You'll look at a horse's hinder leg, First great angle above the hoof, That's the gambrel; hence gambrel-roof.) Nicest place that ever was seen, Colleges red and Common green, Sidewalks brownish with trees between. Sweetest spot beneath the skies When the canker-worms don't rise, When the dust, that sometimes flies Not in the shape of unbaked pies A kind of harbor it seems to be, Facing the flow of a boundless sea. Rows of gray old Tutors stand Ranged like rocks above the sand; Rolling beneath them, soft and green, Breaks the tide of bright sixteen,One wave, two waves, three waves, four, Sliding up the sparkling floor: Then it ebbs to flow no more, Wandering off from shore to shore With its freight of golden ore! -Pleasant place for boys to play; Better keep your girls away; Hearts get rolled as pebbles do Which countless fingering waves pursue, And every classic beach is strown With heart-shaped pebbles of blood-red stone. But this is neither here nor there; I'm talking about an old arm-chair. You've heard, no doubt, of PARSON TURELL? Over at Medford he used to dwell; -- Married one of the Mathers' folk; Turned all over with knobs and rings, — But heavy, and wide, and deep, and grand, — Fit for the worthies of the land, Chief-Justice Sewall a cause to try in, Or Cotton Mather to sit - and lie - in. Parson Turell bequeathed the same To a certain student, — SMITH by name ; These were the terms, as we are told: "Saide Smith saide Chaire to have and holde; When he doth graduate, then to passe To y oldest Youth in y° Senior Classe. On Payment of" — (naming a certain sum) By him to whom y° Chaire shall come; He to ye oldest Senior next, And soe forever," (thus runs the text,) – "But one Crown lesse then he gave to claime, That being his Debte for use of same." Smith transferred it to one of the BROWNS, And took his money, five silver crowns. Brown delivered it up to MOORE, Who paid, it is plain, not five, but four. Moore made over the chair to LEE, Who gave him crowns of silver three. Lee conveyed it unto DREW, And now the payment, of course, was two. Drew gave up the chair to Dunn, All he got, as you see, was one. And got by the bargain no crown at all. - And now it passed to a second BROWN, Who took it and likewise claimed a crown. When Brown conveyed it unto WARE, Having had one crown, to make it fair, And so the sum kept gathering still - When paper money became so cheap, Folks would n't count it, but said "a heap," A certain RICHARDS, the books declare, (A. M. in '90? I've looked with care Through the Triennial, name not there.) This person, Richards, was offered then Nine, I think, was the sum he took, Not quite certain, - but see the book. - By and by the wars were still, But nothing had altered the Parson's will. But saddled with such a monstrous debt! Plain enough for a child to spell. What should be done no man could tell, For the chair was a kind of nightmare curse, As a last resort, to clear the doubt, They got old GOVERNOR HANCOCK Out. The Governor came with his Light-horse Troop And his mounted truckmen, all cock-a-hoop; Halberds glittered and colors flew, French horns whinnied and trumpets blew, The yellow fifes whistled between their teeth And the bumble-bee bass-drums boomed beneath; So he rode with all his band, Till the President met him, cap in hand. The Governor "hefted" the crowns, and said, — "A will is a will, and the Parson's dead." The Governor hefted the crowns. Said he, "There is your p'int. And here's my fee. These are the terms you must fulfil, On such conditions I BREAK THE WILL!” |