Of decoration, star, and string,

And other bauble-thing

Which make it so elate;

Of purple vest and ermined robe,

Red and blue uniforms, with golden hems,

Some of whose wearers have sailed round the globe,
Some only on the Thames!

Of hosts in bag-wigs, ruffs, and swords,
Streaming along the regal boards,

With servants all dress'd out such state in,
They look much more like "lords in waiting,"
Because, as things run nowadays much faster,
The man looks, mostly, finer than his master.
Well, this sounds mighty grand in London,
But in America it's all left undone!

Still, at that Court some wondrous things there be,
As you shall see.

If you have watched a bevy

Of oxen, cows, and calves, and sheep,
Geese, turkey-cocks, and hens,

On market-day, all in a heap,

Before they are divided into pens,

You can have then a distant notion

Of the myriads in motion,

Of woman, lovely as the world e'er blest,

Only not knowing how she should be dress'd;

Of man not knowing, and not caring

What mixed apparel he was wearing;

Of the gaudy and the gay,

Of those who shun display,
Of the calm, and the unsteady
For any outbreak ready;
Of minds of all intentions,

Of forms of all dimensions,

Of all in heart light, though their bodies might be heavy,

Who went to the President's Levée!

Some came up by an omnibus or hack,

The greater part of them walked there and back,

And smoked up to the door,

Where they could smoke no more.

Within the hall, crammed here and there,

Under a table, on a chair,

Upon a mantle-piece, or open door,

Also upon the floor,

All kinds of coats were stowed, and hats

That's

A name they have for what's worn on the head, and whether
Made out of beaver, felt, straw, skin, or leather.

(N. B. When you have shaken

The President's hand, and taken
Your leave of him, then make

As much haste as you can, and take
Your hat, or some smart chap who saw you
Come with a good one on, will take it for you.)
What generals and majors

And colonels, too, by scores,
Swearing, and laying wagers,

While jammed 'twixt folding doors-
(I can't answer, understand,
How many could show scars!)
Then, some judges-of the land,
Some-of brandy and cigars!
Then senators from Texas,
Virginia, Tennessee,

Whose mixed costumes perplex us
To think what they can be.
Blue coat, and figured handkerchief,
A party-color'd vest

With trowsers striped in bold relief,

And boots make up the rest,

Built thick for walking, and but one thing lackingThey had been long divorced from blacking!

There was Mrs. Polk, from Iowa

Escorted by a vain beau,

And dressed in all the colors of the rainbow,
Who on Mrs. Cass, from Arkansas, look'd down,
For though her diamond rings she saw,
She'd on a cotton gown!

There was Mrs. Clay, from Florida,
And Mrs. Sac, from Wisconsin,
Both walking stately in!
But can any sight be "horrider,"
(Rather an absurd

Kind of new word,)

Than a gaudy, satin gown to wear,
And show (it's really shocking!)
While holding up the train with care,
A dark blue worsted stocking!

There came Mrs. Dodge, from Illinois,
Upon her husband leaning;

Dress'd oddly, but most showy

(Her milliner must charge enough,
For Mrs. D is large enough,

A dozen more for screening!)

A skin (we thought a rabbit's) seem'd to deck
Her most extensive neck!

A droll thing to behold,

But perhaps she had a cold!

Then, a long cloak from her shoulder

Which, plainly, kept her warm,

If it did not quite enfold her,

Yet concealed her pulpy form;
She'd a green merino dress, of

Wondrous make, with flounce and slash,
Both scarlet, and a yellow sash-

A mixture ne'er yet sung, or said,
Nor to immortal music wed

In Seven Dials ballad,

Whose varied hues were made a mess of,
Just like a monstre lobster-salad!

Sweet Mrs. Yalabusha came

From the Mississippi side,

With a youthful husband known to fame,
Though rather tanned his hide :
Around her neck she wore a ruff,

And from her head a veil,

And feathers in that head enough
To make a peacock's tail!

"The Pearl of Alabama" passed away

Like the last sunbeams which illume the day,
Leaving behind, for the embrace of night,

A rosy halo of unchequered light!

Attired in native modesty, her taste

Had not one charm concealed, by fold misplaced;
She looked and moved around, as fair a thing

As if she were a seraph taking wing
From the dull earth to some serener air,
After one little moment resting there,
A starlike radiance far away to shed,
When every other star had gone to bed!

Then, there of "Young America" was plenty,
Running from twelve years old to twenty,
Brought up from infancy to spit and smoke-
Just entering

Life, and venturing

On their first joke!

(Let it be stated here in a parenthesis,

For fear of a mistake, that when this is

Matter of question, as of course 'twill be,

There was no spitting here, that we could see,
For 'tis the only unsoil'd spot

In all America, where they spit not!)

Still there were some, by manners, dress, and birth, Who honor would confer,

We must aver,

On any court of earth;

But then they were, as must be plainly seen,
"Like angels' visits, few- -and far between!"

We did hear there were some

Who thither had come,

So light in motion, one had not the slightest
Idea which were the lightest,

Their own fair hands, so dexterously they hid them,
Or others' pockets into which they slid them!*

Then came hack and other coachmen,

Who thought, on setting down their fare,
They'd as good right to approach men
Of however high degree

Their rank, or name might be,
As any others there!

Thus, looking the list through

Of those brought here to view,
It cannot be denied,

That samples of chivalry and beauty,

Of some who had no business, others who were "on duty,"
Many of countless wealth

Some "who do good by stealth,"

And be it understood,

Others intent on stealth, more than on good,

Rare specimens of great Columbia's pride,

Of father, mother, child, uncle, aunt, niece and nevy,
Attended the President's Levée!

CHAPTER XII.

Travelling, and the various modes of undergoing the process-Steamers and state-rooms-Equality and fraternity-The Thames and the Hudson-The slavery of freedom-Sketch of an American traveller-Some doubts as to which is white or black-Murders by wholesale-How to recover a lost dinner-A short cut down a precipice-Novel form of prayer-A tip into the water-The Good Samaritan medically em/ployed-A nice "look-out"-Punctuality the soul of business.

Ir is unnecessary to say that the American is a locomotive

personage

"Like Noah's faithful dove,"

there is no rest for the sole of his foot; and as he cannot remain

* A gentleman in a high official situation at Washington, told us, that, when Macready expressed to him a wish to go to the President's Levée, he replied: "Oh, it is not a place for you to go to!" But he went, and calling the next day on our informant, he said: "You were right; it was not a place for me to go to, for I had my pocket picked of one hundred dollars!"

any length of time in one place, it naturally follows that he must be off to another; whether his "whereabouts" be confined to the town, or extended to the country-he is forever on the move; and if he has no particular business that calls him away, he will go for his particular pleasure. Admitting that point, and it is no use disputing it, let us inquire into the modes of conveyance by which this incessant transitus is effected.

The conveyances from one end of a town to the other, or from any intersecting points, consist of hack, cab, omnibus, railroad car, &c., and from place to place between which any river or sheet of water flows, of ferry-boats. The hacks are infinitely superior in their fitting-up to any in England, and in some instances are quite as good as any private carriage; but the regulation of the fares is singularly inferior, in any town we visited, save and except our well-beloved city of Boston. The imposition in New York is unendurable, for there you cannot get the shortest "set down" for less than a dollar; and though every one tells you that the legal charge for a mile is but half that sum, yet only propose it to your Jarvey, and you will get a double "setting down"-one from him, and the other from his carriage.

The omnibus so far differs from ours, that it has no conductor, but the passenger wishing to alight, pulls a leather connected with the door and the driver, and pays him at the aperture through which the thong passes. The vehicle is calculated to hold twelve (six a-side), but there is no hesitation in letting twelve more sit on the laps of the first dozen, and six more stand up in the centre, thus inflicting (peace be to the manes of the late Mr. Martin, of Galway!) thirty passengers, exclusive of the outsiders, upon the sinews of two horses.

In such large cities as New York and Philadelphia, there are railroads laid down in the public streets, where the sight of a huge machine sailing along, generally in the most crowded thoroughfares, is really something marvellous. They carry twelve a-side, but seventy individuals have been known to stow themselves away, here, there, and everywhere. They are propelled easily by two horses, which are harnessed in front, the driver stopping the vehicle (on hearing a bell rung by the conductor), by a drag, which he winds on or off, at pleasure; and arrived at his destination, he merely removes the bars by a spring, takes the horses round to the other end of the carriage, and returns to the place from whence he came an incessant roving between one terminus and the other from sunrise unto midnight. The fares of these ponderous properties being but five and six cents (twopence halfpenny and threepence of our money), they supersede all other modes of loco