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some extent, and a large number of surely innocent children, whose legitimacy and property are at stake. All these legal embarrassments spring from want of uniformity of laws on a subject which should admit of no more diversity than the question of citizenship itself."

When it is considered that Roman Catholics are forbidden by their Church's tenets to get divorced, the percentage of divorces among other than Roman Catholics must be greater than that mentioned. But though Roman Catholics do not get divorced it does not follow, necessarily, that there is greater virtue among them. 28,000 divorces in one year mean 56,000 persons divorced in one year. Suppose the population of the United States to remain at 50,000,000, and the number of divorces to be annually 25,000, there would in twenty years be 1,000,000 of divorced persons, less the number who might have died, and allowance made for those who may have been divorced more than once, which can be approximated by the reader. The question is, what the ratio of divorced persons to the adult population is? In 1880, out of a population of 50,155,783, there were 11,343,005 white and 1,487,344 coloured voters, making together 12,830,349, so that the number of citizens, male and female, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards who had been divorced, might not unreasonably be calculated to be one to every twenty-five of those of the age of twenty-one years and upwards. But what is the proportion of married to unmarried men? unmarried men more virtuous than married men? Are unmarried females all chaste in the United States? The more one thinks, the more appalling seems the existing state of affairs. And what a school to rear the young in! No wonder the young American does not respect seniors.

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No wonder young Americans are precocious. It was reported from Georgia that a magistrate was called in to perform a marriage ceremony. He found about fifty school children, and learned that the bride and groom were of the number,-a boy aged fourteen and a girl aged fifteen years. The boy on his first visit to the girl had asked her to be his wife; on his second visit her mother was consulted; and on his third visit he got the father's consent. His own father violently opposed the marriage. There was no licence, as the boy had not the money to get one; but the other school children then present managed among themselves to collect enough, and the licence was got; and the magistrate thereupon made the boy and girl husband and wife. A bright little Kentucky girl of forty-five inches in height, and known to be only seven years, four months, and fifteen days old, was married to a man of seventy years of age by an old preacher. The latter case was brought to the notice of the grand jury. The curiosities, so to speak, in marriages and in divorces, laid out in the most attractive form in the columns of newspapers for the public, old and young, and of both sexes, to read and take pleasure in reading, are very numerous and very startling, and, to the thoughtful, very suggestive of the times. Then, as additional relishes, there are the exciting reports of elopements, the fullest details of divorce suits, and the whole entrails of sensuality, with embellishments to make them palatable to the depraved morality of the times. The newspapers are also full of reports of all other forms of nastiness,-the works or thoughts of wicked men and women and children. Such is the morning chapter, so different from that which the sturdy old patriots of a hundred years ago, and the still older Puritan and Huguenot fathers

so far as can be, effective working order. The discipline of members is rigorous, the submission full, the obedience blind. Mutiny is not common. The number of other societies, associations, and clubs-some for good, some for bad, some for execrable, and some for mixed purposes -is very large. Many of them are secret. Freemasonry is quite a power.

and pilgrims, taught their children | ganisations is generally in good and, was proper to be read. But the history of the Roman Republic may be repeating itself in the United States; and there is the case of the Israelites related in 1 Samuel, ch. viii.: "Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." There are some American citizens desirous that a king should reign over the United States;-they are not a

few.

Brief mention only need be made of the fact that, during the last few years, socialists, anarchists, and the worst types of the human race, have planted their standards in the United States, and are desirous of moulding the republican institutions after their own fashion. Knights of Labour, trade unions, and innumerable societies are organised and in full operation. It might seem as if "castes" were forming, of a somewhat similar description to those in some Asiatic countries. The respective labour unions seek to prevent all not members to work at the particular trade. Like political organisations in the United States, the machinery of the several labour or

The number of musicians, not all of perhaps the highest order, is very surprising; and processions and parades of all kinds are favourite occupations or amusements. Somehow, when a procession or parade is passing, the ancient ballad of the Highland clan having "four-andtwenty men, five-and-thirty pipers," comes to mind. On Decoration Day, when the Grand Army of the Republic veterans turn out, and on other occasions, the number of bands, most of them in gay and distinctive uniforms, seems to be countless. It is impossible in this work even to attempt to explain all the merits, and they are many and great, of some of these unions, societies, associations, clubs, and other organisations,—and equally so to denounce in proper terms the objects of others of them. But an exception is made in the case of the Grand Army of the Republic.

The Grand Army of the Republic is composed of the soldiers and sailors and honourably discharged soldiers and sailors of the army, navy, and marine corps of the United States who have consented to this Union, having aided in maintaining the honour, integrity, and supremacy of the National Government during the late Rebellion. Members, except when holding office, are addressed only as " comrade." The organisation is essentially military; and courts-martial may be held on offending members. The present (1887) total number of members may be about 350,000. It

is a permanent association for the following objects, viz. :—

1. To preserve and strengthen those kind and fraternal feelings which bind together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late Rebellion, and to perpetuate the memory and history of the dead.

2. To assist such former comrades in arms as need help and protection, and to extend needful aid to the widows and orphans of those who have fallen.

3. To maintain true allegiance to the United States of America, based upon a paramount respect for, and fidelity to, its Constitution and laws; to discountenance whatever tends to weaken loyalty, incites to insurrection, treason, or rebellion, or in any manner impairs the efficiency and permanency of our free institutions; and to encourage the spread of universal liberty, equal rights, and justice to all men.

The organisations of the Grand Army of the Republic are

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called into active service and subject to the orders of the United States general officers between the dates mentioned, are eligible to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. No person is eligible to membership who at any time bore arms against the United States.

A post may be formed by the authority of a department commander, or of the commander-in-chief (when no department organisation exists) on the application of not less than ten persons eligible to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic; and no post is recognised by the members of the Grand Army of the Republic unless acting under a legal and unforfeited charter, which is signed by the commander-in-chief and countersigned by the assistant adjutant-general of the department within which the applicants for it reside. Posts rank according to the date of the respective charters. Applications for membership have to be made in writing, and the candidates are put up for ballot. Two black balls in the first twenty balls cast, and one in every subsequent twenty exclude. Those elected have to present themselves for muster within three months from the date of their election. All members of the post in good standing are eligible to any office in the Grand Army of the Republic. Each post may elect a trustee, or not over three trustees, as trustees of the post; and the same number as trustees of the Relief Fund. The officers of the post are elected by ballot, and are a postcommander, a senior and a junior vice-post-commander, an adjutant, a quartermaster, a surgeon, a chaplain, an officer of the day, an officer of the guard, a sergeant-major, a quartermaster's-sergeant. At the first stated meeting in December each post annually elects, from its own members, representatives and an equal number

of alternates to the department encampments. Posts may adopt bylaws not inconsistent with the rules and regulations of the Grand Army of the Republic or the by-laws or orders of the national and department encampments. Not less than six posts of the Grand Army of the Republic in any provisional department may be organised as a department by the commander-in-chief upon their application.

Each department is governed by a department encampment subordinate to the national department, and consists of (1) the departmentcommander and past - departmentcommanders; (2) all the post-commanders for the time being throughout its jurisdiction (in the absence of the post-commander the senior or junior vice-post-commander may represent the post); (3) members selected by ballot by the several posts in such ratio as may be determined by a two-thirds vote of the members present, and voting at any previous annual encampment. Alternates may be likewise chosen. The officers of each department are elected by ballot, and are a commander, a senior and a junior vice commander, an assistant adjutant-general, a quartermaster-general, an inspector, a judgeadvocate, a chief mustering officer, a medical director, a chaplain, and a council of administration consisting of the above-named officers and five members elected. The department can adopt suitable by-laws. Representatives to the national encampment are chosen from comrades of the department. All members have the right of appealing through the proper channels from the acts of post or post-commanders and departmentcommanders or encampments to the next highest authority, and to the commander-in-chief, whose decision is final, unless reversed by the national encampment.

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The supreme power of the association is lodged in the national encampment, which is composed of (1) the commander-in-chief, past commanders-in-chief, and past vicecommanders-in-chief, so long as they remain in good standing in their respective posts; (2) commanders, vice-commanders, and assistant adjutants-general of the several departments, and the commander and assistant adjutant-general of each provisional department for the time being (for whom no proxy or substitute can act); (3) of past department commanders who have served for a full term of one year, or who, having been elected to fill a vacancy, have served to the end of the term, so long as they remain in good standing in their several posts; and (4) representatives at large from each department, and one representative from each 1000 members of good standing therein, and one additional representative for a final fraction of more than one-half of that number. Any department having less than 1000 and more than 500 is entitled to one representative in addition to one representative at large. Alternates are likewise elected. Credentials are signed by the commander-in-chief and assistant adjutantsgeneral. All members in good standing are eligible to any national office in the Grand Army of the Republic. The national officers are a mander-in-chief, a senior and a junior vice-commander-in-chief, an adjutantgeneral, a quartermaster-general, an inspector-general, a judge-advocategeneral, a surgeon-general, a chaplain-in-chief, and a council of administration consisting of these officers and one comrade from each department, chosen by ballot. Vacancies are filled by the council of administration.

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The national encampment assesses a per capita tax on each department,

not exceeding 25 cents per annum. Each department encampment assesses yearly a per capita tax on each post, not exceeding $1. Each post, either by its by-laws or by a vote at its last December meeting, may assess a per capita tax upon its members, payable quarterly.

Provisional departments are formed in states and territories where the Grand Army of the Republic is not established, by the commander-inchief appointing and causing to be mustered in a provisional commander, who appoints, with the approval of the commander-in-chief, from the comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, a senior and a junior vicecommander, an assistant adjutantgeneral, and an assistant quartermaster-general, and he may appoint four adjutants. The provisional commander, senior and junior vice-commanders, assistant adjutant-general, assistant quartermaster-general, and five comrades elected by the provisional commander, constitute the board of administration. (The writer is indebted to the kindness of John H. Cook, Esq., Quartermaster of Lafayette Post, No. 140, Department of New York, Grand Army of the Republic, for being permitted to look over the rules and regulations of the Grand Army of the Republic.)

The Memorial and Executive Committee of the Grand Army of the Republic appoints the following subcommittees: (1) a committee on public ceremonies and cemeteries; (2) bureau of employment and emergency fund; (3) committee on pensions; (4) committee on legislation; (5) committee on press and printing; (6) committee on transportation; (7) committee on music; (8) committee on soldiers' and sailors' monuments; (9) committee on flowers.

The veterans of the Confederate armies have also an organised association; but as theirs was the losing

side, they have to keep in the background, so that ostentatious parades are not much indulged in. They celebrate a Decoration Day, by decorating with flowers the graves of fallen comrades. They have naturally a feeling that they did nothing to be ashamed of, and, like brave men, they bear no malice towards the victors. The veterans of the Northern army have at heart a respect for their former antagonists, and the brave men do not care to express too severe utterances, whether or not they have any acrimonious feelings, unless their political party requires it of them. It is the Northern politicians, seeking office and self-aggrandisement, who won't let sleeping dogs lie, and, clamorously bloodthirsty, welter in blood, in castles in Spain.

It is impossible, in a work of this kind, to set forth the good traits of this conglomerate people. Without long and intimate personal acquaintance with them in social circles and in business pursuits, no one can be said to begin to understand them. Their ways are not those of any particular nation; and it is a fact that many old men, who have passed long lives in the United States, are practically children outside of their usual avocations. Thus the books of mere travellers, or of others who have not been forced to dive beneath the surface, and have not battled with mis| fortune, or had occasion to stand or fall by the extent of their individual knowledge of the people, and of their ways and laws and institutions, are apt to be biassed by prejudices or unrealised expectations, or by treacherous smiles or sunshine. There is no smarter people on the face of the earth than the citizens of the United States. Male or female, they have each to learn how to push their individual ways, in society and in business, to take care of themselves from childhood; but it is the case that

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