Still there were some, by manners, dress, and birth,

Who honour 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.

* 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 "You were right; it was not a place for me to go to, for I had my pocket picked of one hundred dollars!"

said:

That samples of chivalry and beauty,

Of some who had no business, others who were

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 EMPLOYED-A NICE LOOK OUT"-PUNCTUALITY THE SOUL OF BUSINESS.

It 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 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 for ever 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