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So far all has been hard work, but now comes the boiling, and here the poetry of sugar-making begins.

When the weather was fine, and the sap running fast, it was often necessary to spend a good part of the night in boiling sap. Instead of feeling this a burden, here we found our pleasures but intensified. How the bright blaze chased the dim shadows far back into the woods, and the black smoke rolled up in great clouds to the sky! How sweet and warm and refreshing was the sap as it grew more and more concentrated! And how welcome were the neighbors' boys when they came to share with us the midnight watch! There was many a thrilling story told, many a sprightly joke was cracked, or lively game of euchre played. And when the war-cloud gathered in the Southern horizon, it was there we talked of the latest news, and registered our patriotic vows.

When pans are used for boiling, the last thing before the work of the day is done is "syruping down." When the sap is all boiled in, and the product has attained a sufficient degree of concentration,--nearly equal to that of the "maple syrup" of the markets,--the fire is suffered to go down, the pan is drawn off, the syrup dipped out and strained through a flannel cloth, and stored away in pails or tin cans to await the final process of "sugaring off."

This event takes place after a few days of boiling, when the syrup has accumulated in sufficient quantities; and, as it presents the first fruits of the harvest, is usually made the occasion of a sugar-party. Now, the maple sugar-party is a New England institution, and the great feast of the season. The young people invite their friends, the neighbors' boys and girls, and sometimes a select party of school-mates from the village. The young folks go out through the woods in glee, the boys drawing the girls on sleds over the crust, the young men and maidens walking together,--a merry throng full of life and glee. The older folks are also there, at least sometimes; but their presence is no damper on the spirits of the young.

First, the pan is half filled with syrup, and a gentle fire is started. As the temperature rises, a thick scum appears on the surface, consisting of such impurities as may have passed through the meshes of the strainer. If proper care has been taken to keep out all forms of dirt in gathering and boiling, and if, after being strained, the syrup was allowed to stand and settle for two or three days, until all the nitre,--or "sand," as it is called,--and other heavy impurities, were deposited on the bottom of the pail, then the liquid which is poured off is clear and light-colored. But if these precautions have not been taken, if dust, and leaves, and cinders have been allowed free access, then the liquid is dirty and dark-colored, and the scum is thick and muddy. In such cases it is customary to make use of some device for the purpose of "purifying" it, such as stirring a cup of milk or a beaten egg into the slowly heating mass. These things are supposed to have an affinity for the dirt, and to increase the volume of impurities which rise to the surface. Their real utility is questionable.

When the liquid begins to simmer slightly, and just before it fairly boils, all the scum is removed by means of a long-handled skimmer, and is emptied into the pan with the "settlings," and both these are afterwards utilized in the manufacture of vinegar.

After boiling for a while, the syrup begins to thicken, and the bubbles to rise higher and higher in the pan, like boiling soap. Thenceforward it must be watched with care, to prevent its boiling over, or burning on the bottom of the pan.

As soon as the sugar begins to show signs of graining, all hands pass up their saucers to be filled; and they are refilled an unlimited number of times, until all are thoroughly sweetened. For though sugar is the product of hard labor, and has a cash value, yet in all the sugar-camps it is as free almost as water throughout the season,--until it is grained and in the tubs, when it becomes property, and is held sacred.

Not many, however, can eat more than one, or at most two, saucerfuls of warm sugar. So, when the appetite is sated with this, and the sugar is done a little harder, merry voices call for pans of snow, or if a clean snow-bank is at hand, betake themselves to this instead, and, after having partially cooled the liquid by stirring it in the saucer, pour it slowly out upon the smooth snow-crust, where it quickly hardens and becomes brittle, making a most luscious and toothsome substitute for molasses candy.

If the sugar is to be made into cakes it requires to be boiled longer than if intended for graining in tubs, as is the more common form.

Finally, when frequent trials show that the proper degree of concentration has been reached, the master of the ceremonies pronounces it "done," pulls off the fagots, and lets the fire go down, or else draws the pan off the arch and lets it cool. Then the sugar is stirred vigorously with a huge wooden paddle until it begins to grain, when it is poured out into the tubs, or dipped into tins, if intended for cakes.

But though the sugar is eaten, the party is not over for the young folks. There is still time for an hour or two of coasting--an old-fashioned tournament of "sliding down hill." And so the livelong day is a time for sweet things said and done as well as eaten, of romping and frolicking, of mirth and laughter, of youthful courtships begun and carried on, of joy and gladness everywhere.

EDITORIAL NOTE ON DANIEL WEBSTER.

The extraordinary public services of Daniel Webster, as one of the most eminent statesmen of this or of any other country, cannot be adequately estimated. Hence, whatever illustrates his public life, and especially his private character, will never cease to be invested with a degree of interest which attaches to few other public men. So much of disparaging statements in reference to Mr. Webster has been unjustly and, perhaps, thoughtlessly put in circulation, that we deem it a privilege to publish elsewhere an article presenting trustworthy evidence tending to correct whatever false impressions may still exist. At the Webster Centennial Dinner in Boston, in January, 1882, under the auspices of the Dartmouth College Alumni Association, among other able addresses, one by Hon. Edward S. Tobey was especially remarkable for the evidence produced as to Mr. Webster's religious opinions, which, unsought, had come to his knowledge during a period of forty years. Mr. Tobey, upon request, used the material facts of this address in the preparation of an article for this Magazine. In this connection it is of interest to recall the fact that Mr. Tobey united with President Smith, during the administration of the latter, in efforts for the founding of a Webster Professorship at Dartmouth College, and was the first donor to the fund, contributing ,000. In the year just ended the endowment reached the sum of ,000, and the professorship was established.

THE BOSTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL.

BY BENJAMIN R. CURTIS.

The Boston School of Law was opened, in 1872, under the supervision of the Boston University, of which it is a department. The first instruction was given at No. 18 Beacon street, where the school remained for two years. The school opened with sixty-five students. The late Hon. George S. Hillard was the Dean. The lecturers comprised such well-known names as Edmund H. Bennett, Henry W. Paine, Judge Benjamin F. Thomas, Dr. Francis Wharton, Judge Dwight Foster, Charles T. Russell, Judge Benjamin R. Curtis, William Beach Lawrence, Judge Otis P. Lord, Dr. John Ordronaux, Nicholas St. John Greene, Melville M. Bigelow, and Edward L. Pierce. It is safe to say that no other Law School of that date, anywhere in the country, could have offered to its students a better list of instructors than this. A remarkably varied judicial and professional experience among the corps of lecturers, from first to last, is here set forth. Truly, the law could be learned here from its fountain-heads.

The fall of 1873 saw ninety students on the roll. The corps of lecturers remained about the same as before, while the course of instruction was somewhat enlarged. It was evident that the students had come to work; the list was largely composed of young men who had selected the law for their profession after careful consideration, who understood that they would be obliged to rely upon it for their support in life, and who were therefore determined to make the most of the rich instruction which the distinguished body of lecturers was ready to impart. The students wished to be taught what to do, and they were eager to put their knowledge to good use as soon as the occasion permitted.

The fall term of 1874 opened with one hundred and thirty-four students. The good seed planted two years previously was thus already bearing its fruit. A few changes had been made in the faculty and lecturers. Mr. Nicholas St. John Greene was performing the duties of acting Dean, to enable Mr. Hillard to seek that retirement which his health demanded. Judge John Lowell offered a course of lectures on Bankruptcy, and the well-known lawyers Charles B. Goodrich and Chauncey Smith, of Boston, were prepared to meet the senior class with their specialties, respectively, of Corporation and Patent law. With the opening of this term a change of quarters was necessitated; the school was removed to the Wesleyan building, 36 Bromfield street, which was then considered very commodious. Here it remained till the fall of 1884. Each subsequent year saw a continued increase in the number of pupils. In the fall of 1877 Judge Edmund H. Bennett was appointed Dean. A more fortunate selection could not have been made. A long experience as Probate Judge had given him a wide and practical knowledge of Probate law in all its departments, and his varied legal writings in other departments of the law showed how well qualified he was to undertake the general administration of the school. With all his learning, moreover, Judge Bennett possesses a remarkable power of imparting knowledge, a very clear insight into human nature, and a certain gentle magnetism which attracts and charms young men. The man and the occasion were thus well suited to each other. If the important place of Dean had been filled at that time by an ordinary man, the remarkable progress then made might have gone for nought; but with Judge Bennett at its head, the Boston Law School has continually justified the hopes and wishes of its founders. This result could only have been brought about by the patient supervision, watchful energy, and valuable experience, which are clearly set forth in the rare character of its Dean.

The year 1883 also marked the retirement from the school of Hon. Henry W. Paine, who for eleven years had filled the chair of Lecturer on Real Property. "So thoroughly was he master of his subject, difficult and intricate as it confessedly is, that in not a single instance, except during the lectures of the last year, did he take a note or scrap of memoranda into the class-room."

In 1884, owing to the receipt of several large legacies, the University was enabled to provide new quarters for the Law School. A large and well-built house, No. 10 Ashburton place, was purchased by the corporation, and was at once remodelled in accordance with a careful plan which one of the best architects in the city had devised. This house was formerly the residence of the late Mr. Augustus H. Fiske, the well-known lawyer, who died many years ago. Mr. Fiske was a remarkable man. His practice was very extensive throughout Suffolk and Middlesex counties, and he is said to have been in the habit of entering more cases at the terms of the courts than any other lawyer of his day. He made it a point to reach his office before seven o'clock in the morning, and he generally remained there till late in the evening. The consequence was that he broke down rather early in life, and died in his prime. His early death, however, was not expected by the Bar. A short time before his last sickness he appeared as a witness in a certain case in Suffolk County, and at the conclusion of a long cross-examination at the hands of Henry W. Paine, Mr. Fiske inquired if Mr. Paine had any further questions to ask. "No, Brother Fiske," said Mr. Paine, "I think not,--but stay; you have just told us when you began practice; now, what your brethren of the Bar are more concerned in, is, when are you going to leave off?"--"Not till the last nail is driven in my coffin," was the answer. Soon after this Mr. Fiske fell sick, and Mr. Paine called on him at his house. Mr. Fiske was sitting up in bed taking a deposition in his night-gown, with the parties gathered about him. The next day he died.

The alterations at No. 10 Ashburton place were made under the supervision of Mr. William G. Preston, the architect. The front of the basement, about twenty feet square, is a pleasant room, well lighted, and is used by the students, for study, conversation, and general social purposes. Directly back of this is a dressing-room, 25 x 19, containing about one hundred lockers, for the use of the students. Ascending to the first floor, one is struck with the spaciousness of the hall-way, which extends from the entrance to the door of the lecture-hall. It is finished in light wood, and the design of the staircase is particularly tasteful, while the stairs themselves are very easy of ascent. To the left of the entrance is the Dean's room, 19 x 19, finished in cherry; and next on the left is a part of the library, which is finished in white-wood. In the rear is the lecture-hall, where everything has been done to combine light and air with comfort. The hall is something over fifty-two feet long, twenty-six feet wide, and seventeen feet in height. Almost the entire roof, which is in the shape of an immense skylight, is made of glass. The walls are light in color, while the general effect is one of light and airiness. In the lecture-hall, as elsewhere, special regard has been paid to the ventilation. The atmosphere is changed continually, without any perceptible draughts. The seating capacity of the lecture-hall is about two hundred. The second story is devoted wholly to the library, which, with the room on the first floor, affords space for the University's valuable collection of books. Leading from one of the large rooms on this floor is a small one for the librarians, which is fitted up with open fireplace, desks, and other suitable furnishings. The whole floor is finished in white-wood. On the third floor are two recitation rooms, with a seating capacity of eighty and fifty, respectively. Above are three club-rooms, devoted to the use of the several law clubs in the school. With such accommodations the school will receive a new impetus.

The cause of legal education has advanced greatly within the memory of lawyers who are even now hardly of middle age. Twenty years ago law schools in this country were few in number and most of them poor in equipment. No examination, and but little study, was required as a condition for the degree of Bachelor of Laws; one of the oldest schools conferred the degree upon all students registered therein for a certain length of time,--one year. To-day, in most of the schools, students are required to study at least two years, and to pass examinations in some ten or twelve branches of the law before a degree is given. Some schools require three years' study, and of these this school is one. Indeed, it was the first to establish such a course, the trustees including it in the statutes of organization in 1871. Transition from the earlier standards to the present one has been gradual but steady, and to-day the degree is conferred only upon those who have studied law at least three years.

One or two features of the course of instruction deserve especial mention. The first of these is the prominence given to the system of recitations, and their separation from the lectures. These latter are given by the elder members of the profession; the lecturer himself occupies most of the hour in laying down and explaining propositions of law and citing authorities in support. The lecturer's work is supplemented by the instructors, who conduct recitations upon the topics already reviewed by their elders; in these exercises the students are expected and required to occupy most of the time in asking or answering questions, and in the discussion and argument of points raised or suggested in the previous lecture.

The freedom of debate and liberty of criticism given at the recitations, larger than it is practicable to obtain at the lectures, is found to be a most useful method of fixing principles or correcting errors.

The Moot Courts are another prominent feature of the instruction. These are held regularly every Saturday. Some question of law is argued by students who have been previously assigned as counsel; a member of the faculty sits as Chief-Justice, two students being associated with him as Justices. Upon the decision of the question written opinions are prepared by each of the Associate Justices and read by them at a subsequent session of the court. These opinions are afterwards printed and bound under the title of "Boston University Reports."

In this current school year there are one hundred and seventy-five undergraduate students, among them men from Maine, California, and Florida; while during the fourteen years of its existence the school has had among its members students from nearly every State in the Union, the Territories, and District of Columbia, as well as several from the Empire of Japan.

The graduates now number about six hundred and fifty, and the school is to be congratulated on the success which many of them have attained in professional and public life. In this Commonwealth, during the year just closed, the alumni counted among them members of the Governor's Council, State Senators, Mayors, District Attorneys, Registers of Probate, Representatives, and Clerks of Courts; while in some of the Western States graduates, though still young, wear judicial honors.

The many friends of the school suffered a great loss in the recent sudden death of Mr. John E. Wetherbee. At thirty years of age he had already earned for himself a substantial practice, and his constant application to the study of law, together with an easy and impressive delivery, gave his instruction at the school peculiar power. Some burden too heavy for him to bear brought his work to a sudden close. Those who were accustomed to meet him, and look for him, and listen to him, will find it hard to realize that they will see him no more. His work at the school is now in the hands of Mr. Albers, Mr. Smith, Mr. Jenney, and Mr. J. G. Thorp, Dr.

A course of lectures on Railroad Law is now being given, for the first time, by J. H. Benton, Jr., the counsel for the Old Colony Railroad Company; and the course on Real Property, which was but partially completed by Mr. Wetherbee, has been taken up by Christopher G. Tiedeman, now Professor of Law in the University of Missouri.

It is safe to say that everything that means, intelligence, experience, and hard work can suggest, to continue the school at its present high grade of excellence, will be afforded by those who are, and who will be, intrusted with the charge; and it is proper to add that the school has benefited greatly by the untiring efforts of Mr. Samuel C. Bennett , who is now Assistant Dean, and also one of the regular instructors, and who faithfully seconds the work of his father in the general direction of affairs.

The school already has a large and valuable library, and an annual appropriation is made by the University for its care and increase. The State Library, Boston Public Library, and Social Law Library, all of which are in the immediate neighborhood of the school, afford every possible facility for extra investigation.

FOOTNOTES:

Prof. Wm. Mathews, LL.D., in Bay State Monthly, November, 1885.

HON. EDMUND HATCH BENNETT.

When the city was incorporated, in 1865, his fellow-citizens showed their high appreciation of his personal character and public spirit in a very pronounced manner by unanimously electing him the first chief magistrate of the newly incorporated community. To this honorable and influential post he was twice elected subsequently, viz., in 1866 and 1867.

Judge Bennett has put much hard and honest work into his profession; in this he is an example to younger men, which it would not be amiss for them to imitate. His first law connection in Taunton was with the late Nathaniel Morton, a brother of the present Chief-Justice of Massachusetts. Subsequently he formed a partnership with Hon. Henry Williams, and afterwards with Henry J. Fuller, Esq., of Taunton.

At the bar of his own county he took almost from the first a prominent place, and he has been able to turn the accumulated and well-digested results of his study and practice to good account in the instruction of others. During the years of 1870, 1871, and 1872 he occupied the position of lecturer at the Dane Law School of Harvard University, Cambridge. With the Law School of Boston University he has stood connected from its commencement in 1872, receiving at that time the honor of being selected as its Dean. He was not at the time able to serve in that capacity, but was a regular lecturer, and in 1876, on being again elected to the position, he accepted it. This relation to the school he sustains at present, having, during the decade which has passed since his assumption of the office, contributed in no small measure to the present efficient organization and very gratifying prosperity of the school. In May, 1858, he was appointed Judge of Probate and Insolvency for Bristol county, holding the office twenty-five years, and resigning in 1883.

In religious sympathy and work Judge Bennett is allied with the Protestant Episcopal Church. For some years he acted either in the capacity of warden or vestry-man of St. Thomas parish, Taunton, and several times as delegate represented the parish in the Diocesan Convention. In 1874, 1877, 1880, and 1883 he was appointed delegate from his diocese to the General Triennial Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country. He is now senior warden of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, of Boston.

THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF DANIEL WEBSTER.

BY HON. EDWARD S. TOBEY.

I might well shrink from writing on a topic which has already engaged the pen and thought of the most able of Mr. Webster's contemporaries and biographers, were it not that, by opportunities wholly unsought, so much of reliable testimony, not previously published, has come to me tending to correct false opinions and impressions as to his private character, that a sense of justice which I could not conscientiously resist, led me on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Mr. Webster's birthday, which was observed in this city in 1882, under the auspices of the Alumni of Dartmouth College, to present, substantially, the facts and views which are now by request repeated. I may add, that I realized more fully an obligation and an interest to give currency to them from the fact of my former connection with Mr. Webster's Alma Mater, as one of its Board of Trustees, and also from having made the first contribution to the Webster professorship in that institution, which, through the liberality of others, has since been fully endowed.

While I would not enlarge on the subject of Mr. Webster's public services and extraordinary statesmanship already so well known throughout this and other countries, I may briefly refer to one especially eloquent speech of the many made by him to which it was my privilege to listen. After the death of President Harrison, and the accession to office of Vice-President John Tyler, all the members of the Cabinet, except Mr. Webster, resigned. He remained as Secretary of State, for the purpose of bringing to a successful conclusion a perplexing controversy between Great Britain and the United States as to the trial and release of Alexander McLeod, a British subject, then held as a prisoner in the State of New York for participating in an attack on the steamer "Caroline" within the waters of the United States. The British Government avowed the act as authorized, and imperatively demanded McLeod's release. It tasked to the utmost the extraordinary ability of Mr. Webster, as a mutual friend informed me, to find sufficient ground on which to comply with England's demand, and yet maintain the dignity of the Government of the United States, consistently with the relations between the Federal Government and that of the State of New York. The question seemed at one time to threaten the peaceful relations between England and America, of which the public were not aware. Under Mr. Webster's construction of the duty and obligations of our Government, McLeod was surrendered, and soon after Mr. Webster resigned. Having been unjustly criticised by certain political leaders, and his motives impugned for remaining so long in the Cabinet, he at once sought vindication in a speech delivered in Faneuil Hall, defining his position, in which he poured out a torrent of eloquence seldom equalled, and in which he clearly indicated the chagrin that even a great man may feel when he is made the subject of unjust suspicion and criticism.

While I have no claim whatever to be regarded as one of the great statesman's associates, I was favored with a very limited and casual acquaintance in the latter part of his life, and an opportunity to know something of his private life and his religious character, through his particular friends, of whom a few were also my personal friends. I may perhaps, therefore, properly speak of unquestionable facts which have, by force of circumstances, come to my knowledge at different times through a period of about forty years, tending to disprove the base rumor and slanders which have found an astonishing currency.

There is now living in this city a gentleman of the highest respectability, personally well-known to me for thirty-five years, who was for about twenty-five years intimately connected with Mr. Webster, at Marshfield, as the manager of his affairs, and consequently with him under all circumstances during his summer residence there. Mr. Webster regarded him with the affection of a father for a son. This gentleman has said to me more than once, with emotion and evident feelings of indignation: "No one has ever seen Mr. Webster at Marshfield unduly under the influence of stimulants." He adds: "I was with him on festive occasions here and in New Hampshire, when others were indulging in the customary habit of drinking; but I have never seen Mr. Webster, on those occasions, use stimulants to excess."

The late Judge Peleg Sprague, whom from family relationship it was my privilege to know intimately until the very last year of his life, a short time before his death, in conversation with me, refuted the charges of Mr. Webster's alleged excessive drinking habits in Washington. Judge Sprague was ten years in Congress, and was associated with Mr. Webster, under various circumstances, in public and social life.

I have thus offered the evidence of three witnesses, whose opportunity of knowledge and whose credibility, it cannot be denied, are to be accepted against rumors so easily put in circulation by reckless as well as by mistaken men, but which have beyond question been believed by very many good men who had not the opportunity, or perhaps the sense of obligation, to investigate the origin of them.

As to Mr. Webster's religious character and habits of mind, I can hardly express the great satisfaction afforded me by the testimony of his intimate friend, the Rev. Dr. Lothrop, who has in eloquent and unqualified language confirmed, and, indeed, more than confirmed, all that others have known of it. Dr. Lothrop repeated his criticism on a prayer once offered by the chaplain of the United States Senate, in which Mr. Webster concurred, expressing at the same time his view of the nature and true object of prayer. This reminds me of the fact that the last sermon which Mr. Webster ever heard was on the subject of prayer, from the lips of the late Rev. Dr. Kirk, preached in the little Methodist church at Duxbury, about four miles from Marshfield. This was about six weeks before Mr. Webster's death. He was accompanied by Sir John Crampton, the British Minister, who at that time was at Marshfield negotiating a treaty on the fishery question, Mr. Webster then being Secretary of State. Through the mutual friendly relations of my esteemed friend and partner, the Hon. Seth Sprague, I had the privilege, with him and the Rev. Dr. Kirk, of dining with Mr. Webster the next day. It afforded an opportunity to listen to his entertaining and instructive anecdotes, of which I will relate one only. He said: "On a certain occasion, when President Kirkland, of Harvard University, was called upon by one of his familiar friends, a clergyman, he inquired as to the state of affairs in his parish; to which the clergyman replied, 'We are troubled by a good deal of controversy.'--'Ah! and pray what may the subject be?' inquired Dr. Kirkland. 'It is the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints which agitates the minds of my people,' said the clergyman. 'Well,' said President Kirkland, 'I, too, have a controversy among my people; but the topic is of a very different nature. What troubles me and them most is, the final perseverance of sinners.'"

I believe in the existence of Almighty God, who created and governs the whole world. I am taught this by the works of Nature and the word of Revelation.

I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the will and word of God.

I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. The miracles which He wrought establish in my mind His personal authority, and render it proper for me to believe whatever He asserts; I believe, therefore, all His declarations, as well when He declares Himself the Son of God as when He declares any other proposition. And I believe there is no other way of salvation than through the merits of His atonement.

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