"Well, I don't much understand the natur' of sich things; there
sartainly is a difference in men, and a difference in their fortun's,
and edications, and such sort of things."

"Und der law, den, favours der rich man at der cost of der poor, in
America, too, does it? Und you haf arisdograts who might not pay taxes,
and who holt all der offices, and get all der pooblic money, and who ist
petter pefore de law, in all dings, dan ast dem dat be not arisdograts?
Is it so?"

Miller laughed outright, and shook his head at this question, continuing
to examine the trinkets the whole time.

"No, no, my friend, we've not much of _that_, in this part of the world,
either. Rich men get very few offices, to begin with; for it's an
argooment in favour of a man for an office, that he's poor, and _wants_
it. Folks don't so much ask who the office wants, as who wants the
office. Then, as for taxes, there isn't much respect paid to the rich,
on that score. Young 'Squire Littlepage pays the tax on this farm
directly himself, and it's assessed half as high ag'in, all things
considered, as any other farm on his estate."

"But dat ist not right."

"Right! Who says it is?--or who thinks there is anything right about
assessments, anywhere? I have heard assessors, with my own ears, use
such words as these:--'Sich a man is rich, and can afford to pay,' and
'sich a man is poor, and it will come hard on him.' Oh! they kiver up
dishonesty, now-a-days, under all sorts of argooments."

"But der law; der rich might haf der law on deir side, surely?"

"In what way, I should like to know? Juries be everything, and juries
will go accordin' to their feelin's, as well as other men. I've seen the
things with my own eyes. The county pays just enough a-day to make poor
men like to be on juries, and they never fail to attend, while them that
can pay their fines stay away, and so leave the law pretty much in the
hands of one party. No rich man gains his cause, unless his case is so
strong it can't be helped."

I had heard this before, there being a very general complaint throughout
the country of the practical abuses connected with the jury system. I
have heard intelligent lawyers complain, that whenever a cause of any
interest is to be tried, the first question asked is not "what are the
merits?" "which has the law and the facts on his side?" but "who is
likely to be on the jury?"--thus obviously placing the composition of
the jury before either law