injin, after examining the quality; "cut Injin twentyyard--_good_ measure, hear?"
The calico was cut, with a sort of desperate submission; the twentyyards were folded, enveloped, and handed to the customer, who coolly putthe bundle under his arm, saying, as he turned to leave thestore--"Charge it to Down Rent."
The mystery of Orson's sullenness was now explained. As invariablyfollows the abandonment of principle, the fomenters of wrong weresuffering smartly through the encroachments of their own agents. Iascertained afterward that these very Injins, who had been embodied inhundreds, with a view to look down law, and right, and the sacredcharacter of contracts, had begun to carry out their main principle, andwere making all sorts of demands on the pockets and property of theirvery employers, under one pretence or another, but with very obvioustendencies toward their own benefit. The "spirit of anti-rentism" wasbeginning to develop itself in this form, under the system of violence;as, under that of legislative usurpation, and legislative truckling tonumbers, which is most to be feared from the character of ourrepresentatives, it will as certainly be developed, unless suppressed inthe bud, by such further demands on its complaisant ministers, as willeither compel them to repent of their first false step, will drive theState to civil war, or will drive all the honest men out of it.
I did not remain long in the store. After quitting it, I went in questof Mr. Warren and Mary, anxious to know if I could be of any service tothem. The father thanked me for this attention, and let me know that hewas now about to quit the village, as he saw others beginning to goaway, among whom was Hall, who was an old and much valued acquaintanceof his, and whom he had invited to stop at the rectory to dine. Headvised us to imitate the example, as there were strangers among theInjins, who might be addicted to drinking.
On this information I hunted up my uncle, who had actually sold most ofhis trinkets, and all his watches but one, the secret of his greatsuccess being the smallness of his prices. He sold for what he hadbought, and in some instances for even less, quitting the place with thereputation of being the _most reasonable_ jewel-pedler who had everappeared in it.
The road was beginning to be lined with vehicles carrying home thepeople who had collected to hear the lecture. As this was the firstoccasion which offered for witnessing such an exhibition since myreturn, I examined the different parties we passed, with a view tocomparison. There is a certain air of rusticity, even in the large townsof America, which one does not meet with in the capitals of the oldworld. But the American country is less rustic than any part of theworld with which I am acquainted, England alone excepted. Of course, inmaking such a remark, no allusion is intended to the immediate environsof very large towns; though I am far from certain that the population ofSt. Ouen, the Runnymede of France, and which stands within a league ofthe walls of Paris, would not have offered a more decidedly rusticspectacle than that which we then saw. As respects females, this wasvery strikingly true; scarce one being visible who had that air ofcoarseness, and ignorance, and vulgarity, which denotes a degradedcondition and a life of hardships. There was little apparent that markeda peasantry in the moral sense of the word; but the whole populationseemed to be at their ease, using neat and well-kept vehicles; solid,active horses; and being themselves reasonably well, though not verytastefully clad. Yet, all this was on a leased estate, under the direoppression of a landlord, and beneath the shadow of aristocracy! A shortdialogue which took place between my uncle and two sturdy weather-beatenhusbandmen, who drove their horses to a short distance on a walk at theside of ours, made the impression produced by such facts deeper than itmight otherwise have been. I will relate it.
"You are Jarmans, I b'lieve," commenced the oldest of the two men, agray-headed tenant of my own, of the name of Holmes, who was well knownto us both--"Jarmans, from the old countries, I hear?"
"Ja--we bees from der olt coontries; und dat is a great vay off."
"Ye-e-es, I s'pose it is--I've heern tell of them coontries, often. Doesthe landlord system exist there?"
"Ja--dere ist lantlordts all ofer dis worlt, I do dinks; und tenants,doo."
"Well, and how is the plan liked there; or be folks thinking of gettingred (rid) on't?"
"Nein--how might dey gets red of it? It ist der law, you might see, andvhat ist der law moost be done."
This answer puzzled old Holmes a good deal. He passed a hand over hisface, and turned to his companion, one Tubbs, also a tenant on myestate, as if to ask assistance. Tubbs was one of the new school; aschool that makes more laws than it respects, and belongs to themovement. He is a man that fancies the world never knew anything ofprinciples, facts, or tendencies, until the commencement of thiscentury.
"What sort of a goverment had you, in your own country?" demanded Tubbs.
"Bretty goot. Mein coontry was Preussen; und dat might be t'ought abretty goot gofernment."
"Yes, but it's a kingly government, I take it;--it seems to me, I haveheern tell of kings in that land."
"Ja, ja--dere ist ein koenig--one king. De last might be der goot koenigVilhelm, und now dere ist his son, who ist a goot koenig, too, as Imight dink. Ja, ja--dere ist a king."
"That explains it all," cried Tubbs, with a sort of triumph. "You see,they have a king, and so they have tenants; but, here we have no king,and we have no need of landlords. Every man, in a free country, shouldbe his own landlord; that's my doctrine, and to that I'll stick."
"There is some reason in that, fri'nd; isn't that your idee?" askedHolmes.
"Vell, I might not oonderstandt. Dost der shentlemans object tolandlordts, in his coontry, because dere might be landlordts in demcoontries as might haf kings."
"That's it! That's just the reason on't, and the true principle!"answered Tubbs. "Kings and liberty can't go together, and landlords andliberty can't go together."
"But might not der law in this coontry be to haf landlordts, too? I heardat it ist so."
"Yes, that is the law, as it stands; but we mean to alter it all. Wehave got so many votes now, as to be sure to have both parties with usat the gin'ral election; and give us the Governor on our side, with thesartainty of votes enough to turn an election, and we're prettyconfident of success. Votes is all that is wanting, in a truly freecountry, for men to have things pretty much in their own way."
"Und dost you mean to haf not'in dat might be in de coontries ast hafkings?"
"To be sure not. What do we want of any of your lordly contrivances, tomake the rich richer, and the poor poorer."
"Vell, you moost alter de law of nature, if de rich vilt not get riches,und de poor vill not feel dey be poor. De Piple dells us dat de miseryof de poor ist deir poverty."
"Ay, ay, Bible talk don't go for much in politics. Sabba' days are setaside for the Bibl
e, and week-days for public and private matters. Now,here is Hugh Littlepage, of the same flesh and blood as my neighborHolmes and myself be--no better and no worse; yes, I'm willing to allowhe's no worse, in the main, though in some things I do think we mightclaim the preference; but I'll allow he's no worse, for the sake ofargooment. Each on us rents a farm of this Littlepage, of a hundredacres good. Wa-al, this land we till, and crop, and labor, with our ownhands, and the hands of our sons, and hired help, perhaps; and yet wehave to pay fifty dollars apiece, annually, to that youngster, HughLittlepage, for rent; which money he takes and squanders where hepleases, in riotous livin', for't we know. Now, is that right, I ask;and isn't it an onsuitable state of things for a republican country?"
"Und you dinks yoong Littlebage might spend his money in riotous lifin'in foreign landts?"
"Sartain--that's the tale hereabouts; and I have seen a man who knowsanother, that has an acquaintance who has been in Paris, and who tellsthe people of his neighborhood that he stood at the door of the king'spalace one day, and actually saw both the Littlepages going in to pay'tribute unto Caesar,' as it is called--I suppose you know; and they tellme that all that goes to see a king, has to kneel and kiss hishand--some say his toe. Do you happen to know how it is in the oldcountries?"
"It ist not so; I haf seen more kings as half a dozen, und dey dost notkneel down and kiss deir hants, except on sartain business. Dey mightnot allvays hear what is true, in dis country."
"Wa-a-l, I don't know, I never was there to see," answered Tubbs, inthat peculiar manner, which, whenever it is used by an American, maysafely be interpreted to mean, "I'll not contradict you, but I'llbelieve what I please." "That is what I've heern say. But, why should wepay rent to young Littlepage to spend in riotous living?"
"I might not know, oonless you haf hiret his landt, und agree't to payhim rent; in which case you might do as you agree't."
"But when the bargain's of a kingly natur', I say no. Every country hasits natur', and every government has its natur', and all things shouldbe in conformity with natur'. Now it's ag'in natur' to pay rent in arepublican country. We want nothing here, that's in common with lordsand kings."
"Vell, den, you most alter your whole coontry. You might not haf wifesund children; you might not lif in houses; and plough de landt; youmight not eat und drink; and you might not wear any shirt."
Tubbs looked a little astonished. Like the _Bourgeois Gentilhomme_, hewas amazed to find he had been talking prose all his life withoutknowing it. There is no question that laws unsuitable to theinstitutions of a republic might exist in a kingdom, but it is equallycertain that the law which compels the tenant to pay for the use of hishouse or farm is not one of the number. Tubbs, however, had been sothoroughly persuaded, by dint of talking, there was somethingexceedingly anti-republican in one man's paying rent to another, that hewas not disposed to give the matter up so easily.
"Ay, ay," he answered, "we have many things in common with kingdoms as_men_, I must allow; but why should we have anything in common of thisaristocratic natur'? A free country should contain freemen, and how_can_ a man be free if he doesn't own the land out of which he makes hisliving?"
"Und if he makes his lifin' out of anoder man's land, he might be honestenough to pay for its use, I dinks."
"But, we hold it _ought_ not to be another man's land, but the land ofhim who works it."
"Dell me dis--dost you efer let out a field to a poor neighbor onshares?"
"Sartain; we will do that, both to accommodate folks, and to get cropswhen we are crowded with work ourselves."
"Und why might not all dat crop pelong to him dat works de field?"
"Oh! that's doin' business on a small scale, and can't do anybody harm.But the American institutions never intended that there should be agreat privileged class among us, like the lords in Europe."
"Did you efer haf any difficulty in getting your hire for a field datmight be so let out?"
"Sartain. There's miserable neighbors as well as them that isn't. I hadto sue the very last chap I had such dealin's with."
"Und dit das law let you haf your money?"
"To be sure it did! What would law be good for, if it didn't help a bodyto his rights?"
"Und dost den tenants of dis broperty let Hugh Littlebage haf his rents,as might be due?"
"That's a different thing, I tell you. Hugh Littlepage has more than hewants, and spends his money in riotous livin' in foreign parts."
"Vell, und sooppose your neighpors might vants to ask you what you dowit' your tollars after you shall sell your pork and beef, to see youmate goot use of it--might dat be liperty?"
"That! Why, who do you think would trouble himself about my 'arnin's.It's the big fish only that folks talk about, and care about, in suchmatters."
"Den folks make Hugh Littlebage a big fish, by dair own mettlin', undenfy, und cofetousness--is it not so?"
"Harkee, fri'nd, I some think you're leanin' yourself to kingly ways,and to the idees in which you was brought up. Take my advice, andabandon all these notions as soon as you can, for they'll never bepopular in this part of the world."
Popular! How broad has the signification of this word got to be! In theeyes of two-thirds of the population it already means, "what is right."_Vox populi, vox dei!_ To what an extent is this little word made toentwine itself around all the interests of life! When it is deemedexpedient to inculcate certain notions in the minds of the people, thefirst argument used is to endeavor to persuade the inhabitants of NewYork that the inhabitants of Pennsylvania are already of that mind. Asimulated public opinion is the strongest argument used, indeed, onevery occasion of the public discussion of any disputed point. He thatcan count the most voices is a better man than he who can give the mostreasons; numbers carrying more weight with them than facts or law. It isevident, that, while in some things, such a system may work well, thereare others, and those of overshadowing importance, in which its tendencyis direct and fearful toward corruption.
As soon as Tubbs had given his admonition, he applied the whip to hishorse, and trotted on, leaving us to follow at the best gait we couldextort from Tom Miller's hack.