. American scenery. d our young Lochinvar, thoughthe vice belongs more to strangers among us, than to it is an evil, as abstractly considered it of course is, it is atpresent a necessary evil, necessary by reason of the fermenta-tion stage of our society. In its practical results it is notwithout its advantage, just now, saving us as it does from yetgreater misfortune. Many a dispute is now amicably deter-mined by a bet, which would otherwise end in blows, andwe are so undisguised in the expression of our thoughts, thatwe must dispute; so resolute is our nature, that we must main-
. American scenery. d our young Lochinvar, thoughthe vice belongs more to strangers among us, than to it is an evil, as abstractly considered it of course is, it is atpresent a necessary evil, necessary by reason of the fermenta-tion stage of our society. In its practical results it is notwithout its advantage, just now, saving us as it does from yetgreater misfortune. Many a dispute is now amicably deter-mined by a bet, which would otherwise end in blows, andwe are so undisguised in the expression of our thoughts, thatwe must dispute; so resolute is our nature, that we must main-tain our position; thus, settled it must be, in some way orother. Leaving Megilps logic for further consideration, said , permit me to add a word here, of fact, not phi-losophy. I have, in my travels westward, been often amusedat the universal love for betting. I have found even childrenof the tenderest years addicted to the practice. A boy nosooner gets a sixpence, than he must risk it upon some venture. lllljihllliuijlllllinllllhliiKniinilillllHllll I WESTERN CHARACTER. 1-17 or other. If nothing else offers, he will bet you that he knowsthe name of the steamboat approaching from below, or, thathe can tell which way the wind ^vill blow to-morrow, or per-chance, next week; and, it is a common practice for a groupto sit quietly around a table, each with a lump of sugar beforehim, the possession of the stake to be given to him on whoselump a fly may first happen to alight! * A friend of mine, once showed me a graphic sketch ofan old trapper instructing his child in the use of cards. Theprecious pair were seated on a bank in the vicinity of a church,the hour, evidently, Sunday morning; and the name of hispicture was— A Western Sabbath School! All these anecdotes, said Mr. Deepredde, are charac-teristic only of a portion, and that the humblest, of the Westernpeople. The better classes are as free from such provincial-isms, as the most generous education and the most r
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Keywords: ., bookauthorrichards, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookyear1854
