great regret, saying that
since he had written to Mr. Peacock he had quite changed his opinion.

I enjoyed this new life to the utmost. Mr. Cummings, to tell the truth,
pursued a somewhat tortuous course in politics and religion. He was a
Methodist. One day our clerk expressed himself as to the latter in these
words:--"They say he is a Jumper, but others think he has gone over to
the Holy Rollers." The Jumpers were a sect whose members, when the Holy
Spirit seized them, jumped up and down, while the Holy Rollers under such
circumstances rolled over and over on the floor. We also advocated
Native Americanism and Temperance, which did not prevent Mr. Peacock and
myself and a few _habitues_ of the office from going daily at eleven
o'clock to a neighbouring lager-beer _Wirthschaft_ for a refreshing glass
and lunch. One day the bar-tender, Hermann, a very nice fellow, said to
me, "I remember when you always had a bottle of Rudesheimer every day for
dinner. That was at Herr Lehr's, in Heidelberg. I always waited on
you."

Whoever shall write a history of Philadelphia from the Thirties to the
end of the Fifties will record a popular period of turbulence and
outrages so extensive as to now appear almost incredible. These were so
great as to cause grave doubts in my mind whether the severest despotism,
guided by justice, would not have been preferable to such republican
license as then prevailed in the city of Penn. I refer to the absolute
and uncontrolled rule of the Volunteer Fire Department, which was divided
into companies (each having clumsy old fire apparatus and hose), all of
them at deadly feud among themselves, and fighting freely with pistols,
knives, iron spanners, and slung shot, whenever they met, whether at
fires or in the streets. Of these regular firemen, _fifty thousand_ were
enrolled, and to these might have been added almost as many more, who
were known as runners, bummers, and hangers-on. Among the latter were a
great number of incendiaries, all of whom were well known to and
encouraged by the firemen. Whenever the latter wished to meet some rival
company, either to test their mutual skill or engage in a fight, a fire
was sure to occur; the same always happened when a fire company from some
other city visited Philadelphia.

This gave occasion to an incredible amount of blackmailing, since all
house-owners were frequently called on to contribute money to the
different companies, sometimes as a s