Chapter 26

HOW TO ENACT LAWS--ORATORY, LOGIC, AND ELOQUENCE; ALL CONSIDERED IN
THEIR EVERY-DAY ASPECTS.

Political oaths are very much the same sort of thing everywhere, and
I shall say no more about our inauguration than simply to state it
took place as usual. The two houses were duly organized, and we
proceeded, without delay, to the transaction of business. I will
here state that I was much rejoiced to find Brigadier Downright
among the Bobees, the captain whispering that most probably he had
been mistaken for an "immigrunt," and chosen accordingly.

It was not a great while before the Great Sachem sent us a
communication, which contained a compte rendue of the state of the
nation. Like most accounts it is my good fortune to receive, I
thought it particularly long. Agreeably to the opinions of this
document, the people of Leaplow were, by a good deal, the happiest
people in the world; they were also considerably more respected,
esteemed, beloved, honored, and properly appreciated, than any other
monikin community, and, in short, they were the admiration and glory
of the universe. I was exceedingly glad to hear this, for some of
the facts were quite new to me; a circumstance which shows one can
never get correct notions of a nation except from itself.

These important facts properly digested, we all of us set about our
several duties with a zeal that spoke fairly for our industry and
integrity. Things commenced swimmingly, and it was not long before
the Riddles sent us a resolution for concurrence, by way of opening
the ball. It was conceived in the following terms: "Resolved, that
the color which has hitherto been deemed to be black, is really
white."

As this was the first resolution that involved a principle on which
we had been required to vote, I suggested to Noah the propriety of
our going round to the brigadier, and inquiring what might be the
drift of so singular a proposition. Our colleague answered the
question with great good-nature, giving us to understand that the
Perpendiculars and the Horizontals had long been at variance on the
mere coloring property of various important questions, and the real
matter involved in the resolution was not visible. The former had
always maintained (by always, he meant ever since the time they
maintained the contrary) the doctrine of the resolution, and the
latter its converse. A majority of the Riddles, just at this moment,
are Perpendiculars; and, as it was now seen, they had succeeded in
getting a vote on their favorite principle.

"According to this account of the matter, Sir John," observed the
captain, "I shall be compelled to maintain that black is white,
seeing that I am in on the Parpendic'lar