th his duty to her uncle, and his own ideas of bienseance. After
some little delay, the Alderman and his guest took their seats at the
table; the former loudly protesting against the necessity of waiting for
the idle, and throwing in an occasional moral concerning the particular
merit of punctuality in domestic economy, as well as in the affairs of
commerce.

"The ancients divided time," said the somewhat pertinacious commentator,
"into years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and moments, as they
divided numbers into units, tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of
thousands; and both with an object. If we commence at the bottom, and
employ well the moments, Mr. Van Staats, we turn the minutes into tens,
the hours into hundreds, and the weeks and months into thousands--ay! and
when there is a happy state of trade, into tens of thousands! Missing an
hour, therefore, is somewhat like dropping an important figure in a
complex calculation, and the whole labor may be useless, for want of
punctuality in one, as for want of accuracy in the other. Your father, the
late Patroon, was what may be called a minute-man.--He was as certain to
be seen in his pew, at church, at the stroke of the clock, as to pay a
bill, when its items had been properly examined. Ah! it was a blessing to
hold one of his notes, though they were far scarcer than broad pieces, or
bullion. I have heard it said, Patroon, that the manor is backed by plenty
of Johannes and Dutch ducats!"

"The descendant has no reason to reproach his ancestors with want of
foresight."

"Prudently answered;--not a word too much, not too little--a principle on
which all honest men settle their accounts. By proper management, such a
foundation might be made to uphold an estate that should count thousands
with the best of Holland or England. Growth and majority! Patroon; but we
of the colonies must come to man's estate in time, like our cousins on the
dykes of the Low Countries, or our rulers among the smithies of
England.--Erasmus, look at that cloud over the Raritan, and tell me if it
rises."

The negro reported that the vapor was stationary; and, at the same time,
by way of episode, he told his master that the boat which had been seen
approaching the land had reached the wharf, and that some of its crew were
ascending the hill towards the Lust in Rust.

"Let them come of all hospitality," returned the Alderman, heartily; "I
warrant me, they are honest farmers from the inte