of his finger upon one of them, they’ll have him up for it before a justice; they tell him its every bit and grain as bad as stealing from a till.  Well, that’s sure to set him at it, just as a high fence does a breachy ox, first to look over it, and then to push it down with its rump; its human natur.  Well, the boy eats and eats till he cant eat no longer, and then he gets sick at his stomach, and hates the very sight of sweetmeats arterwards.  We’ve had politics with us, till we’re dog sick of ’em, I tell you.  Besides, I guess we are as far from perfection as when we set out a roin for it.  You may get Purity of election, but how are you to get Purity of members?  It would take a great deal of cyphering to tell that.  I never see’d it yet, and never heerd tell of one who had see’d it.  The best member I een amost ever seed was John Adams.  Well, John Adams could no more plough a straight furrow in politics than he could haul the plough himself.  He might set out straight at beginnin for a little way, but he was sure to get crooked afore he got to the eend of the ridge—­and sometimes he would have two or three crooks in it.  I used to say to him, how on airth is it, Mr. Adams, (for he was no way proud like, though he was president of our great nation—­and it is allowed to be the greatest nation in the world, too—­for you might see him sometimes of an arternoon, a swimmin along with the boys in the Potomac; I do believe that’s the way he larned to give the folks the dodge so spry;) well, I used to say to him, how on airth is it, Mr. Adams, you can’t make straight work on it?  He was a grand hand at an excuse, (though minister used to say that folks that were good at an excuse, were seldom good for nothin else); sometimes, he said, the ground was so tarnation stony, it throwed the plough out; at other times he said the off ox was such an ugly wilful tempered critter, there was no doin nothin with him; or that there was so much machinery about the plough, it made it plagy hard to steer; or may be it was the fault of them that went afore him, that they laid it down so bad; unless he was hired for another term of four years, the work wouldn’t look well; and if all them are excuses wouldn’t do, why he would take to scolding the nigger that drove the team—­throw all the blame on him, and order him to have an everlastin lacin with the cowskin.  You might as well catch a weazel asleep as catch him.  He had somethin the matter with one eye—­well, he knew I know’d that when I was a boy; so one day, a feller presented a petition to him, and he told him it was very affectin.  Says he, it fairly draws tears from me, and his weak eye took to lettin off its water like statiee so as soon as the chap went, he winks to me with tother one, quite knowin, as much as to say, you see its all in my eye, Slick, but don’t let on to any one about it, that I said so.  That eye was a regular cheat, a complete New England wooden nutmeg.  Folks said Mr. Adams was a very tender hearted man.  Perhaps he was, but I guess that eye didn’t pump its water out o’ that place.