erchief to his eyes; the large man coughed and took a chew of
tobacco.

Presently said Pidgeon:

'We are following to the grave the remains of a splendid writer.'

'Uncommon,' said the large man. 'Sech a man with a pen _I_ never
see--ekalled by few, and excelled by none; copperplate wasn't nowhere.'

'Indeed,' replied Pidgeon, 'I wasn't aware his chirography was so
unusually elegant; but his books were magnificent, weren't they? So
equable, too, and without that bold speculation that we too often meet
with, nowadays.'

'Ah, you may well say so,' returned the large man. 'He always kept them
himself; had 'em sent up to his house whenever he was sick, likeways;
but he wasn't without his bold speculations neither. Look at that there
operation of his into figs, last year.'

'Figs!'

'Figs, yes; and there was dates into the same cargo.'

'Dates! figs! My good friend, do you mean to say that the great
Washington Irving speculated in groceries?'

'Lord, no, not that _I_ know of. This here is Josh Irving, whose
remains'--

Pidgeon opened the carriage door, and, being agile, got out without
stopping the procession. Arriving at his office, where the boy was
diligently occupied in sticking red wafers over the velvet of his desk
lid, he took down 'Sugden on Vendors,' to ascertain if there was any
legal remedy for the manner in which he had been sold, and at the latest
dates had unsuccessfully travelled nearly half through that very
entertaining volume.

THERE is no time to be lost. Either the Union is to be made stronger, or
it is to perish; and the sooner every man's position is defined, the
better. If you are opposed to the war, say so, and step over to
Secession, but do not falter and equivocate, croak and grumble, and play
the bat of the fable. The manly, good, old-fashioned Democrats, at
least, are above this, and are rapidly dividing from the copperheads.
The Philadelphia _Evening Bulletin_, a staunch patriotic journal, says:

'The sooner that the fact is made clear that the mass of the Democrats,
as well as of all other parties, are loyal and opposed to the infamous
teachings of Vallandigham, Biddle, Reed, Ingersoll, Wood, and their
compeers, the sooner will the war be brought to an end and the Union be
restored.'

Show your colors. Let us know at once who and what everybody is, in this
great struggle.

* * * * *

LOVE-LIFE.

In a forest lone, 'neath a mossy stone,
P