Salmagundi; or, The whim-whams and opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, esq. [pseud.] and others. By William Irving, James Kirke Paulding and Washington Irving. Printed from the original ed., with a preface and notes by Evert A. Duyckinck.

THE SOVEREIGN PEOPLE. 215
not whither, and they know not why: the hackney coaches rattle through the streets with thundering vehemence, loaded with
recruiting sergeants who have been prowling in cellars and caves,
to unearth some miserable minion of poverty and ignorance, who
will barter his vote for a glass of beer, or a ride in a coach with
such fine gentlemen!-the buzzards of the party scamper from
poll to poll, on foot or on horseback; and they worry from
committee to committee, and buzz, and fume, and talk big,
and-do nothing: like the vagabond drone, who wastes his
time in the laborious idleness of see-saw-song, and busy nothingness."
I know not how long my friend would have continued his
detail, had he not been interrupted by a squabble which took
place between two old continentals, as they were called. It seems
they had entered into an argument on the respective merits of
their cause, and not being able to make each other clearly understood, resorted to what is called knock-down arguments, which
form the superlative degree of argumentum ad hominem; but are,
in my opinion, extremely inconsistent with the true spirit of a
genuine logocracy. After they had beaten each other soundly,
and set the whole mob together by the ears, they came to a full
explanation; when it was discovered that they were both of the
same way of thinking; whereupon they shook each other heartily
by the hand, and laughed with great glee at their humorous
misunderstanding.
I could not help being struck with the exceeding great number of ragged, dirty-looking persons that swaggered about the
place, and seemed to think themselves the bashaws of the land.
I inquired of my friend if these people were employed to drive
away the hogs, dogs, and other intruders that might thrust
themselves in and interrupt the ceremony? " By no means,"