passed all who preceded him, and Pieter or Piet, as he was socially called by the old Dutch burghers, having never been equalled by any successor. . . "To say merely that he was a hero would be doing him great injustice, —he was in truth a combination of heroes,—for he was of a sturdy, rawboned make like Ajax Telamon, with a pair of round shoulders that Hercules would have given his hide for (meaning his lion's hide) wher he undertook to ease old Atlas of his load. He was, moreover, as Plutarch describes Coriolanus, not only terrible for the force of his arm, but likewise of his voice, which sounded as though it came out of a barrel; and, like the self-same warrior, he possessed a sovereign contempt for the sovereign people, and an iron aspect, which was enough of itself to make the very bowels of his adversaries quake with terror and dismay. All this martial excellency of appearance was inexpressibly heightened by an accidental advantage, with which I am surprised that neither Homer nor Virgil have graced any of their heroes. This was nothing less than a wooden leg, which was the only prize he had gained in bravely fighting the battles of his country, but of which he was so proud, that he was often heard to declare he valued it more than all his other limbs put together; indeed, so highly did he esteem it, that he had it gallantly encased and relieved with silver devices, which caused it to be related in divers histories and legends that he wore a silver leg. "He was, in fact, the very reverse of his predecessors, being neither tranquil and inert like Walter the Doubter, nor restless and fidgeting, like William the Testy; but a man, or later a governor, of such uncommon activity and decision of mind, that he never sought nor accepted the advice of others; depending bravely upon his single head, as would a hero of yore upon his single arm, to carry him through all difficulties and dangers. To tell the simple truth, he wanted nothing more to complete him as a statesman than to think always right, for no one can say but that he always acted as he thought. In a word, he possessed in an eminent degree that great quality in a statesman, called perseverance by the polite, but nicknamed obstinacy by the vulgar. A wonderful salve for official blunders; since he who perseveres in error without flinching, gets the credit of boldness and consistency, while he who wavers in seeking to do what is right, gets stigmatized as a trimmer. This much is certain; and it is a maxim well worthy the attention of all legislators great and small, who stand shaking in the wind, irresolute which way to steer, that a ruler who follows his own will pleases himself, while he who seeks to satisfy the wishes and whims of others runs great risk of pleasing nobody. There is nothing, too, like putting down one's foot resolutely, when in doubt; and letting things take their course. The clock that stands still points right twice in four and twenty hours; while others may keep going continually and be continually going wrong. "Nor did this magnanimous quality escape the discernment of the good people of Nieuw-Nederlands; on the contrary, so much were they struck with the independent will and vigorous resolution displayed on all occasions by their new governor, that they universally called him Hard-Koppig Piet; or Peter the Headstrong,—a great compliment to the strength of his understanding. "If, from all I have said, thou dost not gather, worthy reader, that Peter Stuyvesant was a tough, sturdy, valiant, weather-beaten, mettlesome, obstinate, leathern-sided, lion-hearted, generous-spirited old governor, either I have written to but little purpose, or thou art very dull at drawing conclusions.” (“Knickerbocker's History of New York,” V. 1.) NOTE 34, p. 86. fairy heights. The following quotations from the "Sketch Book" will suggest Irving's idea: "Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill Mountains. When the weather is fair and settled they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but sometimes... they will gather a hood of vapors about their summits, which in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory. At the foot of these fairy mountains, etc.” "The Catskill Mountains have always been a region full of fable. The Indians considered them the abode of spirits, who influenced the weather, spreading sunshine or clouds over the landscape, and sending good or bad hunting seasons. They were ruled by an old squaw spirit, said to be their mother. She dwelt on the highest peak of the Catskills, and had charge of the doors of day and night, to open and shut them at the proper time. She hung up the new moons in the skies, and cut up the old ones into stars." Large Type. Good Paper. Many Illustrations. Durable Binding. Aiken and Barbauld's Eyes and No Eyes, and Other Stories. (M. V. O'Shea.) Paper, 10 cents; cloth, 20 cents. Ayrton's Child Life in Japan. (W. Elliot Griffis.) Paper, 10 cents; cloth, 20 cents. Brown's Rab and His Friends and Stories of Our Dogs. (T. M. Balliet.) Paper, 10 cents; cloth, 20 cents. Browne's The Wonderful Chair and the Tales it Told. (M. V. O'Shea.) Two parts. Paper, each part, 10 cents; cloth, two parts bound in one, 30 cents. Craik's So Fat and Mew Mew. (Lucy Wheelock.) 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