by the subsequent cultivation of the land, and hence the leaf-covered surface, now hardened by the direct action of the sun's rays, soon becomes an impenetrable table, from which the water runs without impediment to the streams below. We would not have given to the discussion of this question so extended a space were it not that the subject is one of general interest, the recent floods in Europe having served to direct public attention to it, and already active measures are being taken to prevent the indiscriminate destruction of timber, and in cases of cleared lands the owners are advised to begin a regular system of treeplanting. While those who are now suffering from these causes are engaged in devising a remedy, we of this country would do well to adopt the wiser course, and by "prevention " avoid the need of "cure."

3.40° east longitude. In the central portion of this area the depression varies from sixty to ninety feet. It was also ascertained that the Chotts Rharsa and Melvir were sufficiently depressed to admit of submergence. Should this great work be ever accomplished, the fine oases of the Souf would be converted into islands, since the lowest of them, Debila, is nearly two hundred feet above the sea-level. The engineering problem seems thus to be answered in the affirmative, and, should the report of Captain Roudaire be favorably received, we doubt not an early attempt to accomplish the work will be made.

Or the many papers read before the American Association at their late meeting at Detroit, that by Professor Riley on "Locusts as Food for Man" deserves special mention. From a brief report, we condense as follows: Before recounting his own experience, the writer refers to certain historic records as supporting his-the affirmative-side of the question. Among the Nineveh sculptures in the British Museum are representations of men carrying various meats to a festival, including locusts tied to sticks. In Leviticus and elsewhere in the Bible, the locust is classed as a clean meat fit for man's food. Herodotus names an Ethiopian tribe which fed on locusts, and Livingstone confirms the statement. In Morocco, where the insect appears in such numbers as to threaten the crops, they are killed and eaten, and roasted locusts are to be found for sale in the markets of Tangiers and other cities. The Jews of Morocco regard the markings under the thorax of the female locust as Hebrew characters, placed there to indicate that the food is clean, and thus a preference is given to the females-not altogether a vain superstition, we would say, since it creates a demand for the mother-locusts, and thus checks an undue multiplication of the pest. It is also said that many tribes of American Indians

THE scheme for flooding the desert of Sahara still continues to attract the attention of engineers and meteorologists: of engineers, since with them rests the solution of the direct problems relating to levels, canals, etc.; and of meteorologists, since, whether with good reason or not, the question of the possible climatic changes consequent upon the changing of a desert into a salt sea seems to be worthy of consideration. As we have already noticed in the discussion of this subject, there are certain observers who do not hesitate to proclaim that the flooding of so great an area will result in such modifications of temperature and wind-currents as would change the whole climatic condition of Europe. Among the prominent observers who take this ground is Mr. Kinahan, of the Geological Survey of Ireland, who thinks it a subject worthy of attention as to whether the submergence of Sahara would not cause the snow-line in Southern Europe to descend to its ancient limits, and the Rhine, Danube, and other rivers, be changed into great glaciers. From recent reports, it is evident that these dismal forebodings have had little effect upon the ardor of the original projectors of the scheme, and, while the one party has been busy with its weather-maps and rain-gauges, the other has been going over the ground with tripod and level, wisely determining to first settle the question as to whether the land of the desert be, in fact, lower than the adjacent sea. It is to the results of these special observations that attention may at present be fitly directed. At the time that M. de Lesseps first directed the attention of the French Academy of Sciences to the subject, an expedition was appointed to take the levels of the region of the Chotts (flats) in order to determine the extent of the area which was capable of being submerged. This expedition was organized under the leadership of Captain Roudaire, the original projector of the scheme; with him were associated two captains and a lieutenant of the Etat Major, an infantry-captain, a surgeon-major, deputed by the Geographical Society, and a young mining-engineer. We notice the constitution of this expedition so fully, since the further consideration of the matter was dependent upon their report, and it is from this report that we condense as follows: Four months were consumed in the prosecution of the work; during this time an entire tour of the Chotts was made, and El Ould and Negrine connected by a transverse profile, the whole distance being over four hundred miles. As the result of this survey, it was determined that the region in Algeria | whose depression below the sea-level renders it capable of being flooded has an area of six thousand square kilometres, included within 84.38 and 33.51° north latitude, and 4.51° and

make use of this food.

of locusts." In spite of the character of the last dish mentioned, it is evident that the naturalists did not "fritter" away their time in a vain endeavor, but made of their meal a scientific and a culinary success. Though prompted to review this paper in a semi-serious spirit, it is evident that the service rendered by Professor Riley is no mean one. We all have been taught to commend the bravery of the man who ate the first oyster, and yet we may now search the world over for him who would not gladly take a second. So may it prove with the locust; and, instead of the truly pathetic appeals for food which recently came to us from the locust-invaded districts, may we not yet receive during the time of the next invasion equally urgent invitations to come out and share with our Western friends in that royal and well-authenticated repast, "locusts and wild-honey?"

Regarding the methods by which the locust is rendered palatable, we learn that those of the Old World being large are easily prepared by first detaching their wings and legs, and then roasting, boiling, broiling, frying, or stewing them. The Romans are said to have roasted them to a bright-golden yellow. In Russia they are salted and smoked, and the Hebrews of Morocco use the salted insect as an ingredient of a mixed dish, which is cooked on Friday and eaten cold on the Sabbath-à la Boston baked beans. With such established records and worthy precedents in mind, it is not surprising that so wise and enthusiastic an entomologist as Professor Riley, since he knew every thing else about locusts, should wish to know their flavor, and this zeal becomes the more worthy when it is remembered that, as an incident to the meal, the learned epicure might discover the final remedy for exterminating the pest-that is, to eat them as they do in Morocco. Be the motive what it may-and we doubt not it was a wise one-the result was that he found the flavor of the cooked insect, prepared in almost any of the methods described, quite agreeable. Fried or roasted in nothing but their own oil, they had a pleasant, nutty flavor, peculiar but agreeable. All the more credit is due the professor from the fact that, owing to a prejudice begotten of ignorance, the cook and servants deserted the kitchen, leaving the naturalists masters of the turning-fork and griddle. But," says the report, "the savory messes they concocted converted the kitchen, and cooks and guests alike agreed upon the excellence of the soups, fricassees, and fritters, which were materially composed

B

any de

WE recently directed attention to the fact that a severe case of blood-poisoning had been reported in England, the cause of which was proved to be a hat-band which had been colored by some poisonous dye. It appears that this incident has given rise to a more extended 3T investigation as to the constitution of many of the more-commonly-used dyes. That green wall-paper acts injuriously upon the health of those occupying rooms hung with it, seems to have been clearly proved. It has now been ascertained that many blue papers have also arsenic in the composition of the dyes used. The recent introduction and extended use of colored or. striped stockings, and the evil effects experienced by the wearers of them, have served to direct the attention of the physician and analyst to the question of the dyes used in coloring them. The Pall Mall Gazette, in noticing the evil effects of wearing colored hose, cites several instances where the first symptoms were intense irritation in the skin of the feet, swelling, and an inflamed appearance; then an outbreak of watery blisters of all sizes, from groups of the size of hemp-seed to single blisters on the sole of the foot larger than a five shilling piece. This condition was ac companied by general feverishness, rigors, loss of appetite, and a sensation of pervading malaise. In a severe attack the patient was rarely able to walk for three weeks, and after one attack passed off it was often followed by another of a milder type. In one case a gentleman was obliged to wear cloth shoes for upward of eight months, and with other patients the system has been so impregnated with the poison that blisters have reappeared at intervals, not only on the feet, but on the hands, ears, etc., for more than three years. There du was no doubt as to the cause and method of this blood-poisoning, for the blisters first came in stripes corresponding to the colored stripes of the stockings, and the laundresses complained of the irritation and inflamed condition of their hands after washing these poisonous articles. A Scotch lady who suffered from a like cause brought a successful suit against the firm which supplied her with the goods, and it was formally announced by them that henceforth the use of arsenic in the composition of the dyes would be discontinued. Although having no wish to appear as alarmists," yet it is evident that the occasion is one calling for watchful care on the part of both purchaser and manufacturer. As we have sug gested above, these facts are worthy of special consideration at present. For, while the fashion of wearing striped stockings will, without doubt, soon be confined to gentlemen alone, yet the use by them of questionable colors may result in the disastrous effects above described.

DR. HENRY G. PIFFARD, of New York, contributes to the Medical Record, July 10th, a valuable paper on "The Diffraction Spectra of Colored Fluids," in which the writer not only presents, in a forcible manner, the advantages of the diffraction grating over the prism in spectrum analysis, but also, by the aid of a simple formula, shows how the wavelength corresponding to any line may be readily and accurately determined. Those familiar with the spectroscope and its uses will readily recognize the value of any simple method for obtaining a mathematical expression for any or all of the lines of the spectrum under examination. In addition to the statement and practical application of this formula, Dr. Piffard devotes special attention to a discussion of the relative value of the two methods of analysis, together with brief reference to the several forms of diffraction gratings. Experience has unquestionably demonstrated the fact that in chemistry the service of the spectroscope will be mainly confined to the examination and comparison of absorption spectra, and hence any contribution to this branch of knowledge can but be of great significance and value, and from the fact that the writer, whose work we have noticed, speaks from actual and careful personal observation, his suggestions merit, and will doubtless receive, special attention.

He walked beside the strong, propbetic sea,
Indifferent as itself, and nobly free;
While roll of waves and rhythmic sound of oars
Along Ionian shores,

To Troy's high story chimed in undertone,
And
gave his song the accent of their own!
What classic ghost severe was summoned up
To threaten Dante, when the bitter bread
Of exile on bis board was spread,
The bitter wine of bounty filled his cup?
We need not ask; the unpropitious years,
The hate of Guelf, the lordly sneers
Of Della Scala's court, the Roman ban,
Were but as eddying dust

To his firm-centred trust;

For through that air without a star Burned one unwavering beacon from afar, That kept him, his, and ours, the stern, immortal man!

What courtier, stuffed with smooth, accepted lore Of Song's patrician line,

But shrugged his velvet shoulders all the more, And heard with bland, indulgent face,

As who bestows a grace,

The homely phrase that Shakespeare made divine?

So, now, the dainty souls that crave Light stepping-stones across a shallow wave, Shrink from the deeps of Goethe's soundless song! So, now, the weak, imperfect fire That knows but half of passion and desire Betrays itself to do the Master wrong; Turns, dazzled by his whjte, uncolored glow, And deems his sevenfold heat the wintry flash of snow!

IV.

Fate, like a grudging child,
Herself once reconciled

To power by loss, by suffering to fame;
Weighing the Poet's name

With blindness, exile, want, and aims denied ;
Or let faint spirits perish in their pride;
Or gave her justice when its need had died;
But as if weary she

Of struggle crowned by victory,
Him with the largest of her gifts she tried!
Proud beauty to the boy she gave:

A lip that bubbled song, yet lured the bee;
An eye of light, a forehead pure and free;
Strength as of streams, and grace as of the
wave!

Round him the morning air

Of life she charmed, and made his pathway fair;
Lent Love her lightest chain,
That laid no bondage on the haughty brain,
And cheapened honors with a new disdain:
Kept, through the shocks of Time,
For him the haven of a peace sublime,
And let his sight forerun

The sown achievement, to the harvest won!

V.

But Fortune's darling stood unspoiled:
Caressing Love and Pleasure,

He let not go the imperishable treasure:
He thought and sported; caroled free, and

toiled;

He stretched wide arms to clasp the joy of Earth, But delved in every field

Of knowledge, conquering all clear worth
Of action, that ennobles through the sense
Of wholly-used intelligence:

From loftiest pinnacles, that shone revealed
In pure poetic ether, he could bend

To win the little store

Of humblest Labor's lore,

And give each face of Life the greeting of a friend! He taught, and governed-knew the thankless

days

Of service and dispraise;

He followed Science on her stony ways;
He turned from princely state, to heed
The single nature's need,
And, through the chill of hostile years,
Never unlearned the noble shame of tears!
Faced by fulfilled Ideals, he aspired
To win the perished secret of their grace-
To dower the earnest children of a race
Toil never tamed, nor acquisition tired
With Freedom born of Beauty-and for them
His Titan soul combined
The passions of the mind,

Whence these gay flowers that breathe beside the water?

Ask thou the Erl-King's daughter!

It is no cloud that darkens thus the shore:
Faust on his mantle passes o'er.

The water roars, the water heaves,

The trembling waves divide:
A shape of beauty, rising, cleaves

The green translucent tide.

The shape is a charm, the voice is a spell;
We yield, and dip in the gentle swell.
Then billowy arms our limbs entwine,
And, chill as the hidden heat of wine,
We meet the shock of the sturdy brine;
And we feel, beneath the surface-flow,
The tug of the powerful undertow,

That ceaselessly gathers and sweeps
To broader surges and darker deeps;
Till, faint and breathless, we can but float
Idly, and listen to many a note
From horns of the Tritons flung afar;

And see, on the watery rim,

The circling Dorides swim,

And Cypris, poised on her dove-drawn car!
Torn from the deepest caves,
Sea-blooms brighten the waves:
The breaker throws pearls on the sand,
And inlets pierce to the heart of the land,
Winding by dorf and mill,

Where the shores are green and the waters still,
And the force, but now so wild,
Mirrors the maiden and sports with the child!
Spent from the sea, we gain its brink,

With soul aroused and limbs aflame:
Half are we drawn, and half we sink,
But rise no more the same.

VII.

O meadows threaded by the silver Main !
O Saxon hills of pine,

Witch-haunted Hartz, and thou,

Deep vale of Ilmenau!

Ye know your poet; and not only ye:
The purple Tyrrhene Sea

Not murmurs Virgil less, but him the more;
The Lar of haughty Rome
Gave the high guest a home:

He dwells with Tasso on Sorrento's shore!
The dewy wild-rose of his German lays,
Beside the classic cyclamen;

In many a Sabine glen,
Sweetens the calm Italian days.
But pass the hoary ridge of Lebanon
To where the sacred sun

Beams on Schiraz; and lo! before the gates,
Goethe, the heir of Haflz, waits.

Know ye the turbaned brow, the Persian guise,
The bearded lips, the deep yet laughing eyes?
A cadence strange and strong
Fills each voluptuous song,
And kindles energy from old repose;
Even as first, amid the throes
Of the unquiet West,

He breathed repose to heal the old unrest!

VIII.

Dear is the Minstrel, yet the Man is more;
But should I turn the pages of his brain,
The lighter muscle of my verse would strain
And break beneath his lore.

How charge with music powers so vast and free,
Save one be great as he?

Behold him, as ye jostle with the throng Through narrow ways, that do your beings wrong

Self-chosen lanes, wherein ye press

In louder Storm and Stress,

Passing the lesser bounty by
Because the greater seems too high,
And that sublimest joy forego,
To seek, aspire, and know!
Behold in him, since our strong line began,
The first full-statured man!

Dear is the Minstrel, even to hearts of prose; But he who sets all aspiration free

Is dearer to humanity.

Still through our age the shadowy Leader goes ; Still whispers cheer, or waves his warning sign; The man who, most of men,

Heeded the parable from lips divine,

And made one talent ten !

BAYARD TAYLOR.

MR. LATOUCHE, from whose "Travels in Portugal " we have already quoted several times, tells us something of a general faith among the Portuguese in hidden treasures:

It is hardly to be believed with what childish credulity stories of hidden treasures are told and accepted in all parts of Portugal. There is more time and labor wasted in searching for imaginary concealed riches than would earn real wealth if properly directed. Some small foundation, indeed, for this general credulity exists in the hoarding propensities necessarily produced in former times of insecurity and danger; and one or two well-attested instances of the discovery of hidden treasure have come to my own knowledge. An English merchant having occasion to make some repairs in a house rented by him, in or near the town of Regoa, the workmen, either in pulling down a wall or in taking up a floor, came upon a receptacle containing about two hundred millreis, in gold and silver coin-about forty or fifty pounds. A goldsmith of Viseu told me that the garden-wall of a neighbor threatening to fall, it was ordered to be pulled down; and that on one very heavy stone in it being removed, an earthen pot was laid bare in a little hollow behind where it had stood, and in this pot were found no less than seven golden moidores!. These discoveries were not magnificent ones, and it is not likely that the few which now and again are made, are more so; but they serve to keep up the prevailing appetite for treasure-seeking.

There has always prevailed a belief that an immense treasure was hidden away-I have never heard under what circumstances-in the uninhabited royal palace of Queluz, near Lisbon; and ineffectual efforts have from time to time been made to find it. A few years ago, great interest was suddenly created by the announcement that an old sergeant of artillery had sent, on his death-bed, for a high officer of the court, and had confided to him that he -the sergeant-was the sole survivor of the party which had been intrusted with the concealment of the treasure in question. He then proceeded to describe accurately the situation in which it was to be found. There was, as may be imagined, prodigious excitement among the lords and ladies of the court; and, on a certain day, a large party of them went to the deserted palace. The particular plank designated by the sergeant, in the particular room which he mentioned, was found. The workmen brought for the purpose forced it up with their tools, and between it and the ceiling below was found a space, in which there was-nothing at all! Then more planks were pulled up, then the floors of other rooms, then holes were made in likely-looking places in the walls; but still no treasure, and the courtly party had to return without it: but the palace of Queluz has been left in a state the reverse of what is known to lawyers as tenantable repair."

Another instance of credulity is of so astounding a nature that, if I had not heard the account on unexceptional authority, I should not venture to relate it. In the city of Oporto, a society or club has been formed, for the sole

purpose of seeking for the hiding-place of a fabulously large diamond, concealed, under I know not what circumstances, either in the city or in its near neighborhood. I am ignorant of the rules and regulations of this clubwhether the entrance is heavy, the subscription high, or how many black-balls exclude. I should imagine that the search for a single gem, among the streets, and squares, and suburbs, of a large city, must be very much like looking for a needle in a bottle of hay; nor do I well see how such a search could be set about without exciting comment and suspicion. I presume the members perambulate each other's gardens after nightfall with dark-lanterns. They must, of a truth, be men of a solemn and earnest temperament if they can meet together and preserve their gravity. Perhaps the club is broken up now, and for this very reason, and that solvuntur risu tabula, they could not look each other in the face without laughing.

I am not aware that the belief of the members of the Diamond Club in the hidden stone rests upon any thing resembling evidence, or upon any thing at all, except the fact that a great number of fine gems, particularly diamonds, do exist in the country. The Portuguese obtained many precious stones of great value from India during the palmy days of their connection with that country; and more still, chiefly diamonds, from their Brazilian dependencies. I have seen, at evening parties in Lisbon and Oporto, a far greater show of good diamonds than would be seen, on similar occasions, in London or Paris; the stones, indeed, mostly ill-cut and ill-set, but representing an immense money value.

Or music and the theatre in Germany the author of "German Home-Life" writes the

following:

Among the amusements of German life that bore, the so-called "musical party " is unknown. People who love music come together; they play their trios or quartets; sing their duos and solos, madrigals and glees; stop, take this or that passage over again; discuss the composer's intention; try it one 'way and another, enjoy it, and pass on to fresh enjoyments. There is no yawning audience bored to death in the background, longing to talk; guilty, perhaps, of that indiscretion, to the fury or despair of the performer, and the mute misery of the hostess. There is no "showing off" and forced acclamations, no grimace, and no vanity in the German evening. These lovers of music meet together with the reverence and simplicity of primitive Christians reading the legacies of the evangelists; and, having interpreted their beloved masters to the best of their abilities, go their quiet way rejoicing. Of the absurdity of gathering a crowd of unmusical people together, calling it a "musical party," and paying a professional person to bore the assembly, the sincere German mind is, happily, incapable.

After these open-air concerts you have the theatre. With us the flare of the foot-lights

always smacks somewhat of dissipation. To have been often to the theatre seems to savor of frivolity, perhaps even of extravagance. They manage these things better in Germany, where theatre-going enters as much into the daily existence of men and women as the meals they eat and the clothes they wear. The drama is regarded seriously; the stage is not looked upon merely as a source of amusement; it is treated as a potent means of education, moral as well as intellectual. Princes of the smaller states are princely in their support of the drama: the Ministry for Public Instruction votes its yearly sum, and the grandduke adds his munificent contribution; as Goethe says, German culture owes more to the liberality and generous encouragement of the little, despised, so-called "tin-pot" state governments than she is ever likely to owe to the more distant imperial sympathies of a united Fatherland. Had Dresden, Weimar, Hanover, Stuttgart, and Brunswick, been only provincial towns, surely results would have been far different from what they are.

According to the terms of your abonnement you will be able to go more or less frequently to the theatre. Generally a lady will arrange to have her fauteuil on the same night with, and in the immediate vicinity of, friends. Men are not allowed in the dress-circle, nor women in the stalls, which are devoted to the ubiquitous military. Officers obtain their abonnement under specially favorable conditions, and are free to come and go without worry from box-keepers or seat-guardians. It is the correct thing for them to put in an appearance for an hour or so during the evening. If his royal highness be there he is better pleased to see the parterre of his pleasure-house filled with gay uniforms. Should the play weary or the ballet bore him, he can look down with pride on his gallant little army, and think what find fellows it is composed of. Next to the royal box is the Fremdenloge, generally occupied by distinguished strangers passing through the town. The names and titles of its occupants will be duly chronicled in to-morrow's An zeige. You are at liberty to sell your ticket of abonnement should other engagements prevent your availing yourself of it. The agent wil charge you a small commission for conducting the transaction. A lady goes to the theatr with her maid or a friend, and, without any im propriety, returns after the same simple fash ion. The performances will begin at half-pas six or seven at latest, and she will be at hom again by nine or sooner. In the theatre, as i the coffee-garden, strict division of the sexes In larger towns, where the passing through of many travelers makes the local laws less strin gent, it is not unusual to see men and wome sitting together, but they are almost invariabl strangers and pilgrims. Birds of passage er joy a freedom in such particulars that th Einheimischen cannot boast; and it is all the easy privileges, these rational, inexpensive and early amusements, that make a residen in Germany so charming to English peop of intelligence but small means.

division of the estate the homestead fell to the children of Mr. Verplanck, and has ever since been in the family.

The house has been carefully preserved, with all its antique peculiarities. During the Revolution it was the scene of many an interesting episode. In 1778 General Lafayette was for some time dangerously sick there with a fever, and was attended by Dr. John Cochran. During his convalescence he was visited by Dr. Thatcher, who says, in his journal, that he was received by the marquis "in a polite and affable manner.' Long before then wheat had been shipped from this place to France and exchanged for pure wine, with which the vaults of the mansion were well stocked, and it was cordially bestowed upon the young nobleman and his friends. Dr. Thatcher describes Lafayette as elegant in figure, with an “interesting face of perfect symmetry, and a fine, animated, hazel eye."

It was the headquarters of Baron Steuben, the celebrated Prussian disciplinarian, at the same time that Washington was in Newburg, on the opposite shore of the Hudson. It was during that most trying period of the Revolution, the year of inactivity of Congress, of distress all over the country, and of complaint, discontent, and almost revolt, among officers and soldiers throughout the army. Barracks extended along the line of the road south of Fishkill village for a mile and a half, beyond which there were a few log-houses, where it was said the soldiers were sent to hide when their clothes could be mended no longer and actually fell off them.

There is a cozy room opening from the great dining-room of the Verplanck Homestead, which the baron used for his library. The antique shelves remain, and the decorations are all of the century gone. One day Washington, Knox, Hamilton, and Morris, had been dining with the baron, and retired to this apartment for a confidential wail over the miserable state of the treasury. Morris was complaining bitterly.

"Are you not a financier? why do you not continue to create funds?" said the baron.

"I have done all I can; it is impossible to do more," replied Morris.

"But you still remain financier without finances?"

"Yes." "Well, then, I do not think you are so honest a man as my cook. He came tom me one day and said: 'Baron, you have nothing to cook but a piece of lean beef which is hung up by a string before the fire. Your negro wagoner can turn the string as well as I; you have promised me ten dollars a month, but, as you have nothing to cook, I wish to be discharged and no longer be chargeable to you.' That was an honest fellow, Morris."

Marquis de Chastellux, a member of the French Academy, who came to America as a major-general with Count de Rochambeau, spent some days with the baron at the Verplanck homestead. Mabois, the distinguished Secretary of Legation from France, was also for a short time the baron's guest at this place, and spoke in his letters of the military precision with which every dish was served at table.

ble entrance-hall upon a fair Dutch garden. The counting-room was upon one side of the passage and the drawing-room, bright with gilding, upon the other. The lady was par ticularly accomplished, and versed, not only in the several modern languages, but in Greek and Latin, speaking the latter flu.

It was under this slanting roof that the idea first found expression which was proposed by Colonel Nicola, on behalf of himself and others, to Washington at Newburg, that he (Washington) should be made King of the United States, for the "national advantage!" It is said that Washington was astonished and grieved, and severely repri-❘ently. manded Nicola for entertaining such a thought for an instant.

Here, too, the celebrated Society of the Cincinnati was organized. The meeting took place on the 18th of May, 1783, in the square room to the north of the broad hall which runs through the house. Baron Steuben, as the senior officer, presided, and his chair was placed between the two windows which appear at the left hand of the door in the sketch. The society originated in the mind of General Knox, its object being to cement and perpetuate the friendship of its founders, and transmit the same sentiment to their descendants. Washington was made its first president, and officiated until his death.

The chairs used on this memorable occasion are still preserved. Some of them are of wood, and may be seen upon the veranda of the house. Other articles of furniture, rendered priceless through contact with illustrious men, are cherished with tender reverence. A mahogany side - board, dark as ebony from years, stands in the same corner of the dining-room which it has occupied for a century. It seems invested with tongues, and harrows the visitor's mind with the eloquence, wit, learning, magnetic genius, and cultivated wisdom of that by-gone and golden period.

The new part of the mansion, of which the sketch reveals a corner to the left, has been in existence about seventy years. The drawing-room is a model of elegance and good taste in its appointments, and contains, among other relics, some fine specimens of cut-glass ornaments from the "Old Walton House" before it was dismantled; also some antique vases of great beauty, and an easychair of Walton memory. Another heirloom is an arm-chair of Bishop Berkeley.

The Verplanck family are one of the oldest and most honorable of the New York families of Holland origin. Every generation, since the old Indian sachem Sakoraghuck signed the deed by which he and his tribe parted with their hunting-grounds, has had its good and gifted men. Judge Daniel Crommelin Verplanck was, for many years, a member of Congress; his city bome was a large, yellow mansion standing on the spot in Wall Street where the Assay-Office has since been built. He was a gentleman of great intelligence and force of character. He married the daughter of Dr. Johnson, the first president of Columbia College.

His father was Samuel Verplanck, who was betrothed to his cousin, Judith Crommelin, when seven years of age. She was the daughter of a wealthy banker of the Huguenot stock in Amsterdam. When the young man was of the proper age he was sent to make the tour of Europe and bring home his bride. He was married in the banker's great stone house, the doors opening from the wide mar.

It was this lady who, in her beautiful old age, trained her grandson Gulian, so well known to New York political and social life, and to all lovers of Shakespeare, to love books and study. She taught him, when a mere babe, to declaim passages from Latin authors, standing on a table, and rewarded him with hot pound-cake. It is said that she used to put sugar-plums near his bedside, to be at hand in case he should awake and take a fancy to repeat his lessons in the night. The boy was a born scholar. He took to books as other boys take to marbles. He entered Columbia College at eleven. The tradition is that he studied Greek lying flat on the floor, with his thumb in his mouth, and the fingers of the other hand employed in twisting a lock of the brown hair on his forehead.

He rose to eminence in the law, in politics, and in literature. He served in the State Legislature, and was sent to Congress. One of his chief acts while in the councils of the nation was to secure the passage of a bill (in 1831) for the additional security of liter ary property. In 1834 he was the Whig can-, didate for the mayoralty of the city, but Cornelius W. Lawrence, the Democratic candi date, was elected by about two bundred ma jority. In 1855 he was made Vice-Chancel lor of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. He was also one of the six gentlemen, "of the very highest character," who formed the Board of Com missioners of Emigration charged with the oversight and care of the vast influx of stran gers from the Old World. It took eigh years for this board (which was at that tim wholly free from party influences) to obtai the privilege of a special landing-place for im migrants. But finally a grant from the Leg islature enabled them to lease Castle Garde for this purpose. Mr. Verplanck ministere to the public welfare in innumerable way He was a trustee of the Society Library, one of the wardens of Trinity Church, one of the go ernors of the New York Hospital, one of the most active members of the New York Hi torical Society, and one of the trustees of th Public School Society. He was an author o no little distinction-some of his legal wri ings are among the most elaborate, learne and exhaustive that have ever been produce in America and was editor of one of th best editions of Shakespeare printed in th country.

He spent his summers in the old hom stead, and it was here that many of his fines literary conceptions saw the light. He enter tained generously, and most of the celebritie of his day were, from time to time, invited this lovely retreat.

Few houses are hallowed by more varie or charming associations than the Verpland Homestead on the Hudson.

MARTHA J. LAME