nations of wealth are continually seeking profit at the hands of the government at the expense of the people. And it is only astonishing that the democratic party should be able to bear up against them all so successfully as we in fact witness. This is to be ascribed (under that Providence whose unseen hand we recognise in all human affairs) only to the sterling honesty and good sense of the great industrious mass of our people, its instinctive perception of, and yearning after, the democratic truth, and the unwavering generosity of its support of those public servants whom it has once tried well and long, and with whom it has once acknowledged the genuine sympathy of common sentiments and a common cause. Yet still the democratic principle can do little more than hold its own. The moral energies of the national mind are, to a great extent, paralyzed by division; and instead of bearing forward the ark of democratic truth, entrusted to us as a chosen people, towards the glorious destiny of its future, we must be content if we can but stem with it the perpetual tide of attack which would bear it back towards the ideas of the dark ages.

The democratic cause is one which not only ought to engage the whole mind of the American nation, without any serious division of its energies, to carry forward the noble mission entrusted to her, of going before the nations of the world as the representative of the democratic principle, and as the constant living exemplar of its results; but which ought peculiarly to commend itself to the generosity of youth, its ardent aspirations after the good and beautiful, its liberal and unselfish freedom from narrow prejudices of interest.

For democracy is the cause of humanity. It has faith in human nature. It believes in its essential equality and fundamental goodness. It respects with a solemn reverence, to which the proudest artificial institutions and distinctions of society have no claim, the human soul. It is the cause of philanthropy. Its object is to emancipate the mind of the mass of men from the degrading and disheartening fetters of social distinctions and advantages; to bid it walk abroad through the free creation "in its own majesty ;" to war against all fraud, oppression, and violence; by striking at their root, to reform all the infinitely varied human misery which has grown out of the old and false ideas by which the world has been so long misgoverned; to dismiss the hireling soldier; to spike the cannon, and bury the bayonet; to burn the gibbet, and open the debtor's dungeon; to substitute harmony and mutual respect for the jealousies and discord now subsisting between different classes of society, as the consequence of their artificial classification. It is the cause of Christianity, to which a slight allusion has been already made, to be more fully developed hereafter. And that portion of the peculiar friends and ministers of religion who now, we regret to say, cast the weight of their influence against the cause of democracy, under the false prejudice of an affinity between it and opposition to a "higher law," understand but little either its true spirit, or that of their own faith. It is, moreover, a cheerful creed-a creed of high hope and universal love, noble and ennobling; while all others, which imply a distrust of mankind, and of the natural moral principles infused into it by its Creator, for its own selfdevelopment and self-regulation, are as gloomy and selfish, in the tone of moral sentiment which pervades them, as they are degrading in their practical tendency, and absurd in theory, when examined by the light of original principles.

A TRUE HISTORY, AND THE MORE WONDERFUL FOR BEING TRUE.

CHAPTER I.

SHOWING WHO UNCLE SAM IS.

EVERYBODY knows UNCLE SAM, the great Land Speculator out West, who has more acres than you can throw a stick at, and more children than he can keep in order. His good helpmate breeds like a rabbit, as the saying is, and almost always throws doublets in playing backgammon; so that before the elder ones arrive at years of discretion, the small-fry are setting up for themselves, and insisting on wearing the breeches, when they are not fairly out of their petticoats. The old fellow has now thirty-one or thirty-two b'hoys, I forget which, and the good woman is said to be in a family way again. No doubt she will throw doublets as usual. But Uncle Sam don't mind this; he says the more the merrier, and that he can not only provide for his own children, but for those of all the world, and the rest of mankind. And so he can, if he don't give all his lands away to Tom, Dick and Harry, as he seems mightily inclined to do, especially when he sets up late at night, and gets a little "corned." When any of his prudent friends caution him on the subject, mine Uncle swaggers away like a stump orator, slaps his pocket-which, by the way, has nothing but shin-plasters in it-and answers, "Body o'me! hav'nt I more land than I know what to do with, and if I want another slice, can't I switch them there Ingens and Mexicans out of it whenever I please? Aint I sent here on a mission, I reckon; and aint it my special business to christianize, civilize, liberalize and bedevil, not only this deestrict, but the whole neighborhood besides, especially the niggers?"

Uncle Sam talks "big" sometimes, like his old dad, Squire Bull, who was reckoned the greatest bragger of his day, till Uncle Sam grew up and disputed the point with him. But mine Uncle can do something besides brag, when he is put to it to toe the mark, and has got his dander fairly up. He has had two or three hard scuffles with Squire Bull, who never fails to do him an ill turn when it falls in his way, and sometimes when it don't, and you may depend upon it, he did'nt come off second best. The old Squire, who is getting partly in his dotage, and has become terribly jealous of Uncle Sam, still continues every now and then to give him a sly dig under the short ribs, but always smoothes him down by calling him his dear son, and swearing he is an honor to his daddy.

Besides this, Uncle Sam has many good qualities, though he sometimes has a confounded queer way of showing them; and without going further into particulars, I make bold to say, he may justly hold his head as high as his neighbors in honesty and good fellowship, though it must be confessed that none of them have much to boast of on that score. If Uncle Sam ever meddles with their affairs, it is on account of what he calls "His mission," which is very apt to make him forget that what's one man's meat is another man's poison, and that it is not so easy to make a velvet purse out of a sow's ear, or a new shoe out of an old one. On the whole, however, Uncle Sam is a right good fellow at bottom; and though I may

sometimes tickle him up a little myself, I'll knock any stranger down that shall dare to say he is no better than he should be, or that he can't whip his weight in wild-cats.

CHAPTER II.

How UNCLE SAM PARCELLED OUT HIS LANDS AMONG HIS B'HOYS UNDER CONTRACT-HOW THE YOUNG ROGUES UNDERTOOK TO INTERPRET THE CONTRACT ONE WAY AND UNCLE SAM ANOTHER-AND HOW THEY FELL INTO A GREAT TURMOIL ABOUT THE MEANING OF THE WORDS, "NECESSARY AND PROPER."

Uncle Sam has got a way of his own in managing his family affairs. He don't follow the fashion of your stingy old codgers, that love money better than their own flesh and blood, and keep it shut up in their purses, till death comes and breaks the strings for them. He gives his sons each a thumping farm as soon as they come to years of discretion, and sometimes before; but always on condition that they shall continue to look up to him as head of the family, and not pretend to be their own masters in everything, as young chaps are apt to do when their fathers are fools enough to give away all they have, and keep nothing for themselves. He makes a regular bona fide bargain with each of them, and gives them a warrantee deed, by which he covenants and agrees to defend them from all trespassers, and they, on their part, promise to pay a certain quit-rent, to be settled from time to time, and to obey him in all things, so far as they may deem it "necessary and proper"--according to contract.

Now contracts are excellent contrivances, when both parties mean the same thing, or when it is the interest of both to stick to their bargain—or, lastly, when each may be compelled by law to fulfil it. But on the whole, I would'nt give much for them, unless they come under one of those cases. The greatest hypocrites and deceivers are words, which are a set of double-faced rascals, especially when they get into the hands of lawyers, who can make them mean anything or nothing. Thus it happened with Uncle Sam and his b'hoys. They could never agree about the precise meaning of "necessary and proper," and were continually at loggerheads on the subject. Uncle Sam swore that everything necessary was proper, and everything proper, necessary; and that he being the strongest, the wisest, and most judicious, had a right to decide what was necessary and proper, and what proper and necessary. The b'hoys, on the other hand, insisted that what was proper, was not always necessary, nor what necessary, always proper; and that, as these necessary and proper things generally consisted in demands on their purse, or their privileges, they were the best judges whether they were proper and necessary. "Why, you ungrateful varlets," would Uncle Sam exclaim on these occasions, "Aint I your lawfully begotten father, and you my lawfully begotten children-except that last overgrown cub, there is some doubt about?-Did'nt I give you every foot of land you own, you rebellious rascals?-answer me that-who's your daddy, hey?"

One day when Uncle Sam was flourishing away at this rate, shaking his crabstick over the b'hoys' heads, and tickling himself with the notion that he had dumb-founded them with his logic, the eldest of them answered him as follows; and though what he said was pretty much the

truth, I think he might as well have been a little more respectful to Uncle Sam. But they were all chips of the old block, and talked like devils incarnate when their tongues got fairly going..

"We your lawfully begotten children ?" said the young spark, "that's a good one, i'faith. Instead of your begetting us, I reckon we begot you, old gentleman. You owe your being entirely to us; and, as for the land you pretended to give us, it was all ours before. We gave it to you only to take care of for us, and owe you no thanks for giving it back again according to the old agreement. Marry, come up-I wonder who's daddy now?”

Never was mortal man so confounded as Uncle Sam at this salutation. At first he stood staring with his mouth wide open, being unable to speak a word. Then he crushed his lips together with just such a noise as he made when shutting his tin tobacco-box in a hurry-puffed out his cheeks like bladders, and relieved himself by an explosion of hot breath that, some say, withered all the leaves within fifty paces of him. After this came a blast that rattled about the b'hoys' ears like a hail storm.

"Why, you ungrateful misbegotten villains!--you imps of disunion, disaffection and rebellion-you pretend to be my daddies; some of you who are not knee high to a grasshopper!-you pretend to give me land! -you pretend to judge what is necessary and proper; who can't tell the difference between a sheep's head and the head of a sheep!-you pretend to make me a scurvy overseer to take care of your property! You!-But I'll dust your jackets for you-I'll light my pipe with your old musty contract-I'll take away all your land-I'll cut you off with a shilling; and if there is law or lawyers to be had for love or money, I'll make you hop like a pea on a tobacco pipe-I will. Its my mission to judge what is proper and necessary for you young rascals; and, consequently, to do just as I please.

CHAPTER III.

HOW UNCLE SAM AND HIS B'HOYS QUARRELLED MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY ABOUT WHAT WAS NECESSARY AND PROPER."-HOW THEY APPLIED TO A GREAT LAWYER DOWN EAST, AND HOW HE MADE THE MATTER MORE OBSCURE BY HIS ILLUSTRATIONS.

In this way Uncle Sam and his b'hoys at last got into a complete snarl, about the right of paternity-the ownership of the land-and the meaning of the words necessary and proper. Finding at last that they could not settle the matter among themselves, they, according to the custom of men with more money than brains, at length agreed to refer the matter to a famous lawyer down East, who Uncle Sam called the great confounder, or expounder-I forget which-with a secret proviso that they would be governed by his opinion, if it suited both parties.

The great confounder was very fond of fishing, and always studied his cases with a fishing pole in his hand, and the "Complete Angler" in his pocket. Accordingly, taking his implements, he sat himself down by the side of a pond, abounding in bull-heads, the water of which, though shallow, was so thick, you could not see the bottom, and proceeded with occasional interruptions of a glorious nibble, to cogitate the following opinion:

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"The questions at issue are-first, as to the true meaning and import of the words necessary and proper; second, whether the right to certain specified land is in Uncle Sam or his b'hoys; and third, whether Uncle Sam is the father of his b'hoys, or they his father, in a legal point of view. And, first, as to the word necessary. All legal authorities assert, that necessity has no law, and it follows, therefore, that Uncle Sam being, by virtue of the contract, authorized to do whatever is necessary-may do just as he pleases, because he cant do otherwise. The word proper, I consider mere tautology, inasmuch as whatever is necessary is proper, and whatever proper, necessary. But, seeing that Uncle Sam and his b'hoys differ on this point, the right of the strongest must govern. If Uncle Sam can cudgel his b'hoys into submission, good. If he cant, he must frighten them, which will do just as well.

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Secondly. With respect to the question of paternity, I hold it to be a sheer paradox to say that Uncle Sam's children can be Uncle Sam's father, unless they resort to a legal fiction, and reckon their chickens before they are hatched, which is contrary to the decision of Chief Justice Bridlegoose in the celebrated case of Partlett vs. Cockadoodle. Besides, for Uncle Sam's sons to set themselves up as his fathers, would be putting the cart before the horse, as, in that case, they must have been born before their father-a thing that never happened, except, perhaps, in the case of Melchisedek. I am, therefore, clearly of opinion, that Uncle Sam is not only the father of his own children, but of Zebedee's children too, and that, of course, he has a right not only to all the land, but to their implicit obedience in all cases whatsoever, according to the ancient Patriarchal Law, which is superior to all others. With regard to the precise meaning of the words necessary and proper, I refer you to Webster's Dictionary, letters N. & P., folio edition."

When Uncle Sam got this opinion of the great confounder, he strutted up and down like a turkey-cock, snapt his fingers, and flourished his crabstick over the b'hoys heads at a great rate, though he did'nt understand one-half of it. All he comprehended was, that he had a right to do as he liked with the b'hoys, and that was enough for a reasonable man. The b'hoys, at least some of them, were not at all satisfied, and talked about the contract, and all that sort of nonsense; whereupon Uncle Sam threatened to send the constable after them. In short, things went on from bad to worse; the house became divided against itself; domestic peace was destroyed; and the neighbors all predicted the ruin of the family.

At length, it came to pass that some of the b'hoys threatened to cut Uncle Sam's acquaintance, which, they said, they had a right to do, if they thought proper, being now of age, and able to take care of themselves. Uncle Sam denied this in toto; and, according to custom, applied to his trusty counsellor, the great confounder, who, taking his fishing pole and the Complete Angler, proceeded to study the case, which he expounded as follows, with now and then an interruption from a bullhead or a mummy-chub. Uncle Sam gave it to one of the b'hoys, who read it in an audible voice:

"The laws being originally derived from the heathen Greek, afterwards rendered into pagan Latin, and thence transmogrified into barbarous Christian English, (hem-bad day for fishing this,) it is plain that the old dotards who drew up the contract between Uncle Sam (a bull