WHEELING. The act of conveying on wheels, or driving a wheeled vehicle. It is good or bad wheeling, according to the state of the roads.

It is mid-winter still, and there is snow on the ground; but the sleighing is not as good as it was, and the state of the streets admits wheeling. — The Upper Ten Thousand, p. 30.

WHEEL-HORSE. An intimate friend; one's right hand man. Western.

WHICH? An absurd word used by some persons instead of What? in asking for a repetition of what has been said.

WHIG AND TORY. During the war of the American Revolution, the terms Whig and Tory were applied- the former to those who supported the revolutionary movement; the latter to the royalists, or those who adhered to the British government. Tory was then a stigma of the most reproachful kind.

WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS. It is very difficult to give a precise, accurate, and satisfactory definition of the principles distinctively held by the two great political parties into which the population of the American Union is divided, one popularly styling itself the Democratic, the other the Whig party. In point of fact, the satirical definition of the outs and the ins would not be very far out of the way; for the doctrines of government and legislation theoretically advanced by the Democratic party, when out of power, are not so radically diverse from those of the Whigs in the same condition, as are the practices of either, when in power, from their professions. As times change and circumstances, the demands or wishes of these parties change also; so that what was Whig doctrine in 1830, may be Democratic doctrine in 1850, and vice versa.

The nominal distinctions, some years ago, were, on the Whig side, a Protective Tariff, a National Bank, Division of the Proceeds of the Public Lands among all the States, and the duty of the General Government to carry on works of Public Improvement, such as Canals, Roads, etc., etc.

The Democrats were for Free Trade, no connection of the govern- ̈ ment with Banking, distribution of the proceeds of the Public Lands among the States in which the lands lie, and non-interference by the government with Internal Improvements.

But all these questions have rarely been brought to the practical test. Absolute free trade has ever been impracticable, because it would deprive the government of the revenue derived from imposts. The government has always been obliged to carry on some kind of financial operations, differing more in name than in reality from a system of banking considered as a means of supplying a currency. The public lands have rarely yielded any proceeds beyond the wants of the government. And the

only real question, fairly at issue, has been that of improvement in public works.

The Democrats popularly charge upon the Whigs a desire to strengthen and centralize the National Government, declaring themselves to be in favor rather of strengthening the local governments of the several States, and of limiting, as far as constitutionally possible, the agency of the National Government, or government of the Union; but in practice the Democratic party is ready enough to assume power for the General Government when any thing is to be gained by so doing; and in this, as in most other instances, the difference between the two parties lies rather in words than in deeds.

The Whigs, on the other hand, popularly charge upon the Democrats an undue degree of subserviency to the Executive, especially since the elevation of General Jackson to the presidency in 1829; and this charge seems to have more foundation in truth. It is certain, at all events, that the three Democratic presidents, Jackson, Van Buren, and Polk, have found a more zealous and unscrupulous support in questionable measures than was ever given to a Whig president, or indeed to any of their predecessors.

Perhaps, on the whole, it may be truly said, that the main practical difference between the Whigs and Democrats lies in the fact that the latter give a more unhesitating and thorough-going support to all measures which involve the question of party-measures, which become, by any means party tests, whether emanating from the Executive or adopted by him under impulse from his adherents. [J. Inman.]

WHIGGISM, OR WHIGGERY. Whig principles; the doctrines of the Whig party. These words have, in the United States, lost their original opprobrious meaning, and are frequently used by the Whigs themselves in speaking of their doctrines.

Professor Amasa Walker here came forward, and said they all stood together upon the same platform, and he had heard too much of Whiggery about their proceedings already; and as they stood upon a broad platform, he as a Democrat protested against their throwing in so much Whiggery and entertaining them about Gen. Taylor's white horse.-Rep. of a Freesoil Convention at Worcester, Mass., June 28, 1848.

The Whigs in Boston see by the movement in New York, and by accounts from Ohio, that there is a chance, at least, of General Taylor being vigorously opposed by some men of undoubted Whiggery in influential States. — Letter from Boston, in N. Y. Herald, June 21, 1848.

WHILE, for till. "Stay while I come," instead of, Stay till I come.

Used

> TO WHIP THE CAT. I can give no other explanation of the phrase than

to quote the following passage by Mr. Goodrich, who, in describing the early customs of New England, says:

Twice a year the tailor came to the house and fabricated the semi-annual stock of clothes for the male members, this being called whipping the cat. - Reminiscences, Vol. I. p. 74.

TO WHIP THE DEVIL ROUND A STUMP. To make false excuses to one's > self and others for doing what one likes.

While Mr. Jones is describing his wants in the money line, and telling the president how "near through" he is, that officer is carrying on a mental addition, it may be after this manner: "Jones, you're a clever fellow, but Smith tells me you are engaged in a coal stock operation. I have heard also that you have been dabbling in Erie. There is a want of candor now, I perceive, in the statement of your affairs. There, you are now whipping the devil around the stump; I see his foot."-N. Y. Evening Post, 1857.

WHISKEY-ROOT. A plant of the Cactus species possessing intoxicating properties, which is thus described by a correspondent of the New Orleans Picayune: "It is what the Indians call Pie-o-ke. It grows in southern Texas, on the range of sand-hills bordering on the Rio Grande, and in gravelly, sandy soil. The Indians eat it for its exhilarating effect on the system, it producing precisely the same as alcoholic drinks. It is sliced as you would a cucumber, and these small pieces chewed, the juice swallowed, and in about the same time as comfortably tight cocktails would stir the divinity within' you, this indicates itself; only its effects are what I might term a little more k-a-v-o-r-t-i-n-g, giving rather a wilder scope to the imagination and actions."

. WHITE FISH. See Menhaden.

WHITE FROST. Hoar-frost. Western.

WHITE SETTLEMENTS.

The settlement of Kentucky, the first Western State, was by an emigration from Virginia through the Cumberland Gap. The fertile soil, which was the temptation, lay in the middle of the State; and the surrounding region, being comparatively poor (except in coal and iron), was neglected, although traversed by the whole emigration. The centre, or "Garden spot," was called "The White settlements," while Indians still lingered on its outskirts.

Now that these comparatively poor regions of the State have become inhabited, the name is still retained, and without explanation would be deemed absurd; for all the Indians have disappeared long ago, and negroes are only to be found in numbers on the large farms of these very white settlements.

The phrase seems to be used only by those who live between the mountains and the region so designated, in which the term is never used, although well understood. [G. C. Schaeffer.]

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WHITE TRASH.

A term applied, especially by negroes, to the poor white

people of the South. See Poor White folks.

In social relations the negroes are sensitive to the overbearing propensities of a proprietary who are accustomed to regard all neighbors out of their own class as white trash. Olmsted's Texas.

Of all the pizen critters that I knows on, these ere mean white trash is the pizenest. They aint got no manners and no bringing up. - Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. II. "The fact is," said Mr. Gordon, "what with niggers, and overseers, and white trash, my chances of salvation are dreadfully limited." — Ibid. Vol. I. p. 271.

WHITEWOOD. See Tulip-Tree.

WHIT-POT. A kind of pudding. New England. It is the White-Pot of Devonshire.

WHIT-POTTING. A term used in Nantucket for visiting among relations and friends.

TO WHITTLE. To cut or dress with a knife. The word as well as the practice of whittling for amusement is so much more common with us, especially in New England, than in the old country, that its use may not improperly be regarded as an Americanism.

Dexterity with the pocket-knife is part of a Nantucket education; but I am inclined to think the propensity is national. Americans must and will whittle. —N. P. Willis.

In the "Yankee Ballad" by Miss Abby Allin, in speaking of the New Englander, she says:

No matter where his home may be

What flag may be unfurled,

He'll manage by some cute device

To whittle through the world.

The Pierce administration, which came into power with a majority of eighty, has now been whittled down to ten, as appeared by the vote on the Ostend convention. Providence Journal.

WHITTLED. Tipsy, drunk.

WHOLE CLOTH. A lie made out of whole cloth, is one in which there is no admixture of truth.

Isn't this entire story about your Jersey grandmother made out of whole clothspun on your own wheel, with your tongue for the spindle ?—C. Matthews, The Motley Book, p. 68

So Mr. D- - has shown his cloven foot to the South at last. I never believed he was whole-footed. I never had confidence in him. Richmond South, Dec. 1857.

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WHOLE HEAP. Many; several; much; a large congregation. An expres

sion peculiar to certain parts of the South and West. Sherwood's Georgia. WHOLE-SOULED. Noble-minded. A phrase in great favor with persons fond of fine talking and fine writing, like the following extract from a rhapsody about a fourth of July oration of Mr. Choate's:

The soaring and revelling ideas, the whole-souled patriotism, the gorgeous wordpainting, the flow and headway of resistless emotion, were all suited to the audience, which hung entranced upon the lips of the orator. - Boston Journal, July, 1858. WHOLE TEAM. To say that a man is a whole team, signifies, in Western parlance, that he is possessed of uncommon powers of body or mind.

Among other amplifications of the phrase is that of a whole team and a horse to spare.

The author of a series of lively sketches in Blackwood's Magazine, on "Canada and the North-west States," says:

I once heard a Yankee describe the greatest friend he possessed in the world, as "a hull team and a horse to spare, besides a big dog under the wagon." - Vol. LXXVIII. p. 336.

In a sketch of fashionable society in New York, the writer thus speaks of a specimen of Young America:

Here's the first curiosity of the place. He's just three years old rising; can drive a horse on a straight road; eats every thing he can get, and drinks every liquid in the house except ink. Is n't he a beauty? Isn't he a whole team and one horse extra? - The Upper Ten Thousand.

WHOOSH. A term used in backing a horse. I have never heard this word except in Nantucket. In Moor's Suffolk Glossary it is defined as "an imperative, commanding the fore-horse of a team to bear to the left." Mr. Forby, on the contrary, in his Norfolk Glossary, says "Woosh wo!" means "Go to the right." Both authors derive it from the French gauche.

WICKET. A place of shelter, or camp made of the boughs of trees, used by lumbermen in Maine.

WICOPY. See Leather-Wood.

WIDE AWAKE. On the alert; ready; prepared.

Miss Harriet had more clothes and more money than the rest; because she was always wide awake, and looking out for herself. - Mrs. Stowe's Dred, Vol. I. p. 210.

In the morning, and before sunrise, Bogard, who was a Yankee and a wide awake fellow, thrust his head out from under his robe, exclaiming, as he grasped for his gun, "By darn, look at old Cale !"— Catlin's North Am. Indians, Vol. I. p. 71. WIGGLE. To bend the body rapidly from side to side; to wriggle, as a fish or tadpole.

WIGGLE-TAIL. The popular name for the larva of the mosquito.