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L.W. ex rel. L.G. v. Toms River Regional Schools Board of Education/Opinion of the Court

[NJ389] [A539] Chief Justice ZAZZALI delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this appeal, we must determine whether a school district may be held liable under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD or Act), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49, when students harass another student because of his perceived sexual orientation and, if so, what standard of liability governs such a cause of action.

In the fourth grade, classmates began taunting plaintiff L.W. with homosexual epithets such as "gay," "homo," and "fag." The harassment increased in regularity and severity as L.W. advanced through school. In seventh grade, the bullying occurred daily and escalated to physical aggression and molestation. Within days [A540] of entering high school, the abuse culminated with a pair of physical attacks. Ultimately, L.W.'s unease prompted him to withdraw from his local high school and enroll elsewhere, at the expense of his school district.

Thereafter, on her son's behalf, L.W.'s mother filed a complaint under the LAD, alleging that the Toms River Regional Schools Board of Education (District) failed to take corrective action in response to the harassment L.W. endured because of his perceived sexual orientation. The Director of the Division on Civil Rights (Director) held that the District was liable for the student-on-student harassment that L.W. repeatedly endured. The Appellate Division affirmed the Director's decision.

Because the Act's broad statutory language is clear, we hold that the LAD recognizes a cause of action against a school [NJ390]  district for student-on-student affectional or sexual orientation harassment. We also hold that a school district is liable for such harassment when the school district knew or should have known of the harassment but failed to take actions reasonably calculated to end the mistreatment and offensive conduct. Our conclusion furthers the legislative intent of eradicating the scourge of discrimination not only from society, but also from our schools, thus encouraging school districts to take proactive steps to protect the children in their charge.

I.
As a fourth-grader at South Toms River Elementary School, L.W. first heard the taunts--"you're gay, you're a homo, you're a fag." Initially, L.W. did not understand the teasing and asked his aunt, "what does 'gay' mean? . . . [T]hat's what everyone says I am, so what does it mean?" In fifth and sixth grade, the frequency of the ridicule increased from once a month or once a week to almost daily. Only then did school officials learn of the problem. At one point during the fifth grade, L.W. became so upset that he refused to attend school. Following a complaint by his mother, L.W.'s classmates wrote apology letters. L.W. returned to school, but the problem continued.

Middle School
The harassment escalated in 1998 when L.W. enrolled at Intermediate West for seventh grade, a school with an enrollment of 1,400 students. "Almost every single day" classmates directed slurs at L.W. loudly in the halls "so everyone could hear." When asked about his day, L.W. would occasionally reply, "Nobody called me anything today. I had a good day." But, on entering the seventh grade, the maltreatment was no longer limited to verbal disparagement. In the fall, L.W. discovered a piece of construction paper attached to his locker that read, "You're a dancer, you're gay, you're a faggot, you don't belong in our school, [NJ391]  get out." L.W. did not immediately report the incident to school officials.

The first reported incident occurred in late January. While in the school cafeteria, a group of ten to fifteen students surrounded L.W. One of those students, R.C., then struck L.W. on the back of the head and taunted him with "the usual" homosexual epithets. L.W. went to the office and called his mother. When she arrived to pick L.W. up, eighth-grade Assistant Principal Raymond McCusker informed her that he would report the incident to seventh-grade Assistant Principal Irene Benn. The next day, L.W. remained home from school, still upset from the previous day's events. His mother called Benn four times that day to determine what action was taken in response. Benn advised L.W.'s mother that McCusker had [A541] briefed her on the incident, but because "something had come up," she "did not have time to speak to the children involved." The following day, Benn informed L.W.'s mother that she had spoken with the main participants and determined that R.C., after being called a "whore" by L.W., retaliated against him. Benn counseled both students regarding the inappropriateness of their behavior and warned them of the consequences of future actions. Benn did not punish or reprimand any of the other students involved.

Also in late January, a student approached L.W. in the locker room and, with a crowd of students looking on, said, "If you had a p* * * *, I'd f* * * you up and down." L.W. was "[e]mbarrassed, vulnerable, [and] ashamed." L.W. and his mother reported the incident to Benn, but because L.W. did not want any problems performing in the upcoming school play, his mother asked Benn to wait until after the performance to speak with the offending student. However, L.W.'s mother did not follow up with Benn, and no action was taken.

Even the school play was not free of harassment. At every practice, an eighth grade student, R.G., insulted L.W. with derogatory comments. L.W. reported the harassment, and R.G. apologized. Further, as part of a school function, L.W. went to Toms [NJ392]  River High School North to watch a dress rehearsal of a school play. There, D.M. mocked L.W. and smacked him on the head with his playbill. L.W. reported the incident. Benn counseled D.M., advising him that further inappropriate conduct would result in more significant consequences. D.M.'s mother was advised of the incident. She apologized to L.W.'s mother and insisted that D.M. write a letter apologizing to L.W.

The insults such as "butt boy, fruit cake, [and] fudge [p]acker" did not abate. The remarks were so frequent in seventh grade that L.W. testified that "[i]f I ma[d]e it through a day without comments, I was lucky." For example, various students pestered L.W. during physical education. When L.W. informed Benn of the badgering, she discouraged the heckling students from using such language and warned them of future consequences if their behavior continued. In addition to reporting the incidents to Benn, L.W. sought the help of his guidance counselor who urged L.W. to "toughen up and turn the other cheek." L.W.'s mother complained to Benn about the guidance counselor's advice.

The harassment at Intermediate West peaked in mid-March. While standing in the lunch line, M.S., along with two friends, J.A. and C.C., approached L.W., calling him "gay" and "faggot." M.S. then grabbed L.W.'s "private area" and "humped" him, taunting, "Do you like it, do you like it like this?" L.W. escaped, but M.S. followed him and repeated the molestation as classmates watched. L.W. then fled to the school's main office. Benn spoke with all three attackers, told them that their conduct was "inappropriate" and that, if repeated, "it would be dealt with more severely." The assaulting students then returned to class.

L.W.'s mother arrived at school shortly thereafter to pick up her son, who waited in the school's main office while his mother and Benn spoke. Even in the main office, students teased L.W. Following the cafeteria incident, L.W. did not attend school for several days. When he did return, Mark Regan, Principal of Intermediate West, Anne Baldi, the school's affirmative action officer, Benn, and McCusker met with L.W.'s mother and aunt. [NJ393] At that meeting, held less than two months after the first reported incident of harassment, Regan informed L.W.'s mother that an "open [A542]  door policy" would be imposed, permitting her son to leave class and report problems directly to him or Benn any time anyone bothered him. Further, Regan assured L.W.'s mother that her son's teachers would be informed of the situation and L.W.'s special permission to leave class. Finally, Regan stated that harassing students would be dealt with immediately. According to Regan, first-time offenders would be counseled and more drastic action would be taken against repeat offenders.

On his first day back to school, L.W. faced homosexual taunts from his schoolmates, namely, C.C., B.E., and T.L. School officials reacted. Because C.C. was a repeat offender, his family was contacted and he received detention, while Benn and McCusker counseled the first-time-offenders on the consequences of their behavior. Later that same day, R.B., P.D., J.P., and T.S. told L.W. that he should "be in a girls['] locker room." As a repeat offender, P.D. was punished with detention, his parents were contacted, and he was warned that he would be suspended if he offended again. The others, all first-time-offenders, were counseled. L.W.'s gym locker was also moved closer to the physical education office.

The next month, in April of his seventh grade year, L.W. slapped a female student's buttocks on her dare. Thereafter, the female student's brother, D.R., accompanied by W.K., confronted L.W. in the locker room and said, "I heard [you] smacked my sister on her a* *, I don't want you to do that, you're a fag, you don't belong doing that." D.R. then slapped L.W. across his face, ordering him "never to touch his sister again." Laughing and saying "Faggot … get out of here, we don't want you here," W.K. then "whipped" L.W. over the back of his neck with a silver chain. L.W. reported the incident before going home that day. When his mother arrived, L.W. was crying. He had "welts" on his neck, and his cheek was "all red" from the attack. School officials [NJ394]  suspended D.R. and W.K. five days each. L.W. did not return to school for over a week.

Although unreported, the verbal abuse persisted through the end of the seventh grade, but was of a lesser degree. Eighth grade was a better year for L.W. Although the verbal harassment continued,it was more sporadic. No physical abuse was reported, and, at L.W.'s graduation, L.W. and his mother thanked Regan for "giving L.[W.] a good year." Concerning the lack of physical confrontation during his eighth grade year, L.W. testified that a security guard monitored him between classes approximately eighty percent of the time. However, the guard, a former police officer, testified that he was assigned to the intermediate school generally and that he was not assigned specifically to monitor L.W. Although the security guard was transferred to Toms River High School South when L.W. entered that school as a freshman, the guard stated that the transfer was unrelated to L.W.'s academic progression.

Throughout L.W.'s time at Intermediate West, a school-wide non-discrimination policy was in effect, one that the District characterized as a "zero tolerance" policy. The District provided students and parents with a handbook of rules, regulations, and policies stating that the District does not discriminate on the basis of numerous characteristics including race, sex, and religion. However, the handbook did not enumerate affectional or sexual orientation. Additionally, the District, which oversees roughly 18,000 students, maintained a second nondiscrimination policy, an affirmative action overview. That policy was not generally distributed to students [A543] and parents; rather, it was maintained by the District's superintendent, principals, and affirmative action office. The affirmative action overview enumerated "affectional or sexual orientation" as a prohibited basis for discrimination.

Benn testified that she explained the school's non-discrimination policies to students in a class period at the beginning of the academic year. However, E.C., a classmate of L.W.'s, testified that the assembly addressed mostly "fighting" and "yelling in the [NJ395]  hall." To the extent harassment was discussed, according to Benn, no specific reference was made to sexual orientation. The District did not reinforce the discrimination policy through assemblies, letters to parents, or any other widespread communication.

The District employed "progressive discipline" when addressing peer discrimination and harassment. School officials counseled first-time offenders regarding their inappropriate conduct and advised them that more serious consequences would result if the conduct recurred. For a second transgression, the offender earned disciplinary "points." A third offense could result in suspension. By way of comparison, if a student was more than one minute late for class, the student received three "points" and a detention. Overall, the progressive discipline was student-specific, predicated on the offender's prior record, not the victim's identity or history.

High School
On entering High School South, the epithets resurfaced. To avoid the derision he encountered on the school bus, L.W. decided to walk home after school. However, while walking home from school in early September and off school grounds, a car approached L.W. and three students, L.B., J.F., and M.F., exited. M.F. said, "I heard you have a crush on L.B., and that [his] family doesn't like faggots, [he doesn't] like faggots." J.F. pressed L.W., "Well, are you a faggot?" M.F. chimed in, "We don't like faggots, our whole family doesn't like faggots." L.W. yelled, "It's none of your damn business." M.F. then punched L.W. in the face, knocking him down. L.W. ran away, crying hysterically, but M.F. chased after him threatening, "If I hear that you said anything about this I'm going to knife you." L.W. subsequently missed a day or two of school.

In the wake of the attack, L.W.'s mother informed high school officials of the mistreatment her son endured in middle school. According to L.W.'s mother, the educators seemed unaware of L.W.'s past. The District suspended M.F. for ten days, and he [NJ396]  later pled guilty to a charge of assault. School officials advised L.W. to take the bus home in the future.

The final incident occurred in mid-September when L.W. went to downtown Toms River for lunch, as many students did. L.T. approached L.W., who was sitting on a curb outside a 7-Eleven convenience store. Unprovoked, L.T. pushed L.W. to the ground and grabbed L.W.'s shirt. L.T. warned L.W. that if he ever heard that L.W. had a crush on him or his friends again that he'd "kick [L.W.'s] a* *." The aggressor then "completely covered" L.W. with dirt. The District suspended L.T. for ten days.

L.W. never returned to High School South, but instead withdrew from the District to attend school elsewhere. During the following month, his mother attempted to find alternative placement for L.W., without assistance from the District. After his mother expressed an interest in Red Bank Regional High School, the District agreed to subsidize L.W.'s attendance and transportation expenses. Enrolled in Red Bank Regional's performing arts program, L.W. [A544] completed his freshman year without encountering "one single problem." The next year, because of the transportation burden on his family, L.W. transferred to Ocean County Vocational Technical School, Career and Technical Institute.

L.W. described his time as a student in the District as "very upsetting." Indeed, L.W. stated that he felt as if he missed his "teenage years." Prior to the harassment, family members described L.W. as "a very happy child." After the maltreatment, his family described him as "depressed," "fearful," and "withdrawn." According to his mother, he "was not . . . the same kid that he was years before." L.W. had difficulty paying attention in class, a problem that negatively impacted his academic performance. In fact, in seventh grade, a teacher called L.W.'s mother to express her concerns. The teacher reported that L.W. was "not the same boy who walked into my classroom in September. He's disruptive[, and] his grades are falling." His mother cited the harassment as the cause, a revelation that "shocked" the teacher, who was unaware of any problems.

[NJ397]

Procedural History
L.W.'s mother filed a complaint with the Division on Civil Rights on her and her son's behalf, claiming that L.W. was repeatedly subjected to harassment by his peers due to his perceived sexual orientation. The complaint alleged that the District's failure to take corrective action violated the LAD. The matter was referred to the Office of Administrative Law and a three-day hearing was held. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) concluded that a cause of action against a school district for student-on-student sexual harassment was not cognizable under the LAD. Further, even assuming that the LAD recognized such a cause of action, the ALJ opined that L.W.'s claim should be governed by Title IX standards. Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in any federally-funded educational program, permits liability "only where the funding recipient acts with deliberate indifference to known acts of harassment." ''Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ.'', 526 U.S. 629, 633, 119 S.C.t. 1661, 1666, 143 L. Ed. 2d 839, 847 (1999). The ALJ thus rejected the standards governing hostile work environment sexual harassment under the LAD, which hold an employer liable when "the employer had actual knowledge of the harassment and did not promptly and effectively act to stop it." Lehmann v. Toys 'R' Us, Inc., 132 N.J. 587, 622, 626 A.2d 445 (1993).

The Director of the Division on Civil Rights reviewed and rejected the ALJ's dismissal of the complaint. The Director found that the LAD recognized hostile environment claims against a school district. The Director adopted "standards similar to those established . . . in Lehmann" and concluded that a "school district will be liable for such harassment where the school administration or its agents or employees knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take effective measures to stop it." [NJ398] Applying those principles, he concluded that L.W. was entitled to recovery. The Director ordered equitable measures, requiring the District to revamp its policies and procedures regarding the prevention of peer sexual harassment. He also awarded $ 50,000 in emotional distress damages to L.W. and [A545] $ 10,000 in emotional distress damages to his mother. Finally, the Director assessed a $ 10,000 penalty against the District and granted plaintiffs' application for attorneys' fees.

The Appellate Division affirmed in part and reversed in part, remanding the matter for further proceedings in conformity with its opinion. ''L.W. v. Toms River Reg'l Schs. Bd. of Educ.'', 381 N.J. Super. 465, 474, 886 A.2d 1090 (App.Div.2005). The panel found that "a claim against a school district may be brought under the LAD for peer harassment that is based on an individual's 'affectional or sexual orientation' if the harassment rises to the level of a denial of the 'advantages, facilities or privileges' of a public school." Id. at 486, 886 A.2d 1090. The court held that principles "substantially the same as those employed to determine whether sexual harassment creates a hostile work environment" under Lehmann govern student-on-student harassment allegations. Id. at 486, 886 A.2d 1090. Therefore, the Appellate Division affirmed the $ 50,000 compensatory damages award to L.W. Id. at 499-500, 886 A.2d 1090.

However, the panel reversed the Director's award of $ 10,000 to L.W.'s mother, finding that she was not an aggrieved person under the LAD. Id. at 500-01, 886 A.2d 1090. Further, the Appellate Division reversed the Director's order requiring the adoption of remedial measures and remanded the matter for reconsideration consistent with its opinion. Id. at 497-98, 886 A.2d 1090. The court concluded that the record did not support such remedies because there was no evidence indicating either a district-wide problem concerning student-on-student harassment based on sexual orientation or any such harassment in the District's schools since L.W.'s attendance. Ibid. Judge Alley dissented, disagreeing with the majority's finding that the District failed [NJ399]  to take effective remedial measures. Id. at 501, 886 A.2d 1090 (Alley, J., dissenting). According to the dissent, the record was bereft of evidence indicating how other school districts handle peer harassment, thus making any determination of reasonableness problematic. Id. at 502-03, 886 A.2d 1090 (Alley, J., dissenting).

Based on the dissent in the Appellate Division, the District's appeal of the ineffective remedial measures finding is before us as of right. R. 2:2-1(a)(2). We also granted the District's petition for certification concerning whether the LAD provides a cause of action for peer harassment, and, if so, what the appropriate standard of liability is for such a claim. 186 N.J. 605, 897 A.2d 1060 (2006). Seven child advocacy and civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, submitted a joint amicus curiae brief.

II.
"Freedom from discrimination is one of the fundamental principles of our society." Lehmann, supra, 132 N.J. at 600, 626 A.2d 445. With that bedrock principle in mind, "the overarching goal of the [LAD] is nothing less than the eradication 'of the cancer of discrimination.'" Fuchilla v. Layman, 109 N.J. 319, 334, 537 A.2d 652 (quoting Jackson v. Concord Co., 54 N.J. 113, 124, 253 A.2d 793 (1969)), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 826, 109 S.C.t. 75, 102 L. Ed. 2d 51 (1988). In short, the LAD is the Legislature's attempt to "protect society from the vestiges of discrimination." Cedeno v. Montclair State Univ., 163 N.J. 473, 478, 750 A.2d 73 (2000).

Enacted in 1945 as the first state anti-discrimination statute in the nation, the LAD ensures "that the civil rights guaranteed by the State Constitution are extended to all its citizens." [A546] ''Viscik v. Fowler Equip. Co., Inc.,'' 173 N.J. 1, 12, 800 A.2d 826 (2002) (citing L. 1945, c. 169; N.J.S.A. 10:5-2). The Legislature declared that "discrimination threatens not only the rights and proper privileges of the inhabitants of the State but menaces the [NJ400]  institutions and foundation of a free democratic State . . . [and] that because of discrimination, people suffer personal hardships, and the State suffers a grievous harm." N.J.S.A. 10:5-3. With those legislative underpinnings as a backdrop, this Court has liberally construed the LAD to further the Legislature's broad remedial objectives. See Viscik, supra, 173 N.J. at 13, 800 A.2d 826; see also N.J.S.A. 10:5-3 ("[T]his act shall be liberally construed in combination with other protections available under the laws of this State."). Moreover, our courts counsel that "the more broadly [the LAD] is applied the greater its antidiscriminatory impact." Ptaszynski v. Uwaneme, 371 N.J. Super. 333, 345, 853 A.2d 288 (App.Div.), certif. denied, 182 N.J. 147, 862 A.2d 56 (2004).

III.
The first question presented in this appeal is whether the LAD recognizes a cause of action against a school district for student-on-student harassment based on perceived sexual orientation. Because that question entails statutory interpretation, we begin with the statute's plain language--our polestar in discerning the Legislature's intent. See DiProspero v. Penn, 183 N.J. 477, 492, 874 A.2d 1039 (2005) (stating that statutory language is "best indicator" of legislative intent); Alan J. Cornblatt, P.A. v. Barow, 153 N.J. 218, 231, 708 A.2d 401 (1998) (noting that statute's language is "surest indicator" of legislative intent). "If the language is plain and clearly reveals the statute's meaning, the Court's sole function is to enforce the statute according to its terms." Frugis v. Bracigliano, 177 N.J. 250, 280, 827 A.2d 1040 (2003).

The LAD provides, in pertinent part:

All persons shall have the opportunity to … obtain all the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of any place of public accommodation … without discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, familial status, disability, nationality, sex or source of lawful income used for rental or mortgage payments. . . . This opportunity is recognized as and declared to be a civil right.

[NJ401] N.J.S.A. 10:5-4.

Pursuant to the LAD, it is unlawful "[f]or any owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent, or employee of any place of public accommodation directly or indirectly to refuse, withhold from or deny to any person any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges thereof, or to discriminate against any person in the furnishing thereof" on the basis of that person's "affectional or sexual orientation." N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(f). "Affectional or sexual orientation" is defined by the Act as "male or female heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality by inclination, practice, identity or expression, having a history thereof or being perceived, presumed or identified by others as having such an orientation." N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(hh). Further, "place of public accommodation" expressly includes "any … primary and secondary school, … high school, … or any educational institution under the supervision of the State Board of Education, or the Commissioner of Education of the State of New Jersey." N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(l).

Application of the LAD to claims filed against school districts for student-on-student affectional or sexual orientation harassment will address a significant problem [A547] facing our State's educational system. In fact, our Legislature has confronted the negative impact of "harassment, intimidation, and bullying" in our schools. See N.J.S.A. 18A:37-13 to -18 (enacting procedures to curb acts "reasonably perceived as being motivated either by actual or perceived characteristic, such as … sexual orientation"). As the Legislature found,

[A] safe and civil environment in school is necessary for students to learn and achieve high academic standards; harassment, intimidation or bullying, like other disruptive or violent behaviors, is conduct that disrupts both a student's ability to learn and a school's ability to educate its students in a safe environment.

[N.J.S.A. 18A:37-13.]

Commentators underscore the insidious existence and detrimental effects of peer sexual harassment in our schools. See, e.g., Rebecca A. Oleksy, Comment, Student-on-Student Sexual Harassment: Preventing a National Problem on a Local Level, [NJ402] 32 Seton Hall L. Rev. 230, 230 (2001) ("Student-on-student sexual harassment is a pervasive problem in primary and secondary schools throughout our nation."). The Legislature underscored the problem's severity when it criminalized "bias intimidation." N.J.S.A. 2C:16-1. Although that statute is not implicated in this appeal, one who engages in the purposeful intimidation of another because of the victim's sexual orientation is guilty of, at minimum, a fourth degree offense. Id. (also listing race, color, religion, gender, handicap, and ethnicity as protected characteristics).

Because of the Act's plain language, its broad remedial goal, and the prevalent nature of peer sexual harassment, we conclude that the LAD permits a cause of action against a school district for student-on-student harassment based on an individual's perceived sexual orientation if the school district's failure to reasonably address that harassment has the effect of denying to that student any of a school's "accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges." See N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(f). A contrary conclusion would be incongruous with the LAD's prohibition of discrimination in other settings, including the workplace, because "[t]he right of a student to achieve an education free from sexual harassment is certainly as important as the rights of an employee in a work setting." K.P. v. Corsey, 228 F. Supp.2d 547, 550 (D.N.J.2002), rev'd on other grounds, 77 Fed. Appx. 611 (3d Cir.2003). By recognizing a cause of action against school districts for failing to reasonably address peer-based, affectional orientation harassment, we further the Legislature's goal of eradicating the invidious discrimination faced by students in our public schools.

We do not suggest, however, that isolated schoolyard insults or classroom taunts are actionable. Rather, in the educational context, to state a claim under the LAD, an aggrieved student must allege discriminatory conduct that would not have occurred "but for" the student's protected characteristic, that a reasonable student of the same age, maturity level, and protected characteristic would consider sufficiently severe or pervasive enough to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive school environment, [NJ403]  and that the school district failed to reasonably address such conduct. See Lehmann, supra, 132 N.J. at 603-04, 626 A.2d 445 (enumerating standard for actionable hostile work environment sexual harassment).

IV.
We turn now to the circumstances under which a school district's actions--or inactions--in preventing and addressing a hostile [A548] school environment entitle an aggrieved student to recovery.

A.
Because the LAD prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation as well as the workplace, see N.J.S.A. 10:5-4, L.W. argues that the Director and the Appellate Division correctly applied a standard similar to the hostile work environment sexual harassment standard of liability enumerated in Lehmann, supra, 132 N.J. at 622, 626 A.2d 445, to the analogous hostile school environment alleged here. This Court in Lehmann, supra held that an employee states a claim for hostile work environment sexual harassment under the LAD when the victim alleges "severe or pervasive" discriminatory conduct that "create[s] an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment." 132 N.J. at 592, 626 A.2d 445. Moreover, in Lehmann, this Court established that under the LAD an employer will be liable for compensatory damages for a hostile work environment in three circumstances: (1) when the employer grants a supervisor authority to control the workplace and the supervisor abuses that authority to create a hostile environment, id. at 620, 626 A.2d 445; (2) when the employer negligently manages the workplace by failing to enact anti-harassment policies and mechanisms, id. at 621-22, 626 A.2d 445; or (3) when the employer has actual or constructive knowledge of the harassment and fails to take effective measures to end the discrimination, id. at 622-23. It is the last circumstance that is relevant in this appeal. The Lehmann Court stated that liability may be appropriate "if the employer had [NJ404]  actual knowledge of the harassment and did not promptly and effectively act to stop it." Id. at 622, 626 A.2d 445. The Court continued:

When an employer knows or should know of the harassment and fails to take effective measures to stop it, the employer has joined with the harasser in making the working environment hostile. The employer, by failing to take action, sends the harassed employee the message that the harassment is acceptable and that the management supports the harasser. "Effective" remedial measures are those reasonably calculated to end the harassment. The "reasonableness of an employer's remedy will depend on its ability to stop harassment by the person who engaged in harassment."

[Id. at 623, 626 A.2d 445 (quoting Ellison v. Brady, 924 F.2d 872, 882 (9th Cir.1991)) (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added).]

The District, however, maintains that the applicable standard of liability should mirror the standard applied in Title IX actions--the "deliberate indifference" standard. Davis, supra, 526 U.S. at 642-43, 119 S.C.t. at 1671, 143 L. Ed. 2d at 853. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 provides that "[n]o person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." 20 U.S.C.A. § 1681(a). In Davis, supra the United States Supreme Court considered whether a private action for damages could be brought against a school board under Title IX in cases of student-on-student sexual harassment. 526 U.S. at 632, 119 S.C.t. at 1666, 143 L. Ed. 2d at 847. The Court held that such an action exists "only where the funding recipient acts with deliberate indifference to known acts of harassment in its programs or activities … that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively bars the victim's access to an educational opportunity [A549] or benefit." Id. at 633, 119 S.C.t. at 1666, 143 L. Ed. 2d at 847 (emphasis added). In rejecting a mere negligence standard and establishing that high bar to recovery, the Supreme Court noted that the claim at issue was an implied private right of action under a statute enacted pursuant to Congress' authority under the Spending Clause. Id. at 639-40, 119 S.C.t. at 1669, 143 L. Ed. 2d at 851. Therefore, because legislation grounded in Congress's spending power is contractual in nature, damages are [NJ405]  available only when the recipient of federal funds had adequate notice of its potential liability. Id. at 640, 119 S.C.t. at 1670, 143 L. Ed. 2d at 852.

B.
Although this Court may look to federal jurisprudence for guidance when interpreting the LAD, we will not hesitate to depart "from federal precedent if a rigid application of its standards is inappropriate under the circumstances." Lehmann, supra, 132 N.J. at 600-01, 626 A.2d 445 (quoting Grigoletti v. Ortho Pharm. Corp., 118 N.J. 89, 107, 570 A.2d 903 (1990)). We reject the Title IX deliberate indifference standard because we conclude that the Lehmann standard should apply in the workplace and in the school setting. We find no need to impose a separate standard because the discrimination is in a school.

Additionally, there are substantial differences in scope between the LAD and Title IX. Title IX is narrower than the LAD on three fronts. First, Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex only. 20 U.S.C.A. § 1681(a). That limitation must be juxtaposed against the expansive list of characteristics protected by the LAD, including "affectional or sexual orientation"--the crux of this appeal. See N.J.S.A. 10:5-4. Second, Title IX prohibits only recipients of federal educational funds from discriminating against students based on sex. ''See Gebser v. Lago Vista Ind. Sch. Dist.'', 524 U.S. 274, 286, 118 S.C.t. 1989, 1997, 141 L. Ed. 2d 277, 289 (1988). Indeed, Title IX was enacted pursuant to Congress' authority under the Spending Clause, thereby implicating contract principles. Davis, supra, 526 U.S. at 640, 119 S.C.t. at 1669, 143 L. Ed. 2d at 851-52. Conversely, the LAD, as does our State Constitution, enforces the guarantee of civil rights, see N.J.S.A. 10:5-2, and applies universally to "places[s] of public accommodation," a defined term that includes schools regardless of their source of funding, N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(l). Third, although courts have found an implied private right of action under Title IX, see [NJ406] Cannon v. Univ. of Chicago, 441 U.S. 677, 709, 99 S.C.t. 1946, 1964, 60 L. Ed. 2d 560, 582 (1979), the LAD expressly empowers aggrieved persons to file private causes of action seeking a full range of legal and equitable remedies. N.J.S.A. 10:5-13.

The Title IX standard is also more burdensome than the LAD test because, to recover, the aggrieved plaintiff must establish deliberate indifference by the defendant. However, as Judge Yannotti found in his well-reasoned opinion below, as a matter of state law it would be unfair to apply a more onerous burden on aggrieved students than on aggrieved employees. L.W., supra, 381 N.J. Super. at 488, 886 A.2d 1090. Students in the classroom are entitled to no less protection from unlawful discrimination and harassment than their adult counterparts in the workplace. See K.P., supra, 228 F. Supp.2d at 550.

C.
We are satisfied that the LAD standard governing hostile work environment sexual harassment, as modified below, comports best with the circumstances presented in this appeal. A contrary conclusion [A550] would be at loggerheads with the State's strong policy of protecting students. Educators have "[n]o greater obligation … than to protect the children in their charge from foreseeable dangers, whether those dangers arise from the careless acts or intentional transgressions of others." Frugis, supra, 177 N.J. at 268, 827 A.2d 1040. Although Frugis involved the need to protect children from adults, its rationale applies to the present circumstances. That is, a school district's "first imperative must be to do no harm to the children in its care. A board of education must take reasonable measures to assure that the teachers and administrators who stand as surrogate parents during the day are educating, not endangering, and protecting, not exploiting, vulnerable children." Ibid.

A school cannot be expected to shelter students from all instances of peer harassment. Nevertheless, reasonable measures are required to protect our youth, a duty that schools are more than capable of performing. ''See Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. [NJ407]  Acton'', 515 U.S. 646, 655, 115 S.C.t. 2386, 2392, 132 L. Ed. 2d 564, 576 (1995) (noting that state's power over schoolchildren "is custodial and tutelary, permitting a degree of supervision and control that could not be exercised over free adults"); ''Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ., 120 F.3d 1390, 1417 n.7 (11th Cir.1997) (Barkett, J., dissenting) ("The ability to control and influence behavior exists to an even greater extent in the classroom than in the workplace."), rev'd, supra'', 526 U.S. 629, 119 S.C.t. 1661, 143 L. Ed. 2d 839.

In the school setting, the Lehmann standard requires that a school district may be found liable under the LAD for student-on-student sexual orientation harassment that creates a hostile educational environment when the school district knew or should have known of the harassment, but failed to take action reasonably calculated to end the harassment. That standard conforms to the Act's fundamental and laudatory goal of eradicating "the cancer of discrimination," Lehmann, supra, 132 N.J. at 600, 626 A.2d 445, and comports with the liberal construction mandated for this remedial statute, see Cedeno, supra, 163 N.J. at 478, 750 A.2d 73. We thereby further the Legislature's objective of eliminating bias-based harassment from New Jersey schools embodied in the LAD, N.J.S.A. 10:5-4 & 10:5-5(l), and other statutes, see, e.g., N.J.S.A. 18A:37-13 to -19 (establishing anti-bullying measures).

Because we do not create a strict liability standard, a district is not compelled to purge its schools of all peer harassment to avoid liability. Rather, we require school districts to implement effective preventive and remedial measures to curb severe or pervasive discriminatory mistreatment. Appropriate and reasonable measures will reinforce the basic principle that student-on-student sexual harassment is unacceptable.

A.
Although the above discussion provides a framework for the adjudication of student-on-student harassment disputes that occur [NJ408]  in an educational setting, the application of a modified Lehmann standard in the present and future litigation requires further guidance.

In assessing the reasonableness of a school district's response to a hostile educational environment, we are mindful that schools are different from workplaces. The United States Supreme Court recognized as much, stating:

[A551] [S]chools are unlike the adult workplace and … children may regularly interact in a manner that would be unacceptable among adults. Indeed, at least early on, students are still learning how to interact appropriately with their peers. It is thus understandable that, in the school setting, students often engage in insults, banter, teasing, shoving, pushing, and gender-specific conduct that is upsetting to the students subjected to it.

[Davis, supra, 526 U.S. at 651-52, 119 S.C.t. at 1675, 143 L. Ed. 2d at 859 (internal citations omitted).]

Factfinders, therefore, must determine the reasonableness of a school district's response to peer harassment in light of the totality of the circumstances, that is, the "constellation of surrounding circumstances, expectations, and relationships which are not fully captured by a single recitation of the words used or the physical acts performed." ''Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Servs. Inc.'', 523 U.S. 75, 82, 118 S.C.t. 998, 1003, 140 L. Ed. 2d 201, 208 (1998) (concerning Title VII violation). Indeed, after the events at issue in this appeal, the Department of Education (DOE) established--and regularly updates--a model policy to direct school districts in the establishment and maintenance of policies prohibiting harassment, intimidation, and bullying in the educational arena. See N.J. Dept. of Educ., Model Policy and Guidance for Prohibiting Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying on School Property, at School-Sponsored Functions and on School Buses (revised 2006) http://www.state.nj.us/njded/parents/bully.htm (last visited Feb. 15, 2007) [hereinafter Model Policy]; see also N.J.S.A. 18A:37-13 to -18 (requiring school districts to adopt policies prohibiting harassment based on actual or perceived characteristics, including sexual orientation). The DOE

recognizes that decisions about consequences and actions to be taken in response to violations of policies prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying should take [NJ409]  into consideration the unique circumstances of the acts and the persons involved, as well as the unique conditions and characteristics in each school district.

[Model Policy, supra, at 1.]

Illustratively, a reasonable response to name-calling among grade-schoolers may be inadequate to address violence among teenagers. The factfinder, therefore, should consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the students' ages, developmental and maturity levels; school culture and atmosphere; rareness or frequency of the conduct; duration of harassment; extent and severity of the conduct; whether violence was involved; history of harassment within the school district, the school, and among individual participants; effectiveness of the school district's response; whether the school district considered alternative responses; and swiftness of the school district's reaction. Only a fact-sensitive, case-by-case analysis will suffice to determine whether a school district's conduct was reasonable in its efforts to end the harassment. Furthermore, in analyzing school district responses, where applicable, the triers of fact should consult DOE regulations, model policies, and other guidance that the agency provides. See, e.g., N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.4(a) & 6A:16-7.9(a)2; Model Policy, supra.

With those and other considerations in mind, factfinders must consider the cumulative effect of all student harassment and all efforts of the school district to curtail the maltreatment. Agencies and courts reviewing the adequacy of a school district's response must avoid a cabined perspective that views incidents of harassment [A552] and responses to offensive conduct in isolation. Courts must "bear[] in mind that each successive episode has its predecessors, that the impact of the separate incidents may accumulate, and that the … environment created may exceed the sum of the individual episodes." Lehmann, supra, 132 N.J. at 607, 626 A.2d 445 (quotation omitted).

Finally, as conceded at oral argument, expert evidence may be required to establish the reasonableness of a school district's response to student-on-student harassment. Common [NJ410] sense will often signal the unreasonableness of inaction by a school district faced with systemic and persistent peer harassment. However, in the more typical dispute, the reasonableness of a school's response may not be apparent. In those more contentious circumstances, factfinders may be assisted by expert opinion regarding educational theories and principles, as well as the standards, policies, and procedures employed in the profession by similarly situated educators.

B.
Having established the standard by which a school district may be held liable under the LAD for student-on-student harassment and having provided guidance to future factfinders, we conclude that a remand is required in the present dispute. Specifically, we remand to the Director of the Division on Civil Rights with the further direction that this matter be referred to the Office of Administrative Law to permit supplementation of the record, if requested by either party. This, we require, as a matter of fairness to the parties.

The present record was developed before the parties were aware of the standard that we now adopt for use in assessing a school district's response to student-on-student harassment. As discussed, that standard requires that a district's response to peer harassment be measured under a standard of reasonableness in the educational context. The parties in this matter, therefore, must be permitted the opportunity to be heard on that standard. Due process considerations also require that the parties be permitted, on application, to supplement the record with evidence of what a reasonable response would have been at the time of the circumstances occurring in respect of L.W. in 1998 to 2000 when he was in the seventh and eighth grades, and even earlier as this record relates events that began when L.W. was in elementary school.

In that respect, we note that the District, in attempting to respond to the harassment of L.W., was acting at a time when it [NJ411]  lacked the benefit of the DOE's guidance on how to deal comprehensively with student-on-student harassment and intimidation. As previously noted, in 2002 the Legislature enacted anti-bullying legislation directing the DOE to provide leadership to public school districts on how to discharge their responsibility to curtail inappropriate and hurtful peer-based harassment on school property, at school-sponsored functions, or on school transportation vehicles. See N.J.S.A. 18A:37-13 to -17 (addressing in 2002 harassment, intimidation, and bullying in public schools, and requiring districts to establish policies prohibiting same and to provide preventative programs for students, staff, and school volunteers). The DOE has since established a model policy providing examples of remedial and preventative measures that school districts may employ to curtail harassment. See Model Policy, supra. Furthermore, in 2003, the DOE promulgated N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.4(a), requiring school districts to implement written policies that "recognize and value" diversity and promote the acceptance of those [A553] with varying backgrounds, including those of different "affectional or sexual orientation."

Although the DOE's regulatory actions occurred after the events at issue herein, any assessment of the reasonableness of the District's actual response may be informed by what the DOE currently advises school districts to do in such circumstances. Moreover, as noted above, the parties should have the opportunity to present the opinions of experts concerning what educators during the relevant timeframe considered a reasonable response to be.

VI.
Summarizing, we hold that a cause of action against a school district alleging student-on-student affectional or sexual orientation harassment that is not reasonably addressed by the school district is cognizable under the LAD. When assessing a school district's liability, the factfinder must determine whether [NJ412]  the district, with actual or constructive knowledge of the maltreatment, took actions reasonably calculated to end the harassment.

Our approach accommodates the competing interests present in this appeal. When a student is subjected to severe or pervasive bullying on the school bus, in the classroom, or at the playground, and a school district fails to adequately respond to that misconduct, that student has a right to redress. However, school districts will be shielded from liability when their preventive and remedial actions are reasonable in light of the totality of the circumstances.

We affirm as modified and remand this matter to the Director of the Division on Civil Rights, with the direction that the case be referred to the Office of Administrative Law for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

JUSTICES LONG, LaVECCHIA, ALBIN, WALLACE, RIVERA-SOTO, and HOENS join in CHIEF JUSTICE ZAZZALI's opinion.


text:
Author:William George Constable

Works

 * John Flaxman - 1755-1826 (1927)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Author:William George Constable


text:
1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Betham-Edwards, Matilda

BETHAM-EDWARDS, MATILDA (1836-1919), British author, was born at Westerfield, Ipswich, March 4 1836. She studied French and German abroad and after some school-teaching in London, she settled down with her sister in Suffolk to manage the farm which had belonged to her father. Not content, however, with purely rural occupations, she contributed from time to time to Household Words, having the advantage at this time of the friendship of Charles Dickens and an early association with Charles and Mary Lamb, friends of her mother. On her sister's death she moved to London and wrote a number of novels of French life based on her frequent visits to France and her intimate knowledge of provincial French homes. In this way she did much to promote a better understanding between the two peoples. Her chief books are: The White House by the Sea (1857); Anglo-French Reminiscences (1898); East of Paris (1902); Home Life in France (1905); Literary Rambles in France (1907) and the posthumously published Mid-Victorian Memories (1919), which contains a personal sketch of its author by Sarah Grand. She died at Hastings Jan. 4 1919.


text:
United States Code/Title 11/Chapter 5/Section 526

§ 526. Restrictions on debt relief agencies

 * (a) A debt relief agency shall not—
 * (1) fail to perform any service that such agency informed an assisted person or prospective assisted person it would provide in connection with a case or proceeding under this title;
 * (2) make any statement, or counsel or advise any assisted person or prospective assisted person to make a statement in a document filed in a case or proceeding under this title, that is untrue and misleading, or that upon the exercise of reasonable care, should have been known by such agency to be untrue or misleading;
 * (3) misrepresent to any assisted person or prospective assisted person, directly or indirectly, affirmatively or by material omission, with respect to—
 * (A) the services that such agency will provide to such person; or
 * (B) the benefits and risks that may result if such person becomes a debtor in a case under this title; or
 * (4) advise an assisted person or prospective assisted person to incur more debt in contemplation of such person filing a case under this title or to pay an attorney or bankruptcy petition preparer fee or charge for services performed as part of preparing for or representing a debtor in a case under this title.

 * (b) Any waiver by any assisted person of any protection or right provided under this section shall not be enforceable against the debtor by any Federal or State court or any other person, but may be enforced against a debt relief agency.

 * (c)
 * (1) Any contract for bankruptcy assistance between a debt relief agency and an assisted person that does not comply with the material requirements of this section, section 527, or section 528 shall be void and may not be enforced by any Federal or State court or by any other person, other than such assisted person.
 * (2) Any debt relief agency shall be liable to an assisted person in the amount of any fees or charges in connection with providing bankruptcy assistance to such person that such debt relief agency has received, for actual damages, and for reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs if such agency is found, after notice and a hearing, to have—
 * (A) intentionally or negligently failed to comply with any provision of this section, section 527, or section 528 with respect to a case or proceeding under this title for such assisted person;
 * (B) provided bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person in a case or proceeding under this title that is dismissed or converted to a case under another chapter of this title because of such agency’s intentional or negligent failure to file any required document including those specified in section 521; or
 * (C) intentionally or negligently disregarded the material requirements of this title or the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure applicable to such agency.
 * (3) In addition to such other remedies as are provided under State law, whenever the chief law enforcement officer of a State, or an official or agency designated by a State, has reason to believe that any person has violated or is violating this section, the State—
 * (A) may bring an action to enjoin such violation;
 * (B) may bring an action on behalf of its residents to recover the actual damages of assisted persons arising from such violation, including any liability under paragraph (2); and
 * (C) in the case of any successful action under subparagraph (A) or (B), shall be awarded the costs of the action and reasonable attorneys’ fees as determined by the court.
 * (4) The district courts of the United States for districts located in the State shall have concurrent jurisdiction of any action under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (3).
 * (5) Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law and in addition to any other remedy provided under Federal or State law, if the court, on its own motion or on the motion of the United States trustee or the debtor, finds that a person intentionally violated this section, or engaged in a clear and consistent pattern or practice of violating this section, the court may—
 * (A) enjoin the violation of such section; or
 * (B) impose an appropriate civil penalty against such person.

 * (d) No provision of this section, section 527, or section 528 shall—
 * (1) annul, alter, affect, or exempt any person subject to such sections from complying with any law of any State except to the extent that such law is inconsistent with those sections, and then only to the extent of the inconsistency; or
 * (2) be deemed to limit or curtail the authority or ability—
 * (A) of a State or subdivision or instrumentality thereof, to determine and enforce qualifications for the practice of law under the laws of that State; or
 * (B) of a Federal court to determine and enforce the qualifications for the practice of law before that court.


text:
United States Code/Title 11/Chapter 5/Section 527

§ 527. Disclosures

 * (a) A debt relief agency providing bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person shall provide—
 * (1) the written notice required under section 342 (b)(1); and
 * (2) to the extent not covered in the written notice described in paragraph (1), and not later than 3 business days after the first date on which a debt relief agency first offers to provide any bankruptcy assistance services to an assisted person, a clear and conspicuous written notice advising assisted persons that—
 * (A) all information that the assisted person is required to provide with a petition and thereafter during a case under this title is required to be complete, accurate, and truthful;
 * (B) all assets and all liabilities are required to be completely and accurately disclosed in the documents filed to commence the case, and the replacement value of each asset as defined in section 506 must be stated in those documents where requested after reasonable inquiry to establish such value;
 * (C) current monthly income, the amounts specified in section 707 (b)(2), and, in a case under chapter 13 of this title, disposable income (determined in accordance with section 707 (b)(2)), are required to be stated after reasonable inquiry; and
 * (D) information that an assisted person provides during their case may be audited pursuant to this title, and that failure to provide such information may result in dismissal of the case under this title or other sanction, including a criminal sanction.

 * (b) A debt relief agency providing bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person shall provide each assisted person at the same time as the notices required under subsection (a)(1) the following statement, to the extent applicable, or one substantially similar. The statement shall be clear and conspicuous and shall be in a single document separate from other documents or notices provided to the assisted person:
 * “IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BANKRUPTCY ASSISTANCE SERVICES FROM AN ATTORNEY OR BANKRUPTCY PETITION PREPARER.
 * “If you decide to seek bankruptcy relief, you can represent yourself, you can hire an attorney to represent you, or you can get help in some localities from a bankruptcy petition preparer who is not an attorney. THE LAW REQUIRES AN ATTORNEY OR BANKRUPTCY PETITION PREPARER TO GIVE YOU A WRITTEN CONTRACT SPECIFYING WHAT THE ATTORNEY OR BANKRUPTCY PETITION PREPARER WILL DO FOR YOU AND HOW MUCH IT WILL COST. Ask to see the contract before you hire anyone.
 * “The following information helps you understand what must be done in a routine bankruptcy case to help you evaluate how much service you need. Although bankruptcy can be complex, many cases are routine.
 * “Before filing a bankruptcy case, either you or your attorney should analyze your eligibility for different forms of debt relief available under the Bankruptcy Code and which form of relief is most likely to be beneficial for you. Be sure you understand the relief you can obtain and its limitations. To file a bankruptcy case, documents called a Petition, Schedules and Statement of Financial Affairs, as well as in some cases a Statement of Intention need to be prepared correctly and filed with the bankruptcy court. You will have to pay a filing fee to the bankruptcy court. Once your case starts, you will have to attend the required first meeting of creditors where you may be questioned by a court official called a ‘trustee’ and by creditors.
 * “If you choose to file a chapter 7 case, you may be asked by a creditor to reaffirm a debt. You may want help deciding whether to do so. A creditor is not permitted to coerce you into reaffirming your debts.
 * “If you choose to file a chapter 13 case in which you repay your creditors what you can afford over 3 to 5 years, you may also want help with preparing your chapter 13 plan and with the confirmation hearing on your plan which will be before a bankruptcy judge.
 * “If you select another type of relief under the Bankruptcy Code other than chapter 7 or chapter 13, you will want to find out what should be done from someone familiar with that type of relief.
 * “Your bankruptcy case may also involve litigation. You are generally permitted to represent yourself in litigation in bankruptcy court, but only attorneys, not bankruptcy petition preparers, can give you legal advice.”.

 * (c) Except to the extent the debt relief agency provides the required information itself after reasonably diligent inquiry of the assisted person or others so as to obtain such information reasonably accurately for inclusion on the petition, schedules or statement of financial affairs, a debt relief agency providing bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person, to the extent permitted by nonbankruptcy law, shall provide each assisted person at the time required for the notice required under subsection (a)(1) reasonably sufficient information (which shall be provided in a clear and conspicuous writing) to the assisted person on how to provide all the information the assisted person is required to provide under this title pursuant to section 521, including—
 * (1) how to value assets at replacement value, determine current monthly income, the amounts specified in section 707 (b)(2) and, in a chapter 13 case, how to determine disposable income in accordance with section 707 (b)(2) and related calculations;
 * (2) how to complete the list of creditors, including how to determine what amount is owed and what address for the creditor should be shown; and
 * (3) how to determine what property is exempt and how to value exempt property at replacement value as defined in section 506.

 * (d) A debt relief agency shall maintain a copy of the notices required under subsection (a) of this section for 2 years after the date on which the notice is given the assisted person.


text:
United States Code/Title 11/Chapter 5/Section 528

§ 528. Requirements for debt relief agencies

 * (a) A debt relief agency shall—
 * (1) not later than 5 business days after the first date on which such agency provides any bankruptcy assistance services to an assisted person, but prior to such assisted person’s petition under this title being filed, execute a written contract with such assisted person that explains clearly and conspicuously—
 * (A) the services such agency will provide to such assisted person; and
 * (B) the fees or charges for such services, and the terms of payment;
 * (2) provide the assisted person with a copy of the fully executed and completed contract;
 * (3) clearly and conspicuously disclose in any advertisement of bankruptcy assistance services or of the benefits of bankruptcy directed to the general public (whether in general media, seminars or specific mailings, telephonic or electronic messages, or otherwise) that the services or benefits are with respect to bankruptcy relief under this title; and
 * (4) clearly and conspicuously use the following statement in such advertisement: “We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.” or a substantially similar statement.

 * (b)
 * (1) An advertisement of bankruptcy assistance services or of the benefits of bankruptcy directed to the general public includes—
 * (A) descriptions of bankruptcy assistance in connection with a chapter 13 plan whether or not chapter 13 is specifically mentioned in such advertisement; and
 * (B) statements such as “federally supervised repayment plan” or “Federal debt restructuring help” or other similar statements that could lead a reasonable consumer to believe that debt counseling was being offered when in fact the services were directed to providing bankruptcy assistance with a chapter 13 plan or other form of bankruptcy relief under this title.
 * (2) An advertisement, directed to the general public, indicating that the debt relief agency provides assistance with respect to credit defaults, mortgage foreclosures, eviction proceedings, excessive debt, debt collection pressure, or inability to pay any consumer debt shall—
 * (A) disclose clearly and conspicuously in such advertisement that the assistance may involve bankruptcy relief under this title; and
 * (B) include the following statement: “We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.” or a substantially similar statement.


text:
Template:EB1922 link/doc

Purpose
This template facilitates linking from Wikisource articles (usually author pages) to articles in the the Wikisource project 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica.

Usage
An author can be added with the optional  parameter.

Typical
displays as:

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displays as:

title: Template:EB1922 link/doc


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Civita Castellana


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Guildford, Nicholas de


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Guildford, Richard


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Guilford, Baron


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Guilford, Earls of


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Guillamore, Viscount


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Guillemard, William Henry


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Guillim, John


text:
File:Firefox showing layout with whitespace.jpg

This is the same as


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Civilis, Claudius


text:
Observations on Man (6th edition)

Contents

 * /Preface/
 * /Contents/

 * THE FIRST PART
 * Introduction
 * Chapter I
 * Section I
 * Section II
 * Section III
 * Chapter II
 * Section I
 * Section II
 * Section III
 * Section IV
 * Section V
 * Section VI
 * Section VII
 * Section VIII
 * Chapter III
 * Section I
 * Section II
 * Section III
 * Section IV
 * Section V
 * Section VI
 * Section VII
 * Chapter IV
 * Section I
 * Section II
 * Section III
 * Section IV
 * Section V
 * Section VI
 * Conclusion

 * THE SECOND PART
 * Introduction
 * Chapter I
 * Chapter II
 * Chapter III
 * Section I
 * Section II
 * Section III
 * Section IV
 * Section V
 * Section VI
 * Section VII
 * Section VIII
 * Section IX
 * Chapter IV
 * Section I
 * Section II
 * Section III
 * Section IV
 * Section V
 * Conclusion

title: Observations on Man (6th edition)


text:
Author:David Hartley

Works

 * Conjecturae quaedam de Sensu, Motu, et Idearum Generatione (1746)
 * An Enquiry into the Origin of the Human Appetites and Affections (1747)
 * Observations on Man (1749; 6th ed., 1834)

Works about Hartley

 * Letters on Materialism and Hartley's Theory of the Human Mind (1776), by Joseph Berington
 * “Hartley, David, M.D.,” in A Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858)
 * David Hartley and James Mill (1881), by George Spencer Bower
 * David Hartley and James Mill (1881), by George Spencer Bower

title: Author:David Hartley


text:
Redburn. His First Voyage/Chapter XLI

XLI. REDBURN ROVES ABOUT HITHER AND THITHER
I do not know that any other traveler would think it worth while to mention such a thing; but the fact is, that during the summer months in Liverpool, the days are exceedingly lengthy; and the first evening I found myself walking in the twilight after nine o'clock, I tried to recall my astronomical knowledge, in order to account satisfactorily for so curious a phenomenon. But the days in summer, and the nights in winter, are just as long in Liverpool as at Cape Horn; for the latitude of the two places very nearly corresponds.

These Liverpool days, however, were a famous thing for me; who, thereby, was enabled after my day's work aboard the Highlander, to ramble about the town for several hours. After I had visited all the noted places I could discover, of those marked down upon my father's map, I began to extend my rovings indefinitely; forming myself into a committee of one, to investigate all accessible parts of the town; though so many years have elapsed, ere I have thought of bringing in my report.

This was a great delight to me: for wherever I have been in the world, I have always taken a vast deal of lonely satisfaction in wandering about, up and down, among out-of-the-way streets and alleys, and speculating upon the strangers I have met. Thus, in Liverpool I used to pace along endless streets of dwelling-houses, looking at the names on the doors, admiring the pretty faces in the windows, and invoking a passing blessing upon the chubby children on the door-steps. I was stared at myself, to be sure: but what of that? We must give and take on such occasions. In truth, I and my shooting-jacket produced quite a sensation in Liverpool: and I have no doubt, that many a father of a family went home to his children with a curious story, about a wandering phenomenon they had encountered, traversing the side-walks that day. In the words of the old song, "I cared for nobody, no not I, and nobody cared for me." I stared my fill with impunity, and took all stares myself in good part.

Once I was standing in a large square, gaping at a splendid chariot drawn up at a portico. The glossy horses quivered with good-living, and so did the sumptuous calves of the gold-laced coachman and footmen in attendance. I was particularly struck with the red cheeks of these men: and the many evidences they furnished of their enjoying this meal with a wonderful relish.

While thus standing, I all at once perceived, that the objects of my curiosity, were making me an object of their own; and that they were gazing at me, as if I were some unauthorized intruder upon the British soil. Truly, they had reason: for when I now think of the figure I must have cut in those days, I only marvel that, in my many strolls, my passport was not a thousand times demanded.

Nevertheless, I was only a forlorn looking mortal among tens of thousands of rags and tatters. For in some parts of the town, inhabited by laborers, and poor people generally; I used to crowd my way through masses of squalid men, women, and children, who at this evening hour, in those quarters of Liverpool, seem to empty themselves into the street, and live there for the time. I had never seen any thing like it in New York. Often, I witnessed some curious, and many very sad scenes; and especially I remembered encountering a pale, ragged man, rushing along frantically, and striving to throw off his wife and children, who clung to his arms and legs; and, in God's name, conjured him not to desert them. He seemed bent upon rushing down to the water, and drowning himself, in some despair, and craziness of wretchedness. In these haunts, beggary went on before me wherever I walked, and dogged me unceasingly at the heels. Poverty, poverty, poverty, in almost endless vistas: and want and woe staggered arm in arm along these miserable streets.

And here, I must not omit one thing, that struck me at the time. It was the absence of negroes; who in the large towns in the "free states" of America, almost always form a considerable portion of the destitute. But in these streets, not a negro was to be seen. All were whites; and with the exception of the Irish, were natives of the soil: even Englishmen; as much Englishmen, as the dukes in the House of Lords. This conveyed a strange feeling: and more than any thing else, reminded me that I was not in my own land. For there, such a being as a native beggar is almost unknown; and to be a born American citizen seems a guarantee against pauperism; and this, perhaps, springs from the virtue of a vote.

Speaking of negroes, recalls the looks of interest with which negro-sailors are regarded when they walk the Liverpool streets. In Liverpool indeed the negro steps with a prouder pace, and lifts his head like a man; for here, no such exaggerated feeling exists in respect to him, as in America. Three or four times, I encountered our black steward, dressed very handsomely, and walking arm in arm with a good-looking English woman. In New York, such a couple would have been mobbed in three minutes; and the steward would have been lucky to escape with whole limbs. Owing to the friendly reception extended to them, and the unwonted immunities they enjoy in Liverpool, the black cooks and stewards of American ships are very much attached to the place and like to make voyages to it.

Being so young and inexperienced then, and unconsciously swayed in some degree by those local and social prejudices, that are the marring of most men, and from which, for the mass, there seems no possible escape; at first I was surprised that a colored man should be treated as he is in this town; but a little reflection showed that, after all, it was but recognizing his claims to humanity and normal equality; so that, in some things, we Americans leave to other countries the carrying out of the principle that stands at the head of our Declaration of Independence.

During my evening strolls in the wealthier quarters, I was subject to a continual mortification. It was the humiliating fact, wholly unforeseen by me, that upon the whole, and barring the poverty and beggary, Liverpool, away from the docks, was very much such a place as New York. There were the same sort of streets pretty much; the same rows of houses with stone steps; the same kind of side-walks and curbs; and the same elbowing, heartless-looking crowd as ever.

I came across the Leeds Canal, one afternoon; but, upon my word, no one could have told it from the Erie Canal at Albany. I went into St. John's Market on a Saturday night; and though it was strange enough to see that great roof supported by so many pillars, yet the most discriminating observer would not have been able to detect any difference between the articles exposed for sale, and the articles exhibited in Fulton Market, New York.

I walked down Lord-street, peering into the jewelers' shops; but I thought I was walking down a block in Broadway. I began to think that all this talk about travel was a humbug; and that he who lives in a nut-shell, lives in an epitome of the universe, and has but little to see beyond him.

It is true, that I often thought of London's being only seven or eight hours' travel by railroad from where I was; and that there, surely, must be a world of wonders waiting my eyes: but more of London anon.

Sundays were the days upon which I made my longest explorations. I rose bright and early, with my whole plan of operations in my head. First walking into some dock hitherto unexamined, and then to breakfast. Then a walk through the more fashionable streets, to see the people going to church; and then I myself went to church, selecting the goodliest edifice, and the tallest Kentuckian of a spire I could find.

For I am an admirer of church architecture; and though, perhaps, the sums spent in erecting magnificent cathedrals might better go to the founding of charities, yet since these structures are built, those who disapprove of them in one sense, may as well have the benefit of them in another.

It is a most Christian thing, and a matter most sweet to dwell upon and simmer over in solitude, that any poor sinner may go to church wherever he pleases; and that even St. Peter's in Rome is open to him, as to a cardinal; that St. Paul's in London is not shut against him; and that the Broadway Tabernacle, in New York, opens all her broad aisles to him, and will not even have doors and thresholds to her pews, the better to allure him by an unbounded invitation. I say, this consideration of the hospitality and democracy in churches, is a most Christian and charming thought. It speaks whole volumes of folios, and Vatican libraries, for Christianity; it is more eloquent, and goes farther home than all the sermons of Massillon, Jeremy Taylor, Wesley, and Archbishop Tillotson.

Nothing daunted, therefore, by thinking of my being a stranger in the land; nothing daunted by the architectural superiority and costliness of any Liverpool church; or by the streams of silk dresses and fine broadcloth coats flowing into the aisles, I used humbly to present myself before the sexton, as a candidate for admission. He would stare a little, perhaps (one of them once hesitated), but in the end, what could he do but show me into a pew; not the most commodious of pews, to be sure; nor commandingly located; nor within very plain sight or hearing of the pulpit. No; it was remarkable, that there was always some confounded pillar or obstinate angle of the wall in the way; and I used to think, that the sextons of Liverpool must have held a secret meeting on my account, and resolved to apportion me the most inconvenient pew in the churches under their charge. However, they always gave me a seat of some sort or other; sometimes even on an oaken bench in the open air of the aisle, where I would sit, dividing the attention of the congregation between myself and the clergyman. The whole congregation seemed to know that I was a foreigner of distinction.

It was sweet to hear the service read, the organ roll, the sermon preached—just as the same things were going on three thousand five hundred miles off, at home! But then, the prayer in behalf of her majesty the Queen, somewhat threw me back. Nevertheless, I joined in that prayer, and invoked for the lady the best wishes of a poor Yankee.

How I loved to sit in the holy hush of those brown old monastic aisles, thinking of Harry the Eighth, and the Reformation! How I loved to go a roving with my eye, all along the sculptured walls and buttresses; winding in among the intricacies of the pendent ceiling, and wriggling my fancied way like a wood-worm. I could have sat there all the morning long, through noon, unto night. But at last the benediction would come; and appropriating my share of it, I would slowly move away, thinking how I should like to go home with some of the portly old gentlemen, with high-polished boots and Malacca canes, and take a seat at their cosy and comfortable dinner-tables. But, alas! there was no dinner for me except at the sign of the Baltimore Clipper.

Yet the Sunday dinners that Handsome Mary served up .were not to be scorned. The roast beef of Old England abounded; and so did the immortal plum-puddings, and the unspeakably capital gooseberry pies. But to finish off with that abominable "swipes" almost spoiled all the rest: not that I myself patronized "swipes" but my shipmates did; and every cup I saw them drink, I could not choose but taste in imagination, and even then the flavor was bad.

On Sundays, at dinner-time, as, indeed, on every other day, it was curious to watch the proceedings at the sign of the Clipper. The servant girls were running about, mustering the various crews, whose dinners were spread, each in a separate apartment; and who were collectively known by the names of their ships.

"Where are the Arethusas?—Here's their beef been smoking this half-hour."—"Fly, Betty, my dear, here come the Splendids."— "Run, Molly, my love; get the salt-cellars for the Highlanders ."—"You Peggy, where's the Siddons' pickle-pat?"—"I say, Judy, are you never coming with that pudding for the Lord Nelsons?"

On week days, we did not fare quite so well as on Sundays; and once we came to dinner, and found two enormous bullock hearts smoking at each end of the Highlanders' table. Jackson was indignant at the outrage.

He always sat at the head of the table; and this time he squared himself on his bench, and erecting his knife and fork like flag-staffs, so as to include the two hearts between them, he called out for Danby, the boarding-house keeper; for although his wife Mary was in fact at the head of the establishment, yet Danby himself always came in for the fault-findings.

Danby obsequiously appeared, and stood in the doorway, well knowing the philippics that were coming. But he was not prepared for the peroration of Jackson's address to him; which consisted of the two bullock hearts, snatched bodily off the dish, and flung at his head, by way of a recapitulation of the preceding arguments. The company then broke up in disgust, and dined elsewhere.

Though I almost invariably attended church on Sunday mornings, yet the rest of the day I spent on my travels; and it was on one of these afternoon strolls, that on passing through St. George's-square, I found myself among a large crowd, gathered near the base of George the Fourth's equestrian statue.

The people were mostly mechanics and artisans in their holiday clothes; but mixed with them were a good many soldiers, in lean, lank, and dinnerless undresses, and sporting attenuated rattans. These troops belonged to the various regiments then in town. Police officers, also, were conspicuous in their uniforms. At first perfect silence and decorum prevailed.

Addressing this orderly throng was a pale, hollow-eyed young man, in a snuff-colored surtout, who looked worn with much watching, or much toil, or too little food. His features were good, his whole air was respectable, and there was no mistaking the fact, that he was strongly in earnest in what he was saying.

In his hand was a soiled, inflammatory-looking pamphlet, from which he frequently read; following up the quotations with nervous appeals to his hearers, a rolling of his eyes, and sometimes the most frantic gestures. I was not long within hearing of him, before I became aware that this youth was a Chartist.

Presently the crowd increased, and some commotion was raised, when I noticed the police officers augmenting in number; and by and by, they began to glide through the crowd, politely hinting at the propriety of dispersing. The first persons thus accosted were the soldiers, who accordingly sauntered off, switching their rattans, and admiring their high-polished shoes. It was plain that the Charter did not hang very heavy round their hearts. For the rest, they also gradually broke up; and at last I saw the speaker himself depart.

I do not know why, but I thought he must be some despairing elder son, supporting by hard toil his mother and sisters; for of such many political desperadoes are made.

That same Sunday afternoon, I strolled toward the outskirts of the town, and attracted by the sight of two great Pompey's pillars, in the shape of black steeples, apparently rising directly from the soil, I approached them with much curiosity. But looking over a low parapet connecting them, what was my surprise to behold at my feet a smoky hollow in the ground, with rocky walls, and dark holes at one end, carrying out of view several lines of iron railways; while far beyond, straight out toward the open country, ran an endless railroad. Over the place, a handsome Moorish arch of stone was flung; and gradually, as I gazed upon it, and at the little side arches at the bottom of the hollow, there came over me an undefinable feeling, that I had previously seen the whole thing before. Yet how could that be? Certainly, I had never been in Liverpool before: but then, that Moorish arch! surely I remembered that very well. It was not till several months after reaching home in America, that my perplexity upon this matter was cleared away. In glancing over an old number of the Penny Magazine, there I saw a picture of the place to the life; and remembered having seen the same print years previous. It was a representation of the spot where the Manchester railroad enters the outskirts of the town.

title: Redburn. His First Voyage/Chapter XLI


text:
Redburn. His First Voyage/Chapter XLII

XLII. HIS ADVENTURE WITH THE CROSS OLD GENTLEMAN
My adventure in the News-Room in the Exchange, which I have related in a previous chapter, reminds me of another, at the Lyceum, some days after, which may as well be put down here, before I forget it.

I was strolling down Bold-street, I think it was, when I was struck by the sight of a brown stone building, very large and handsome. The windows were open, and there, nicely seated, with their comfortable legs crossed over their comfortable knees, I beheld several sedate, happy-looking old gentlemen reading the magazines and papers, and one had a fine gilded volume in his hand.

Yes, this must be the Lyceum, thought I; let me see. So I whipped out my guide-book, and opened it at the proper place; and sure enough, the building before me corresponded stone for stone. I stood awhile on the opposite side of the street, gazing at my picture, and then at its original; and often dwelling upon the pleasant gentlemen sitting at the open windows; till at last I felt an uncontrollable impulse to step in for a moment, and run over the news.

I'm a poor, friendless sailor-boy, thought I, and they can not object; especially as I am from a foreign land, and strangers ought to be treated with courtesy. I turned the matter over again, as I walked across the way; and with just a small tapping of a misgiving at my heart, I at last scraped my feet clean against the curb-stone, and taking off my hat while I was yet in the open air, slowly sauntered in.

But I had not got far into that large and lofty room, filled with many agreeable sights, when a crabbed old gentleman lifted up his eye from the London Times, which words I saw boldly printed on the back of the large sheet in his hand, and looking at me as if I were a strange dog with a muddy hide, that had stolen out of the gutter into this fine apartment, he shook his silver-headed cane at me fiercely, till the spectacles fell off his nose. Almost at the same moment, up stepped a terribly cross man, who looked as if he had a mustard plaster on his back, that was continually exasperating him; who throwing down some papers which he had been filing, took me by my innocent shoulders, and then, putting his foot against the broad part of my pantaloons, wheeled me right out into the street, and dropped me on the walk, without so much as offering an apology for the affront. I sprang after him, but in vain; the door was closed upon me.

These Englishmen have no manners, that's plain, thought I; and I trudged on down the street in a reverie.

title: Redburn. His First Voyage/Chapter XLII


text:
Redburn. His First Voyage/Chapter XLIII

XLIII. HE TAKES A DELIGHTFUL RAMBLE INTO THE COUNTRY; AND MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF THREE ADORABLE CHARMERS
Who that dwells in America has not heard of the bright fields and green hedges of England, and longed to behold them? Even so had it been with me; and now that I was actually in England, I resolved not to go away without having a good, long look at the open fields.

On a Sunday morning I started, with a lunch in my pocket. It was a beautiful day in July; the air was sweet with the breath of buds and flowers, and there was a green splendor in the landscape that ravished me. Soon I gained an elevation commanding a wide sweep of view; and meadow and mead, and woodland and hedge, were all around me.

Ay, ay! this was old England, indeed! I had found it at last —there it was in the country! Hovering over the scene was a soft, dewy air, that seemed faintly tinged with the green of the grass; and I thought, as I breathed my breath, that perhaps I might be inhaling the very particles once respired by Rosamond the Fair.

On I trudged along the London road—smooth as an entry floor—and every white cottage I passed, embosomed in honeysuckles, seemed alive in the landscape.

But the day wore on; and at length the sun grew hot; and the long road became dusty. I thought that some shady place, in some shady field, would be very pleasant to repose in. So, coming to a charming little dale, undulating down to a hollow, arched over with foliage, I crossed over toward it; but paused by the road-side at a frightful announcement, nailed against an old tree, used as a gate-post—

"man-traps and spring-guns!"

In America I had never heard of the like. What could it mean? They were not surely cannibals, that dwelt down in that beautiful little dale, and lived by catching men, like weasels and beavers in Canada!

"A man-trap!" It must be so. The announcement could bear but one meaning—that there was something near by, intended to catch human beings; some species of mechanism, that would suddenly fasten upon the unwary rover, and hold him by the leg like a dog; or, perhaps, devour him on the spot.

Incredible! In a Christian land, too! Did that sweet lady, Queen Victoria, permit such diabolical practices? Had her gracious majesty ever passed by this way, and seen the announcement?

And who put it there?

The proprietor, probably.

And what right had he to do so?

Why, he owned the soil.

And where are his title-deeds?

In his strong-box, I suppose.

Thus I stood wrapt in cogitations.

You are a pretty fellow, Wellingborough, thought I to myself; you are a mighty traveler, indeed:—stopped on your travels by a man-trap! Do you think Mungo Park was so served in Africa? Do you think Ledyard was so entreated in Siberia? Upon my word, you will go home not very much wiser than when you set out; and the only excuse you can give, for not having seen more sights, will be man-traps—mantraps, my masters! that frightened you!

And then, in my indignation, I fell back upon first principles. What right has this man to the soil he thus guards with dragons? What excessive effrontery, to lay sole claim to a solid piece of this planet, right down to the earth's axis, and, perhaps, straight through to the antipodes! For a moment I thought I would test his traps, and enter the forbidden Eden.

But the grass grew so thickly, and seemed so full of sly things, that at last I thought best to pace off.

Next, I came to a hawthorn lane, leading down very prettily to a nice little church; a mossy little church; a beautiful little church; just such a church as I had always dreamed to be in England. The porch was viny as an arbor; the ivy was climbing about the tower; and the bees were humming about the hoary old head-stones along the walls.

Any man-traps here? thought I—any spring-guns?

No.

So I walked on, and entered the church, where I soon found a seat. No Indian, red as a deer, could have startled the simple people more. They gazed and they gazed; but as I was all attention to the sermon, and conducted myself with perfect propriety, they did not expel me, as at first I almost imagined they might.

Service over, I made my way through crowds of children, who stood staring at the marvelous stranger, and resumed my stroll along the London Road.

My next stop was at an inn, where under a tree sat a party of rustics, drinking ale at a table.

"Good day," said I.

"Good day; from Liverpool?"

"I guess so."

"For London?"

"No; not this time. I merely come to see the country."

At this, they gazed at each other; and I, at myself; having doubts whether I might not look something like a horse-thief.

"Take a seat," said the landlord, a fat fellow, with his wife's apron on, I thought.

"Thank you."

And then, little by little, we got into a long talk: in the course of which, I told who I was, and where I was from. I found these rustics a good-natured, jolly set; and I have no doubt they found me quite a sociable youth. They treated me to ale; and I treated them to stories about America, concerning which, they manifested the utmost curiosity. One of them, however, was somewhat astonished that I had not made the acquaintance of a brother of his, who had resided somewhere on the banks of the Mississippi for several years past; but among twenty millions of people, I had never happened to meet him, at least to my knowledge.

At last, leaving this party, I pursued my way, exhilarated by the lively conversation in which I had shared, and the pleasant sympathies exchanged: and perhaps, also, by the ale I had drunk:—fine old ale; yes, English ale, ale brewed in England! And I trod English soil; and breathed English air; and every blade of grass was an Englishman born. Smoky old Liverpool, with all its pitch and tar was now far behind; nothing in sight but open meadows and fields.

Come, Wellingborough, why not push on for London?— Hurra! what say you? let's have a peep at St. Paul's I Don't you want to see the queen? Have you no longing to behold the duke? Think of Westminster Abbey, and the Tunnel under the Thames! Think of Hyde Park, and the ladies!

But then, thought I again, with my hands wildly groping in my two vacuums of pockets—who's to pay the bill?—You can't beg your way, Wellingborough; that would never do; for you are your father's son, Wellingborough; and you must not disgrace your family in a foreign land; you must not turn pauper.

Ah! Ah! it was indeed too true; there was no St. Paul's or Westminster Abbey for me; that was flat.

Well, well, up heart, you'll see it one of these days.

But think of it! here I am on the very road that leads to the Thames—think of that!—here I am—ay, treading in the wheel-tracks of coaches that are bound for the metropolis!—It was too bad; too bitterly bad. But I shoved my old hat over my brows, and walked on; till at last I came to a green bank, deliriously shaded by a fine old tree with broad branching arms, that stretched themselves over the road, like a hen gathering her brood under her wings. Down on the green grass I threw myself and there lay my head, like a last year's nut. People passed by, on foot and in carriages, and little thought that the sad youth under the tree was the great-nephew of a late senator in the American Congress.

Presently, I started to my feet, as I heard a gruff voice behind me from the field, crying out—"What are you doing there, you young rascal?—run away from the work'us, have ye? Tramp, or I'll set Blucher on ye!"

And who was Blucher? A cut-throat looking dog, with his black bull-muzzle thrust through a gap in the hedge. And his master? A sturdy farmer, with an alarming cudgel in his hand.

"Come, are you going to start?" he cried.

"Presently," said I, making off with great dispatch. When I had got a few yards into the middle of the highroad (which belonged as much to me as it did to the queen herself), I turned round, like a man on his own premises, and said— "Stranger! if you ever Visit America, just call at our house, and you'll always find there a dinner and a bed. Don't fail."

I then walked on toward Liverpool, full of sad thoughts concerning the cold charities of the world, and the infamous reception given to hapless young travelers, in broken-down shooting-jackets.

On, on I went, along the skirts of forbidden green fields; until reaching a cottage, before which I stood rooted.

So sweet a place I had never seen: no palace in Persia could be pleasanter; there were flowers in the garden; and six red cheeks, like six moss-roses, hanging from the casement. At the embowered doorway, sat an old man, confidentially communing with his pipe: while a little child, sprawling on the ground, was playing with his shoestrings. A hale matron, but with rather a prim expression, was reading a journal by his side: and three charmers, three Peris, three Houris! were leaning out of the window close by.

Ah! Wellingborough, don't you wish you could step in?

With a heavy heart at his cheerful sigh, I was turning to go, when—is it possible? the old man called me back, and invited me in.

"Come, come," said he, "you look as if you had walked far; come, take a bowl of milk. Matilda, my dear" (how my heart jumped), "go fetch some from the dairy." And the white-handed angel did meekly obey, and handed me—me, the vagabond, a bowl of bubbling milk, which I could hardly drink down, for gazing at the dew on her lips.

As I live, I could have married that charmer on the spot!

She was by far the most beautiful rosebud I had yet seen in England. But I endeavored to dissemble my ardent admiration; and in order to do away at once with any unfavorable impressions arising from the close scrutiny of my miserable shooting-jacket, which was now taking place, I declared myself a Yankee sailor from Liverpool, who was spending a Sunday in the country.

"And have you been to church to-day, young man?" said the old lady, looking daggers.

"Good madam, I have; the little church down yonder, you know—a most excellent sermon—I am much the better for it."

I wanted to mollify this severe looking old lady; for even my short experience of old ladies had convinced me that they are the hereditary enemies of all strange young men.

I soon turned the conversation toward America, a theme which I knew would be interesting, and upon which I could be fluent and agreeable. I strove to talk in Addisonian English, and ere long could see very plainly that my polished phrases were making a surprising impression, though that miserable shooting-jacket of mine was a perpetual drawback to my claims to gentility.

Spite of all my blandishments, however, the old lady stood her post like a sentry; and to my inexpressible chagrin, kept the three charmers in the background, though the old man frequently called upon them to advance. This fine specimen of an old Englishman seemed to be quite as free from ungenerous suspicions as his vinegary spouse was full of them. But I still lingered, snatching furtive glances at the young ladies, and vehemently talking to the old man about Illinois, and the river Ohio, and the fine farms in the Genesee country, where, in harvest time, the laborers went into the wheat fields a thousand strong.

Stick to it, Wellingborough, thought I; don't give the old lady time to think; stick to it, my boy, and an invitation to tea will reward you. At last it came, and the old lady abated her frowns.

It was the most delightful of meals; the three charmers sat all on one side, and I opposite, between the old man and his wife. The middle charmer poured out the souchong, and handed me the buttered muffins; and such buttered muffins never were spread on the other side of the Atlantic. The butter had an aromatic flavor; by Jove, it was perfectly delicious.

And there they sat—the charmers, I mean—eating these buttered muffins in plain sight. I wished I was a buttered muffin myself. Every minute they grew handsomer and handsomer; and I could not help thinking what a fine thing it would be to carry home a beautiful English wife! how my friends would stare! a lady from England!

I might have been mistaken; but certainly I thought that Matilda, the one who had handed me the milk, sometimes looked rather benevolently in the direction where I sat. She certainly did look at my jacket; and I am constrained to think at my face. Could it be possible she had fallen in love at first sight? Oh, rapture! But oh, misery! that was out of the question; for what a looking suitor was Wellingborough?

At length, the old lady glanced toward the door, and made some observations about its being yet a long walk to town. She handed me the buttered muffins, too, as if performing a final act of hospitality; and in other fidgety ways vaguely hinted her desire that I should decamp.

Slowly I rose, and murmured my thanks, and bowed, and tried to be off; but as quickly I turned, and bowed, and thanked, and lingered again and again. Oh, charmers! oh, Peris! thought I, must I go? Yes, Wellingborough, you must; so I made one desperate congee, and darted through the door.

I have never seen them since: no, nor heard of them; but to this day I live a bachelor on account of those ravishing charmers.

As the long twilight was waning deeper and deeper into the night, I entered the town; and, plodding my solitary way to the same old docks, I passed through the gates, and scrambled my way among tarry smells, across the tiers of ships between the quay and the Highlander. My only resource was my bunk; in I turned, and, wearied with my long stroll, was soon fast asleep, dreaming of red cheeks and roses.

title: Redburn. His First Voyage/Chapter XLIII