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    his sbul terribly when they first came in ; the only way in which he could reconcile himself to such a waste of his cherished articlfe was by patiently turninginside out all that were sent to him , and so making them serve again . Even now , though tamed by age , I see him casting wistful glances at his daughters When they send a whole instead of a half sheet of note-paper ,. with the three lines ot . acceptance to an invitation , written on only one of the sides . I am not above owning that I havp this human weakness myself .. String is my foible . My pockets get full of little hanks of it ; picked up and twisted together , ready for uses that never come . I am seriously annoyed if any one cuts the string of "a parcel , mstead of patiently and feithfully undoing it fold by fold . How people can bring themselves to use Indian-rubber rings , which are a sort of deification of string , as lightly as they do , I cannot imagine . To me an Indian-rubber ring is a precious treasure . I have one which is not new ; one that I picked up off the floor , nearly six years ago . . I have really tried to use it ; but my heart failed me , and I could not commit the extravagance .

    . " Small pieces of butter grieve others . They cannot attend to conversation , because of the annoyance occasioned by the habit which some people have of invariably taking more butter than they want . Have you not seen the anxious look ( almost mesmeric ) which such persons fix on the article ? They would feel it a relief if they might bury it out of their sight , by popping it into their Own mouths , and swallowing it down ; and they are really made happy if the person on whose plate it lies unused , suddenly breaks off a piece of toast ( which he does not want

    at all ) and eats up his butter . They think that this is not waste . " We have only to add , that Crawford is st reprint of articles which appeared in Household Words ; and that to convey an . idea of its contents we cannot do better than call it acompanion , volume to Miss Mitford's Our Village .

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    IMPRESSIONS OE AMERICA . Pine Forests and ttacmatacTc Clearings , orTravel , Infe , andAdventure in the British I / forth American Provinces . By Lieutenant Colonel Sleigh , C . M , Second Edition Bentley . Colonel Sleigh has claims to he heard on the social and political questions raised in his volume beyond those which can be granted to most writers : — " ¦ . ¦ . ¦ . ; ¦¦ ' ¦ . . . .... . /• ¦ . ,-

    " The opinions I have expressed in the following pages , and the conclusions I have arrived at , are the result of personal observation , made after ^ a rather lengthened , sojourn at different periods on the American continent . During two separate epochs of early life I have resided in the British American Provinces . For four years , on that continent , I was the schoolfellow and college chum of many men who have since achieved a position and standing in their country .. My first breath was drawn on the shores of the mighty St . Lawrence . I may perhaps therefore claim the right of feeling and expressing a deep interest in Canadian affairs .

    " During my service in the military profession , I was quartered as an officer m the army , in Nova Scotia , Cape Breton , and Lower Canada . I then had many opportunities of hearing the political sentiments of all classes in the different Provinces . The extended circle of society presented , and the well-known hospitality of the Colonists to military men , likewise rendered me familiar with their social state . Afterwards , and at a comparatively recent period , I again resided in the British North American Provinces , and during that time I travelled over a large extent of country in Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , and the Canadas , as well as in the United States , In this instance I served her Majesty as a Field Officer of militia , as Lieutenant-Colonel commanding a regiment , and as a Justice of the Peace .

    " T \ iy numerous avocations gave me fresh opportunities of examining and forming my observations upon the political system now operating in those Provinces I have exercised an influence as a Proprietor over forty-five miles of country , and hence have had the best means of obtaining information from the tenantry » and yeomen . Entering extensively as a Colonist into public affairs , I connected the British North American Provinces , during- last summer , by a steam communication : as a shipowner , I derived much important information on the Maritime Colonies . " Wo refor the reader , therefore , to this volume of travels and adventure with more than usual confidence , although we confess Colonel Sleigh seems by no means to have mado the most efficient use of his opportudiscussion to ticians t

    nities . Wo prefer , however , leaving poli , and urn to the chapters more immediately interesting to readers of this part of our journal . t . The reckless scandal prevalent in these colonies Colonel bleigh brings before us by some characteristic specimens . But ho gives flat contradiction to many of the notions current respecting the Americans , and some of theao wo quote , with the more pleasure , because we feel how the amicable feelings so desirable between tho two nations may bo thwarted by hasty promulgations of hasty and erroneous impressions . An Englishman goes to America , whore he ought to find himself among brothers , but if ho carry with him an unpleasing preconception ho will mar his own object , and by reporting falsely will help to make the presonco of future jlinghshmen distasteful to Americans . Hear Colonel Sleigh : —

    " I can moafc soriously affirm , that I novor onco received from an American i \ mdo roply = my inquiries , to whomsoever addressed , from tho President to the engine-driver , woro invariably answered with politeness , and an anxiety to give every information . In travelling , I remarked particularly how attentive your fellow-travellers wore ; and whenever bolieved to be from tho Old Country , I received additional courtesy . My plnn was to uddims every one , whatever Iu ' h station , with civility ; that is all that is required in America : civility is a passport all over tho Continent , from tho St . Lawronco to tho Rocky Mountains . Hut onco iwamno tho Imiiffhty uira of tho , Old Country , and you get , what you richly desorvo , Homo sharp retort ing probably some unwelcome truths , touching ' aristocrat * , ' etc .

    , convoy " Tho politonesH of Americana to ladies in beyond all praise . A lhdy can truvol all ov < -r tho Union , and never onco bo insulted . Jf she is alone , it in taken for . muted tlmt Bho is obliged to travel without a protector : hIio may bo going to Foin or rejoin her friendH in a distant Htnto ; or business mny rcquiro her prcsenco : thpv know not , and nak not why hIm clumcos to bo alono . It appears to , mo to mark very strongly and favourably the manliness and chivalry of u people-tins ( reatmont of tho weaker sex with coirffcesy and politonesa . « Another ploasing feature observable in travelling is , that your fellow-travoUora

    are all clean and well-dressed . Accordingly , in railway trains , in which there are no first , second , or third-class carriages , a gentleman does not feel at all inconvenienced by his neighbour . Again , although all ^ are Republicans , and each , from the carter to the millionnaire , has an equal chance of arriving at the highest dignitythe Presidential Chair—there is avery marked respect for persons eminent as com * mercial men , in the Senate , or in the military service . " The Americans are a truly patriotic people . They dearly love their country t her honour each man feels is centered in himself ; a national disgrace is by the Americans deemed an individual reproach . The success of a countryman as a senator , an author , or a soldier , even though he be not of the highest rank , is a source of pride and self-congratulation . "

    AMEEICA AND ENGLAND , "In America , to fight bravely and obstinately for position and wealth is accounted honourable and praiseworthy . An honest man , whatever his calling , is treated with consideration and is respected ; every man amongst them there glories in the designation of an ' adventurer . ' In the Old Country , we are sorry to say , if a man , by dint of talent and genius , defies the prejudice against one not nobly born or illustriously allied togtome ' good old family , ' enters that field of an Englishman ' s ambition— -the House of Commons— -and afterwards obtains office , he is after all stigmatized as an ' adventurer . ' Life is one grand adventure , and the man who rises by dint of talent and genius is not so much an adventurer as were the

    Norman conquerors , who sacked and pillaged , and divided amongst themselves the fan fields of England . They adventured on England because there was a prize to be sought and obtained by their valour , —acres not to be found attached to their patrimonial ' homesteads' in Normandy . In point of fact , they who came in with the Conqueror' were poverty-stricken marauders , obliged to seek in other lands for a replenishing of the purse , if many of them ever owned ' such an article . Even the bishops doffed the mitre for the helmet , and the pastoral staff was thrown aside for the battle-axe and lance , as the old pilot of Eastport relinquished the gauge at the Custom-house for the helm of the ' Fairy Queen / ' when he heard that the tenure of the former was placed in jeopardy .

    "In the United States the people are all more or less educated . To find a perfectly ignorant native-born American would be to discover a phenomenon to be exhibited . They are , it is true , tainted with national prejudices , which are unpleasant to strangers , but by no means injurious to themselves . In the arts and sciences , geography , chemistry , astronomy , mineralogy , and history , they are generally well read . _ I have often been surprised at hearing country-people account for various phenomena of nature on scientific principles , not , as elsewhere , repeating the traditions of ignorance or superstition . It is a fault in Brother Jonathan that he lets you know the extent of his reading by a continual reference to authorities .

    " ^" The effect of this widely-diffused education is to render self-respect very conspicuous in the American character . A person may be a tradesman , a mechanic , or an operative engineer , and still he is a gentleman , in the true acceptation of that term , in manners , information , politeness , and his general conduct in society . Ho can be polite without fear of losing caste . That odious specimen of humanity , a weed which grows and sometimes thrives in England , the ' parvenu , ' is unknown in the United States . There every man is proud of his or his father ' s elevation in life through his industry and hard labour , mental or physical . " I have hitherto spoken of the educated classes , who are your everyday companions in travelling , in the hotels , or at the theatre . That the lower orders , the rank-and-file of the ' American citizens '—the Germans , Irish , Scotch , and English , and the native American ruffian ( the ' b'hoy' ) , are rather unpleasant specimens of humanity , none can deny , and by their votes they virtually govern the upper and more highly-educated classes . In England , property rules ; in America , universal suffrage carries the sway .

    " But the lower orders , except on political occasions , keep within their own sphere , and do not force themselves , as they could if they were so disposed , into the company of the more refined . As a proof of this , take the loading theatres of New York , where , on paying fifty cents ( or two shillings ) , you tire admitted to all parts of the house . I have been to tho Old Park Theatre , Niblo ' s Theatre , and the Astor Place Opera-house , and several others , and in all I have seen elegantly-dressed ladies and gentlemen ; indeed I never saw a badly dressed or questionable-looking person . There is a total absence of that vulgar class , still , wo fear , to bo found in the galleries of the metropolitan theatres in England . In tho respectable American theatres , tho ear is not offended with shrill ' cat-calls , ' whistles , and continuou ' turn him outs . ' No pewter pots circulate amongst tho ' gods , ' or orange-women , with their ginger beer , rudely press betweeni . the seats , toaring dresses and trampling on your feet . If a fellow were to attempt , in a respectable American theatre , to uso tho ' cat-call , ' ho would bo summarily kicked from tho upper tier into tho street .

    " The vulgar betake thomsolves to tho theatres suited to their own class , and which are established especially to punder to their low national or anti-monarchical prejudices . They are in their element at ' stump ' meetings , ' celebrations , ' and other popular assemblages . To force thomselves into tho presence of the President of tho United States at Washington is considered by them a sacred duty , and , as tho elected servant of that class , he must not cavil at the hearty shakes of tho hand and congratulations of his ultra-democratic admirers . Tho same class would hesitate- before they intruded their Nociety upon tho Proscotts , Washington Irvings , Longfollows , Lawroncos , and other distinguished literati and men of opulence . It iH only in politics that they reign , and desire to reign , supremo .

    " Ah a proof of tho extraordinary political influonco of tho mobocracy , it may be stated that not one American , distinguished for exalted eloquence , for learning , or for any qua lification which may have rendered him famous abroad , has evor readied tlmt iicmo ' of im American ' s ambition—tho Presidential scat . Some military men have attained this exalted ntation , 1 > ut it ) . has been only when their achievements flattered , the ultra-national pride . But the only military Presidents , since Washington ' s timo have been Generals Jackson , Taylor , and . Pierce . The generality of . their Presidents arc- selected from what tlioy call , in sporting phraseology , tho ' outsidorfl / or , as wo would say , from tho ' field . ' " Tins will fiuflico to convey an idc-a of tho Colonel's impressions . We ooncludo our brief notice with tho following curious observation : —

    " It is a curious fact , that frost ami exposure to tho cold in North America , will tun tho skin in n tenth part of tho tiino a tropical sun would . I have neon , many people in tho West Indios , though constantly exposed to tho sun , with complexions « h fair oh untravolled Englishmen . But in a northern clime the , frost tans and browns tho ekin in u manner which puto tho sun ' s operation to sbamo .

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    JTOY % 1853 . ] THE" t , E A PER . 645

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 2, 1853, page 645, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1993/page/21/