erived great benefit from my
historical reminiscences. In the days of the Stamp Act, I whispered in the
ear of Hutchinson, bidding him to remember what stock his countrymen were
descended of, and to think whether the spirit of their forefathers had
utterly departed from them. The last man whom I favored with a colloquy,
was that stout old republican, Samuel Adams."

"And how happens it," inquired Grandfather, "that there is no record nor
tradition of your conversational abilities? It is an uncommon thing to
meet with a chair that can talk."

"Why, to tell you the truth," said the chair, giving itself a hitch nearer
to the hearth, "I am not apt to choose the most suitable moments for
unclosing my lips. Sometimes I have inconsiderately begun to speak, when
my occupant, lolling back in my arms, was inclined to take an after-dinner
nap. Or, perhaps, the impulse to talk may be felt at midnight, when the
lamp burns dim, and the fire crumbles into decay, and the studious or
thoughtful man finds that his brain is in a mist. Oftenest, I have
unwisely uttered my wisdom in the ears of sick persons, when the
inquietude of fever made them toss about, upon my cushion. And so it
happens, that, though my words make a pretty strong impression at the
moment, yet my auditors invariably remember them only as a dream. I should
not wonder if you, my excellent friend, were to do the same, to-morrow
morning."

"Nor I either," thought Grandfather to himself. However, he thanked this
respectable old chair for beginning the conversation, and begged to know
whether it had any thing particular to communicate.

"I have been listening attentively to your narrative of my adventures,"
replied the chair, "and it must be owned, that your correctness entitles
you to be held up as a pattern to biographers. Nevertheless, there are a
few omissions, which I should be glad to see supplied. For instance, you
make no mention of the good knight, Sir Richard Saltonstall, nor of the
famous Hugh Peters, nor of those old regicide judges, Whalley, Goffe, and
Dixwell. Yet I have borne the weight of all these distinguished
characters, at one time or another."

Grandfather promised amendment, if ever he should have an opportunity to
repeat his narrative. The good old chair, which still seemed to retain a
due regard for outward appearance, then reminded him how long a time had
passed, since it had been provided with a new cushion. It likewise
expressed the opinion, t