{boss = Cooper was annoyed by American euphemisms, such as using the Dutch word "boss" in place of "master"--a custom he blamed largely on New England "Yankees"} "Oh! that's only a republican word for 'master.' Now, Judge Latitat is MY boss, and a very good one he is, with the exception of his sitting so late at night at his infernal circuits, by the light of miserable tallow candles. But all the judges are alike for that, keeping a poor shirt up sometimes until midnight, listening to cursed dull lawyers, and prosy, caviling witnesses." {circuits = American "circuit judges" travelled from town to town, holding court in each and sleeping at local inns and taverns} "I beg you to recollect, sir, that I am a female pocket-handkerchief, and persons of your sex are bound to use temperate and proper language in the presence of ladies. "Yes, I see you are feminine, by your ornaments--still, you might tell a fellow who is your boss?" "I belong, at present, to Colonel Silky, if that is what you mean; but I presume some fair lady will soon do me the honor of transferring me to her own wardrobe. No doubt my future employer--is not that the word?--will be one of the most beautiful and distinguished ladies of New York." "No question of that, as money makes both beauty and distinction in this part of the world, and it's not a dollar that will buy you. COLONEL Silky? I don't remember the name--which of OUR editors is he?" {Cooper is ridiculing the habit of newspaper editors of seeking popularity by serving in the militia and thus receiving the title of "Colonel"} "I don't think he is an editor at all. At least, I never heard he was employed about any publication, and, to own the truth, he does not appear to me to be particularly qualified for such a duty, either by native capacity, or, its substitute, education." "Oh! that makes no great difference--half the corps is exactly in the same predicament. I'fegs! if we waited for colonels, or editors either, in this country, until we got such as were qualified, we should get no news, and be altogether without politics, and the militia would soon be in an awful state." {I'fegs! = an obsolete, essentially meaningless exclamation, like "I swear!", deriving from "In faith!"} "This is very extraordinary! So you do not wait, but take them as they come. And what state is your militia actually in?" "Awful! It is what my boss, the judge, sometimes calls a 'statu quo.'" {'statu quo' = in the same state as always (Latin)} "And the newspapers--and the news--and the politics?" "Why, they are NOT in 'statu quo'--but in a 'semper eadem'--I beg pardon, do you understand Latin?" "No, sir--ladies do not often study the dead languages." "If they did they would soon bring 'em to life! 'Semper eadem' is Latin for 'worse and worse.' The militia is drilling into a 'statu quo,' and the press is enlightening mankind with a 'semper eadem.'"