5/6 APPENDIX. 



his memory. These he would recite with all the feeling and enthusiasm 

 of early life, and at times I imagined they were golden links that insep- 

 arably bound him to his boyhood. They appeared to possess the faculty 

 of making him young again. 



"He was a quiet humorist, but with no more gall than might be 

 found in a dove. His face was ever mantling with some pleasant 

 thought, and his mind flowed on as gently as a secret brook, that ever 

 and anon dimples and smiles at its own babbling. 



" He was married, and my aunt was one of the gentlest of creatures. 

 You might have searched the world without finding a pair whose hearts 

 and minds so perfectly harmonized. She was a delicately attuned in- 

 strument, ever breathing the softest music; never depressed to sadness, 

 and seldom exhilarated beyond a placid smile. If perchance she 

 laughed, it was at some jest of my uncle Nicholas ; not that it excited 

 her risible faculties, but that she perceived by the mantling of his coun- 

 tenance there was more intended than came within the scope of her 

 apprehension ; and she would laugh outright that he might more fully 

 enjoy the freak of his imagination. How they loved each other! 



'•My uncle dwelt on a farm on the outskirts of a village. He had 

 selected it as a residence in early life, and had lived long enough to 

 see the primitive settlement assume something like a name on the map 

 of his country. He was identified with the spot; all the villagers in a 

 measure looked upon him as a patriarch, and even the children would 

 break off their amusements to salute him as he passed ; and he ever had 

 a kind word and a jest to bestow upon the humblest of the little troglo- 

 dytes. They all called him uncle Nicholas, and he was so kind to them 

 that many grew up in the belief that he was actually the uncle of the 

 whole village. 



" His residence was a delightful spot. His farm was well cultivated, 

 and his buildings, while they afforded every comfort, were not so osten- 

 tatious as to awaken the envy of his less prosperous neighbors. A river 

 flowed beside it, and in the rear were shady walks of sugar maple, to 

 which the villagers would resort of a summer afternoon for recreation, 

 and few would fail in returning to stop at my uncle's cottage and par- 

 take of the hospitality of his board. Indeed he and his were looked 

 upon as common property. 



"At these social gatherings all the belles of the village would rival 

 each other to secure my uncle's attention. He was ever the gayest 

 among the gay, while his gentle manners and playful fancy ministered 

 to the delight of all; and it was amusing to behold the quiet compla- 

 cency of my aunt as she gazed on his little gallantries, and to watch her 

 countenance gradually light up, as her mind would pass from the scene 



