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10. Mr. Phineas Miller, a native of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale, who had come to Georgia as the teacher of General Greene's children, and who, about this time, became the husband of his widow, now proposed a partnership with Mr. Whitney, by which he engaged to furnish funds to perfect the invention, secure the requisite patents, and manufacture the needed machines; the partners to share equally all profits and emoluments thence resulting. Their contract bears date May 27, 1793; and the firm of Miller and Whitney immediately commenced what they had good reason to expect would prove a most extensive and highly lucrative business. Mr. Whitney thereupon repaired to Connecticut, there to perfect his invention, secure his patent, and manufacture machines for the southern market.

XXI. THE DEACON'S MASTERPIECE.

O. W. HOLMES.

[Certain words and phrases in this selection are in the provincial Yankee dialect. Let the pupil find them, and pronounce them as they are spelled.]

1. Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay, That was built in such a logical way

It ran a hundred years to a day?

And then, of a sudden, it—ah, but stay,

I'll tell you what happened, without delay,—

Scaring the parson into fits,

Frightening people out of their wits,-
Have you ever heard of that, I say?

2. Seventeen hundred and fifty-five;
Georgius Secundus was then alive,--
Snuffy old drone from the German hive.
That was the year when Lisbon town

Saw the earth open and gulp her down;
And Braddock's army was done so brown,
Left without a scalp to its crown.

It was on the terrible earthquake day
That the Deacon finished the one-hoss shay.

3. Now, in building of chaises, I tell you what,
There is always somewhere a weakest spot,-
In hub, tire, felloe, in spring or thill,
In panel or cross-bar or floor or sill,
In screw, bolt, thorough-brace,-lurking still,
Find it somewhere you must and will,—
Above or below, or within or without,—
And that's the reason, beyond a doubt,
A chaise breaks down, but does n't wear out.

4. But the Deacon swore, (as Deacons do, With an "I dew vum" or an "I tell yeou,") He would build one shay to beat the taown, 'n' the kaounty 'n' all the kentry raoun';

It should be so built that it couldn' break daown;

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'Fur," said the Deacon, "'t's mighty plain

Thut the weakes' place mus' stan' the strain;

'n' the way t' fix it, uz I maintain,

Is only jest

T' make that place uz strong uz the rest.”

5. So the Deacon inquired of the village folk

Where he could find the strongest oak,

That could n't be split nor bent nor broke,—
That was for spokes and floor and sills;

He sent for lancewood to make the thills;

The crossbars were ash, from the straightest trees;

The panels of white-wood, that cuts like cheese,

But lasts like iron for things like these;
The hubs of logs from the "settler's ellum,"
Last of its timber, they could n't sell 'em;
Never an ax had seen their chips,

And the wedges flew from between their lips,
Their blunt ends frizzled like celery-tips;
Step and prop-iron, bolt and screw,
Spring, tire, axle, and linchpin too,
Steel of the finest, bright and blue;
Thoroughbrace bison-skin, thick and wide;
Boot, top, dasher, from tough old hide,
Found in the pit when the tanner died.
That was the way he "put her through."
"There!" said the Deacon, naow she 'll dew!"
6. Do! I tell you, I rather guess
She was a wonder, and nothing less!
Colts grew horses, beards turned gray,
Deacon and deaconess dropped away,
Children and grandchildren, where were they?
But there stood the stout old one-hoss shay
As fresh as on Lisbon-earthquake day!

7. EIGHTEEN HUNDRED;-it came and found The Deacon's masterpiece strong and sound. Eighteen hundred increased by ten; “Hahnsum kerridge" they called it then. Eighteen hundred and twenty came,— Running as usual,-much the same.

Thirty and forty at last arrive,
And then come fifty and FIFTY-FIVE.

8. Little of all we value here

Wakes on the morn of its hundredth year
Without both feeling and looking queer.

In fact, there's nothing that keeps its youth,
So far as I know, but a tree and truth.

(This is a moral that runs at large;

Take it. You're welcome.-No extra charge.)

9. FIRST OF NOVEMBER,-the earthquake day,There are traces of age in the one-hoss shay, A general flavor of mild decay,

But nothing local, as one may say.

There could n't be, for the Deacon's art
Had made it so like in every part

That there was n't a chance for one to start.
For the wheels were just as strong as the thills,
And the floor was just as strong as the sills,
And the panels just as strong as the floor,
And the whippletree neither less nor more,
And the back crossbar as strong as the fore,
And spring and axle and hub encore.
And yet, as a whole, it is past a doubt
In another hour it will be worn out!

10. First of November, fifty-five!
This morning the parson takes a drive.
Now, small boys, get out of the way!
Here comes the wonderful one-hoss shay,
Drawn by a rat-tailed, ewe-necked bay.
"Huddup!" said the parson.-Off went they.
The parson was working his Sunday's text,—
Had got to fifthly, and stopped perplexed
At what the-Moses was coming next.
All at once the horse stood still,
Close by the meet'n'-house on the hill.
-First a shiver, and then a thrill,

Then something decidedly like a spill,-
And the parson was sitting upon a rock,
At half-past nine by the meet'n'-house clock,-
Just the hour of the earthquake shock!
-What do you think the parson found,
When he got up and stared around?
The poor old chaise in a heap or mound,
As if it had been to the mill and ground!
You see, of course, if you 're not a dunce,
How it went to pieces all at once,—
All at once, and nothing first,

Just as bubbles do when they burst.

11. End of the wonderful one-hoss shay. Logic is logic. That's all I say.

XXII. TRAVEL.

J. H. SIDDONS.

1. The first requisites for travel in the old world are a passport, an adequate supply of coin, a few hints regarding costume and letters of introduction, and a carte du pays, comprehending definite information relative to points of attraction, hotels, railway changes, places of entertainment and instruction, peculiarity of usages, etc.; in fact, as much as, and no more than, may be studied and almost got by heart, on the voyage across the Atlantic. Similar information is requisite for the European traveler who should direct his attention to the United States and South America. There is a prodigious amount of ignorance on both sides of the ocean which separates the two hemispheres; and ignorance, we know, is the parent of prejudice,-one of the worst traveling companions a gentleman or lady could possibly have. All should

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