308 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



health, my uncle Toby had knocked the ashes out of three 

 pipes. " It was not till my uncle Toby had knocked the 

 ashes out of his third pipe," &c. Now these times have 

 luckily gone by, and the custom of smoking amongst 

 genteel Englishmen has nearly died away with them ; it is 

 a foul custom ; it makes a foul mouth, and a foul place 

 where the smoker stands ; however, every nation has its 

 whims. John Bull relishes stinking venison ; a Erench- 

 man depopulates whole swamps in quest of frogs; a 

 Dutchman's pipe is never out of his mouth ; a Eussian 

 will eat tallow candles ; and the American indulges in the 

 cigar. " De gustibus non est disputandum," 



Our western brother is in possession of a country replete 

 with everything that can contribute to the happiness and 

 comfort of mankind. His code of laws, purified by ex- 

 perience and common sense, has fully answered the expec- 

 tations of the public. By acting up to the true spirit of 

 this code, he has reaped immense advantages from it. His 

 advancement, as a nation, has been rapid beyond all calcu- 

 lation ; and, young as he is, it may be remarked, without 

 any impropriety, that he is now actually reading a salutary 

 lesson to the rest of the civilized world. 



It is but some forty years ago, that he had the dispute 

 Avith his nurse about a dish of tea. She wanted to force 

 the boy to drink it according to her own receipt. He said, 

 he did not like it, and that it absolutely made him ill. 

 After a good deal of sparring, she took up the birch rod, 

 and began to whip him with an uncommon degree of 

 asperity. When the poor lad found that he must either 

 drink the nauseous dish of tea or be flogged to death, he 

 turned upon her in self-defence; showed her to the outside 

 of the nursery door, and never more allowed her to meddle 

 with his affairs. 



Since the independence, the population has increased 



