aits which had been his New-Year's gift from Grandfather.

Among them he found the features of more than one famous personage who
had been connected with the adventures of our old chair. Grandfather
bade him draw the table nearer to the fireside; and they looked over
the portraits together, while Clara and Charley likewise lent their
attention. As for little Alice, she sat in Grandfather's lap, and seemed
to see the very men alive whose faces were there represented.

Turning over the volume, Laurence came to the portrait of a stern,
grim-looking man, in plain attire, of much more modern fashion than that
of the old Puritans. But the face might well have befitted one of those
iron-hearted men. Beneath the portrait was the name of Samuel Adams.

"He was a man of great note in all the doings that brought about the
Revolution," said Grandfather. "His character was such, that it seemed
as if one of the ancient Puritans had been sent back to earth to
animate the people's hearts with the same abhorrence of tyranny that
had distinguished the earliest settlers. He was as religious as they, as
stern and inflexible, and as deeply imbued with democratic principles.
He, better than any one else, may be taken as a representative of the
people of New England, and of the spirit with which they engaged in the
Revolutionary struggle. He was a poor man, and earned his bread by
a humble occupation; but with his tongue and pen he made the King of
England tremble on his throne. Remember him, my children, as one of the
strong men of our country."

"Here is one whose looks show a very different character," observed
Laurence, turning to the portrait of John Hancock. "I should think, by
his splendid dress and courtly aspect, that he was one of the king's
friends."

"There never was a greater contrast than between Samuel Adams and John
Hancock," said Grandfather. "Yet they were of the same side in politics,
and had an equal agency in the Revolution. Hancock was born to the
inheritance of the largest fortune in New England. His tastes and
habits were aristocratic. He loved gorgeous attire, a splendid mansion,
magnificent furniture, stately festivals, and all that was glittering
and pompous in external things. His manners were so polished that there
stood not a nobleman at the footstool of King George's throne who was a
more skilful courtier than John Hancock might have been. Nevertheless,
he in his embroidered clothes, and Samuel Adams in his