Their services in the cause of public education are beyond our appreciation, and it may be well for us to remember that Harvard, Yale, Williams, Union, Princeton, Amherst, Hanover, and other institutions, sprang from the bold philanthrophy of men so poor as often to be objects of pity. They saw that knowledge is power, and that power they would not only possess, but bequeath to coming generations. Long as these rambles have been, they would still be incomplete without a tribute to the influence of wives and mothers which soothed and mellowed the sterner aspect of primitive life; but this can only be referred to as a theme worthy of distinct treatment. It should not be forgotten that the children reared under such influences have often been counted worthy of the highest stations of honor and trust; and although the scapegrace character of ministers' sons is a common fling, yet careful research has proved that it has many and brilliant exceptions. While penning these pages, my mind has often wandered over ancient burial-grounds where pastor and people sleep side by side. One may find them in every New England town, and they chain with a spell of which the modern cemetery with its showy marbles knows nothing! We turn from the fresh mortality, which chills us with its recent sorrows, to those massy headstones whose faint inscriptions tell of generations long since freed from toil. Here one may find the rude monuments of those who still walk the earth and lead its progress, and here the heart may run over, as Byron says, 'With silent worship of the great of old! The dead but sceptered sovereigns who still rule Our spirits from their urns.' * * * * * HEMMING COTTON. 'Hem them in!' is the country's cry; See how the bayonet needles fly! Nothing neglect and nothing leave, Hem them in from the skirt to sleeve. Little they reek of scratch or hurt Who toil at hemming the Southern shirt; Little they'll care, as they shout aloud, If the Southern shirt prove a Southern shroud. Hurrah for the needles sharp and thin! Cotton is saved by hemming it in.' * * * * * ONE OF MY PREDECESSORS.