The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1862-09-12
Yankee Peddlers,

The Yankee peddler, in nine cases out
OF tents q pleasant panionable fellow.
He knows how 10 observe better than Miss
Martineau, and he ruminates and reasons
as he "circulates" through the country.
Human nature, OF both sexes and ell ages
and phases, is bis study, and he knows il
like book. II he did not, his sales
would be fewer and bis profits less; for il
is by "working headwork" that be sells
bis hollowware, and by his keen percep.
tion of character that he turns his tin SO
readily into gold. The wisdom he utters
through his nose astonishey the qudnuncs
OF the villages, and the neat complime o S
TO their wives aud daughters tha, flow
from it like popular tunes from barrel or.
gan, enable him to poke it profitably into
every wayside dwelling. Is there poit-
ical problem pending in the bar-room Of
the village tavern, who is so competent 10
solve it as the peddler, who gathers up
the thread Of public opinion as be travels
on, and selecting With admirable sagaeity
the strongest and best, knots them up into
an argument that might bother Con
gressional Committee, and which, to the
wn.blacksmith, lawyer, tailor, store
keeper and school. aster, seems a Cor
dian complication that TO tongue can un.
tie. Is there horse trade in progress
and a difficulty as TO who shall give "the
boot" be is the mao 10 place il on the
right leg. He can talk horse like ar
Arab, and knows by instinct the value o.
everything within the reach of morts
computation. Were the moon really no adt
OF green cheese, he could tell how many
cows had contributed TO its substance
what they cost,the amount Of fodder ,hey
consume while the material OF the chess
was accumulating, what it would fetcI
per pound in Boston, its exact weight, ,au
the net profit on the whole. Barring hi
nasal prosody and habit Of intrudiug tn
, vowel e uto photographed society, wher
its presence is soleciSm, be speaks goo
English. We have heard Yankee ped
dler parse passages in Milton that many
college bred youth would boggle at; an
as for "mentaI arithmetic" it is hereditar
with every scion of New England. T
use the words Of Byron, 1t is
, ----"bOrn NTH him, iH him, so intense,
;, 1t is his very SPIRIT not sense"
r In our opinion, those Wise men OF Ii
8 East, the peddlers Of New England, bav
! been much belied. The general testimC
, ny Of cur farmers wives is favorable I
Oriental Peddierism. The members {
the craft are, for the most part, polite an
good natured. They compliment the VIC
men, bestow candies on the children, an
pay a moderate, though not extravagan
/ price for rags. Their wooden ware ,whe
!. not too green, seldom cracks; their tin Iva
d does, to be sure, sometimes leak but the
d always make it mp in "soft sawder" ne
n time they come round. Their segars ma
q not indeed be 'pure Havanas," but Il
Connecticut cabbage is as wholesome
, vegetable as man ever smoked, and the
y brooms are all right cup 10 the handle.
b. Under these circumstances we invite
g discontnuance of the sterreotyped stc
ries told by prejudiced persons at II
: expense Of commercial gentlemen of Il
Eastern States, who do their business
= horse and wagon. Whoever believe
e them-we mean the stories, not the pee
dlers-is regularly sold.-N Y. Leader