a long debate. Every tenth field,
every tenth furrow, (and I could not help counting,) every tenth animal,
and every tenth step, reminded me of the Irish tithes; and when I saw a
hawk swoop over a chicken, I thought of the Appropriation Bill--so I
left the country.

I have tried every thing--I have been every where, but in vain. In the
country there was no relaxation--in society no pleasure--at home no
relief. England was disjointed, never to be united until it was
dismembered--and there was no repose. I had my choice, either to go
abroad, or to go mad; and, upon mature deliberation, I decided upon the
former, as the lesser evil of the two. So I gave--I sold--I
discharged--I paid--I packed up, and I planned. The last was the only
portion of my multifarious duties not satisfactorily arranged. I looked
at the maps, plied my compasses that I might compass my wishes, measured
distances that I might decide upon my measures--planned, looked over the
maps--and planned again.

CHAPTER TWO.

Well, as I said in my last chapter, I planned--and planned--but I might
as well conjugate it, as many others assisted--it was I planned, thou
plannedst, he planned, we planned, ye planned, and they planned--and
what annoyed me was, that I could not help considering that "the whole
house was in a committee," and without being able "to report progress."
At first it was _decided upon_ that we should proceed up the Rhine, and
not leave off paddling until we had arrived at Manheim, at which town I
fancied that I should at least be out of political distance. We read
all about Manheim, found out that it was a regular-built town, with a
certain number of inhabitants--with promenades, gardens, and a fine view
of the Rhine. "So you're going abroad--where?" Manheim, was the reply,
and all the world knew that we were bound to Manheim; and every one had
something to say, or something that they had heard said, about Manheim.
"Very nice place--Duchess Dowager Stephanie--very cheap--gay in winter--
masters excellent"--were the variety of changes rung, and all was
settled; but at last one unlucky observation raised a doubt--another
increased--a third confirmed it. "A very dull place--German cookery bad
for children--steam-boats from Rotterdam very bad, and often obliged to
pass two nights on deck." A very influential member of the committee
took alarm about the children being two nights on deck, and it was at
last decided that to go up to