FOURTH JOURNEY. 



235 



astonished me much ; but it is really the case. 

 Amongst his many good qualities, he has one unenvi- 

 able, and, I may add, a bad propensity : he is inirao 

 derately fond of smoking. He may say, that he learned 

 it from his nurse, with whom it was once much in 

 vogue. In Dutch William's time (he was a man of 

 bad taste) the English gentleman could not do without 

 his pipe. During the short space of time that Corporal 

 Trim was at the inn inquiring after poor Lefevre's 

 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 w T ith 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 Erenchman 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 hap- 

 piness and comfort of mankind. His code 

 oovemmen^ °^ l aws ? purified by experience and common 

 sense, has fully answered the expectations 

 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 

 calculation ; 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. 



