hearted gentlemen,--a kind of civil
cordon of bluff free-livers who were but little versed in the mystery of
"bringing the two ends of the year together."

Since that period, well-a-day! the hand of the reaper has put in his
sickle upon divided fields; crowded progenies have grown up under these
paternal roof-trees; daughters have married and brought in strange
names; the subsistence of one has been spread into the garner of ten;
the villages have grown populous; the University has lifted up its
didactic head; and everywhere over this abode of ancient wealth, the hum
of industry is heard in the carol of the ploughman, the echo of the
wagoner's whip, the rude song of the boatman, and in the clatter of the
mill. Such are the mischievous interpolations of the republican system!

My reader, after this topographical sketch and the political reflections
with which I have accompanied it, is doubtless well-prepared for the
introduction of the worthy personages with whom I am about to make him
acquainted.

CHAPTER II.

WHEREIN THE READER IS INTRODUCED TO TWO WORTHIES WITH WHOM HE IS LIKELY
TO FORM AN INTIMATE ACQUAINTANCE.

It was about two o'clock in the afternoon of a day towards the end of
July, 1780, when Captain Arthur Butler, now holding a brevet, some ten
days old, of major in the continental army, and Galbraith Robinson were
seen descending the long hill which separates the South Garden from the
Cove. They had just left the rich and mellow scenery of the former
district, and were now passing into the picturesque valley of the
latter. It was evident from the travel-worn appearance of their horses,
as well as from their equipments, that they had journeyed many a mile
before they had reached this spot; and it might also have been perceived
that the shifting beauties of the landscape were not totally disregarded
by Butler, at least,--as he was seen to halt on the summit of the hill,
turn and gaze back upon the wood-embowered fields that lay beneath his
eye, and by lively gestures to direct the notice of his companion to the
same quarter. Often, too, as they moved slowly downward, he reined up
his steed to contemplate more at leisure the close, forest-shaded ravine
before them, through which the Cove creek held its noisy way. It was not
so obvious that his companion responded to the earnest emotions which
this wild and beautiful scenery excited in his mind.

Arthur Butler was now in the possession of the vigor o