22 ■ THE HISTORY OF 



hens laid eggs sometimes ; or, that somebody's crower 



was heavier, larger, or higher on the legs (and conse- 

 quently higher in value), than somebody else's crower. 

 And the first exhibition of the society with the long namt 

 came off duly, at last, as agreed upon by the people, and 

 myself. 



^' The people" f By this term is ordinarily meant the 

 body-politic, the multitude, the citizens at large, the voters, 



the — the — a — the masses ; the well, no matter ! 



At the period of which I am now writing, the term signi- 

 fied the "hen-men." This covered the whole ground, at 

 that time. Everybody was included, and thus nobody was 

 left outside ! 



At this first show, the committee " flattered themselves" 

 (and who ever heard of, or from, a comm.ittee that didn't 

 do this !) that never, within the memory of the oldest in- 

 habitant, — who, by the way, was then living, but has 

 since departed to that bourn from which even defunct hen- 

 men do not return, — never had such a display beei?i wit- 

 nessed; never had the feathered race before appeared in 

 such pristine beauty ; never had any such exhibition been 

 seen or read of, since the world begun! And, to say 

 truth, it was n't a very bad sight, — that same first hen- 

 show in Boston. 



Thousands upon thousands visited it, the newspapers 

 appropriated column after column to its laudation, and all 



