t became, as far as fame and posterity is
concerned, the Honourable Asa P. Gray's--forever and forever.

Mr. Crewe liked the inaugural, and was one of the first to tell Mr. Gray
so, and to express his pleasure and appreciation of the fact that his
request (mailed in November) had been complied with, that the substance
of his bills had been recommended in the governor's programme.

He did not pause to reflect on the maxim, that platforms are made to get
in by and inaugurals to get started by.

Although annual efforts have been made by various public-spirited
citizens to build a new state-house, economy--with assistance from room
Number Seven has triumphed. It is the same state-house from the gallery
of which poor William Wetherell witnessed the drama of the Woodchuck
Session, although there are more members now, for the population of the
State has increased to five hundred thousand. It is well for General
Doby, with his two hundred and fifty pounds, that he is in the Speaker's
chair; five hundred seats are a good many for that hall, and painful
in a long session. The Honourable Brush Bascom can stretch his legs,
because he is fortunate enough to have a front seat. Upon inquiry,
it turns out that Mr. Bascom has had a front seat for the last twenty
years--he has been uniformly lucky in drawing. The Honourable Jacob
Botcher (ten years' service) is equally fortunate; the Honourable Jake
is a man of large presence, and a voice that sounds as if it came,
oracularly, from the caverns of the earth. He is easily heard by the
members on the back seats, while Mr. Bascom is not. Mr. Ridout, the
capital lawyer, is in the House this year, and singularly enough has a
front seat likewise. It was Mr. Crewe's misfortune to draw number 415,
in the extreme corner of the room, and next the steam radiator. But he
was not of the metal to accept tamely such a ticketing from the hat
of destiny (via the Clerk of the House). He complained, as any man of
spirit would, and Mr. Utter, the polite clerk, is profoundly sorry,--and
says it maybe managed. Curiously enough, the Honourable Brush Bascom
and the Honourable Jacob Botcher join Mr. Crewe in his complaint, and
reiterate that it is an outrage that a man of such ability and deserving
prominence should be among the submerged four hundred and seventy. It
is managed in a mysterious manner we don't pretend to fathom, and behold
Mr. Crewe in the front of the Forum, in the seats of the mighty, where
he