* * * * *

A father confessor,--his reflections on character, and the contrast of
the inward man with the outward, as he looks around on his congregation,
all whose secret sins are known to him.

* * * * *

A person with an ice-cold hand,--his right hand, which people ever
afterwards remember when once they have grasped it.

* * * * *

A stove possessed by a Devil.

* * * * *

_June 1, 1842._--One of my chief amusements is to see the boys sail
their miniature vessels on the Frog Pond. There is a great variety of
shipping owned among the young people, and they appear to have a
considerable knowledge of the art of managing vessels. There is a
full-rigged man-of-war, with, I believe, every spar, rope, and sail,
that sometimes makes its appearance; and, when on a voyage across the
pond, it so identically resembles a great ship, except in size, that it
has the effect of a picture. All its motions,--its tossing up and down
on the small waves, and its sinking and rising in a calm swell, its
heeling to the breeze,--the whole effect, in short, is that of a real
ship at sea; while, moreover, there is something that kindles the
imagination more than the reality would do. If we see a real, great
ship, the mind grasps and possesses, within its real clutch, all that
there is of it; while here the mimic ship is the representation of an
ideal one, and so gives us a more imaginative pleasure. There are many
schooners that ply to and fro on the pond, and pilot-boats, all
perfectly rigged. I saw a race, the other day, between the ship above
mentioned and a pilot-boat, in which the latter came off conqueror. The
boys appear to be well acquainted with all the ropes and sails, and can
call them by their nautical names. One of the owners of the vessels
remains on one side of the pond, and the other on the opposite side, and
so they send the little bark to and fro, like merchants of different
countries, consigning their vessels to one another.

Generally, when any vessel is on the pond, there are full-grown
spectators, who look on with as much interest as the boys themselves.
Towards sunset, this is especially the case: for then are seen young
girls and their lovers; mothers, with their little boys in hand;
school-girls, beating hoops round about, and occasionally running to the
side of the pond; rough tars, or pe