the great principles of elocution and oratory, by a choice selection from the gems of Shakspeare; and by the help of these gentlemen,' (looking blandly at us,) 'I hope to render the lecture both interesting and profitable. I am sure, Sir, that no one will find any thing in the entertainment to shock the feelings of the most fastidious; in short, I feel it my mission to raise the genius, and to mend the heart.'

This burst of eloquence, which was delivered with much emphasis, and a slight tone of wounded feeling, quite overcame the deacon's scruples. He assured us that we might have the room and welcome; 'that is, if you'll pay for the li'tin' and warmin' on it. Don't be in a hurry, gentlemen,' said he, as we made a motion to rise; and with that, he hurried off, and soon returned with a squad of rosy daughters, and a pitcher of rosy cider. Make yerselves to hum,' said he; and so we staid, and did justice to the cider by drinking an immoderate quantity, and to ourselves, by saying many things witty and wise.

During the following day, we were honored by visits from the minister, the school-master, the store-keeper, and several of the literary young men of the place; to all of whom we talked earnestly of the importance of elocution to all men, especially to those of the rising generation. One young man, with long hair and a turn-down collar, desired a private audience with me. I readily granted his request, and as soon as my companions retired, he drew out a bundle of manuscript, stated that he was a poet, and commenced to read his effusions with much spirit. When he finished his recital, I confessed myself astonished at his poetry, as indeed I was; for I never heard the like before. Encouraged by this, he informed me that he had written one piece' superior to all the others, which he wished to have published in some magazine. Here are some of the verses, verbatim et literatim :

'WHENAIR I take my little Bark

And sal itt on lifes Stormy oshun
Its sals are torn Buy evry gal,
Beyond all sort of noshun.

But when I leave thee chilling water,
And two the genial Port 1 come
I rest sea cured in the safe Buzum
Of my deliteful Home!'

I assured him that the subject and imagery of this poem were so entirely original, that I had no doubt that it would be acceptable to any publisher; and I advised him, likewise, not to permit it to be copyrighted; so that, if possible, it might be stolen and republished, and thus have a great circulation. But to return from this interesting episode.

At the appointed hour in the evening we repaired to our lecture-room, and found a crowded audience already assembled. They presented a picturesque prospect. The front seats had been scrupulously reserved for the ladies, and were radiant with red cheeks and bright dresses. Next, were the children who came in under the liberal allowance made to schools,' and shone with brass buttons and broad collars. On either hand, sat the dignitaries of the village, in the seats of honor; while the rear of the room was filled with disappointed suitors, single gentlemen, and fellows of the baser sort. Cassio, who was the orator

of the evening, as soon as expectant silence began to reign, rose with much majesty, and dove directly into his subject.

The value of elocution was the first thing to be proven, and most eloquently did he enforce it. All history was made to argue in behalf of the science. Not an orator, ancient or modern, was permitted to sleep quiet in his grave. From Demosthenes to Patrick Henry, they were raised up to speak to the young men of Bogusville. The speaker then proceeded to unfold his plan of teaching and learning elocution, which was charmingly original; and finally wound up with this sublime peroration:

'Ladies and gentlemen! friends and fellow-citizens! citizens of Bogusville! Our country is in danger! I repeat it: our country is in danger! Disunion is gnawing at its vitals; the foul fiend of anarchy is gibbering and spitting in its face; corruption is insinuating its serpentfolds into our popular elections, (here the rival candidates for the office of path-master looked daggers at each other :) the lion of England is whisking his impertinent tail around our frontiers; while political Judases revel in the public crib! On you, young men of Bogusville, devolves a tremendous responsibility. Gird on your armor, therefore : march boldly up and repair the breaches' in your country's battlements, (the young ladies blushed, while a little man whom I took to be the tailor, looked important.) So doing, you shall save this great and g-el-lorious country, and write your names high on the pyramid of perpetuity, with the ink of eternity, and sprinkle it with the 'sands of time!''

Upon the conclusion of this speech, which caused the mouths of some of the aspiring youth to gape with astonishment, even as the Mediterranean forced open the Pillars of Hercules,' or as home-sickness spreads apart the valves of a long-travelled oyster, he told the audience that he would confirm his theories of elocution, with our help, by some extracts from the immortal tragedies of Shakspeare. So we all stood up, book in hand, and gave with great spirit those scenes of Othello in which Othello, Iago, and Cassio figure. The effect was tremendous, especially in those scenes where Iago and Cassio discourse concerning reputation, and where Iago goads on the Moor by artful insinuations. With the dying speech of Othello, and some soliloquies from Hamlet and Macbeth, our lecture was concluded; the audience retired to their homes to make the necessary arrangements for saving their country from impending ruin, while we adjourned to the tavern to partake of a supper which we had ordered.

The supper proved good, and the punch better. Our party soon waxed very merry, and all the laughter which had been accumulating in our sleeves during the performance' began to ooze out in a bubbling stream of chuckles and snorts. Cassio, who, like his namesake in the play, had 'poor and unhappy brains for drinking,' soon began to strut and rant; and Iago, to carry out the scene, began to sing:

VOL. XLIV

'AND let me a canakin clink, clink,

And let me a canakin clink:

I'm a college-boy,

With a life of joy;

So then let a college-boy drink!'

2

"'Fore Heaven, an excellent song!' quoth Cassio. I could not agree with him; for, happening to stand nearer the door than the rest, I chanced to over-hear the following edifying conversation between a couple of eaves-dropping louts:

་

By Gosh! Bill, those lecturers is nothing but derned collegewhelps!'

'Be they, though?' said Bill; 'let's go get the rest of the boys, and lick 'em!'

Now, this was disagreeable. We knew the hatred which collegeboys, by their pranks, had excited throughout that region, and although valiant enough in a fair field, we were not ambitious to face a score of hard-handed, tough-polled yeomanry; nor did we wish to run away secretly from the scene of our triumphs in oratory and tragedy. Therefore, in spite of Cassio's maudlin declaration, that he could drive the whole town with a sword of lath,' we ordered our horses; and as soon as the bells were heard at the door, we started for the bar-room, to deliver a 'few valedictory remarks :'

Diablo! ho! the town will rise!''

said Iago, as we walked along. 'I'll beat the knaves into a twiggen bottle!' replied Cassio, with a slight uncertainty of intonation. Entering the room, we found an indignant crowd assembled; and as we stopped to light cigars and settle our bill, a big, thick-set bully, who appeared to be captain of the Bogusville Black Guards, sidled up to Iago, and said, in a very decided way:

So, you are college-boys, be ye?'

'Yes, Sir,' said lago, inadvertently blowing a goodly quantity of smoke in his eyes, ' is that any of your business?'

6

'We'll see 'bout it,' replied the captain, as, with two or three others, he backed up against the door, as if to oppose our exodus. We were just about, in military parlance, to form ourselves in a hollow square,' and force our way, when the honest landlord advanced, opened the door, and declared he would have no rowing in his house. Bidding the company a very ceremonious good-evening,' we passed out; but the 'Guards, bent on vengeance, followed close on. Let slip the dogs of war!' cried Iago; and with that, we turned, and Captain Bully, with two of his aids, bit the snow. It cooled their ardor completely. We mounted our cutter, extended a cordial invitation to our friends of Bogusville to visit us when they should chance down our way, and drove off. Ten miles over the clean, moon-lit snow brought us to a more civilized resting-place; and the next day we were in our old college-rooms.

Cassio and Iago! when shall we three meet again? Never, perhaps ; yet we will not forget one another, nor the many hours we passed together. Farther and farther move we from the landscape of those college-days, and yet, I think, the picture grows brighter as it becomes smaller; its harsh tints mellowed, its proportions perfected. Let us meet, some time, and talk over our Readings!'

'You know, Mr. Sheriff,' said Thison to me that I told you I never lost a man I had a writ ag'inst, but once, and that was in sich a way, that no one, even if he was smarter dan I be, could help it. Would you like to hear how it was?'

'Certainly, Tise.'

'Well I a n't to be blamed for it, 'cause, you see, it was onpossible for me to avide it. It was a good many year ago, when Jim Shaw was sheriff, Shaw and I was good friends.

I know you were, Tise,' said I, interrupting him; don't be so particular in your relation of parts which have no bearing on the incident : give me generalities. Come, go on.'

My gracious goodness!' exclaimed he, in anger; 'you never will let me relate any experience of mine without interrupting me! you won't let me tell any thing my own way. Why will you stop me, Mr. Sheriff? you know I don't like to be interrupted. Now, don't do it ag'in!'

'I will not,' replied I, soothingly; but can't you,' I suggested, 'get along just as well without naming every little circumstance?'

'Little circumstance!' retorted he, snappishly; Jim Shaw and me was great friends; he was a good man, and a good friend of mine, and it wasn't a little circumstance that he was my friend.'

Tise, you misapprehend me altogether. I desired, when I stopped you, that you might just as well preserve the general fact of your incident without over-loading it, by leaving out of the narration such parts as would seem cumbersome. I meant no disrespect to your association as a friend of Mr. Shaw far from it. Indeed, I know that in some matters you were Mr. Shaw's right-hand man.'

Dat I was!' replied he, and I'm proud of it; and I'm glad you 'did n't mean nothing wrong in interrupting. But it's a way I got, Mr. Sheriff,' continued he, and I must have my own way of telling a story. I'm glad it's all right now. GOD bless you! Yes! yes! me and Jim Shaw was good friends. GOD bless him!'

And the old man picked out a tear that had gathered in his eye, and he mumbled out still the words, God bless him! he was my friend!' How beautiful, that in the thoughts of this old man of nearly fourscore years, the freshness and greenness of memory of his friend clung so tenaciously, as that his eyes should drop a tear when his lips pronounced his name, or memory recalled the association of one he loved so dearly!