did, was now squeezed
out of all shape, and absolutely in tatters, so many were the ponderous
gentlemen who had deposited their weight upon it during these thirty
years.

Moreover, at a council held by the Earl of Loudon with the governors of
New England in 1757, his lordship, in a moment of passion, had
kicked over the chair with his military boot. By this unprovoked and
unjustifiable act, our venerable friend had suffered a fracture of one
of its rungs.

"But," said Grandfather, "our chair, after all, was not destined to
spend the remainder of its days in the inglorious obscurity of a garret.
Thomas Hutchinson, Lieutenant-governor of the province, was told of
Sir Francis Bernard's design. This gentleman was more familiar with
the history of New England than any other man alive. He knew all the
adventures and vicissitudes through which the old chair had passed,
and could have told as accurately as your own Grandfather who were the
personages that had occupied it. Often, while visiting at the Province
House, he had eyed the chair with admiration, and felt a longing desire
to become the possessor of it. He now waited upon Sir Francis Bernard,
and easily obtained leave to carry it home."

"And I hope," said Clara, "he had it varnished and gilded anew."

"No," answered Grandfather. "What Mr. Hutchinson desired was, to restore
the chair as much as possible to its original aspect, such as it had
appeared when it was first made out of the Earl of Lincoln's oak-tree.
For this purpose he ordered it to be well scoured with soap and sand
and polished with wax, and then provided it with a substantial leather
cush-ion. When all was completed to his mind he sat down in the old
chair, and began to write his History of Massachusetts."

"Oh, that was a bright thought in Mr. Hutchinson," exclaimed Laurence.
"And no doubt the dim figures of the former possessors of the chair
flitted around him as he wrote, and inspired him with a knowledge of all
that they had done and suffered while on earth."

"Why, my dear Laurence," replied Grandfather, smiling, "if Mr.
Hutchinson was favored with ally such extraordinary inspiration, he made
but a poor use of it in his history; for a duller piece of composition
never came from any man's pen. However, he was accurate, at least,
though far from possessing the brilliancy or philosophy of Mr.
Bancroft."

"But if Hutchinson knew the history of the chair," rejoined Laurence,
"his heart must have b