1. In his council Governor Van Twiller presided with great state and solemnity. He sat in a huge chair of solid oak, hewn in the celebrated forest of the Hague, fabricated by an experienced timberman of Amsterdam, and curiously carved about the arms and feet into exact imitations of gigantic eagles' claws. Instead of a scepter he swayed a long Turkish pipe, wrought with jasmine and amber, which had been presented to a stadtholder of Holland, at the conclusion of a treaty with one of the petty Barbary powers.

2. In this stately chair would he sit, and this magnificent pipe would he smoke, shaking his right knee with a constant motion, and fixing his eye for hours together upon a little print of Amsterdam, which hung in a black frame against the opposite wall of the council chamber. Nay, it has even been said, that, when any deliberation of extraordinary length and intricacy was on the carpet, the renowned Wouter would shut his eyes for full two hours at a time, that he might not be disturbed by external objects; and at such times the internal commotion of his mind was evinced by certain

regular guttural sounds, which his admirers decla were merely the noise of conflict made by his conte ing doubts and opinions.

3. The very outset of the career of this excel magistrate was distinguished by an example of l acumen that gave flattering presage of a wise equitable administration. The morning after he been installed in office, and at the moment that he making his breakfast from a prodigious earthen filled with milk and Indian pudding, he was in rupted by the appearance of Wandle Schoonhove very important old burgher of New Amsterdam, complained bitterly of one Barent Bleecker, inasm as he refused to come to a settlement of accounts, ing that there was a heavy balance in favor of said Wandle.

4. Governor Van Twiller, as I have already served, was a man of few words; he was likewi mortal enemy to multiplying writings-or being turbed at his breakfast. Having listened attentivel the statement of Wandle Schoonhoven, giving an o sional grunt as he shoveled a spoonful of Indian ding into his mouth,- either as a sign that he relis the dish or comprehended the story, he called him his constable, and, pulling out of his bree pocket a huge jackknife, dispatched it after the def ant as a summons, accompanied by his tobacco bo

simple days as was the seal ring of the great Haroun al-Raschid among the true believers. The two parties being confronted before him, each produced a book of accounts, written in a language and character that would have puzzled any but a High Dutch commentator, or a learned decipherer of Egyptian obelisks. The sage Wouter took them one after the other, and having poised them in his hands, and attentively counted over the number of leaves, fell straightway into a very great doubt, and smoked for half an hour without saying a word.

6. At length, laying his finger beside his nose, and shutting his eyes for a moment, with the air of a man who has just caught a subtle idea by the tail, he slowly took his pipe from his mouth, puffed forth a column of tobacco smoke, and with marvelous gravity counted over the leaves and weighed the books. It was found that one was just as thick and as heavy as the other: therefore it was the final opinion of the court, that the accounts were equally balanced; therefore Wandle should give Barent a receipt, and Barent should give Wandle a receipt, and the constable should pay the costs.

7. This decision, being straightway made known, diffused general joy throughout New Amsterdam, for the people immediately perceived that they had a very wise and equitable magistrate to rule over them. But its happiest effect was, that not another lawsuit took place throughout the whole of his administration, and

the office of constable fell into such decay that there was not one of those losel scouts known in the province for many years.

8. I am the more particular in dwelling on this transaction, not only because I deem it one of the most sage and righteous judgments on record, and well worthy the attention of modern magistrates, but because it was a miraculous event in the history of the renowned Wouter,- being the only time he was ever known to come to a decision in the whole course of his life.

LANGUAGE STUDY.

I. Write the analysis of: preside (sedere); transaction (agere); exact (agere); stately (stare); attentively (tendere); commotion (movere); evince (vincere).

Write the analysis of: solemnity; curiously; admirer; earthen; prodigious; decipherer.

Give synonyms of: huge; celebrated; constant; renowned; marvelous; straightway.

II. What derivative words are formed by adding the suffix ment to three verbs? What two phrases modify the verb in the first sentence? In paragraph 3, select an adverbial clause; an adjective clause.

III. In paragraph 1, select a loose sentence. In paragraph 6, select a period. "In this stately chair would he sit," etc. (2): arrange in the direct order. In what droll way (2) does the author convey the fact that the Governor would sometimes snore for two hours at a time? "This excellent magistrate" (3) is this literal, or ironical? (See Definition 11.) Select other ironical expressions. What is meant by "High Dutch commentator" (5)? State briefly, in your own language, the mode in which the Governor decided in the dispute between Wandle and Barent.

56.- Contentment.

bühl, inlaid metal work.

căm ́e-ōş, stones carved in relief.

de-ride', laugh at and despise.
věl'lum, very fine calfskin.

PREPARATORY NOTES.

This fine piece of subtle humor is from the pen of Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), a native of Cambridge, Mass., and for many years professor of anatomy in Harvard University. In his mastery of the humorous, the grotesque, and the satiric, Dr. Holmes is easily foremost among modern English poets.

(4) Plenipo.... St. James': i.e., Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of St. James' (the British Court). — (4) gubernator: a Latin word meaning "governor."— (7) Stradivarius; i.e., a violin made by Stradivarius (1644-1737), the most celebrated of Italian violin makers. His instruments are regarded as models, and are now very rare and costly. - (9) Midas' golden touch; in allusion to the legend that Midas, king of Phrygia, begged the gods to grant that whatever he touched might turn to gold. His wish was fulfilled, but he soon repented him when he found that even his food underwent this transformation.

MAN WANTS BUT LITTLE HERE BELOW."

1. Little I ask; my wants are few:
I only wish a hut of stone
(A very plain brown stone will do),
That I may call my own;

And close at hand is such a one,

In yonder street that fronts the sun.

2. Plain food is quite enough for me:
Three courses are as good as ten;
If Nature can subsist on three,

Thank Heaven for three. Amen!