University of Virginia Library

8. CHAP. VIII.

ON the third day renewing their journey,
the conversation between the
Captain and his servant turned on the
character, and history of the present revenue
officer, the late Teague O'Regan.
The Captain gave Duncan a relation of
what had happened; in the case of the attempt
to draw him off to the Philosophical
Society, to induce him to preach, and even
to take a seat in the legislature of the United
States; that had it not been for a certain
Traddle, a weaver, whom they had been
fortunate enough to substitute for him,
the people would most undoubtedly have
elected Teague, and sent him to Congress.

Guid deliver us! said Duncan; do they
make Parliament men o' weavers i' this
kintra? In Scotland, it maun be a duke,
or a laird, that can hae a seat there.

This is a republic, Duncan, said the
cap

Captain; and the rights of man are understood,
and exercised by the people.

And if he could be i' the Congress, why
did ye let him be a gauger? said Duncan.

This is all the prejudice of education,
Duncan, said the Captain. An appointment
in the revenue, under the executive
of the United States, ought not to have
disgrace attached to it in the popular opinion;
for it is a necessary, and ought to
be held a sacred, duty.

I dinna ken how it is, said Duncan;
but I see they hae every thing tail foremost
in this kintry, to what they hae in Scotland:
a gauger a gentleman; and weavers
in the legislature.

Just at this instant, was heard by the
way side, the jingling of a loom, in a
small cabbin with a window towards the
road. It struck Duncan to expostulate with
this weaver, and to know why it was that
he also did not attain a seat in some public
body. Advancing to the orifice,
as it might be called, he applied his
mouth, and bespoke him, as he sat upon
his loom, thus: Traddle, said he, giving
him the same name that the Captain had
given the other; why is it that ye sit here,
treading these twa stecks, and playing wi'
your

your elbows, as ye throw the thread, when
there is one o' your occupation, not far
off, that is now a member of the house o'
lords, or commons, in America; and is
gane to the Congress o' the United States?
canna ye get yoursel elected; or it is because
ye dinna offer, that ye are left behind
in this manner. Ye shud be striving
man, while guid posts are gaeing,
and no be sitting there wi' your backside
on a beam. Dinna your neibours gie ya
a vote. Ye shud get a chapin o' whiskey,
man, and drink 'till them, and gar
them vote, or, ye shoud gae out and talk
politics, and mak speeches.

Such was the address of Duncan, meaning
nothing more than to amuse himself,
with the idea of a manufacturer obtaining
a seat in the legislature, and making
laws instead of warping webs. But in
the mean time, the wife of the mechanic,
who had overheard the conversation, and
was incensed at an attempt to take her
husband from his business, seizing a pot
stick and running out, and turning the
corner of the house, laid a blow upon the
posteriors of the orator; accompanying
her force with reproachful words to this
effect:will

Will you never let the man alone, said
she, to mind his business, but be putting
these notions in his head. He has been
once constable, and twice member of assembly;
and what has he got by it, but to
leave his customers at home, complaining
of their work not done? It is but little
good that has been got of him these three
years, but going to elections, and meetings,
and talking politics; and after all, what does
he know of these matters? just about as
much as my brown cow. A set of lounging
louts, coming here and taking up his time
with idle nonsense of what laws should be
made, and urging him to be elected; and
William Rabb's wife waiting for her coverlet
this three months, and Andrew Nangle
for his shirt cloth. It is enough to put a
woman in a passion that has the temper
of a saint, to have her man's head turned
so from his own affairs, by idle vagabonds
that come the way in this manner.

At this, she made another effort, and
springing forward, was about to impress a
second blow; when Duncan retreating, and
listing up his stick in his turn accosted her
in these words: “Gin ye were a man, as
ye are a muckle witch, I shoud be for
taking ye wi' this rung across your hurdies.
it

Is it any affront to have it evened to your
man Traddle, to gae to the senate, and to
get a post i' the government, and no be
knotting threads here, wi' his shuttle, like
a tradesman o' Paisly? Ye vile carlin, ye
maun be a witch, or a warse body, to take
a stick in your hand, like a driver o' stots,
and come pelmel, upon a man ahint his
back, when he is na speaking till ye.
Foul fa' me, but if it were na a shame to
battle wi' ane o' your sex, I wad break
your back with a lunder, before ye knew
what ye were about. To keep this honest
man here, shut up like a prisoner under
ground, in a dungeon, drawing a reed
till him, instead o' throwing out his arms
like a Latin scholar, or a collegian, making
his oration to his hearers? Are ye chained
there, (turning his speech to Traddle,)
that ye stay sae contentedly yoursel, man,
and dinna break out, and escape srae the
fangs o' this witch.”

This witch! said she, (apprehending danger
from a second address to the weaver,)
this witch! I shall witch you to some
purpose, you vagabond. With this she
made a hasty step, and was nearly on the
back of the Caledonian, with her pot-stick,
having made a stroke at him, which be
eva

evaded, by taking to his heels, and retreating
speedily. The Captain in the
mean time had rode on, and left them to
compleat their dialogue.