But, if you enquire into the business, you are pretty sure to be told, inquire where you may, that bundling is not known _there_, but somewhere further back in the woods, or further _down east_. Nay, while in every part of the United States the multitude speak of bundling as the habit of their neighbors, either east, west, north, or south, where the witches of the country were _located_ about a century ago by the grandfathers of this generation, I, myself, though I have taken trouble enough to learn the truth, have never yet been able to meet with a case of bundling--of bundling proper, I should say--in the United States, nor with but one trustworthy individual who had ever met with so much as one case, and he had met with _but_ one, for which he would give his word. These things are trifles; but when they are told in books that are read and trusted to throughout Europe; such books, too, as that of the Marquis de Chastelleux, or that of De Rouchefoucault, it becomes a matter of serious inquiry. The truth must be told, whatever it is, for the truth cannot be so bad, whatever it may be, as the untruth which is now repeated of us. The travels of Chastelleux are translated by an Englishman who had been a long while in this country. The book was undoubtedly written with great care, by a very honest, able man, who had very good opportunities of knowing the truth; and is now set off by another very honest, able man, who was, if anything, rather partial to America--enough to make one wary of trusting the report of any traveler who does not say in so many words, after establishing a character for himself--I saw this; I heard this; I take nobody's word for what I now say, etc., etc. It would be easy to enumerate a multitude of other stories which are now believed in, about the people of the United States, not only by the people of Europe, and of Great Britain particularly, but by the people of the United States themselves. But a dry catalogue of such things would be of little use. [Here he refers to the charge reported of New Englanders, that that they _eat pork and molasses--pork and molasses_ TOGETHER, which is here denied as a ridiculous story. H. R. S.]