SOME PARTICULARS RESPECTING COUSIN SMOOTH


No uncommon type of our "Young America" is Mister Solomon Smooth, the
individual whose part in these sketches was performed for General
Pierce in particular, and "Uncle Sam" in general. Mr. Smooth was born
and "growed" on the extreme south point of Cape Cod--a seemingly
desolate spot, yet somewhat renowned as the birthplace of Long Tom
Coffin. If I would select one of our nation's 'cutest sons; if I were
called upon to name the kind of man with that in his natural
composition to make the safest, shrewdest, and most calculating
merchant; if I were called to pass judgment on the man most qualified
to sustain the spirit and characteristics of the American nation
abroad--one who would never betray our national energy, nor degrade
his profession, nor fail to seek that which might promote the
interests of those who reposed trust in him, at the same time never
forgetting his own--if I were about forming an expedition, and would
provide myself with that character of man upon whom the issue of its
success most depends; if, I say, I would seek the man possessing those
rigid qualities of a moral nature which are a sure protection against
doing aught that may degrade the councils of a nation, I would make
this sandy cape my starting point, and draw from the upward growth of
that stern energy to be found among those flourishing, energetic, and
intelligent communities embraced within that circle which terminates
at Cape Ann, and between the circling arms of which two capes heaves
Boston Bay. But Smooth, though somewhat primitive in his personal
appearance, is none of your common Cape Cod coasters, such as your
Captain Doanes, and Cooks, and Ryders, and Clapps. Not he! So slender