sense, with no tippling houses to
daily tempt them astray their supplies of spirits were nearly always for
festive occasions. "Regales" after a voyage or weddings that lasted for
days, and these at times under such guard as may be imagined from the
presence of a custodian of the bottle, who exercised with what skill he
might his certainly arduous task of determining instantly when hilarity
grew into excess.

This novel feature applies, however, almost entirely to the
English-speaking part of the people. The Gallic and Indian blood of the
Hunters disdained such poor toying with a single cherry and drank and
danced and drank and danced again with an abandon, an ardor and full
surrender to the hour characteristic alike of the strength of the heads,
the lightness of their heels and the contempt of any restraint whatever.

These were, however, but the occasional and generous symposiums of
health and vigor that rejects of itself continued indulgence. Our Utopia
would be cold and pallid indeed lacking such expression of redundant
strength, and joyful vigor.

Certainly the greatest negative blessing that this exceptional people
enjoyed, was that they had no politics, no vote. The imagination of the
average "party man" sinks to conceive a thing like to this; yet, if an
astounding fact to others, no more gracious one can be conceived for
them selves. In the unbroken peace in which they lived politics would be
but throwing the apple of discord in their midst, an innoculation of
disease that they might in the delirium that marked its progress
vehemently discuss remedies to allay it.

Another great negative advantage was the peculiar and admirable
intelligence of the great body of the population. The small circulating
collection of books in their midst attracting little or no attention,
their own limited to a Bible or prayer book,--many not these. With
their minds in this normal healthy state, unharassed by the sordid
assail of care, undepressed by any sense whatever of inferiority,
unfrayed by the trituration of the average book, their powers of
apprehension--singularly clear--had full scope to appropriate and
resolve the world about them, which they did to such purpose as to
master every exigence of their lives. Seizing upon the minutest detail
affecting them they mastered as if by intuition all difficult handiwork,
making with but few tools every thing they required from a windmill to a
horseshoe.

Their real education was