as he slowly walked up and down the hall, and, when the last sad moment came, and we were all assembled to say farewell in the silent chamber of death, how broken were his utterances as he knelt and prayed for comfort and support.  I still recall, too, going into the large darkened parlor to see my brother, and finding the casket, mirrors, and pictures all draped in white, and my father seated by his side, pale and immovable.  As he took no notice of me, after standing a long while, I climbed upon his knee, when he mechanically put his arm about me and, with my head resting against his beating heart, we both sat in silence, he thinking of the wreck of all his hopes in the loss of a dear son, and I wondering what could be said or done to fill the void in his breast.  At length he heaved a deep sigh and said:  “Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!” Throwing my arms about his neck, I replied:  “I will try to be all my brother was.”

[Illustration:  Margaret Livingston Cady.] [Illustration:  Judge Daniel Cady.] Then and there I resolved that I would not give so much time as heretofore to play, but would study and strive to be at the head of all my classes and thus delight my father’s heart.  All that day and far into the night I pondered the problem of boyhood.  I thought that the chief thing to be done in order to equal boys was to be learned and courageous.  So I decided to study Greek and learn to manage a horse.  Having formed this conclusion I fell asleep.  My resolutions, unlike many such made at night, did not vanish with the coming light.  I arose early and hastened to put them into execution.  They were resolutions never to be forgotten—­destined to mold my character anew.  As soon as I was dressed I hastened to our good pastor, Rev. Simon Hosack, who was always early at work in his garden.

“Doctor,” said I, “which do you like best, boys or girls?”

“Why, girls, to be sure; I would not give you for all the boys in Christendom.”

“My father,” I replied, “prefers boys; he wishes I was one, and I intend to be as near like one as possible.  I am going to ride on horseback and study Greek.  Will you give me a Greek lesson now, doctor?  I want to begin at once.”

“Yes, child,” said he, throwing down his hoe, “come into my library and we will begin without delay.”

He entered fully into the feeling of suffering and sorrow which took possession of me when I discovered that a girl weighed less in the scale of being than a boy, and he praised my determination to prove the contrary.  The old grammar which he had studied in the University of Glasgow was soon in my hands, and the Greek article was learned before breakfast.