View of WashingtonView of Washington.The Election of President.Whatan agitation seems to shake this whole country from Maine to Louisiana! By day we hear the shout of mighty gatherings of the people, and by night, torch-light processions are seen throwing their lights and shadows along the streets. Hickory poles lift their tall tops to the skies on every hand, and flags and streamers are waving in every breeze, and on every side. The names of Polk and Dallas are seen dancing amid the stars and stripes, in one direction, and those of Clay and Frelinghuysen, in another. Even many of the boys and girls have hoisted their flags and play whig and democrat, like their fathers! Perhaps both child and parent, in many cases, know just about as much of what this all means—the one as the other.It would be a long story to tell all about the election of President; but we must at least say a few words about it. Every four years the people of this country choose a man to rule over this great nation of twenty millions of people. The way the election or choice is made is this: the people of each of the twenty-six states, choose certain persons, called Electors, and these meet together, and cast their votes for President. The person who has the highest number of votes is chosen, and he removes to the city of Washington, where he lives in a fine edifice, called the White House. He holds his office for four years, and then another election of President takes place, as above described.The two leading candidates for President, at this time, are Henry Clay of Kentucky, and James K. Polk of Tennessee.Benjamin Constandt.—This celebrated French orator had a cat which was so great a pet that she attended him in the morning before he got up, followed him into his study after breakfast, and played and reposed where she liked. One day, when Constandt was expected to make an important speech in the chamber of deputies, his friends, finding that he was absent after his time from the arena, came to seek him at his house, and going into his study, found him quietly reading some book that had evidently nothing to do with the matter in hand; and when they told him that everybody was waiting for him, “What can I do?” said he; “look there; my cat is sleeping in the sun on the papers I have prepared for my speech, and till she wakes, how can I take her off them?”Irish Wit.—A poor Irishman, on entering a village in England, observed a board on the corner of the street, prohibiting public begging. He marched straight to the parsonage, and asked to see the minister; after a little hesitation the girl admitted him to the study. Pat immediately slipped up alongside the minister, and whispered into his ear, “Your reverence will please give me something in private, and bad luck catch me if I mention it.” Pat’s plan answered the purpose; the minister was amused at the poor starving fellow before him, and Pat retired from the audience, asking down blessings on the “minister, his wife and childer—good luck to the whole of them!”Hewho would reap well, must sow well.
View of WashingtonView of Washington.
View of Washington.
Whatan agitation seems to shake this whole country from Maine to Louisiana! By day we hear the shout of mighty gatherings of the people, and by night, torch-light processions are seen throwing their lights and shadows along the streets. Hickory poles lift their tall tops to the skies on every hand, and flags and streamers are waving in every breeze, and on every side. The names of Polk and Dallas are seen dancing amid the stars and stripes, in one direction, and those of Clay and Frelinghuysen, in another. Even many of the boys and girls have hoisted their flags and play whig and democrat, like their fathers! Perhaps both child and parent, in many cases, know just about as much of what this all means—the one as the other.
It would be a long story to tell all about the election of President; but we must at least say a few words about it. Every four years the people of this country choose a man to rule over this great nation of twenty millions of people. The way the election or choice is made is this: the people of each of the twenty-six states, choose certain persons, called Electors, and these meet together, and cast their votes for President. The person who has the highest number of votes is chosen, and he removes to the city of Washington, where he lives in a fine edifice, called the White House. He holds his office for four years, and then another election of President takes place, as above described.
The two leading candidates for President, at this time, are Henry Clay of Kentucky, and James K. Polk of Tennessee.
Benjamin Constandt.—This celebrated French orator had a cat which was so great a pet that she attended him in the morning before he got up, followed him into his study after breakfast, and played and reposed where she liked. One day, when Constandt was expected to make an important speech in the chamber of deputies, his friends, finding that he was absent after his time from the arena, came to seek him at his house, and going into his study, found him quietly reading some book that had evidently nothing to do with the matter in hand; and when they told him that everybody was waiting for him, “What can I do?” said he; “look there; my cat is sleeping in the sun on the papers I have prepared for my speech, and till she wakes, how can I take her off them?”
Irish Wit.—A poor Irishman, on entering a village in England, observed a board on the corner of the street, prohibiting public begging. He marched straight to the parsonage, and asked to see the minister; after a little hesitation the girl admitted him to the study. Pat immediately slipped up alongside the minister, and whispered into his ear, “Your reverence will please give me something in private, and bad luck catch me if I mention it.” Pat’s plan answered the purpose; the minister was amused at the poor starving fellow before him, and Pat retired from the audience, asking down blessings on the “minister, his wife and childer—good luck to the whole of them!”
Hewho would reap well, must sow well.